Post by vonFrenchie on Nov 30, 2009 5:30:43 GMT -5
So, recently (Black Friday) I purchased a Digitech Hardwire SD-2. After playing it in GuitarCenter for a whole 45 minutes i decided that it easily trumped my modded Boss SD-1 and my Rocktron Metal Planet distortion pedals.
By easily trumped, I mean blew away. This thing is great. At first glance it gives a nice toothy distortion reminiscent of Cream's Crossroads or Steppenwolf's Born to Be Wild. When the gain knob is low it sounds like an old amp that is being pushed a bit, and as you turn it up you slowly get a stronger and stronger crunch. By 2 or 3 o'clock you're getting some serious distortion but there is still the character of the guitar. I played some Dick Dale through it and I could still hear the round notes of my low-e but they also had this fierce attack to them. As you keep turning it up it gets more and more fierce, yet still keeps that gentlemanly feel of your clean guitar. Even when I played with some gain on my amp and had the gain on the pedal at 9 or 10 o'clock I was getting clear guitar tone, nothing muddy.
Then I realized that the little switch underneath all the knobs (Vol, Low, High, and Gain) actually did something. Its labeled "Crunch" on the left side and "Saturated" on the right. I flipped it over to saturated, cranked the gain all the way down and slowly worked my way up. I was getting thick round distortion, very Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden like. With the saturated channel on low gain I was playing some really great low bluesy stuff. As I worked my way up I reached the likes of Paranoid, Into the Void, The Trooper, Number of the Beast and Breaking the Law. With the gain knob all the way up on the saturated channel I was running some pretty thick metal riffs (Raining Blood and Walk With Me in Hell) with ease but it still had character. It wasn't just another saturated distortion pedal. I felt like I was still playing MY guitar not just some fuzzy sound wave.
I absolutely love this pedal. It's great. I can get great blues tones, pop-punk, punk rock, alternative, classic rock and some less intense metal sounds.
On top of all this it has some very important features that stand out to me. First off it has a nice blue led, easy to see but not blinding. The knobs have a knurled finish to them so they are really easy to grab a hold of with sweaty fingers, they are also steel knobs. The potentiometers are "click pots" (I don't know the proper term) with 40 positions. No more guessing your settings or eyeballing them. You can easily remember and write down definitive settings, such as my blues setting Crunch Channel, Low: 30, High: 40: Gain: 7, or my rhythm metal setting, Saturated, Low: 40, High: 27, Gain: 40. It's a great feature that I've never seen on a pedal. The on/off switch is protected by a rubber arm that presses it so if you're really stomping on your pedal the actual switch wont be harmed much.
Pros
Great construction
Two great channels
Unique character
Easy use
Great styling
Keeps the guitar's tone in tact
No tubes to replace (Like Electro Harmonix's English Muff'n, Hot Tubes or Tube Zipper)
Cons
The channel switch is small
Digitech could have given the Crunch/Saturated channel a stomp switch and the bypass a stomp switch
It doesn't ACTUALLY have valves
If you're looking for a great distortion pedal at an affordable price (100 dollars, considering that its a "boutique" line) then check out the Digitech Hardwire SD-2 Valve Distortion.
Digitech's Hardwire series also has a Tube Overdrive pedal, Metal Distortion, Stereo Chorus, Stereo Reverb, Delay/Looper and a chromatic tuner.
www.digitech.com/hardwire.php
I'll upload some soundbites when I get my adapter so I can plug in my guitar to my computer. I would use my Fender Mini Deluxe, but my laptop's microphone doesn't have good sonic abilities.
By easily trumped, I mean blew away. This thing is great. At first glance it gives a nice toothy distortion reminiscent of Cream's Crossroads or Steppenwolf's Born to Be Wild. When the gain knob is low it sounds like an old amp that is being pushed a bit, and as you turn it up you slowly get a stronger and stronger crunch. By 2 or 3 o'clock you're getting some serious distortion but there is still the character of the guitar. I played some Dick Dale through it and I could still hear the round notes of my low-e but they also had this fierce attack to them. As you keep turning it up it gets more and more fierce, yet still keeps that gentlemanly feel of your clean guitar. Even when I played with some gain on my amp and had the gain on the pedal at 9 or 10 o'clock I was getting clear guitar tone, nothing muddy.
Then I realized that the little switch underneath all the knobs (Vol, Low, High, and Gain) actually did something. Its labeled "Crunch" on the left side and "Saturated" on the right. I flipped it over to saturated, cranked the gain all the way down and slowly worked my way up. I was getting thick round distortion, very Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden like. With the saturated channel on low gain I was playing some really great low bluesy stuff. As I worked my way up I reached the likes of Paranoid, Into the Void, The Trooper, Number of the Beast and Breaking the Law. With the gain knob all the way up on the saturated channel I was running some pretty thick metal riffs (Raining Blood and Walk With Me in Hell) with ease but it still had character. It wasn't just another saturated distortion pedal. I felt like I was still playing MY guitar not just some fuzzy sound wave.
I absolutely love this pedal. It's great. I can get great blues tones, pop-punk, punk rock, alternative, classic rock and some less intense metal sounds.
On top of all this it has some very important features that stand out to me. First off it has a nice blue led, easy to see but not blinding. The knobs have a knurled finish to them so they are really easy to grab a hold of with sweaty fingers, they are also steel knobs. The potentiometers are "click pots" (I don't know the proper term) with 40 positions. No more guessing your settings or eyeballing them. You can easily remember and write down definitive settings, such as my blues setting Crunch Channel, Low: 30, High: 40: Gain: 7, or my rhythm metal setting, Saturated, Low: 40, High: 27, Gain: 40. It's a great feature that I've never seen on a pedal. The on/off switch is protected by a rubber arm that presses it so if you're really stomping on your pedal the actual switch wont be harmed much.
Pros
Great construction
Two great channels
Unique character
Easy use
Great styling
Keeps the guitar's tone in tact
No tubes to replace (Like Electro Harmonix's English Muff'n, Hot Tubes or Tube Zipper)
Cons
The channel switch is small
Digitech could have given the Crunch/Saturated channel a stomp switch and the bypass a stomp switch
It doesn't ACTUALLY have valves
If you're looking for a great distortion pedal at an affordable price (100 dollars, considering that its a "boutique" line) then check out the Digitech Hardwire SD-2 Valve Distortion.
Digitech's Hardwire series also has a Tube Overdrive pedal, Metal Distortion, Stereo Chorus, Stereo Reverb, Delay/Looper and a chromatic tuner.
www.digitech.com/hardwire.php
I'll upload some soundbites when I get my adapter so I can plug in my guitar to my computer. I would use my Fender Mini Deluxe, but my laptop's microphone doesn't have good sonic abilities.