Kmise Crunch Distortion Guitar Effects Pedal

Frederick Mayhew

July 29, 2024

It's crunchy distortion and I like it

My Yamaha GC10 classical with a piezo pickup through an Auto-Q pedal and this distortion pedal. I wanted cheap, crunchy distortion and it delivers. Check out the video.

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Good for punk or thrash metal, maybe more!

I bought this pedal a while ago. Didn't like it much at first until I found it's niche. That's why I waited to review it.. I would have given it 5⭐ after finding it to be great at the thrash sound, but there is one issue that I just can't get over. The volume and gain controls are labeled opposite of what they are. that was probably why it took so long to figure it out. Use it with a compressor for amazing sustain.

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Great inexpensive pedal

I have no idea how this pedal compares to an expensive version of the same type but this pedal is definitely worth the $30($25 on sale). It has a good range of tones to get the sound you want and the bypass seems to work without a lot of bleed through. The pedal is tiny but the box is made out of metal and the knobs and switch feel sturdy enough. This pedal is perfect for the beginner or someone on a budget who wants to experiment with crunch and distortion tones. The small size is also great for traveling, I could fit three of these size pedals in my guitar case and still have room for cords, picks, kapo, and tuner.

Tube Screamer on steroids

I expected this to be yet another Tube Screamer clone. While it can serve as one and do it well, I was surprised that it offered much more gain than a TS. The tone control has a much wider frequency range as well; it's a bit like the "shape" control on an Orange Terror.

I tested it with a vintage Carvin X60 combo loaded with a T75 and an Ibanez 7 string with a Duncan Nazgul. The pedal is definitely more "crunch" than "brutal," which is what you'd hope given the name. Also, it's true bypass so it won't add noise when switched off.

I have multiple pedal boards, including one specially built with less expensive pedals for seedier venues. The price makes this pedal ideal for this application though honestly it's much better than some of my pricier ones.

Don't let the small size fool you, this is one mean distortion pedal.

Don't let the small size fool you, this is one mean distortion pedal. This small, all metal, micro pedal looks fantastic with is bright color & it won't take up much space on your pedalboard. The bright red LED lets you know when the pedal is engaged. The three plastic knobs (Gain, Volume, & Tone) seem to be the weakest point but shouldn't be a problem if you take care when using the foot switch.

This pedal is able to produce an impressive wide range of distortion sounds, from a slight overdrive to full-on metal tones. The Gain & Volume knob functions are reversed, in my opinion, but that's not a major issue & does not diminish the usability of the pedal.

With the Gain set low, between 10 o'clock & 1 o'clock, & the Volume between 0 & 9 o'clock you can get a nice overdrive, sounds like an amp just starting to break-up. Once the Volume knob reaches the 12 o'clock position, you have crossed into more of the metal distortion tones. The distortion is smooth & rich with a sweet sustain. The Tone knob acts similar to the tone on a guitar, darker tone at 0 & increasingly brighter as you turn clockwise. I found the Tone knob the most useful between the 10 o'clock & 2 o'clock positions. The Tone knob becomes more pronounced as the gain is increased.

This pedal works well with other pedals & does well with other dirt pedals & can be used as a second stage drive if you like to stack your dirt pedals.

Pretty Blue Overdrive

First of the all this Crunch Distortion/OD has plenty of gain and volume however I found it difficult to dial out the amount of mid-range boost. I tried setting this as one might a tube screamer, with volume past 12 and gain very low, just to provide a boost but to my ears the mid hump was so prominent that it nearly obliterated the original sound of the guitar. Now for those who appreciate the radical change in sound of a device like this may be very happy. For myself I tend to use the guitar volume as my key element in using an OD type pedal such as this. In this instance as I rolled my volume down the mid-range hump was apparent to my ears and not necessarily in a pleasant way for me. All that being said this pedal has a few upsides for sure. It is very well built in an attractive aluminum box and seems as though it can take a regular stomping on and still keep working. It is a fairly quiet pedal but the noise floor comes up dramatically with the gain. After trying different amp settings I managed to get a few usable sounds but still with a great deal of mid-range. What I personally look for in an OD device is a certain clarity when the guitar volume is set low and increasing girth and distortion as you turn the volume up. The sounds here with the pedal settings I have chosen yields a fairly convincing crunchy distortion as advertised but for me the fact that it does not clean up well makes it something I would not necessarily consider. I prefer OD pedals that can be left on and those that respond better to volume changes as well as pickup changes. With this pedal using my Stratocaster the pickup position switch when changed from neck to middle to bridge loses the distinction between settings as do the in between positions. This is a try and see for yourself device, well built seemingly and durable seemingly however not exactly what I was looking for.

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