Well, where do you start with this one? Another incredible pedal creation from our friend Andy Green, the Daily Grind Distortion is a true force to be reckoned with. Right off the bat, though, the thing that impressed me the most was the amount of DIFFERENT sounds you can get out of this beautifully golden box of crunch – not just distortion, but much, much more. Let’s take this puppy for a spin, shall we?
First off, the Daily Grind is powered (like all of Andy’s pedals) with 18V, giving you all the headroom you could possibly want or need. Each note coming from this thing sounds so clear, clean and crisp, even the overdriven ones! Don’t know how he managed that, but it works great, and sounds fabulous. Volume does what it does, as all Volume knobs do, but next is the EQ, which are my favorite options to have on distortion pedals, as I think it’s a key piece of the puzzle to really be able to control your lows, mids and highs. Great range on all 3 of these knobs, and mixing and matching levels and configurations yields some gnarly EQ tones.
Then there’s the Gain. Wow. No matter where you set this knob, the sounds are full, rich, deep and powerful, almost soulful if you will. Low settings are great for just a little bit of boost and added EQ to your signal; middle (12 o’clock) brings some overdrives sonic sculpting to the table; around 3:00, it starts to get hectic, and by the time it’s cranked full, you’re trapped amidst a sonic wall of metal that you can’t break free of…which is just fine. My favorite part of this pedal, though, has got to be the control you have right at your fingertips. Your guitar’s Volume knob will have sooooo much affect on this pedal, it will blow your mind. Turned down, it’s that light boost I was talking about, and you can go from that to full-on metal in less that a second with a flick of your hand. I set the pedal to where I liked it as a distortion, then spent a ton of time playing with my guitar’s volume and learning everything this pedal really has to offer.
No slouching, no slacking, no corners cut with the Daily Grind distortion pedal. If you haven’t had the chance yet to check out Andy Green’s gear, do yourself a favor and go to his website NOW. Only 2 pedals so far, but they’re absolutely stunning (check out our review of the Warmer Drive), and we’re hoping for more to come. Thanks again to Andy for sending us both of his pedals to review – hope to do some more collaborating in the future!
Submitted by Mike B, Website
