Emma Electronic

Emma Electronic is a Danish pedal company putting out some semi-boutique pedals for many different types of music. They have some very modern and unique ideas when it comes to pedal construction. The Pisdiyauwot pedal from Emma Electronics is a pedal designed specifically for metal. The name is a Danish word for a thing you do not know the name of or cant remember. The PY-1 combines the features of many other pedals into a metal centric design. It takes the gain and overdrive from classic overdrive pedals and the fuzz from classic fuzz pedals and wraps it up in a package that is tight in the low end so it works for fast heavy metal. It does all this with great clarity so it doesnt get muddy like a lot of super high gain pedals. UTILIZATION This pedal has some familiar features and some unfamiliar features. The knobs on the face of the pedal are pretty simple. On the left there is a Level knob that controls the overall level of the pedal and on the right there is a gain knob to control the overall gain. In the middle are the low mids and high EQ knobs. The chassis has sturdy construction. It is a simple box design so it can stand up to some punishment. The flat top on the pedal means you may accidentally adjust some knobs with your foot when you go to activate the pedal. Even though the pedal says true bypass on the face the manual says it isnt. Emma Electonics says their "untrue" bypass method is better than a mechanical true bypass method. SOUND QUALITY With all the knobs about on 5 and the level on 3-4 you get a tight punchy overdrive sound. This sound has kind of Pantera sound. Not super thick but tight in the low end. If you keep the level on 4 and dime the mids and the highend along with the gain you get a really over the top sound. It kind of sounds like early 90s hardcore depending on your tuning the high end might be too much as always dial to taste. With the gain on about 3 you get a more 80s style tone. Think Def Leppoard or something like that. Overall the pedal has a super sharp and tight attack. It can sound thin at times if you are use to modern levels of gain saturation. OVERALL OPINION This pedal isnt very expensive either. Handmade in Denmark even something this exotic is pretty affordable in the realm of distortion pedals. It is a unique pedal and something different if you are looking to avoid the same old boxes everyone else has. If you are looking for a pedal that can do tight and chunky old school metal tones this is a good pedal for you. You wont find anyone else at the gig with this pedal on their board.

Simple high gainer, made to turn your clean amp into a fire breather...volume, tone, gain and the magic control...Bias. Bias emulates the operating Class of your amp. As in your typical Marshall or Fender being Class A/B, stuff like Fender Champ, THD UniValve being Class A, and Music Man HDs being Class B. The feel and attack changes with that. Most folks will be happiest in the Class A/B range 10 to 2 o'clock. Personally I love it with Bias at 9 o'clock for Class A. UTILIZATION Manual is rather helpful but really not necessary, after all it's a distortion pedal, by now there shouldn't be any surprises on what one does. Have used it on pedal boards, and when I travel and take nothing but a guitar this one comes along. So no matter what amp gets put behind me I know as long as I can dial in a halfway decent clean sound my gain sound will be solid if not great. SOUND QUALITY When I first tried the pedal I plugged into my favorite high gainer and set up the clean side with the pedal to A/B with the dirty side of the amp without the pedal. And I was very surprised how much I liked the pedal. I also like running it with a second pedal for over the top all out gain. Interestingly enough I much prefer to run the output way low, like 9 0'clock and then boost the level after with a clean boost then just running the volume higher. OVERALL OPINION Love, love, love it! I know there's a newer version but I see no reason to upgrade since this is my ultimate turn a clean amp into a high gain monster sound. The only down side is that the battery has no easy access and you have to unscrew the bottom plate to change it. But that is pretty much the only niggle I can think of.