ToneBox Skull Crusher

Skull Crusher is totally unique in its look and it comes in four different finishes: Stainless Steel, Gun Metal, Aged, and Ancient. A lot of care is taken in getting the finish of the pedals A stomp switch is located at the top of the skull. When you switch the pedal on a blue LED facing you turns on and the eyeson the front of the skull shine red. The input and output jacks are in the ears and below one of the ears there is a turbo button. The controls are on the back of the skull. The controls are a 4-way Voicing knob, a Tone control and a Gain knob.The voicings are labeled Clear, Ice, Chains and Body. Black knobs with white pointers clearly show the position of each knob from a distance.

UTILIZATION

All of the dials are clearly labeled. Black knobs with white pointers clearly show the position of each knob from a distance, although it may be hard to see the different voicing labels from a distance. The pedal is heavier than it looks and this helps it remain stable on the floor even with its awkward shape.

SOUND QUALITY

The creator of this pedal is known for his work with Marshalls so I am pretty sure he intended it to be used with Marshalls, so I tested it with a JCM 800. At first the gain might be enough for some people. Engaging the Skull Crusher set to Clear, and the Tone and Gain at noon, produced a slightly thinner version of the tone I had with it disengaged and actually a bit less gain. Flipping through the voicing knob you can hear the different voicings. Each voicing became increasingly thicker with a different midrange emphasis but they all sounded good with the Marshall. Going back to the Clear setting, I pushed the Gain up to 2 o’clock. This was where the pedal took off: great articulation and sustain while revoicing the amp to a more detailed sound and attack. With the Gain cranked up, it became a singing machine. It was good but still a little thin. When you turn on turbo mode the gain is over the top. It will push the front of your amp hard. This is where the pedal sounds the best. It has all the thickness you were missing in the normal mode.

OVERALL OPINION

This is a cool pedal and it is guaranteed to get some attention in your pedal board. Some people may think it is a joke or something but you can assure them that it is a serious pedal with serious tone. I recommend using it with the turbo button on at all times. If this came with just the turbo mode on I would like the pedal even more. Some people looking for the lower gain stuff that you would use with the normal mode on probably wouldnt buy this pedal to begin with so I dont really think that versatility is needed.