DOD Boneshaker Distortion - NAMM 2015

Harman Digitech introduces the DOD Boneshaker, a high-gain distortion pedal with versatile 3-band parametric EQ.

This latest pedal is co-designed by Mark Wentz of Black Arts Toneworks, specially tweaked to better handle the lower frequencies of extended-range guitars, baritone guitars and even electric basses.

Modern rock and metal players have become more picky with their distortion effects, preferring those that work well with their particular style of music, which essentially focuses more on having solid mid to low frequencies. The popularity of 7-string and more recently 8-string electric guitars further stretched the need to provide good distortion at even lower frequencies.

As expected, guitar pedal manufacturers are up for the challenge, producing distortion effects that are especially suited for modern metal and rock applications. The Boneshaker pedal is DigiTech's latest entry into this emerging market.

DigiTech marketing manager Tom Cram said, "The DOD Boneshaker is designed to be the definitive distortion pedal for metal, hard rock, alternative and other styles that demand pummeling low-end power. It’s voiced for down-tuned guitars, 7- and 8-string guitars, baritone guitars and works equally well with bass. By itself, or stacked the Boneshaker lives up to its name."

For a compact pedal, the Boneshaker has quite a number of controls. The most important of which is the Distortion knob, which lets you adjust the amount of distortion applied to the signal. You can get subtly grit at lower settings and get massive amounts of gain at higher settings. The Level knob is another familiar control option that lets you adjust the overall volume of the effected signal, you can use it to boost your volume should you wish.

To let you control the pedal's ability to handle lower frequencies, Digitech equipped the Boneshaker with a Depth knob. You can use it to decrease or increase the overall low-frequency "growl", matching the range of the instrument your using.

Further tone shaping is provided by the pedal's 3-band parametric EQ. It features "stacked" knobs that lets you adjust two parameters with two knobs on top of each other. This ergonomic design gives you advanced control without substantially increasing the size of the pedal. The main knob lets you select the center of frequency for the low, mid and high EQ, while the secondary knob lets you adjust the amount of boost or cut for the three frequencies. This configuration essentially makes the EQ section more flexible than conventional ones.

Following other modern DOD pedals, the Boneshaker features true-bypass switching so it does not affect your signal when not in use. The pedal is powered by a 9-volt battery or you can use the optional PS200R power supply.

Check out the DOD Boneshaker in action below:

The company concludes, "For adventurous players who aren’t afraid to experiment, the Boneshaker stacks well with other overdrive/distortion pedals and fuzz. The Boneshaker looks as unsubtle as it sounds, with a road-tough black metal housing and graphics that would look right at home on a custom chopper."

The DOD Boneshaker overdrive pedal is set for a March 2015 release, with a suggested retail price of $187.44. Head over to DOD for further details.

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