Amptweaker TightMetal JR Distortion Pedal

I call this class of pedals the "Distortion simulator", another great instance of this class is MXR M116 Fullbore Metal. They are excellent choice for cheap equipment when neither guitar, nor amp or speaker are able to produce quality distortion sound. It sounds too fizzy for me, too artificial, no real distortion sound. It sound very close to Mark IIC+ with the V-shape EQ enabled.I tried various combinations:1. Pedal in front of preamp in clean. Sounds not bad with cheap amp.2. In effects loop.3. As a preamp. If pushed further by amp tubes, it sounds good.4. In dirty channel.5. I even pushed pedal with TubeScreamer. And it still far inferior to its rivals in close price range.EQ and Tight (low end saturation) options are limited, thus separate EQ (or preamp's EQ) is required. Amount of gain is incredible. Noise gate is cool, it just filter out some noise and harmonics at certain threshold, however for high gain dedicated noise gate is still required to completely eliminate hum and noise. I just disabled it entirely on the pedal. It works at 9v and 18v, at 9v more compressed, at 18 - less compressed, more headroom. Battery compartment is easily accessible. Cool looking BTW.For the same price the MXR EVH 5150 Overdrive will be way better choice (UPDATE: i wrote it when MXR was 160 bucks, now it is almost 200), however in my opinion Revv G4 is ultimate leader in boutique distortion pedals.I believe the fair price for this pedal is around $80-100 and it would be 3-4 stars rated pedal.Sorry James Brown, i tried to love your pedal, but unfortunately it didn't allow me to do so.

I love this little pedal. It creates the sound of the high gain amps with the mids cut for that thrash metal sound. The note production is clear and no signal loss. When having to create sounds from Anthrax to Muddy Waters, I can't have the amp set for one tone, so I use pedals. Unlike other "metal" pedals, this one creates a smooth high-gain distortion and not just a gained-up overdrive. IF you want overdrive, stick to a Tubescreamer or Fulltone OCD.

What a little monster. Using this in front of my Quilter Mini 101 into a 2x12 Egnater cab with Elite 80's. This little pedal gives me a massive, full bodied high gain tone. Stacked with my EP Booster, this set up honestly kills the last two tube amps I previously owned (Budda Superdrive 18 and Carvin V3M). I prefer settings on Smooth and Tight with Gain at 2:00 and Tone at 1:00. Has tons of bite but never muddy or mushy and the low end is massive. Great construction made by James Brown and crew here in the USA. No question...Mr. Brown knocked it out of the park with his Tight Metal line. I also own the Tight Drive Jr which I love as well for low gain OD tones.

I use this pedal on a solid state already overdriven amp to give more oomph and crunch. It’s not really designed to do that, but I have found that it works best for this task as it doesn’t cut out your lows like running a tube screamer would.Running it through a clean amp or an effects loop really lets it shine even more and gives more fullness of sound.I gave 4 stars on value for money as this pedal like all boutique type pedals is overpriced for what it does. That’s just my opinion and take it for what it’s worth.

I returned the Pro because it was just too much pedal, I didn't like that the Universal Loop only worked when the pedal was on and it didn't have the gate potentiometer on the outside, it only has a switch. The other gate potentiometer is inside the battery compartment.The Jr. is simpler than the pro and well worth it. Between the overall tone knob, EQ and Tight switches, it's possible to get several great tones. I got 6 distinct tones and I only played it for 30 minutes. It's a great pedal. Heavy and to the point. Big bonus is the smaller pedalboard footprint compared to the Pro.

I returned my Amptweaker Tight Metal Jr. because off problems with the noise gate. Don’t get me wrong I liked the pedal with EQ in middle position and TIGHT switch set on Fat. The gain sounded great in the 1-2 o’clock position. Anything more than that and things got fizzy/buzzy. The noise gate needed to be maxed out to work and even dimed there was still noise coming through. Nothing like the outstanding noise gate on the Empress Heavy. Maybe I received a defective pedal. Amazon was great and allowed me to return purchase.

Great product for the price. The adjustability and options on this pedal are what make it worth it. Tone does not suffer through the different selections. The different gain and EQ modes are great for getting you in the ballpark of your favorite sounds. Pretty clean pedal. Worth the buy

I like this pedal and would highly recommend it.