Alpha Cruncher

Where to begin. I guess I'll start with a quick word on this class of pedal and then give my review so you know where I'm coming from. First, if you're the type of person who orders a multi box like this, or one of the mini pedals from Asia that are so popular lately, and you blow your top because it arrives DOA or has a blemish or maybe a knob that doesn't work so well, this review is not for you. Take that negativity back to your man cave or she-shed. You have to remember that we are able to buy pedals in almost any color or size, with any mod, effect, etc(thanks to Amazon and these manufacturers), for what used to be the price of a couple of good studio patch cables. There has been a shift in the way people buy and what they expect of things brought about by Amazon IMO. Expectations used to be much lower on inexpensive products but now a days, everyone is expecting a $25 product to be just as good as a $300 one. For the most part they kinda are. But that extra money goes along way for craftsmanship. And better materials. Not saying these materials are bad just that they can be better but it cost a lot more money. I expect for the occasional item to be broken when it arrives or to have a part that might fail, because they're cranking out so many of these at these different companies they're not handmade one off's, so that's just part of it. On the same hand I've also purchased wvery expensive products that have arrived broken, DoA, or worse, destroyed in shipping. It happens it's part of the game and this is where a company can shine with their support team. OK, enough of that on to the review. This is my first multi effects pedal of this type and from this company. And I have to say it is outstanding! The FX work perfectly, they all have massive range which enables you to dial in the exact sound or tone you want. None of the effects sound like they have poor or cheap electronics, nor do they have that "tinny" tone due to small guage wire. The unit arrived packaged very nicely snug and in a very nice box. Instructions were well written and easy to understand and they explained each effects and what each dial did for its assigned effect. It also comes with its own power supply which is a huge bonus!! I've added some pictures of each of the effects areas on the pedal as well as what it looks like attached to my paddleboard so you can get an idea of the scale of the box. OK more on the FX. As I mentioned each of them works perfectly and not is there a massive range within each of the settings, but you can stack all of them, run them as singles by simply leaving the other two off(which by the way works amazingly well because its a true bypass unit so there is zero hum, or line noise of any kind when you don't have any effects enabled). Aside from the FX being amazing, robust, and sounding great... each of the first two switches is also a tap selector, all you do is simply hold down the switch with your foot for a few seconds and the green light will be going to blink. This way you know it's in tap mode and you can set the parameters with your toe while you're playing. Hold down the button for a few seconds again to turn off the tap setting. I'm not sure how to explain it in a review other than you just have to try it for yourself. I can't even say a "the effects are good for the money" because they're outstanding and has nothing to do with price. Except that I think personally, this multi effects board is a steal at the price that it's listed for. My final thoughts are, would you use this to play and record professionally in a studio environment? Maybe, you probably could, but there may be better units for that. Could you use it to gig live around town and mess around inside your house for practice? Absolutely!! Could you play in a local band and gig with it? I think so because so far, it's been just as good as any of my pedals that I've paid four or five times as much for. So as of right now, I'm blown away by this little guy and will be ordering a lot more from Donner as soon as possible. P.S. Please excuse any typos you may find...it's late, I'm typing this on my phone, and I'm tired. :)

I only have great things to say about this pedal! Especially for the price, I don’t think you can beat the versatility and quality of sounds and tones this pedal produces. Initially, I was worried that this pedal might have only been marketed as an “acoustic” pedal but may fail to keep the woody, rich tones of an acoustic. I was COMPLETELY wrong! The preamp not only can work great as a boost but also was able to give my guitar (Taylor 224ce-KDLX) much more depth and a wider range of clear tones than the traditional “scoop” tone common to Taylor guitars. The chorus function was another big surprise. I used to have the TC Electronics Corona Chorus but very self only used it because I felt it flattened the tone too much of my acoustic. However, the chorus on this pedal maintained the same rich tones already coming through but provided that slight pitch manipulation that is great for riffing. I’ve also been using it in conjunction with my Delay to produce some incredible sound swells that are great for Contemporary worship music. The reverb is also really wonderful but you only need just a little touch of it because it is very powerful! I keep it on pretty much at all times but just very slightly. When I plan on doing some finger picking or some lead riffs I will bump it up. This pedal’s XLR output was also a good touch to be included! Overall, you get a whole lot of pedal for a very fair price! I would say that, for especially any worship pastor that is living in a budget, this pedal is an absolute must have! It’s small, fits well in a bag or on your pedal board but packs a huge punch of tones and features! Buy it now! You won’t regret it!

This pedal was a good purchase and served my purposes exactly. I was very new to what I call “lead” guitar effects and I wanted to experiment with them. This pedal gives you reverb, delay, chorus, phaser, flanger and allows you to combine those effects simultaneously if you want. I found out that chorus and flangers are the great lead effects for me. I will list my opinions on its effects. The reverb is pretty good. To me, reverb is something you dont have to dial in too much, so the lack of so many knobs is fine. Delay is probably the worst effect on this pedal. Thats just because if youre serious about delay you want one with a lot of controls and this one kind of falls short. The chorus is great! Very saturated and digital sounding, which is what I want in a chorus, anyways. I have actually struggled to get a stand alone pedal which equals the chorus tone I found with this one. Phaser is okay. Flanger is okay. These are also effects which need a little more dialing in which requires more knobs, but you get the basic version of them here. The pedalboard is small and the buttons are also small, which makes it a bit difficult for stomping. Ultimately, I think this pedal functions really good in an at-home set-up and for a person who wants to try a lot of lead effects to see what they like.

Effects work well. Perfect first/beginner pedal. Controls are easy to use. 3 effects for the price of 1! Some notes: Distortion seems to be the weak link here, as it doesn't sound that great (for me) until I use a lower tuning. Starts coming through well at Drop Db and lower though. This might be due to the rest of my setup. Guitar with a single/single/humbucker pickup layout and a cheap, old amp. Chorus and Delay effects work fantastically. Would recommend combining with a compressor pedal (currently using a Donner Compressor) and this helps a lot.

Fantastic pedal. The chorus is excellent with a full range and depth. The Hi Gain circuit really rocks. Its powerful but clean and very useable playing live. I use the chorus sound for Police songs and the delay does a nice U2 sound. Its an analogue delay not digital so you can't dial in a specific number of repeats. Its one strong repeat then degrees of fading out depending on the feedback setting. But the think I most like to do with it is the setting in the photo. A hint of chorus and delay and as much high gain as you can handle. It makes any solo or riff sound great. Like a beefed up reverb. Total value for money and a better sound than I ever managed to get from various multi effect units. And really nicely made. My only (very) quibble would be the size of the knobs. Easy to use in times of peace but a too small for a quick change in battle.

Excelente, y por el precio no hay competencia.

Sounds great in front of an amp (both tube and solid state). Have not tried it direct. It's well made and feels solid. No major noise other than the distortion when at crazy gain. Switches are easy to press under foot (even in socks or bare foot). Distortion: Can get a bit noisy at higher gain but I've managed to dial in a nice smooth tone to suit my preference (Driving blues / rock / punkity-rock) Of all 3 FX this one feels the weakest but it's not bad by any stretch. Chorus: It's a chorus. It sounds like a chorus, it says it's a chorus, so it must be a chorus. Burn it!! No, seriously it sounds great to my old ears, not that I rock a lot of chorus but it sweetens up a clean/ slightly muddy tone. Delay: It's no DD-3 but it sounds lovely to me. I tend to use a subtle amount for a bit a flavor and it does it very well. The knobs and switches are fine. The knobs are very small and out of the way so the won't get kicked off the pedal with an errant stomp. The knobs have a nice rubber outer ring to make it easy to dial in. I will say the blue LEDS that illuminate for each active effect are quite bright in the dark ( I tend to grab my axe at odd times (like waiting for coffee to brew/ toaster to pop etc.) and had no lights on in the room. Those suckers could guide a small plane in on a foggy night! Although my old eyes tend to halo bright lights as it is due to my astigmatism. You youngsters will be fine. Great value for the $. Three great FX in one compact and durable unit. And it comes with the power adapter! Rock on folks!!

I bought the Alpha Cruncher 3. What an exxcxellent device this little beastie is! It's quite tiny, but seems sturdy and well-made. The three functions work very well indeed (although the chorus, while acceptable, isn't quite as strong as it might be) and each of them has a broad range of adjustment, making it easy as pie to find a setting I like. I didn't actually NEED this 3-in-1 pedal, as I already have pro-level effects on my board and in various MFX units. But at the price, including a decent power supply, I couldn't resist it! It might not be targeted at professional players, but in a pinch, or if stage space is really limited, for the stuff I play I reckon I could get through a gig with just this item between guitar and amp. In short, I'm delighted!

Fue regalo de Navidad para mi sobrino, me decidí por este pedal porque sonaba mejor que otros en las reseñas.