AMT Electronics is a Russian company developing products for guitarists and bassists. It mainly offers overdrive and distortion pedals, preamps, reverbs, equalizers, etc., which always carry the hallmarks of an Eastern European company. This gives the impression, when you see them, of rugged pedals that seem designed to withstand the wear and tear of concerts, the stomping and knocks on your pedalboard, etc. In this case we will focus on two pedals: the DU HAST and the FREAK GUITAR. The first is a distortion pedal aimed at the most Metal sounds. The second is the signature pedal of Freak Kitchen guitarist Mattias IA Eklundh. It has many virtues, one of which is its very distinctive sound. Let's begin the analysis.
CONSTRUCTION
Both pedals share a certain aesthetic similarity, and that really catches my eye; personally, I think they are the perfect size. If they were too small, they would be awkward to step on. If, on the other hand, they were very large, they would be quite a hassle to fit on your pedalboard.
Du Hast
Getting right into each of our two protagonists, we can start with the Du Hast pedal. This Heavy Metal machine has a fairly standard but functional design: an input, an output and another input (this one for power) of 9 V to power the pedal if you're not using a battery. Add to that the footswitch to turn the effect on or off, as well as four pots that work as level, high, low and dist, that is, effect amount, treble, bass and, finally, distortion. It's worth mentioning that the pedal comes in a reddish-orange color that stands out perfectly on our pedalboard and helps us spot it on a dark stage; in addition, an LED shows whether it's on or not, so we don't have to think too much while we're playing.
Freak Guitar
On the other hand, we have the Freak Guitar pedal, which goes a step beyond the Du Hast since, among other things, Mattias's pedal is equipped with two 12AX7 tubes, which give a much warmer color to the distortion sound we can get.
When conventional pedals have tubes built into the unit, I tend to be wary, since having those "valves" under my feet always gives me a feeling of insecurity; but we should mention that in this case the tubes are completely protected by a chassis that withstands the weight of the stomping and drops that tend to happen during gigs. The pedal offers two footswitches to choose between a saturated sound or an even more saturated one, that is, "drive" and "distortion." They are two footswitches, perfectly accessible from any position on your pedalboard. In addition, we have six pots to choose from, with an EQ that includes an extra "mid freq," a level and a certain amount of saturation; we can access them by stepping on the footswitches. We also have two outputs: one that could go to the amp and another that would go to the mixing desk or recording input.
SOUND
We now come to the most important aspect of the products we have here: "what they sound like." Although we already know that they are strictly distortion pedals. The Freak Guitar pedal can have a wider range, since at some points we can get the feeling of a compressed overdrive. In general, all the sounds we get are pure "distortion," with a capital D. So the styles of music these two pedals are mainly aimed at are the heavier ones: from hardened Hard Rock to a metal sound in some settings. For the tests, I checked the sound of both with a Koch Studiotone head and a Mesa Boogie Nomad head. For guitars, I used a Les Paul "The Heritage," an SG with P-90s and a Telecaster. It's worth noting that in both cases the ideal setup for both pedals is a clean amp sound to which you add the distortion pedal, since if we try to add distortion to a sound already saturated by the amp itself, all we get is more compression and, of course, more hum.
Focusing on the Du Hast, its sound is aimed squarely at the most metal audience. When you plug it in, you realize it has distortion to spare. The first thing that strikes you is how much midrange it spills out, and also the amount of distortion "grain." Sometimes it can sound thin, mainly with single-coil pickups. The Les Paul is the guitar I think it pairs best with. The pots work properly, although their range sometimes falls short.
Let's move on to Mattias's pedal. What has to be said is that, as soon as you plug it in, the first thing you think is "this sounds like Freak Kitchen," which is quite an achievement, since it's not at all easy to make something so easily recognizable. One of the main features of this pedal is that (although it's high-gain, and therefore a source of dirty sounds and noise) you get a clean, clear sound, within the limits of being a distortion. We have to say that the highs come through easily, as do some mids. If it's weaker anywhere, it's perhaps in the lows, but on the other hand, that may be one of its strengths, keeping it from adding more "dirt" to the sound. On footswitch 1, "drive," we can consider ourselves close to an overdrive, which would be perfect for combining with a saturated amp. Of course, with the pedal's "distortion" option, the best solution is to put it into a clean amp channel; that will take you to the legendary sounds of songs like "Nobody's Laughing." Again, I perhaps miss a bit more body in the pedal's sound, since in the guitar's lower registers I find it lacking a touch. That leads me to the conclusion that it does indeed remind me of Mattias's sound, but mainly in lead sounds rather than rhythm.
CONCLUSION
The Du Hast and Freak Guitar are two very useful pedals for finding those distorted sounds. It's fair to draw a distinction between the two pedals since, although both cover that Hard Rock–Metal sound range, we should note that the Du Hast works really well, adding distortion to your amp's sound. But Mattias's pedal, having tubes, is warmer, closer to an organic sound. Although it has enough "grain" to cover you in all your legatos and endless phrases, it never becomes a dirty, unpleasant sound. So if you're looking for distortion, you have a great option in these two pedals: if you want a colder sound with heavy saturation, you can go for the Du Hast; however, if you want a warmer one, with a bit more versatility and without sacrificing good sound, then your pedal is the Freak Guitar.
