Donner Dark Horizon Distortion Pedal

Totally does what it’s supposed to do. Great pedal for the price. Had helped our band take thing to the next level and it didn’t break the bank!

I gave the Dark Horizon 5 stars because of the high quality at an insanely low price. I'm still experimenting with the sound, but I've found that the Gain and Tone controls are very interactive. The Gain is so bright that I end up with the High on 0. The pedal cleans up very well with the guitar volume turned down, and it cuts through, playing with a loud band. It is going to get a permanent spot on my pedal board, either along side my HBE Power Screamer , or in place of it.

For what i paid for this pedal i dont think i could have found a better deal on a multi function preamp/effect pedal of this high of quality its entire chassis is made of a very durable metal brick style housing the footswitch click is firm and loud and very satisfying to just sit and click the eq section ill be honest didnt respond that much on the bass side but it sounded fantastic on the treble side the toggle in the middle is great tool for when you need to quickly tighten up that loose thrash metal tone into a refined prog rock djent and core style metal tone and it can even be a great way to lightly overdrive your tube amp into slightly saturated breakup that sounds warm creamy and i couldnt be more happy that i came across this pedal while window shopping and i plan to add more donner pedals to my pedal board very soon, like Mayne even today. I would love a chance to try as many as i can and who knows i may just make an entire pedalboard out of donner pedals seeing that i have 5 of them as it is. Great job and i hope the pedal builders get paid well cause they build you guys great gig worthy pedals that look and feel just like a pedal that i would easily pay hundreds of dollars for and now i can take that money and buy three or maybe even four donner pedals. Thanks donner team you have a loyal costumer in me and im happy to do business with you guys anytime. And i will be recommending this gear to the others in my community of musicians as well.

Sturdy pedal with decent, but not exciting sounds. I returned it and got the "dark mouse" pedal instead.

The pedals are both great. I do wish I'd known when ordering them that I needed the adaptor as well. I assumed they used batteries. Anyway, they ship quickly and sound great.

I can't believe the tones I can get out of this pedal. I've gone from the cruddy built-in distortion on my practice amp to the distortion sound I've always heard in my head. Fantastic pedal.

I debated keeping this delay because the noise that it prodices from several power supplies dictates that you need to have it last in your chain. I'm not being precious here, this isn't mild hum that you need to listen for but obnoxious noise. I understand about filtering and how some power supplies play better with some circuits but the supplies that I've had zero problems with with over 40 pedals don't prevent this pedal sending horrible noise further down the chain. Normally that would be enough to return it, but really I bought this as a special effects delay, mainly for the reverse delay, which if you the timing up correctly is very convincing. There is also a setting where each repeat is an octave higher which is a song intro right there and the more traditional settings sound great and having played with a DM3 for 20 years, I find some didgital delays lacking but there is enough character in these sounds. If this was my only delay, I wouldn't be happy to live with the power supply noise and there is a chance that I have a bad unit. But the usable sounds are good enough for me to put this on the end of my chain for the novelty delay sounds. Also....great for the price

Don't know if it's actually simulating a Dumbal sound or not. But it is a fantastic overdrive pedal. Very transparent sounding. The select-able Clipping is great. But it's BEST feature is it's separate Bass and Treble controls. They may not be for for everyone because unlike most EQ controls on pedals that are subtractive (meaning you can only take away some bass or treble, on this pedal, the Bass and Treble are "flat" at 12:00, and you can actually add more Bass and Treble when turned up beyond that. This causes them to to be "interactive" with the Gain and Vol controls. For me, that's great. I can add some Bass or Treble and reduce the Gain to compensate. So, you can get "Amp" like additive EQ, and adjust Gain and Vol Controls accordingly. Again, this is not for everyone's taste. But I love the way this pedal can sound. Someone said it's a Timmy clone. Well not quite, but for $50, it comes close to that type of OD sound. I would classify this OD pedal in the "Mild OD" category that has a very transparent sound. Somewhat like a Klon Centaur, but with better EQ controls. Great for an Always On pedal in the front of your chain, and works great when "stacked" with other OD or Distortion pedals. Donner has a real winner with this pedal.

The Donner Vintaverb has a lot going for it - starting with seven reverb types: Room, Studio, Hall, Plate, Spring, Modulation, and Distortion. The classic types hold up very well in comparison to other digital reverb units. The spring reverb, while ok, is not going to make me want to choose it over my amp's (real) spring, but not a surprise there. (I use a stereo rig through two Peavey Classic tube amps.) With so many options (including short/long pre-delay and delay control), there are a lot of sounds you can make and they are not all equally wonderful -- it is possible to wind up in some very over-digital and over-modulated places. But to appreciate what is actually on offer here, start with the suggested settings of mix, delay, and tone that they suggest as best for each reverb type, and you'll find that you have a great palette / starting place for sonic fiddling. These reference points actually A/B pretty well to my ears with reverbs costing twice as much. (The modulation and distortion reverb are somewhat in a category by themselves, and may or may not suit your musical ear.) The "Freeze" function (not sure if that is the best name for it) brings a whole other performance angle into it, as activating it with the footswitch causes the effect to swell. It seems (with Freeze activated) that the signal has a feedback loop as well, as it can start to sound like a locomotive coming at you pretty quickly! Use lightly, and I think it will inspire further fine-tuning. The package itself seems pretty solid and features a "silent" on/off switch that requires a mere foot tap (also functions with hold as "freeze" switch"). The stereo through aspect, for those who (like me) roll that way, is a great value for the money. Running it through the F/X loop seems to give it a cleaner sound, although not to imply that it is otherwise muddy. If this is anywhere near your price point, you will be getting good value either side of it.

I purchased this overdrive pedal to compare with my old standby, the Ibanez TS9DX Turbo Tube Screamer. While the pedals may seem different at first, the basis of comparison stems from the fact that they're both multi-mode overdrives. I wanted to see how the Dumble stacks up. The Dumble has one obvious edge in the fact that it has 2 band eq, where the TS9DX only has a single tone knob. The Dumble has a good, thick, gritty overdrive that tends to do better the dirtier you get with it. Compared to the TS9DX, the Dumble is less transparent and adds its own character to your tone. It's hard to get a bad sound out of the Dumble, but for pure tone I prefer the TS9DX. However, if you consider the cost, the Dumble is quite a deal. If you had to pick one overdrive to do it all, I personally would recommend something besides the Dumble, but if you have several overdrive pedals and you're looking for something with its own voice, the Dumble is a good fit.

I read that this pedal is geared towards tube amps so it doesn't give me the best sounding distortion with my Headrush FRFR108 speaker unless I stack it with an overdrive pedal. It's a good distortion for the price.

Most of my guitar heroes used Marshall amps at some point in their career, so I’m a big fan of the British / Marshall sound. With this pedal, I do get vintage higher-gain Marshall vibes but also feel something is missing.. There’s a lot to like here: proper tone stack, with Treble, Middle and Bass. Level and Gain, pretty standard, and the 2 clipping options via a toggle switch. Mode I is more vintage / low gain and Mode II is meant to be higher gain, more modern. Between the 2 clipping options, I found myself leaning towards Mode II, since is was higher gain and I felt the notes were a little more articulate. Definitely some chugging potential here and things, in isolation, sound pretty great.. but I was also testing out an A/B switcher and compared this back-to-back with another (more expensive) high gain distortion pedal. The Dark Horizon is indeed a darker sounding pedal and not as high gain as some of the competition (although.. it’s high gain “enough” to be fair). I found myself trying to match the EQ on the other pedal, to tighten up the low end and couldn’t quite get there. The top end bite I liked in the other pedal could only be sorta matched with pretty extreme EQ settings. And there was still a slight darkness / lack of low end definition, almost a boxiness I couldn’t quite escape from. After a few minutes jamming on the Dark Horizon, I realized it’s still super fun to play through, responds well to picking dynamics and guitar volume changes (ride the pot to increase / decrease gain, nice). It’s got a great sound for specific genres but there are just some applications where it’s not “the best”. It’ll still sound great but there may be better options out there. And let’s not forget this is a budget conscious dirt box. For what it is, and what it costs, it’s great. The other pedal I’m referencing costs 3x the price. Is it 3x better? No. I think this might be a better fit for those seeking an old-school metal or hard rock tone. Playing my EVH stripe series, it sustains and screams beautifully. Also tried it out with a Strat and it still sounds great for rock / hard rock and heavier blues. Pedal is really well built, love the muted white LED (thanks for not blinding me) and surprisingly low noise in operation. Strong 4 star pedal, which only lost a star because it’s not (in my opinion) quite as versatile as it could be tonally, despite the 3-band EQ.

I like this pedal so far. Like it. Not sure i love it. Did a Deep Dive for my Youtube Channel. https://youtu.be/pJFR5iN5Ey8 is the link. Planning on doing a shootout with other distortion pedals in the near future.

I’ve been loving Donner products for the last 2 years. I think they hit the right balance between solid build, approachable pricing, and items that you’ll be able to grow with through intermediate player. I bought or given as gifts guitars, ukuleles, pedal board, power supplies, keyboards, and a violin. I’ve been very happy with them all. I had two other Donner pedals—the Vintaverb and Wave delay—so decided to give this one a try as well. It’s been great. First off, this is built very solid with an enclosure and switch that feels like it will last. The three-band EQ, volume, and gain knobs are responsive and as you’d expect. I play a single coil T-style guitar, so I use it for low gain vintage blues and dirty rock sounds. All in all, very happy with the sounds and am sure that it will be on my board for regular rotation. Recommend!

Wow! This pedal has no right to be this good for this cheap. I've used A LOT of different distortion pedals throughout the years, and this one hangs with, and even sound better than some of my more expensive pedals. Has a great UK marshall sound and doesn't ever get so gritty that you can't hear the note. The selector switch allows for two different variations with the effect. Both were solid but I really enjoyed the first position to the top. The build is top notch and feels very solid. I have not put it down since I got it. Absolutely amazing, if you're looking for a good distortion pedal and don't want to over pay (or even if money is no option) then this is the pedal for you. This is now a permanent fixture of my pedal board.

First off the pedal came well packaged and with foam to protect the knobs. It also came with a manual which with most pedals people discard. Do not throw this one away! I wish more pedal manufacturers did what Donner has done here. There is a pedal "recipe guide" my words not theirs... It is a page on recommended dial sound to extract some of the more popular sounds from this pedal. I spent about 2 hours playing with all of the sounds that they recommend as well as tweaking within those ranges but, I love the recommended starting points! This pedal will get you the gain sounds you have been looking for and while this is billed as just a Marshall in a pedal I found it to be much more than that. This is a fun full size pedal that will get you the distortion you want and the distortion you need as well! It is well constructed and the knobs do not feel cheap at all...

Your browser does not support HTML5 video. Wow! This pedal has no right to be this good for this cheap. I've used A LOT of different distortion pedals throughout the years, and this one hangs with, and even sound better than some of my more expensive pedals. Has a great UK marshall sound and doesn't ever get so gritty that you can't hear the note. The selector switch allows for two different variations with the effect. Both were solid but I really enjoyed the first position to the top. The build is top notch and feels very solid. I have not put it down since I got it. Absolutely amazing, if you're looking for a good distortion pedal and don't want to over pay (or even if money is no option) then this is the pedal for you. This is now a permanent fixture of my pedal board.

I’ve been loving Donner products for the last 2 years. I think they hit the right balance between solid build, approachable pricing, and items that you’ll be able to grow with through intermediate player. I bought or given as gifts guitars, ukuleles, pedal board, power supplies, keyboards, and a violin. I’ve been very happy with them all. I had two other Donner pedals—the Vintaverb and Wave delay—so decided to give this one a try as well. It’s been great. First off, this is built very solid with an enclosure and switch that feels like it will last. The three-band EQ, volume, and gain knobs are responsive and as you’d expect. I play a single coil T-style guitar, so I use it for low gain vintage blues and dirty rock sounds. All in all, very happy with the sounds and am sure that it will be on my board for regular rotation. Recommend!

The media could not be loaded. The Donner Dark Horizon distortion pedal is definitely one to add to your pedal board. This pedal sounds awesome, from the low gain solos to the modern high gain you'll be praising the rich tones you can get. It has two modes which give you mid gain sound and compression to modern high gains and thrashing open sounds. If you like your amp to sound "thick and raw" then I suggest you pick up the Donner Dark Horizon!

I’ve been loving Donner products for the last 2 years. I think they hit the right balance between solid build, approachable pricing, and items that you’ll be able to grow with through intermediate player. I bought or given as gifts guitars, ukuleles, pedal board, power supplies, keyboards, and a violin. I’ve been very happy with them all. I had two other Donner pedals—the Vintaverb and Wave delay—so decided to give this one a try as well. It’s been great. First off, this is built very solid with an enclosure and switch that feels like it will last. The three-band EQ, volume, and gain knobs are responsive and as you’d expect. I play a single coil T-style guitar, so I use it for low gain vintage blues and dirty rock sounds. All in all, very happy with the sounds and am sure that it will be on my board for regular rotation. Recommend!

The media could not be loaded. This pedal sounds awesome for high gain metal. It is kinda versatile too if you turn down the gain. With the gain down around 3 and the switch in mode 1 I was getting some marshally sounds. Mode 2 has boosts the mids considerably. Even with the gain and treble all the way up it does not get unreasonably fizzy or noisy. I can't believe you can get a pedal that sounds this good for $50!! Where was this stuff when I was in high school?!?

Absolutely love this pedal. I plugged it in and on the clean channel it gave one of the best distortion sounds I have heard in this price range. I am going to be getting rid of my golden plexi and putting this in its place.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this, as it is marketed as a "high gain" distortion, and that's not my thing. I play lower output pickups (tele and more vintage style humbuckers), so I couldn't really get modern metal sounds out of it when I tried, but that would probably be a different story with active pickups and a more metal amp. To my great surprise, however, this thing does great mid output drive. I'm going to make it a fixture on my pedalboard to replace an older OD pedal that I have been fighting with for a while. For what I do (lead electric for worship band and indie/Americana), it is a winner. Tight, cutting drive with single coils, but not too harsh. Switch to the neck PU and it gets warm and full. We had a sound system pro tuning and balancing our sound system when I first tested this thing out, and he was in love with the tone. I consider that a ringing endorsement. So... "High Gain" or metal? I don't really know about that. But as a more classic distortion, this thing really shines. This is the second Donner pedal to completely surpass my expectations (along with the Wave Delay- super cool). Good stuff.

The media could not be loaded. When I saw the name, Dark Horizon, I thought this was going to be a super high gain, chug pedal. To me, it's more in the mid/higher gain classic British camp, but I only tested it on a Strat with single coils. There's not as much gain as a Riot or a Rat. But it's got the perfect amount of gain with single coils for banging out rock riffs. The three band EQ functions as expected and it's got two clipping options. Mode 1 is more compressed and a little lower in volume than mode 2. I like that you can hear a clear difference between the two modes. I recorded the video with a Strat, Ditto looper and a Princeton Reverb at bedroom volume. Not sure what this pedal is based on, but I'm sure it will come out if it gets popular. The only thing I don't like is the name! Overall, this pedal sounds great and only costs $50!