Is it perfect? No, it is not - nothing is perfect, and even if it were, every combination of guitar and amp will have a slightly different eq, output, etc., and the sound will always vary to some degree. This pedal provides an effective duplication of the crunchy, edgy overdrive that defined the Brown Sound, yet remains transparent enough that your guitar sound shines through.

Versatility

Mr Ed has a wide range of distortion, from bluesy overdrive to smooth metal crunch with a single turn of the "Brown" control (click here for an explanation). Go from an edgy rhythm sound to soaring leads without changing a thing - the pedal actually reacts differently based on signal amplitude, creating a slightly different sound based on HOW you play. Just like a tube amp, Mr. Ed breaks up smoothly - even at full effect, playing softly produces no distortion. No other non-tube effect pedal in the world can make this claim.

Flexibility

Mr. Ed doesn't just distort. In addition to the "Brown" control, you can control the tone and volume of the effect. Mr. Ed has quite a kick - by increasing the "Level" control, you can dramatically boost the signal level, in effect making Mr. Ed a lead boost.

Reliability

Mr. Ed is hand wired, by people, not machines. From the high quality 3PDT switches to the custom made machined aluminum knobs, every component is the finest available.

Design

Years of research and development went into the design and construction of this effect pedal. Beginning with the most basic of circuit designs, our engineers developed, enhanced, modified and embellished the design until stumbling onto the biggest, baddest, loudest transistor based distortion circuit known to man.

Operation

The switch turns the effect on and off, the left most knob ("Brown") controls the amount of overdrive, the second knob ("Tone") is a passive high-end cut, and the last knob controls the overall output level. Mr. Ed is an extremely hot circuit, and at full gain & level produces a tremendous increase in signal strength. Care should be taken not to overload your amplifier's input.

Manufacturing

Even though it's the biggest and the baddest, Mr. Ed features a true-bypass circuit, so your tone won't suffer went you want a little peace and quiet. Each pedal is carefully manufactured by hand, using only the finest components. The box is Hammond, the switch is the highest quality 3PDT we could find, the jacks are Switchcraft. The knobs are solid machined aluminum, custom made for ToadWorks - no other pedal manufacturer has knobs that even begin to approach our quality. Capacitors are a mix of metal film, ceramic & electrolytic, resistors are a mix of carbon and metal, transistors are silicon - none of these decisions was made based on cost, they were made purely for sound and reliability. You can forget what you've heard about germanium transistors having a smoother breakup - Mr. Ed breaks up smoother than any transistor based pedal on earth, and you can play in the sun all day without worrying about your transistors overheating (try doing that with germanium!).