Review: Seymour Duncan Dirty Deed Distortion Pedal

This video is bonus content related to the April 2014 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now or at our online store.

It’s about time that someone named a distortion pedal after an AC/DC song. Of course, the reason it hasn’t happened before is that it’s hard as a rock to get the perfect balance of clarity, hair, big balls, attack and sustain that will shake you all night long. If the sound it produces doesn’t instantly evoke visions of Angus and Malcolm, you’ve got a problem, child.

The Seymour Duncan Dirty Deed Distortion pedal does the deed, and it does it dirty. Its circuit uses a pair of cross-connected MOSFETs to produce a rich, thick and dynamic overdrive that makes your guitar and amp sound bigger (and this is the truth, son, not some late-night male-enhancement supplement pitch).

You can use it equally well with a clean or already overdriven amp and it will always intensify your tone without turning it into indecipherable mush. The controls are as simple as a three-chord groove—level, drive and mini treble and bass knobs. You’ve got an input, an output, and “the jack” that accommodates both nine- and 18-volt power supplies. All you need to do is plug in, play and tweak a little, and before you can shout, “Let there be rock!” you will see the light. And it was good. —Chris Gill