Stand it on end and it looks like a cute cartoon alien, but Rainger FX El Distorto's 'ears/antennae' are locking Neutrik sockets for your jackplugs, as the design of the asymmetrical pedal leaves no place for conventional sockets.
"There's no tone control, but the pedal is very nicely voiced with an upper-mid presence that cuts through"
What we get is a silicon diode-based distortion pedal with drive and volume knobs, plus an extra switch on the base that destabilises an offset in the circuit. Without the offset, you are in fuzz/distortion borderland with solid overdrive at lower drive levels, gaining more of the fuzz character as you advance the knob.
There's no tone control, but the pedal is very nicely voiced with an upper-mid presence that cuts through. With the offset switch engaged, the sound gets fuzzier around the edges, with a phasey swimminess and an increase in harmonic content that makes you want to dig in for squealing high single notes.
The most conventional-sounding of Rainger FX's off-the-wall range, the El Distorto is a great dirtbox.
