The Ugly Truth About TC Electonic's Dark Matter Distortion

If there is anything in the world that gets my attention, it is guitar gear that's cheap. I'll rummage through a whole heap of junk to get to a great pedal that is reasonably priced. There are tonnes of great options in the $150-200 range, but lets get real, I got about $50 to spare, so I'm looking a lot lower than a car payment when shopping for pedals. That being said, I came across TC Electronic's Dark Matter Distortion for $50 and did a double take. Normally priced north of a hundred US bones, the Dark Matter is one of only 2 distortion boxes made by the highly praised effects company. These people put out quality stuff, but they are more known for their Hall of Fame reverb and Dito Loopers, than their dirt.

If you watch their promotion video about the Dark Matter Distortion, then you notice that they came how uncompressed the pedal sounds. This was great news because the only real complaint that I had about my current distortion pedal is that it tended to get rather compressed when the gain was turned up. If you've read about my adventures with back-orders, you know that I originally ordered this pedal online. It never came, but I was able to find it at a local music store. I ran through a clean fender amp and used a double humbucker equipped guitar. Setting the EQ flat on the amp, I started the pedal off with low gain. These sounds are nice. Compared to the Rottweiler, this pedal can actually clean up quite a bit. It's not going to be a very "clean" boost, but if you want to punch up a lead with more volume and a bit of dirt, this could do it.

Where this pedal comes alive is when the gain is past noon. It wants to rock. I found myself messing around with heavy metal riffs and chunking along like I knew what I was doing. The clipping is smooth and natural sounding. It doesn't get hissy when pushed. The pedals "noise" level is very low. Open chords ring out rather nicely, and the voicing option is really nice. It takes this great sounding distortion and gives it a little more flexibility. I did start to notice that there was something missing from this equation though.

Even though this pedal is a steal at $50, (if it is still at that price) there is a trend right now that a lot of guitarist, including myself, are really enjoying. Pedals are being designed with transparency in mind. More and more guitarist are relying on their guitars and amp for the majority of their tone, and when they turn a pedal on they want that sound to still be the bones of their tone. Many pedals tend to hijack the sound. Chief among these are one that alter the sound the most, like Distortions. Active EQs and lots of saturation will take over most any guitar, but there are some pedals being designed with Blend knobs that mix in clean signal to the effect. This is a bit of electronic wizardry, and it is wonderful.

In conclusion, I like this pedal. It is worth the $50. If you are looking for a great distortion for minimal investment, then look no further. For what you'd spend on a Boss DS-1 you can pick up a better sounding and more flexible pedal. If you have a distortion that you are satisfied with, but looking to expand you sound, then maybe this one isn't for you. It does do nice things, but it's probably not different enough from your current rig for you to go running out and buy one. It's got, but not exactly "standout".