What Customers Are Saying

These are a few of the many correspondences we have received from customers thus far. we always encourage feedback and look forward to your thoughts about our products!

Here is a detailed report from a Canadian customer who runs his own website and reviews gear. see what he has to say regarding his Dark gene red purchase:

https://www.thatguitarlover.com/blog/review-d-kowalski-dark-gene-red?rq=dark%20gene

"I opened the box - well packed BTW. Very impressive with the heft/finish and overall build. I thought.... ok... another tubed preamp (I have been playing long enough to call a ‘69 Strat my first guitar). I plugged the DG into an old pine open back cab with a well used 12” Celestion Blue. I tried it out with a Music Man Cutlass SSH. HOLY SHIT!!! I snagged so many tones of your amp, unlike any other low watt amp I have ever used. I have plenty. Emery, Auble, Foxx, and a few attenuators including an old Trainwreck. You have created a fantastic low watt wonder. Thank you." - Alan F. on his DG Red

"Got the amp a day early. Ran it against my pedal board. WOW!!! This things sounds great , about to ditch a couple of OD pedals as straight amp sounds better and running this through a Newer little VOX” 8” cabinet I bought for practice, it sounds full and still low enough volume not to bug the family. Awesome , awesome amp." - Lee H. on his DG Red

"I absolutely love this thing. I've had a lot of Marshalls and this sounds as good or better than any of them. If I have any complaint, it's that I can't make up my mind which position to leave the switch in. ;-)

Cheers," - Jon J. on his DG Green

"I just wanted to say thank you. I received my Dark Gene amplifier last week and it sounds phenomenal! Thank you for the excellent craftsmanship and customer service. Sincerely," - Ray S. on his DG Green

"Ok, I tried an M75 and M75-PVC loaded cab. IMO it likes the M75-PVC 4x12 more. I actually played for over a half our straight it was so much fun. You definitely hit it out of the park with the Dark Gene. I posted as such on my FB Scumback page, too. You gotta laugh when the amp is feeding back and you talk to your wife over it, it’s just insane! I was able to conjure up all kinds of tones…Cream, AC/DC, Fought, Humble Pie, etc etc. This one will become my new “amp I play at home” unit. Nice job." - Jim Seaval of Scumback Speakers on his DG Green

"Hope you are well, my amp arrived today, it sounds amazing, so worth the wait. Both the clean and dirty channels sound fantastic, this is exactly the product that i have been searching for. Thanks for everything!!" - Anthony D. on his DG Red

"Received the amp today. It is absolutely awesome. Thank you so much for creating it for me. Perfect." - John D. on his DG Red

"I received my amp today and have had a chance to try it out. I must say,
it sounds very good. I hooked it up to a Fender cabinet with 2 Celestion
12s. (That was the only thing I had available.) It did a great job of
powering them. In a small room, it is actually too loud. You did a great
job on the design of the amplifiers (mine is a green model). I need to
find a small speaker cabinet I can use for this purpose." - Joseph Y. on his DG Green

"FYI, I stayed up way past my normal bedtime, over the past two nights, twisting knobs and playing with your little marvel. I had to go re-read the information on your website, about that push-pull knob, but the tones I'm hearing are just phenomenal. Plenty of power for my Eminence Alnico speaker and thanks for that valued advice about the Celestion greenbacks. Finally, the DG is not only a great sounding tube amp, it's also a beautiful Work of Art if you remove those black tube covers! I know, safety first... ;)" - Matthew D. on his DG Red

"I received my amp today and it's so cool!!! I am sure the Red version is great too, but so glad you swapped out with the Green one for me! I love that Vintage Marshall Vibe of this thing!! I see why you were swamped with orders!!!" - Keith A. on his DG Green

"Amp was well received. More versatile than expected.

Not presently playing it properly though as I use just the preamp-out

in an IR player and it tends to easily overload it. Very good job indeed. Thank you lots." - Athanasios A. on his DG Red

"I just wanted you to know I've been using this non stop every day to practice and it is excellent! It is also much more attractive than I expected. The workmanship is wonderful. I know you are busy, so there is no need to respond back. Thank you!" - Jay C. on his DG Red

"Just wanted to drop you a note, that I’m really enjoying the amp. The range of tones is amazing. Plus I can jam without disturbing my neighbors, since I live in a condo. I look forward to seeing the next product from your workshop. Please keep me posted. Thanks" - Dennis V. on his DG Green

"Yesterday I received the amp (Dark Gene). Everything went very well with the transportation as far as I can tell. I can only say that it sounds superb and WONDERFULLY so! What a great tone have you achieved with this little monster! I am extremely happy with the purchase. Congratulations for designing and building such a nice product! Best regards from Sweden." - Jaime R. on his DG Red

"The amp was worth the wait. The name suits the amp quite well, great dark tick but defined tone. I removed od, dist pedals from my board, they are now useless. The tubes protectors are very clever. Also, it was really well packed." - Jo B. on his DG Red

"The amp is amazing!" - Kyle K. on his DG Green

"I got the amps yesterday. Thank you very much. They sound great." - Stephen B. on his pair of DG Reds

"WOW!!! Tryin to find some more words. This device is pure tone and brings back the sounds that I knew from the late 60’s and any and all to today. Smooth and as nasty all you want. A grand slam, 110 yd run back and a triple double all in one. Very very nice. Thanks for such a great pedal and will be cherished by me and the grandkids forever." - Matt M. on his Rare Earth Germanium Device

"I have to tell you this amp is sooo good! I use it for writing, I dialed in a tone that is fantastically inspiring. I ordered the green as well and haven’t even opened it yet. This one sounds so good that I’m running straight into it not even using a reverb device. Just wanted to thank you again for a superb product!" - Jonathan B. on his DG Red and Green

"Thank you !!! The green hands down distortion with string clarity woah!!! On the red I love the black face clean. Both with the Strat. Wow dude. What a color palette!!! Be hearing from me. Really like the octal tweed. Deluxe idea you have ;)" - Garrett B. on his DG Red and Green

"Received the amplifier and have played it a bit and it sounds good! Thank you for sending this out!" - Luther B. on his DG Green

Received the amp and pedal today and have been putting it through the paces. It’s super cool with lots of gain I’m digging it so far and the pedal is awesome as well thanks for all you do and taking care of me I’ll spread the word and thanks again!" - Jim G. on his DG Green and Rare Earth Germanium Device

"Hope you get this email. Just wanted to say this amp took a while to get but was really worth the wait! Very impressive tone, this amp just kicks A**. It’s a blast to play and I plan on enjoying this thing for as long as I can play. It’s perfect for playing around the house at lower volumes, evening hours and at higher volumes sounds just like my JCM. Exactly what I was looking for. Absolutely amazing tone! Thanks again." - Jeff R. on his DG Green

Here is a remarkably detailed report on one of the first rare earth germanium device pedals sold to a repeat customer

"Thanks for getting the pedal out as fast as you did! It looks like mine was in that picture you posted a few days before Christmas. Much appreciated for that! After chasing USPS for a little bit I was able to get the pedal and get it set up.

Impressions:
I've chased the "perfect fuzz sound" for quite a while but has eluded me. I've went through at least 8 different fuzz pedals, all of which left something to be desired. They suffered from flub or loss of articulation. Most just become a wall of fuzz with no dynamics. They also had very little progression in the controls, where minimal turns on the gain or volume would completely change the tone.

Then, I plugged this thing in. And there it was - the fuzz sound I had in my head all this time. With the expander and swell dialed back, it gave a hint of fuzz and a touch of boost. Push the expander more and it starts to interact with the front end of the amp and start to break up in some very unique ways and delivers a mix of natural preamp overdrive and fuzz mix. Its intoxicating to play with. Jump the swell and it quickly goes into a very familiar, "hazy" kind of tone. Regardless of the amount of expander or swell thrown at the amp, it never becomes muddled or loses the character or articulation my playing. Honestly, I cannot get a bad sound out of it.

A side note - one of my favorite artists is Gary Clark Jr. I even have his signature Casino, the Epi Blak n' Blue (picture I took attached). Once I plugged it in, I can say without a doubt I could FINALLY replicate some of those tones of his. Over the moon about that.

While the sonic journey has just begun and I couldn't be more thrilled with it. This will likely become the Franks Red Hot of my pedals....I'm going to put that shit on everything!

And some random thoughts:

Finally some foot friendly knobs. Always nice to explore without sacrificing the back lol
Love the touches inside the back panel (component, sig and serial). It made this pedal and experience feel very personal.
Well done on the packaging. Again, made it feel personal and special. Loved the purple bag!

Thanks again and well done, as always!"

-Andrew S. on his Rare Earth Germanium Device

Reverb reviews

"Hey David wanted to let you know I got my dark gene and it's fantastic, sounds and feels great both clean and dirty I can't stop playing it, Thank you, you're a genius." - Michael C. on his DG Red

"It's better than I expected!! Great communication, fast shipping w/ solid packing!! Buy one and don't look back." - Chris C. on his DG Green

"This thing is awesome! Thank you!" - Aseem G. on his rebuilt germanium fuzz face

"Tone! Tone! Tone! A tiny Marshall with all the chime. Love it." - Kris M. on his DG green

"Great customer service - David replies quickly to e-mails. A handmade amp with excellent workmanship and finish quality. Massive bang for your buck, and it sounds fantastic. You know you want one. What are you waiting for?" - Patrick A. on his DG green

"Wow. What great little amp." - Jimmy P. on his Maestro tweed combo

"Awesome little amp! Extremely well built with point-to-point wiring and terminal strips, no PCBs. Unbelievable for the price. Really flexible EQ to make great tones for any genre. Very pleased with this purchase! Thanks." - Thomas s. on his dg red