LunaStone Distortion 1

The LunaStone Distortion 1 is a compact, all-analog distortion pedal from LunaStone, built for hard rock tones. LunaStone describes it as a pedal that "merges a burning-hot amp stack with a classic distortion and squeezes them in to a small chassis," and says it sounds huge even through small combos¹. Where the company's TrueOverDrive pedals push a clean amp into breakup, the Distortion 1 is a step up in dirt: a dedicated hard rock pedal that LunaStone says resembles the classic tone of iconic shredders such as Eddie Van Halen².

The pedal was previewed at NAMM 2018 alongside Red Fuzz 1, Blue Drive 1 and Smooth Drive 1, with an expected arrival in shops during the Spring of 2018 at an expected price of approx. $199³. Guitar World later listed its street price as $199⁴.

A hard rock distortion with an amp-stack voice

LunaStone positions the Distortion 1 as "a classic Hard Rock bastard" that offers "a massive, yet classic, distortion sound for hard rock guitarists and psychedelic shredders alike"¹³. The amp-stack framing is more than marketing language: Pedal of the Day heard the Distortion knob moving through "differing levels of Marshall stack-type sounds, from a crunchy overdrive to ballsy, heavy metal-ish tones"⁵.

In LunaStone's own demo video, shred player Hovak Alaverdyan plays the brand-new pedal through an Orange Rockerverb 100 MKIII and a Mesa Boogie Mark V, both on the clean channel, using three guitars with various pickup configurations: an Ibanez Jem, a Fender Stratocaster and a Mayones Regius Core 6 Custom⁶. The idea is that the pedal, not the amp, supplies the high-gain character.

Pedal of the Day called it "this orange monster" and found it works with both pickup types: "Hit your amp hard when using single coils, and absolutely crush it when switching to humbuckers"⁵.

The controls: Volume, Tone and Distortion

The control set is the classic three-knob layout, which Pedal of the Day summed up as "The controls are simple: Volume, Tone and Distortion"⁵.

The Tone control is the one LunaStone singles out. The maker says it "has an extra wide range in order to give you the opportunity to dial it in to fit your" rig, running from closed-sounding settings for heavy riffs to high mids with a cut-through voicing that pushes a lead tone through the mix¹. Pedal of the Day agreed, writing that the Tone knob "really shines here, useful for heavy riffs and full-on high mids with 'cut through' voicing, pushing your lead tone through the mix"⁵.

Why the knobs are angled

The three knobs sit in a diagonal layout rather than a straight row, and that is deliberate. LunaStone says the Volume and Drive knobs are accessible by their edges so "you can tweak them on the fly with your foot"¹. Pedal of the Day described the benefit in practical terms: "By having them on an angle, they're easy to reach with your foot, allowing you to control the Volume and Distortion parameters" mid-song⁵.

The same layout runs across the LunaStone line. Reviewing the TrueOverDrive 1, Guitarist Magazine's Trevor Curwen noted "knobs thoughtfully placed in a diagonal configuration with the intention of making them easier to tweak with your foot" on stage⁷, and in a demo video Pete Thorn pointed out the knurled knobs "are really easy to turn with the side of your shoe if you want to"⁸.

Power and switching

The Distortion 1 runs on either a 9V battery or a standard 9V DC center negative adaptor, which is not included, and draws 75mA¹. That current draw is worth noting next to low-current overdrives: a battery will empty noticeably faster in this pedal than in a simple boost.

Switching is true bypass, so the pedal drops out of the signal path entirely when disengaged¹. Guitar World's Paul Riario confirmed "Both pedals feature true bypass operation and a rugged Soft Touch footswitch" in his review of the Distortion 1 and Blue Drive 1⁴. The soft switching uses a relay, so the footswitch engages the effect without an audible click¹.

From the TrueOverDrive to the Distortion 1

The Distortion 1 did not appear from nowhere. LunaStone's line began with the TrueOverDrive 1, an overdrive built on the maker's cascaded gain stage approach and on the backbone of its most popular drive, Big Fella, using high-quality components⁹. The TrueOverDrive pedals are designed to push an amp into natural breakup.

The Distortion 1 takes that same philosophy into higher gain territory. LunaStone says that dirt-wise "this is a step up compared to TrueOverDrive 1 and 2, but with the same true approach to creating a sound that" responds to natural playing². In other words, it is aimed at players who want the distortion character in the pedal itself rather than relying on an already-cooking amp.

The pedal was one of four new LunaStone effects previewed at NAMM 2018, alongside Red Fuzz 1, Blue Drive 1 and Smooth Drive 1, with the maker expecting them in shops during the Spring of 2018 at an expected price of approx. $199³.

What reviewers said

Published reviews were positive. A reviewer characterized the Distortion 1's overall character as⁴:

Paul Riario, Guitar World⁴

Pedal of the Day reviewed it in October 2018 and found the three-knob format and the angled layout practical, concluding that the pedal works with single coils and humbuckers alike, from hard-hitting amp push to a searing, powerful punch⁵. German online magazine Bonedo published a pure sound demo showing the pedal's clean sound and then playing and tweaking the controls¹⁰.

For context on the maker's reputation, Pedal of the Day's review of the Red Fuzz 1 noted that it "retains the quality that these guys are putting out in their effects" build quality¹¹, a view consistent with what reviewers found on the Distortion 1 itself.

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