Suhr Riot

The Suhr Riot is a high-gain distortion pedal made by Suhr, first shipped in 2009¹. Suhr describes it as "a versatile high-gain distortion pedal with the sonic characteristics and touch sensitivity of a high quality 100 watt tube amplifier"²³, and says it became an early success by letting players "transform a clean amp into a versatile Classic Rock tone machine"¹. The current version carries the identical circuit and tone of the original Riot circuit², at a $249 street price as of late 2026².

The Riot family has grown over the years. The Suhr Riot Reloaded added 30% more gain than the original Riot and a three position voicing switch with Classic, Modern, and Scooped settings⁴⁵, the Suhr Riot Mini put the circuit in a smaller enclosure⁴¹⁶, and the Suhr Riot Reloaded Legacy Edition reissued the Reloaded circuit at $199¹. This page covers the full-size Riot itself.

The controls

The Riot keeps its control set simple: three knobs and a three-position voicing switch. Suhr describes the voicing switch as offering "a few different voicing options"⁸, and each position selects a different diode configuration in the clipping circuit, which is where the three distinct characters come from.

The three voicing positions are where the Riot's range lives:

The left position is the one that rewards rolling back your guitar's volume: Suhr's description of it as dynamic and organic means the pedal cleans up as you turn the instrument down, the way a cranked tube amp would. The middle position is the modern rhythm setting, and the right position leans into a vintage high gain character.

For starting points, Suhr's manual gives three sample settings⁹:

Note that Level and Tone stay at 5 and 7 across all three, so the Drive knob and voicing switch do most of the work.

Power and connections

The Riot runs on a 9Vdc center negative supply with a 2.1mm x 5.5mm barrel connector, or on an optional internal 9V battery²³. The operating range is wide, 4V to 18V with 9V nominal, and the maximum is 20Vdc². Current draw is a modest 8mA², so it is easy on a pedalboard power supply. Reverse battery protection and over voltage protection are both built in².

Plug your guitar into the input jack and your amp into the output jack; connecting a cable to the input jack powers the pedal up³. Tap the footswitch to engage the effect, and the LED lights to show the status⁹. If you run it on battery, unplug the input cable when you finish playing to conserve it, since the pedal draws power whenever a cable is connected³.

The FX Link jack

The FX Link is a 1/8 inch mono jack that lets the pedal's switching be controlled from an external switch, pedalboard, loop switcher, or any other custom interface²³. Shorting the shield to the tip activates the pedal, and opening the connection turns it off³. Maximum voltage on the FX Link is 3.3Vdc²⁹.

A small slide switch sets the power-up behavior³⁹:

• Left (toward the FX Link jack): the pedal powers up in the OFF state³
• Center: the pedal is switched remotely via the FX Link jack, and powers up OFF if the jack is not used³
• Right (toward the Power jack): the pedal powers up in the ON state³

If you want external control, the switch must be set to the center position⁹.

Bypass

The Riot is true bypass via a relay²³. Suhr says the relay allows the remote switching and battery monitor features, and that it produces less popping when switching the pedal on and off than a mechanical bypass would²⁹.

Where it came from

Suhr shipped its first Riot distortion pedal in 2009¹. The company describes the original as an overnight success that let players turn a clean amp into a classic rock tone machine¹. Gearnews called it "a great mid- to high-gain '80s-inspired distortion pedal"¹⁰, and their writer, who owned a full-size Riot for years, said:

The Riot was one of eight distortion pedals compared in a That Pedal Show episode in February 2018, alongside the Boss DS-1, ZVEX Distortron, Bogner Burnley, Thorpy FX Warthog, MI Audio Super Crunchbox and Keeley DS-9.

The line expanded from there. In 2013 Suhr announced the Riot Reloaded, built by tweaking the original distortion circuit for 30% more gain, aimed at hi-gain rock, metal and drop tuning, in a spiral-faced enclosure anodized in deep saturated purple, at a $200 MSRP⁴⁵. In 2018 the Riot Mini arrived at NAMM, keeping Level, Tone and Distortion controls plus a two-position voice switch that selects the two most popular diode selections from the original Riot¹²¹³. Pete Thorn, who demoed both, noted that apart from the switch, the Mini and the full-size pedal are "basically identical"⁸.

In his demo, Thorn ran the pedal through a Suhr Bella 1x12 combo at moderate volume to show a real-world scenario rather than a loud amp, and demonstrated the full-size Riot's three-position voicing switch against the Mini's two-position version⁶.

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How the versions compare

The Reloaded's tone control was modified to emphasize upper mid frequencies for what Suhr calls a sweeter, more cutting tone without sounding harsh or fatiguing¹. Suhr also notes that the Voice switch on the Reloaded may have less effect at lower gain and tone settings⁴.

Warranty

JS Technologies, the company behind Suhr, warrants the pedal's workmanship for the lifetime of the initial retail purchaser, with electronic components such as capacitors, resistors, filters, transformers, jacks and pots covered for 5 years; the warranty applies to customers in the USA³.

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