Demon FX Pedals: Are They Any Good?

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[smooth_jazz_escola]

You have to keep in mind that the original pedals are practically inaccessible to third world musicians, and China is doing a great service by giving us the opportunity to get to know the most famous circuits. I bought an AT-DS clone myself and from what I've seen in the rewiews, it comes pretty close in both sound and build. So, that's all, Chinese manufacturers have been looking better to third world musicians, who deserve attention for being great artists too!

[TheUltrawideGuy]

This is not a comment on your video at all, but people always cite the ethics of buying a cheap clone. Yet the ethics of large companies that are allowed and accepted to charge 100's of dollars for these pedals are never questioned. Often a lot of these pedals are made in the same factories as the clones themselves, which are sold for a fraction of the price. That's before we even mention that a lot of these big brand pedals are often just modded versions of circuits that someone else designed in the first place or are clones themselves.

Friedman are hypocrites, they themselves rose to prominence selling Amps that were essentially Marshall clones. So they based a pedal on one of their amps, an amp which in itself was basically a modded Marshall clone and then get upset when someone sells a clone of their pedal that in itself was based on the sound of a circuit that they modded from the sound of someone else's design. STFU, there are two types of people that but a cheap clone. The person who buys the clone and likes it to then eventually buys the real deal or the person who was never ever going to pay that much for the OG Friedman to begin with. So basically they are upset that someone who could never afford or would never buy their pedal has access now to that similar sound. These people would never have bought your pedal to begin with!! That's why they bought a £50 clone. If not they would have just bought someone else's £50 pedal instead anyway. There are many companies that sell great pedals at reasonable prices like TC Electronic, NUX or Electro-Harmonix but some companies just want to price gouge plain and simple.

I have no sympathy, I will never shed a tear over big business being undercut by smaller players when big business are the ones with all the margin.

[marce]

i have the king of drive and it sounds really good. Definetly recommended for the price. i own lots of boutique ones but this clone is very well done.

[WilDBeestMF]

From what I have seen, Demonfx are WICKED good clones. I can personally vouch for the Microtubes A7K. Obviously a clone of the B7K. It's near perfect.

[Paul_Lenard_Ewing]

Mosky and Demon pedals are the same company. Both are under the Moogoo umbrella. Moogoo has from time to time made forgeries. I think the Demon branded pedals are a happy middle ground. According to Josh Smith of JHS and Dave Friedman they are not breaking any laws and at best can be seen as having a lack of integrity. Demon and Mosky handmade pedals do not dumb down the parts or build but do substitute parts. Keep in mind ALL the good German, Japanese and U.S. parts are made in China. They are no longer overly pricey. Even the best parts are not more than a couple of bucks retail. Wholesale in bulk they are often even less than a buck. A tech told me having the Mosky Browne and the Wampler Pinnacle apart that only 2 key parts were different. Mosky substituted them with a brand that he pays more for then the one in the Wampler. The other change he noted was that Mosky changed an exact same part and brand with one that would give you more level on the output. In layman's terms you can get the Wampler to go from zero to 10 but the Mosky goes from 1 to 11, LOL

[scottconnors]

I do love the fact most all these so called boutique pedal builders ripped off someone's circuits and revamped them and now there pissed it's happening to them..tonebenders, fuzzfaces, etc etc...bite the bullet....

[mykneeshurt]

Your playing sounds great. Love the songs you come up with.

[bluesdude]

I recently took delivery of the King of Drives pedal, I haven’t had much time to give it a good tryout but what I did hear I liked.

[adamstein]

How the hell did I miss this Video! Curious about these but will honestly just ask if You’ve demoed the R revv clones) and if You had to choose, this Freedman or Joyo Uzi and R3 or Dark Flame! Thanks Robert You Rock!

[mattshuggah]

I just got the Demon Fx 33 Boost based of the Fortin 33 literally the day before it quickly got pulled from the US market, I gotta say I'm quite impressed.

[SxSxG]

Considering the fact that they're usually as expensive as the real deal at the used market I rather buy the original. But I guess It's a good option for those who can't access any used gear.

[scottconnors]

There's a internal trim pot on the freedman, can really crank the gain or back off trimmer and get more clean od tones...I love mine got it for free...alot versatility w the internal trim pot

[Marimba]

I have a number of shameless Chinese clones, including three of the Demonfx ones (BE-ODx, BB Pre-amp and their King Tone Duellist copy, the Dualgun), and can honestly say they’re cracking value at the price. Yes, they may feel a bit cheap, and the hardware will likely give way before it would on the genuine pedals but they sound good and that’s what matters. The BE-ODx and Dualgun sound fantastic, actually. The BB wasn’t for me, so much…

In respect of how shameless they are as clones, I’m in two minds; sure, I feel for those companies who have had their intellectual property “borrowed” (to be euphemistic, although imitation is supposedly the sincerest form of flattery 😉), but if you don’t have easy access to the genuine pedals, or frankly the cash, these are a great way to make some decent sounding noises.

There are also so many KoT clones out there, it would be harsh to pick only on Denonfx: 68 Pedals, Joyo, LY Rock, Tone City all do them, to name a few, in some shape of form (I keep telling my mate, who is on the 3-year waiting list in England for a KoT to grab one in the meantime).

Put it this way, I watched a ton of vids on the BE-OD but, being locked-down through the pandemic, I really didn’t want to spend £200 “blind” buying something I’d not actually tried out with my guitar through my amp. Instead, I spent £35 on the Demonfx BE-ODx…It confirmed my hopes for the Friedman so I bought one of those too. Everybody wins: Demonfx, Friedman and, most importantly, me 😁

Great vid as ever dude; if you keep making them, I’ll keep watching 🤘

[cptdoobs]

I purchased a Demonfx d7K (clone of DG b7k Ultra) due to being interested in the original, but not really feeling the Darkglass was a reasonable purchase at over 400 bucks. It sounds incredible, and matched all the features. I was so impressed with it, I ended up buying an actual Darkglass Alpha Omega. I know its just anecdotal but Darkglass would never have been able to get any of money at such a high cost. The clone proved it was worth it.

[johnsonbat]

The King of Drive is amazing. Never played the KoT but it doesn’t matter as the tone from the KoD is killer.

[bobibobik]

IMHO they are good as ''original'' and sometimes even better, i saw that Demon fx use better pots and capacitors in some cases.

[pdxtom]

Great video review.
I just ordered my "Freedman" OD from the big "A" and look forward to getting my hands on it. I would not have known about it without your review so thanks!

[MuriloVicc]

About ethics, I think is not ethic to sell a guitar pedal like friedman be od by the price of 2 months of hard work in latin america.

[drydreams]

Demonfx! Demonfx Demonfx ! Best brand in the game I replaced all my boss pedal with them better version at lower cost great sound and quality construction

[tubularbill]

Thanks for reviewing these pedals. They are pretty cool.