Dino’s Guitars Rust Box Pedal Review

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Recorded with a Steinberger ZT3 and a Mesa Boogie Rectifier

Italians have always seemed to possess a knack for luxury and a hint of the exotic. It is apparent in the vision of Alessio Casati and Andreas Bagnasco, the luthier duo of Dino’s Guitars. The long-time friends from Savona, Italy have dedicated themselves to the Italian tradition of craftsmanship manufacturing custom guitars, speaker cabinets, and hand-wired pedals since 1995. Dino’s Guitars Rust Box overdrive/distortion is the flagship of their pedal line. It’s housed in a lightweight aluminum chassis and assembled using a mix of PCB and point-to-point construction. Features include dedicated Bass and Treble knobs, as well as Drive/Gain and Master Volume controls. There is also a three way mini toggle switch that selects between three distinct levels of distortion for a nearly endless combination of distortion types, ranging from just a hint of crunch to a flat-out searing drive that any metal junkie would love.

Rigorously tested with numerous guitars and amps, the Rust Box showed great diversity: it performed exceptionally well with single coil pickups on a Fender Stratocaster, a Dano ’63 Reissue, and a Burns Steer Cutaway, all through a Fender Deluxe. The Rust Box also worked well on a ‘73 Fender Jazz Bass and an early-seventies Hagstrom Swede bass. The Treble and Bass knobs helped tailor the Rust Box to each instrument without over-coloring the instrument’s personal character.

All in all, the Rust Box is a very well built overdrive/distortion pedal capable of a great variety of flavors. If you are looking for an all-purpose box, it definitely warrants a closer look. – SS

Buy If...
you’re into a great overdrive unit with lots of tone shaping.
Skip If...
you’re on a tight budget.
Rating...

MSRP $260 - Dino’s Guitars - dinosguitars.com