dinos guitars

Dino’s Guitars Dynabox Pedal Review

A hybrid booster designed to enhance the tonal and dynamic properties of your guitar.

Dino's Guitars Dynabox
Download example 1
Recorded with a Burns Steer Cutaway and a Fender Deluxe
Continuing their commitment to exceptional tone and craftsmanship, Alessio Casati and Andreas Bagnasco have created the Dino’s Dynabox, a hybrid booster designed to enhance the tonal and dynamic properties of your guitar. Like all Dino’s pedals, the Dynabox features a lightweight aluminum chassis, mixed PCB and point-to-point wiring and true bypass switching. The controls are a single Gain knob and a mini toggle switch that varies between a clean tone with a hint of compression and a bit of crunch.

Placed between a Vox AC30 and a recent Fender Stratocaster, with the gain set to 9 o’clock and the mini-toggle switch on the cleaner setting, the sound took on a nice compressed punch that worked great for both funk-style rhythm and country-style chicken picking. Switching the mini-toggle to its dirty side unleashed a nice hint of breakup that works great for classic rock and blues.

The Dynabox brings out the character in different instruments impressively. It reacted particularly well to single coiled instruments: a Strat, a reissue Telecaster, a ‘63 Dano Baritone, and even a vintage seventies Fender Musicmaster Bass. Unfortunately, the Dynabox was a little muddy when coupled with humbuckers, and wasn’t able to get completely clean in either setting. With a hair of treble boost on the amp, though, the lack of clean actually made for a nice alternative overdrive sound.

Though it’s a more dedicated pedal, the Dynabox could be a nice addition to your overall sound. If you’re looking for a booster with a lot of headroom and its own character, check it out. – SS
Buy If...
you want a booster with a lot of headroom and a little bit of grit.
Skip If...
you need a booster that gets super clean.
Rating...
3.5
MSRP $170 - Dino’s Guitars - dinosguitars.com
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Dino’s Guitars Rust Box Pedal Review

Download example 1 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.

Dino's Guitars Rust Box
Download example 1
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...
4.5
MSRP $260 - Dino’s Guitars - dinosguitars.com


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