INTRODUCTION
Like amplifiers and guitar pickups, there are so many distortion pedals on the market that a person can invest thousands of dollars in the pursuit of the ‘ultimate tone.’ The type of distortion also is in question as what is good for classic rock in the 1960s is not quite the same as it was and is for music of the 1970s, 1980s, etc. And certainly a pedal made for Metal can vary significantly as well, since there are various styles of Metal and Metal tones, ranging from Glam Metal, Thrash Metal, Nu Metal, Power Metal, Progressive Metal, etc.

Having experimented with many pedals, I couldn’t quite find the sound I wanted for my ‘heavier’ compositions – rectifier pre-amps and simulators came close. Then a Hungarian custom guitar/bass pickup developer brought to my attention a YouTube video and my immediate response was “that’s it!” And the ‘it’ was Palmer’s Solid Metal Pedal (one in a series of the company’s ‘Root Effects’ lineup).

I heard of Palmer, but only in passing due to the excessive advertising and recommendations of American-based manufacturers in North American music gear magazines. An interesting aspect of Palmer is that in 1980 the company began as a repair and customization depot used by musicians who wanted or needed technical expertise beyond what most manufacturers offered. It was that personal research and development insight from the consumer’s perspective, and the custom work Palmer did as a result, that stimulated further adventure for Palmer into the manufacturing industry. Now this elite boutique builder of 10 employees is developing pedals, amps and other electronic devices of the highest caliber.

What further drew me to the quality and sound of Palmer’s Solid Metal Pedal is that so much modern Prog and Thrash Metal emulates from European countries, both East and West... music that tends to be more cutting edge, as of late, than what has been emerging from the USA, Britain and other countries. And considering Palmer is German-based, they are up to their elbows... knee deep... and in the trenches of technology and European Metal mayhem.