I bought this pedal for use in my project studio.  I wanted some creamy overdrive and increased sustain for my Strat.  It's a good pedal, but it does require a little finesse.  If you turn everything up to "11," it sounds pretty bad--harsh and abrasive.  By backing off the output ("volume" knob) from the guitar, you can get some good rock tones, at a variety of distortion levels.  Want it a little grungier?  Turn up the distortion.  A little edgier?  Turn up the tone control, to increase the treble.  Use the volume knob to control your levels into your amp or mixer.  Simple.  Just don't max out the guitar output going into the unit, and you'll have tons of tonal colors to play with.  I'm running the pedal as a DI box, straight into the mixer, with some outboard compression from a rack mounted unit.  Makes some very sweet sounds.  Very easy for recording.  But one caveat: This is pretty much for lead guitar, only.  It's too grungy for chord work.