The Hammertone Distortion is a single-footswitch analog distortion pedal built around a Fender-designed circuit. It covers a range from light drive to heavy crunch. Active Bass and Treble controls give up to 15 dB of boost or cut, and the footswitch is true bypass so the signal is left untouched when the pedal is off.

Inside there are two trim-pots for preset adjustments: a mid-range trimmer that adds bite and a tone control that rolls off very high frequencies to calm down a bright amp. The enclosure and hardware are metal, and the knobs carry the Fender F logo in a custom-color style.

Input and output jacks sit on the top edge of the case, which saves space on a board and gives more routing options. The pedal runs from a 9-volt battery or a center-negative AC adaptor; the adaptor is not supplied. The finish is gray with orange accents.