So the effect is made of solid material, so it shouldn't be damaged during normal use. As far as control is concerned, it's simple and the distortion may seem very small to most people, but I'll note that this is not an effect for hard music, it's more of a blues effect. I use it as a supplement to solo passages, it sounds pretty good there, even though it's not the best effect, but for the price it's acceptable for home playing and small bands. But if you want a slightly more expensive blues effect, look at the more expensive ones, but this one is fine for me, I quite like its sound, it's not the worst.