Vox Satchurator

A signature collaboration between the legendary Joe Satriani and Vox, The Satchurator is housed in a durable, sparkly crimson metal case.Two modes labeled ON and MORE, along with Drive, Tone, and Volume controls that affect both modes. Circuit is pure solid-state analog, utilizing a familiar classic distortion circuit with a few tweaks according to Joe's specifications.

A "pad" switch is also included, which is described by Vox as a way to maximize dynamics of bright guitars or effects placed before the Satchurator. I run my setup fairly dark, so perhaps that's why I noticed no audible effect on the tone when it was engaged.

Controls are Creme-colored Chicken head knobs, allowing for precise positioning and a classic look. LED's are reasonably visible, though perhaps not on an outdoor stage during daylight hours.

UTILIZATION

The setup of this pedal is extremely simple. The Satchurator, like all Distortion or overdrive effects, is best run in front of the amplifier (as opposed to in the effects loop). GAIN controls the level of distortion in the pedal (though let's be clear, gain is usually not equivalent to distortion), TONE controls the amount of treble response, and VOLUME controlling...you guessed it... the volume of the signal at the pedal's output. In this way, it's set up much like a certain classic yellow distortion pedal for which it is reputedly designed after.

SOUND QUALITY

I tried the Satchurator through the clean channel of an Egnater Renegade 65 head using a Charvel So-Cal Model 1 with stock Dimarzio Evolution/Tone Zone humbuckers. The Satchurator does not appear to color the tone of the guitar and amp when bypassed, and when engaged it dishes up copious amounts of distortion and harmonics without changing the base tone of your setup.


The MORE switch enacts an instantaneous boost of distortion, which is most evident when the Gain is set at noon or below. This allows a nice instant-access setup to crunchy rhythm tones and searing lead tones without adjusting the gain. When the GAIN is maxed, however, what I encountered was a slight push over the edge which resulted in too much distortion that compromised clarity and cut.

The Satchurator has the ability to be EXTREMELY bright, so judicious use of the TONE control in conjunction with your amp's own treble settings is mandatory. Bright switches are the enemy here.


OVERALL OPINION

The Satchurator is tremendously versatile. Dialing back the GAIN control elicits some classic plexi-like sounds, while cranking it brings out the Satchurator's true intended nature, reproducing Satch's classic precision high gain tone with a mere hint of fuzz.
The pedal exhibits a rather scooped midrange, which may not be favorable for fans of mid-heavy, overdriven Marshall-style crunch. The pedal does, however, a fine job of illuminating cleanly laid, virtuosic single-note and lead passages, lathering on the sustain and harmonics that helped make so many of Joe's compositions memorable.

For those who value dynamics, the Satchurator has the uncanny ability to render its effect almost inaudible, even at full-bore, when the guitar volume is rolled back. When I turned down the volume on my Charvel, my tone sounded almost completely bypassed. I was thoroughly impressed.

One as-of-yet unmentioned point of versatility with the Satchurator is how altering the difference between the TONE control on the Satchurator and the treble control on your amp's EQ effects the feel of the pedal. Rolling back the treble on my amp slightly and boosting the pedal's TONE control gave the pedal a more top-end aggressive, modern feel, whereas rolling back the Satchurator's TONE control and boosting my amp's Treble control rendered a more classic feel reminiscent of classic 80's Marshall amps.

Build quality of the Vox Satchurator is respectable given its price point. I was amused, and slightly bummed, however, to find that upon removing the bottom plate, the footswitches that appeared heavy-duty on the outside gave way to springs that triggered tactile switches on a mounted circuit board. No Carling switches here, folks. But don't let this deter you. If one of the switches ever goes out, or if you desire something more road-worthy, the switches and board are easily replaceable with proper, heavier-duty switches that will accept the flying leads coming off the main circuit board.

Overall, the Vox Satchurator is an excellent pedal for the price, offering capability, versatility and portability for those who want inspiring rhythm crunch, coupled with blistering throwback high gain tones all in one low-priced package.

* Analog distortion pedal designed under the complete supervision of Joe Satriani
Controls for Gain, Tone and Volume

* ‘More’ gain boost switch enables two footswitchable distortion sounds in one pedal. This gain boost is dramatic when gain knob is set low, and is a subtle solo boost when gain knob is set to maximum.

* ‘Pad’ switch pads down input to allow for high gain pedals (such as modern wahs) placed before Satchurator. Up is pad ‘ON’. Down is pad ‘OFF’ for full Satchurator effect.

* High gain, low noise design provides vintage to modern distortion sounds

* Dynamic circuit is highly responsive to rolling off the guitar’s volume and preserves the guitar’s high end when the volume is rolled off.

* Cream chicken-head knobs for precise positioning and high visibility on dark stages




UTILIZATION

Very easy to use, it's a distortion pedal with 3 knobs, a pad switch and 2 switches. One is the on/off switch, the other is sort of a boost function.

The only slightly difficult thing about functioning this pedal would be the pad switch, some people may not know what it's for without reading the manual, but it's basically just to lower the input level to match other high-gain type pedals you'd have in your chain.

The more function as I mentioned is like a boost and pretty much just overall boosts the previous settings you'd already have set on the satchurator and add more harmonic content, more volume and a tad more gain.

SOUND QUALITY

This is where I'm a little skeptical. I'm not a big fan of Satch's tone, though I love his tunes. I've found this pedal to be very dynamic as it's stated, pick attack is key to change the dynamics. It also cleans up decently as a distortion pedal. The more button is almost always on for me since it brings the pedal over the top and sounds aggressive but great!

The sound however is where I think this pedal falls short. It's a very bright pedal, just starting with the tone knob at noon I get a very ear-piercingly bright distorted sound, any further and it would become completely useless and sterile. I had to tame the tone knob a lot to balance the sound. This is most likely just the nature of the pedal which is fine, but doesn't suit me, but may suit others that have dark sounding amps. Therefore this pedal is generally too brittle for me. I can see it working well with either a dark amp or maybe a downtuned guitar that demands clarity when playing rhythm.

To me, generally this pedal sounds like a modified ds-1, a more dynamic ds-1, but still has the same general bright character and modern-type distortion. I know satch has been a long time user of the DS-1 and maybe he's gotten so used to it that this has been reflected in the satchurator.



OVERALL OPINION

overall it's a very dynamic pedal, yet very bright. And like I stated before, reminds me of a modified ds-1. Which some people hate and some people love. It's definitely a modern type of distortion, not vintage. However, it still sounds like a pedal, though a very good one since it's so dynamic, but not very amp-like. And I am not a big fan of the overall tone.

Is it satch in a box? Probably. Is it the best distortion pedal ever? no.

The Vox Satchurator is a distortion pedal that was designed together by Vox and guitarist Joe Satriani. The pedal is made up of analog components, with 1/4" connections for input and output. It requires power from either a nine volt battery or power supply, and isn't going to be rackable as it's a foot pedal.

UTILIZATION

It's not hard at all to use the Vox Satchurator, as the parameters are ones that you'll find on virtually every distortion pedal. There are a few added features, but nothing that isn't more or less self explanatory. The pedal has three knobs for gain, tone, and volume, as well as two buttons for engaging the distortion and another labeled 'more' for adding, you guessed it, more volume to your sound. The pedal also has a pad switch for helping to compensate level wise to match pedals put in front of the chain. I haven't had a need to look at the manual for this pedal, so I can't speak to it's worth.

SOUND QUALITY

The Vox Satchurator is a pretty powerful pedal as it's got a huge sound. You can get a nice array of tones with this pedal, all of which are quite thick and huge sounding. Of course they say that the pedal is supposed to give you a sound like Joe Satriani's, but realistically, that's not possible unless you're Satriani himself. Having said this, I can certainly see the resemblance between this pedal and Joe's sound, as it's a very rich distortion with a nice amount of low end presence, much like Satriani's signature sound...

OVERALL OPINION

The Vox Satchurator is definitely a pedal worth knowing about and trying, whether you're a Joe Satriani fan or not. Certainly fans of Satriani will take a liking to this pedal more than others, but it's a great overall pedal that can be useful regardless of your personal opinion on Joe Satriani. It's probably a bit overpriced, but still not too bad considering the great sound. Definitely a must try for Satriani fans and beyond!