View other reviews for this product:
nickname009
Published on 05/17/11 at 16:56
* 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.
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.