Satchurator is Good !

[Big Hary]

Hi Guys ,
Without intention to buy it , but in local store (in SA , Joburg ! ? ) they have it on stock .
So, they give me it to try at home ,and if I don't like it ,to bring it back .
So,I didn't brought it back,I keep it !
Beautiful, noiseless , fantastic OD and booster pedal,however you might name it .
I put gain on just a little bit more than minimum ,tone as well,volume on 12:00 , and it sound like best compressor actually , very defined , rounded and smooth .
Just click on "More" button ,and I have a best OD ,booster ever, and immediately can make feedback if I want .
This thing DOESN'T change a nature of original tone ,this is the most important,tone stay the "same " ,just compressed , OD-ed and distorsioned (hope you understand this English ? )
More,one can use it with hottest gain channel in his amp,no harshly sound ,no uncontrolled microphony no sh..t ...
Very balanced and manageable device .
But,don't dial tone and gain too much , it can be very unpleasant , too sharp and shallow harshly surprise.
So ,I don't understand why they make pedals with such an unwanted high range , so I must keep tone and gain all the time on minimum ???? (not only Satchurator,ALL THE PEDALS ARE LIKE THAT , Boss D1 is the best example , it works only with tone on minimum ....)
But anyway ,this pedal is pure beauty,you'll not regret if buy it .
Thanks Satch and Vox (next time make it more in deeper sound level ,and you will save some money in production on electronic elements generating high range of sounds we guitarist don't need , who did told you need to do that ? ha ha ha .....)

Cheers,
BH

[jkos]

> So ,I don't understand why they make pedals with such an unwanted
> high range , so I must keep tone and gain all the time on minimum ????

Must be the rest of your setup as I've got my Satchurator tone at about 11 o'clock and it sounds just great; very smooth. Anything less than 9 o'clock sounds really muffled to me.

Anyways, I agree, the Satchurator is VERY good! I'm very excited by the tones I'm getting from it. I would say the number one characteristic that I like about it is that it retains definition even at the highest gain settings. Go ahead, throw your neck pickup at it with the gain maxed... It won't get muddy.

Here's my take on this pedal... Full of tone variations, quite versatile. Stays very well defined even at high gain; even on the neck pickup it doesn't get anywhere near muddy. Very touch sensitive; it can go from almost clean to mean w/o touching any knobs; variations in playing technique really come through. Very nice, rich harmonics without being at all harsh. Pretty darn low noise for the level of gain.

- John

[Valhalla]

I have to respectfully disagree with you about it not being muddy at higher gain settings. Try palm muted riffs on the bass strings. No definition whatsoever, just fuzzy mush. Turn on the More switch and it's even worse...It's a great lead pedal, but it certainly cannot do metal/hardcore rhythms or anything requiring tight palm muted chords or bass notes. At higher gain settings, it's more akin to a fuzz pedal like a Big Muff or Skreddy Mayo. I can certainly nail early Smashing Pumpkin tones easily.

[jb4674]

Originally Posted by Valhalla

It's a great lead pedal, but it certainly cannot do metal/hardcore rhythms or anything requiring tight palm muted chords or bass notes. At higher gain settings, it's more akin to a fuzz pedal like a Big Muff or Skreddy Mayo. I can certainly nail early Smashing Pumpkin tones easily.

The pedal wasn't designed for metal/hardcore rhythms.

Jimmy

[Valhalla]

Originally Posted by jb4674

The pedal wasn't designed for metal/hardcore rhythms.
Jimmy

Never said it was. I was just trying to make my point that IMHO, the Satchurator does not have clear note definition for certain things at the highest gain settings.

[jkos]

> Try palm muted riffs on the bass strings. No definition whatsoever, just fuzzy mush.

We will just have to agree to disagree. I'm not having this issue with my setup. I noticed in your review you made a comment about it being a bass heavy pedal ("I'm not used to such a compressed, bassy distortion... "), but I'm just not getting the same impression from it.

It should be obvious the guitar and everything else being used makes a difference; so, for the record, I'm using a '91 JS1 with the stock, original pickups. As for what I'm using after the pedal, I've tried numerous setups and haven't experienced what you describe.

- John

[Valhalla]

Originally Posted by jkos

> Try palm muted riffs on the bass strings. No definition whatsoever, just fuzzy mush.

We will just have to agree to disagree. I'm not having this issue with my setup. I noticed in your review you made a comment about it being a bass heavy pedal ("I'm not used to such a compressed, bassy distortion... "), but I'm just not getting the same impression from it.

It should be obvious the guitar and everything else being used makes a difference; so, for the record, I'm using a '91 JS1 with the stock, original pickups. As for what I'm using after the pedal, I've tried numerous setups and haven't experienced what you describe.

- John

Bah, maybe "bassy" wasn't the right descriptor there...I'm using a JS 1200 with a Mo Joe (higher output) thrown into the bridge, through a Peavey Classic 30 with minimal effects and only the Satchurator and BBE Sonic Stomp going into the front of the amp. I know I can get very tight sounding (no fizz) palm muted riffs with this set-up no problem using either the amp distortion alone, or even better with a Boss SD-1 to overdrive the amp distortion a bit. The Satchurator CAN do tight palm muted riffs, but only if the tone control is at approximately 12:00 and beyond, and tone is sacrificed big time as you lose a lot of low-end thump and gain a lot of treble-y, thin harshness....That's been my experience anyways. What kind of amp are you running through? Try A/B'ing the Satchurator with a good OD combined with your amps pre-amp gain and see if there is a difference. We definitely have a similar set-up as far as guitar and pedal goes, so maybe it's that we have different subjective definitions of what defines a tight, chunky, palm muted tone...To each his own. Maybe I'll post up a vid this weekend comparing these differences utilizing some power chords and maybe something like the intro to Fives by Guthrie Govan...

[Devo]

Been playing round with my satchurator through my classic 30. Guitar wise Ive tested it extensively with a JS mongrel with Air Classic Bridge and PAF neck, and a 7DBK with breeds and an RG2020XTB with Air Norton and Air Zone. and less so with a UV7 Air Norton PAF.

I A/B'd it with my Keeley modded DS-1 and the amps own drive channel. The satchurator is a little more full sounding then the DS-1, I think the sound is less focussed, in that there are more harmonics going on and its also very very responsive. Gainwise it can achieve 95% of what the keeley can do. Its tone dial has a shorter and much more usefull range. with everything from 9 oclock to 12 o'clock being very musical. The keeley only went from about 10 till 11 in my opinion.

The boost button is incredibly handy so much so that the keeley was left at home for the last few rehearsals.

fantastic value pedal, best DS pedal out there in its price range by far.

[axemanrio]

I've had mine for less than a day and couldn't test it at a decent volume last night, but right off the bat the Satchurator sounds tonally and harmonically rich. My first impression is that it's perfect for instrumental and classic rock... a completely different flavour of distortion from a stock DS-1 or my monte allums modded DS-1.

[Gwalchavad]

When he was in Portugal i had the chance to interview him.
I asked about it and he said that would be a really nice and affordable pedal.I havenīt the chance to test it, but soon as i can i will.
I have to thank all of your opinions, cause will help me a lot when i do the review to the magazine.

And its amazing itīs cheaper than an Ibanez tube screamer lolol!

[Blamkol]

Satchurator works great on the low input of my old Laney Pro Tube with the tone boosts engaged, (even when palm muting, not that I do that often...) but on the clean channel of my H&K Triamp it sounds too fizzy for my taste. Effect pedals are just a part in a chain of gear. Guitars and amps matter also, and playing style and picking techniques. Some overdrive pedals need to be 'fed' with strong/forcefull picking, others don't need that.

The Satchurator is a much better distortion than the Jemini, IMHO, and in my particular situation.. Still haven't decided on the 'pad' switch on the Satchurator, though.

I do not care if the pedal is made by Vox or Behringer or anyone. If it sounds good for my taste and is reliable, I will use it. (I dont use any Behringer, by the way..)

[Chewie15]

Oh man, I just bought a Jemini but after reading more about this one I'm kind of bummed.... I might have to return it if it doesn't live up.

Has anyone done a side by side comparison? Maybe even filmed?

H

[uglyfuzzface]

i have both and they are completly different . The gemini sound great for overdriving an amp that is already slightly distorted i found it to be very transparent adding very little colour to my sound and only increasing gain and sustain , i have many vintage and new pedals and find it hard for any of the pedals to be as transparent as the gemini , on the other hand its not that great as a stand alone pedal , so if you need your distortion from only a pedal the satchurator is the better option ( i prefere amp distortion with a boost better ) now as i said the satchurator sounds better than the gemini for distortion if your amp is clean , dont get me wrong the vox still makes a good boost pedal but slightly colours it more than the ibanez . If i had to have one pedal that would be hard to choose as they both do things great but in a different way , the satchurator maybe the best choice as it can be used as the only distortion unit if you only had a clean amp or it would still make a great boost pedal ,so for many it would be more versitile .If i just needed a boost pedal i think the gemini has the edge . Both are fantastic pedals , thats why i have them both ......

[Chewie15]

Thanks for the scoop! Since I've already ordered the Jemini I might just have to pick up the Satchurator down the road... they both sound like they make a great attribute.

H

[Gwalchavad]

Well tried it...like it...and the pad switch...is hard to know if, its working or not lol!
And yes im going to byu it....

Lets see when the time machine comes out...