Saturday, November 1, 2014

Pigtronix - Fat Drive

Pigtronix Fat Drive

The effect pedal has become almost as big of part of a musician as the guitar itself. With such a huge ton of Reverbs, Delays, Flangers, Overdrives, Distortions and Wah's it really is hard to know what is best for your style and budget. Digital effects have been taking the world by storm and have been getting more crisp and more of a analog sound to them but many artists are very much loyal to analog effects. Many musicians use a vast array of effects to spruce up there sound and tone while some just need a pedal to add a bit of sparkle. There really is no wrong thing to do when it comes to your tone and trying new things can always unlock new sounds.

Pigtronix is second generation of American boutique pedal makers. They have jumped to the front of the pack in many ways with using high end components and designs gigging and studio musicians drool after. I have tried out and used a few different Pigtronix pedals over the past few years and had nothing but great success. Today we are going to talk about the Pigtronix Fat Drive.


Features

100% Analog wide range overdrive
Multi-Stage Tube Emulated Clipping
Passive LPF Tone Control
True Bypass Switching
Voltage 9-18v DC
Current Draw 38ma @ 9v 120ma @18v


Layout

Volume Knob
Gain Knob
Tone Knob
Hi/Lo Gain Switch  



Sound

The Pigtronix Fat Drive has only a few knobs but loaded with a massive tone. Using the 9 volt battery feature a musician can take a bit of time and dial in gritty blues and southern rock to a brilliant classic rock with a full bold sound. When plugged in using a 18 volt power cable the pedal takes on another whole brilliance, It is almost like a whole new pedal in its own rights. Taking a bit of time I can get a nice rounded southern rock all the way up to a bold hard rock and even metal tone. The Fat Drive really can satisfy the Ibanez Tube Screamer fans supplying the same crispness and tight end guitar players worship. It is very hard to really put into words to explain how versatile this pedal is but using what I can I will say Bold, Brilliant, Heavy, Bluesy, Gritty, Tasteful and Full. I would recomend using a noise suppressor with it like all overdrives/distortion pedals when cranked all the way up cause of unwanted feedback etc. This pedal is a lot quieter with the unwanted sounds then most of this style of pedals I have used.




My Opinion

Pigtronix has really hit a home run with this pedal taking all the great parts of many great pedals over the years and stuffing them into a small analog stomp box that will thrill even the most picky of players. From just needing a bit of boost or needing tube sounding saturation this pedal is one of the greatest I have ever used. I am one of them players that love to play everything from blues to brutal styles of music and this pedal has me covered on all fronts. Stomping this to make distortion a bit more robust or taking your clean channel and adding a bit of spice is easily no problem with this pedal. I have run this pedal with many other style of pedals and it blends very well what can sometimes be a issue. The price is also appealing cause pedals that usually cannot do half of what this one does usually can cost twice the price.


Contact
www.facebook.com/pages/Pigtronix/113556637539
http://www.pigtronix.com/



                                                                            

1 comment:

  1. Home run and score with the bases loaded Jon! You really hit it outta the park with this one!

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