Vox Joe Satriani Satchurator Reviews

Jeff H
from Twin Cities, MN
January 28, 2013Music Background:
Hobbyist

Unique Distortion Pedal with a few small glitches

Forget for a second that this is the Joe Satriani signature model, or that any pedal could make you "sound like Joe Satriani". What you have here is an intriguing "faux"-tique dual switch distortion pedal, which, despite its DS-1 roots, actually produces a somewhat unique tone with a great musical quality for leads.

The box itself is about twice the width of a BOSS device, largely to incorporate the "More" switch, which allows you to jump to a much higher level of gain than the settings currently on you knobs. This is great if you have to kick it into gear for a guitar solo. The "pad" switch is a little less useful - it supposedly should be flipped "up" if you are stacking the pedal after other effects with high output (such as wahs or other dirtboxes). But I didn't notice much of a difference with it on or off. Perhaps it would be more noticeable with larger rigs.

The voicing of the distortion is great - it definitely has a sonic "fizz" to it that is distorted, not overdriven, in character, but it's much smoother/more compressed than other distortions. The primary problem with the Satchurator is that the output is a little on the weakside, so there isn't a ton of headroom for additional volume. This differs depending on the guitar/setup, however, and sometimes is not an issue. Also, the tone control gets to be quite sensitive and is harsh anywhere past 12:00, or perhaps 11:30. On the plus side, it cleans up VERY well with the guitar volume knob, especially with single coils. Very good pedal overall, just maybe not to everyone's tastes.

Brandt
from Chanhassen, MN
January 17, 2013Music Background:
Gigging musician, hobbyist, tone freak. I like rock music.

Amazing!

This pedal really impressed me. I have gone through a number of distortion and overdrive pedals, looking for the right tone. This pedal has, by far, been the best distortion pedal I have ever played. It truly blew me away when I started playing with it. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great distortion pedal.

Casey Woodard
from Buffalo, NY
August 15, 2012Music Background:
Student, Aspiring Musician

Perfect Distortion Pedal!

I have gone to many music stores and demoed almost if not all the distortion pedals there. There has never been one that satisfied me like the Satchurator. Even through a crappy digital modeling amp this is killer, and through a Super Reverb and a Vox AC30 it is the best tone i've ever heard. The controls are very responsive, especially the tone knob. The more button is the best, and there will never be anything else like it.

Gethin
from Philadelphia
May 31, 2012Music Background:
Calling

Get Satchurated!

Great pedal, very versatile, the tones are usable for many kinds of genres...well-built, user-friendly...perfect!!

Shane Lutton
from Salem, OR
May 4, 2012Music Background:
studio musician

Sweet Satchuration!

Hands down... This is the best distortion pedal I've ever used! It's super "clean" and plays well with others :) With this pedal there's no need to jack everthing up to "10" to get a screaming tone... Unless you wanna! This thing has got oomph and body and finesse and personality and a lot of room for whatever you have in mind. It's not tinny or overcompressed... You get big fat tone and using it off your clean channel you retain so much nuance. Get it. You'll dig it.

Josh
from Marmduke, AR
February 12, 2012Music Background:
Hobbyist of 17 yrs

If it's good enough for Joe... #2

need i say more?

from
April 7, 2011Music Background:
Student, Hobbiest

Great Pedal!

This pedal is very good on. It's probably one of the best pedals I've every played on (and I have a massive distortion/overdrive collection). It is a little hotter than the Boss DS1 and has the boost for solos. The only reason I do not give it a 5 is that I cannot have total control of the eq (I like pedals that have a low mid and high knobs so I can dial in on the tone I want), and the gain at its lowest level is a little too hot. Other than these two things, I love this pedal because I get most of the sounds I like when I add my Ibanez TS7 to it along with a compressor and the MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay. I pull sounds from Eric Johnson's fuzzy distorted sound to 'The Real Super Joe' Joe Satriani and Steve Vai.

Mike
from Kentucky
April 3, 2011Music Background:
Have played semi-professionally for 20+ years. Mainly Hobbyist now.

Awesome Pedal, Needs Better Paintjob

I have owned this pedal for about one year. Beautiful sounding gain. The tone knob is only useful up until about 10 o clock for my Fender Strate and Charvel guitars. After that way too thin/tinish. Also the paint is very thin. I had a pedal come loose from my pedal board and just some minor rubbing took some paint off the satchurator.

As others have noted I cannot hear any difference using the pad switch.

That being said this thing really rocks. I don't regret this purchase. If lost/stolen I would replace without a second thought.

RJW
from Yakima, WA
January 15, 2011Music Background:
Musician

Flesh Burner

Smoken hot distortion and the more button is an excellent secret weapon to blow past everyone in the band for that lead solo. Great quality and very easy to use.

Axslinger
from Central Cali
October 21, 2008Music Background:
Musician,Guitarist,Home Recordist and Sweetwater Enthusiast

Hottest Pedal Ever!

This may just be the last distortion pedal I'll ever need. I have an old Marshall JCM800 and this pedal gives me the over the top distortion I've always wanted. It also gives me a great smokey blues tone and clean tone at the same time effectively turning my single channel tube amp into a three channel monster.

It also gives me this incredible feedback at just about any volume.

This being the hottest pedal around and having been just released, the manufacturer was slow to supply and meet demand. But Sweetwater was amazing in terms of customer service. They didn't have one to ship to me initially, but I must have received three phone calls letting me know about the delays. I even got a call after receiving it to see if every thing was good and how I liked the product!

This being my first order from Sweetwater, I was very impressed with the customer service (What company does this anymore?) and will definitely be a repeat customer!

Thanks Sweetwater!

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