Frantone Hep Cat Overdrive

2 knobs - Gain + Volume. It will run off a 9v battery or a standard 9v Boss type power supply. Simple and perfect. I've become so attached to the simplicity of this pedal, in fact, that I've sold my Fulldrive II, Sparkle Drive, Green Line, Red Snapper, and Blue Collar.

Very, very good sound quality. Best I've heard with my setup. It is the perfect balance between Tube Screamer and OCD/Red Snapper. I am very happy that there is no Tone control - it keeps me from fiddling with it and it seems to bring out a tone that is more true to my guitar and amp. It also promotes the use of my guitars Tone knob instead, which I have now learned to utilize much more effectively while playing. The pedal is true bypass, but it is also amazing how much my guitars natural tone flows through even when it is turned on as well. Very transparent, clean, and warm.

I use it all the time without a backup. Build quality is great. Knobs feel great when turning them. Battery life seems as good or better than any other OD pedal.

Frantone has always been very responsive to my emails and good at honestly answering questions.

My setup is simple... American Deluxe Telecaster Cherry Burst > Frantone Hep Cat > Fender Twin Reverb. I love it, and am always amazed at the versatility I get out of such a simple setup. I don't even use a boost pedal anymore now that I have the mid-boost from my S-1 pickup switching. I've tried every OD out there, but the simplicity and tone of this thing wins hands down.

easy to operate and getting a good sound.

just 2 knobs for volume and drive.

I didn't get a manual for it, as I bought it secondhand.

My current setup is the following:

1967 CAR Fender Jazzmaster > Krank Cheetah Scream Treble Boost > Frantone Peachfuzz > Frantone HepCat > MXR 6 Band EQ > Voodoo Lab Tremolo > Morley Emerald Echo > Akai Tune Lok tuner > Silverface 70s Fender Musicmaster Bass Amp.

In the particular setup it works very well. Especialy with my Frantone Peachfuzz. When both are used together I get amazing sustain.

Overall, I have to say it sounds quite good. I'd been after one for ages, and the fact that it's been discontinued, didn't make things easy.

I finaly got my hands on it though a few months back, and even though it is a simpler pedal than my Fulldrive 2, it kicked the Fulldrive off my pedalboard.

The reason why, is probably the voicing of the pedal. It adds a pleasant brightness that sounds great to my ear (this could be something others would dislike).

if there's something I wish it had, that would definetely be a tone knob (for a bit of tonal variety) and maybe a boost channel - but that would almost make it a fulldrive!

I think that it's just a matter of the HepCat being better for my setup than the Fulltone is.

The HepCat gets quite fuzzy maxed out on the drive, and has loads of output on it.

I'm pretty sure I could depend on it.

it is very well built.

good components.

still, I'd have a cheaper OD for backup, just in case, in a gig situation.

Never had to contact them for the HepCat.

I did though once for my Peachfuzz (see my Peachfuzz review), and they were brilliant.

Mia rules. :)

I have been playing for 10 years now, and I play loads of different types of music, but my main stuff is Sonic Youth, Dinosaur jr, Lemonheads, Ride, Adorable, My Bloody Valentine etc.

All in all it's a great pedal, and I have no regrets of buying it.

I wish it had a tone pot, so I might try the Brooklyn Overdrive from Frantone.

I'd also like to try the BJF one....I hear great things about it too.

If it got stolen, I would try and get another one, but since the pedal is discontinued, (and it took forever to get this one secondhand), I don't think I'd loose much sleep if I couldn't get another.

Anyway, like they say..."too many overdrives, so little time!!"

Awesome..........two knobs.........volume and gain.....easy as that. Need anything else?? Nope. I like like his better than other boosts/overdrives that I've tried because of it's simplicity. I don't need treb,bass,mid knobs.........that's on my amp. Volume and gain are all I need. I'm a fan of simplicity. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid!!)

Awesome!!! I had looked for a decent transparent overdrive for a long time and found it in the Hep Cat. I only use this with my non master volume amps for the most part. I basically wanted a pedal that push my amp that much harder and not color it with a TS style mid boost or anything like that. I just wanted my amp's sound beefed up a bit. This did the trick nicely. I mainly use it with my Bassman heads (two 66s, 63, 62). I run my amps dimed most of the time, and with this pedal's volume maxed, gain zero..........I get exactly what I"m looking for. Perfect clean boost. It just gives me my amps sound pushed a bit harder. If I need more dirt.......I may turn the gain up to about 9 oclock max............and its just HUGE!!!!! It does add some brightness as another poster mentioned..........but it's good. It makes my leads cut. I love it. I also use it with my Victoria 518 (Tweed Champ repro) to give me that cranked Tweed Champ tone at midnight practice levels. Here I may turn the gain up to about 1-2 oclock........volume to what's needed. It's almost like having a Master on my Champ!! Cool. Love this pedal. Most transparent I've used so far (even though it does add some brightness......but in a good way...not harsh).

I've had it crap out on me once. I only use batterys with it. One day I plugged it and got nothing but a static sound??? Had not idea why. I'd had it for a about 8 months (bought used) before it did this. But, got her fixed at the Frantone shop really quick.

Best company ever. I've emailed them on a Friday night (well actully Sat @ 2 am) with questions and got a reply in 2 minutes. When I had a problem with her.........I emailed an the Mia that responded gave me different shipping options. They prefer UPS to their site........but since I didn't have a UPS drop site handy near work.........she let me mail it to her home. AWESOME. My pedal wasnt' under warrenty so I had to pay 15.00 for fixin........no prob at all. Was done it a day. Had her back a couple days later. I opened the box up and it was signed by Fran on the date serviced. She told me she went over everthing in the pedal. Good as new!! No probs no.........2 months since.

I love this pedal. It's the only overdrive I currently own. Does what I want it to do..........so I can't complain. I usually don't rely on OD pedals for my lead tones........but with my vintage amps.......sometimes I need a boost. This does it w/o really coloring my sound at all. Great stuff. I would but it again in a heartbeart. Unfortunatly the don't make it any more.........so the new Brooklyn OD is the way to go........I hear it does the same tones and then some. Have yet to hear it. Frantone is by far the best company in guitar gear I have dealt with so far. Cheers Fran. I'll buy more of your stuff in the future (please put out an analog delay!!. Other than the hic up I had.........she would be a 10.

two knobs, gain & volume, and both do what you'd expect.

set-up is this:
mexican strat with american pickups,
danelectro mod (6 string version),
japanese squier super-sonic (pretty much an upside-down jagmaster)
any of these played through:
vht valvulator (you need this if you play with as many pedals as I do)->hepcat->wah (I have a few of them)->nobels overdrive->boss ph-3->big box rat->green russian big muff or dano fab tone->akai intelliphase->(whatever chorus, flange or other modulation pedals I'm using)->compressor (boss cs-2 or maxon cp101)->eh holy grail reverb
into one of these:
65 deluxe reverb reissue (gigs), 1970 vibro-champ or tech21 trademark 10

I usually leave of the reverb pedal at the end of the chain when playing with the deluxe and just use the fender reverb in the amp.

the hepcat is KILLER with my strat or with the less-powerful pickup configurations on the mod (dano wires their pickups in series, so some combinations have 2 or 3 times the output of others). I use it mainly for two things... clean boost with just a little dirt around the edges, and to add more high order harmonics to the low-end heavy big muff. it makes a very bassy fuzz like the muff sound just a little brighter, so it still sounds like the muff sound everybody likes so much, but it doesn't get as muddy. I love it... it's kinda washy like wall of sound, but more like my bloody valentine than the sound one usually associates with muff fuzz.

I don't use the hepcat so much with the super-sonic (or any high-output two humbucker lp config guitar) because that guitar can overdrive most lower wattage amps all by itself. for example, practicing through my champ with a high-output guitar, I don't really need any kind of boost (volume knob will do), and the hepcat's bright "clean" overdrive just makes the champ's natural overdrive sound kinda strange, like it's overdriving overdrive. it's sort of like if you recorded a really bright overdriven amp and then played it back through an overdriven champ...

with the deluxe or something like a twin reverb, the hepcat is great for getting the fatter fender-y overdrive without the neighbors calling the cops though... regardless of the guitar.

the hepcat's never noisy, though it does add a little treble at every setting (kinda sounds like a bright switch on a tube amp), so if you're amp is hissy or noisy, you'll notice more of it when the hepcat's on.

I never really tried to get somebody else's sound with the hepcat, but it is definitely very useful for staple rockabilly, surf and country "clean overdrive" sounds. it has far less of a sonic agenda than a tubescreamer, which is fine with me because I'm not particularly fond of the ts sound. I like my overdrive clean with hair on the edges... but not so powerful it's starting to naturally compress.

the only pedals I've found that don't play nice with the hepcat are the more nasty (usually digital) distortion pedals... the kind of pedals that force you to palm mute everything to keep it under control. the danelectro fab tone can sound great through a tube amp (if you're into insane distortion), but with the hepcat's treble boost at best it just makes the distortion too tinny and at worst it's ear-bleed feedback time. you can get some usable tones combining the hepcat with a boss heavy metal, but then the heavy metal is more like a marshally overdrive than a distortion pedal.

to my ears, the hepcat really likes squashy clean compression (a la chicken pickin' with the early boss compressors or a dynacomp) and it certainly likes fender swampthing surf spring reverb.

I like it better with neck pickups because the fatter low end helps keep the hepcat from getting too bright, but I don't think it's bright enough to ever really make any pickup (even a standard strat bridge) sound too tinny.

if you dropped a frantone pedal off of a building onto a boss pedal, the boss pedal might be damaged. if, by some weird stroke of fate the frantone was damaged... see below...

I wrote frantone email to ask about their new cream puff fuzz pedal, and I got a reply within an hour... it was 2 in the morning, and I'm a timezone over from nyc, so it was 3am when Mia at frantone wrote me back. never had to send anything in for repairs, but I've asked a few questions and always got fast responses with sound suggestions, general tips or just friendly comments.

I play geeky indie rock that has one foot halfway in a bunch of genres, but it tends toward loungey jazz, surf and almost-jangley rock most often. the hepcat is useful 90% of the time, and it stays on through a lot of my songs.

I own a ton of pedals and rack effects, and the hepcat is one of the few that is permanent in my set-up for gigging, recording or just messing around. I'd definitely get another if it got lost or stolen.

I've played a ton of overdrive pedals, and the only one I've played that compares to the hepcat is the klon, but I consider a pedal out of my budget when it costs as much as a decent tube amp. like I said, though, I don't like the tubescreamer sound much, so the number of overdrives I'd be even remotely interested in is a lot smaller once you remove all the overdrives in the ts camp.

I give a 9 here and in sound quality because I'm sure it could be improved... I just don't really mind if it never is.

Two knobs. Volume knob provides a decent amount of clean boost. Overdrive knob starts out with zero overdrive (where you'd put it for a clean boost) and gradually adds slight amounts of overdrive. Best built pedal I've ever seen and I own quite a few "boutique" pedals. The footswitch is smooth and solid and the best I've ever seen on a pedal. Why can't more pedals have this switch? Cool battery compartment inside.

I'd describe it as a Tube Screamer without the compression and mid hump. Adds a tad of treble. Kind of brightens up your tone but in a pleasant way. This keeps it from being truly transparent, but I've yet to come across any overdrive that is totally transparent. Nice subtle overdrive that is never over-the-top or fuzzy. Just nice mild tubey overdrive.

I bought mine used and have no fears. Like I said above, I've never come across a pedal that was built this well. Nice and clean inside and just nice and solid.

Well I hear Fran is currently employed by New Sensor (nee Electro-Harmonix). She designed the new Big Muff. She does have a new batch of pedals in the offing so I guess she's still in business and available for help if I should ever need it.

If you're a pedal addict like me you know you're never really satisfied. It's sort of that endless quest for the Holy Grail or Golden Fleece or Naval of the World. I wanted a nice, subtle, natural overdrive that would just add some juice, grit and volume boost to the amps I'm currently using and it does exactly that so I'm happy. I'm not a fan of Tube Screamers and don't like the Fulldrive 2 so I'm happy I could find an alternative pedal like the Hep Cat. It does what I want it to do and looks too dang cool (surf green with big old Sears stereo knobs). That said I'm sure I'll continue to buy more overdrive pedals cuz I have an illness that doesn't allow me to ever be satisfied. All the cats on here who say "my search is over! I've finally found the ultimate overdrive!" are fooling themselves. Check with them a month later and you'll see they're sniffing around for something new. Ah well...

The Hepcat is a very high quality "bare-bones" boutique-ish overdrive/boost pedal. I bought it on ebay. They usually sell for around $100 used but this one was simply stated as "Frantone Hepcat" on the auction title so searches for "overdrive" or "pedal" wouldn't have detected the listing. I may have been the only bidder. Nice and kinda small about 3 1/2" x 2 1/2" but ruggedly deep at about 1 1/2" high. Very easy to use with controls for Output and Gain. Heavy duty metal button click-footswitch and yellow indicator light with sturdy chrome beveled ring around it. No other controls to interrupt your tone. Uses one 9-volt battery or power supply that will be available very soon. Nine-volt access through 4 screws on bottom plate. I've read many reviews with complaints about hard to access battery plates like this but I very much prefer this style. It's very sound and any other design ends up with missing or broken parts. How many used pedals have you seen for sale with "missing battery cover" stated?

This is the ONLY overdrive pedal in a modest price range that I have ever used that does not effect the tone of the original amp sound. Many pedals claim to be transparent and are not. This one defines transparency! I have tried(and still have some)several overdrive pedals including Boss OD-1 & SD-1, Stamps, Voodoo Lab, Tubescreamer, Rocktron Blackjack, Fat Box, etc. and they are great for , thickening/boosting and/or high end roll-off with tone controls, but none simply boost with unaltered tone. I prefer running an amp at not-quite-enough drive and add gain with overdrive pedal. Most amps get too buzzy at high gain. By the way, I haven't tried Klon, Budda, Fulltone or any other $300.00 overdrive pedals as I have a great amp sound and refuse to pay that much for a boost pedal, although I'm sure they are great. I'd rather buy another amp!! Hepcat boost starts at dead zero and can get heavy with a gainy amp. I probably wouldn't use it to distort a clean amp, maybe a clean boost. True bypass switch/wiring. The only reason for rating the sound a 9 is that it will produce a cloudy/hiss sound (on mine,anyway) at medium to heavy gain or output. It's only slightly annoying while not playing of course. Other than that the Hepcat is a wholesome true overdrive pedal.

Very well built. Thick metal casing painted gloss blue/green. Inside everything is clean and high grade. Nice heavy duty battery compartment that definitely locks in the battery and best of all, you can't break any wires loose while changing the battery. Has thick insulated wire and is neatly adhered to the side with plastic mounts with ziptie type strapping.

The VERY best customer support! Frantone is named after Fran, the woman who designed/builds the Hepcat and other pedals. I emailed Fran & Co asking for help with a noisy input jack. Mia was very nice in her responses and they agreed to fix the pedal for the price of return postage only! I had the pedal back within ten days with no noise and a new input jack so neatly replaced! They even invited me to the shop to try out some new pedals while in NY!!

I've been playing guitar for 20+ years. I am very particular with my guitars, amps and sound. I've been through all the guitars, amps and pedals. Amps I'm now using are VHT 45 and Crate Voodoo, mostly with single coil Hamer's, G&L's, and occasional humbuckers adjusted very low (Flying V). Great amps for classic rock sounds(Eric Johnson, Jeff Beck, Blackmore etc.)with effects loops for reverb. They are e.q.'d with high bass and treble starting points so I usually run them with bass and treble near zero. Try it , it's more natural sounding! I've had Marshall's, Soldano's etc. but the VHT and Voodoo are perfect for my style. The Hepcat is a great compliment to these amps and as stated earlier I prefer a moderate amp gain-setting with boosted drive on the floor. Sometimes I wish I could roll some tone off on the pedal, but I have other pedals with tone controls and having it on the Hepcat might take some of the tranparent qualities away. I will definitely consider Fran's other pedals and would replace the Hepcat if needed. The Hepcat has a really cool vibe in regards to size, looks, and most importantly, sound.

Very easy to get a good sound out of this unit. It is a Hi-Fi overdrive pedal, with adjustable gain. Two controls, gain and volume, coupled with a true by-pass foot switch make for quick ease of use and clean transparent overdrive and tube-like distortion.

I use this pedal in a variety of situations. I play through a fender bassman 59 reissue, a 64 reissue fender vibroverb, a fender blues deluxe and an ampeg reverbrocket. I use the Hep Cat to push the preamp tubes into creamy bluesey distortion. In low volume situations I add Gain (ie distortion/overdrive) to emulate my amps cranked. Because the Hep Cat is so transparent, I can use it as a Volume boost, with little or no change to my tone, for solos. It really brings out the Spank in a strat or tele. The pedal adds no noise that I can hear. I don't try to emulate my favorite artists, just be inspired by them.

I have had no problem with the Hep Cat. I have used it for three set gigs, on the whole night, working the sound from my guitar, and had no problems. I don't feel the need to carry a back up.

I have dealt with the folks at Frantone. They are very helpful. I play acoustic gigs as well as Electric gigs, and was using the Hep Cat as a volume boost with my Acoustic guitar. I told Frantone that I liked the sound, but it was a little two brittle for my acoustic rig....within weeks I was handed a proto-type pedal called the "Acoust-A-Boost". These folks listen to what working musicians have to say, because they are working musicians as well! In the meantime, the Acoust-A Boost is available to the rest of the world.

I play in a Funky, Bluesy Roots Rock Band (the normals). The Hep Cat provides me with great boost for solos, and helps hot rod the front end of my amps for dynamic over drive. I have been playing since 1970, professionally since 1980. I own a mess of stuff. 90 strat, 70 tele, custom guitar by Jeff Hostetter (tele style with 2 p-90's, aforementioned amps, plus a handful of goofey solid state amps, a Bluett Mandolin, washburn Mandolin, wacked tenor guitar, Fender Jazz bass special, Alverez Acoustic guitar, Victor Parlour acoustic Guitar, Guild Acoustic Guitar from 72, Gibson j45 from the 60's, Handmade Guitar from German Luthier Jurgen Volker, An Old Trombone, Every pedal known to mankind ( I am a Self professed "PEDAL-PHILE")including Ibanez tube King, Tube Screamers (three), Mostortion, Compressors, DoD delays, Small stone,and on and on and on.....I also have a home studio....... I would buy another one were mine stolen. I love the over all tone of the pedal, the colour is cool (seafoam green) and it is built like a tank. It could use a tone control, but I tend to do alright without it.