Pigtronix OFO Disnortion

amazing, amazing distortion pedal....
i got the pleasure to get this pedal before it comes out and am really impressed.
I've been using 4 distortion pedals on stage for the longest time, (big muff, rat, sansamp, and a zvex) and this pedal pretty much eliminates all of that.
very easy to use... has three different pedal switches, fuzz, overdrive, and octava.
one at a time or all three... the sound is huge... and i really like the tonal possibilities with thei pedal.

great, great tone for days.
you can switch from just fuzz, with 6 different tonal switches from high pass to low pass and everything in between,.... than click on the overdrive to kick in the balls.... than click in the octava for even more balls... great for metal.
kick ass

very reliable
very well made
comes with a great padded box

David at pigtronix is great,
he'll fix anything.. and if he's free, he's down to mod things...
haven't had to get it repaired, and don't think i'll have to

i play in a band called Dub Trio... it ranges from dub/reggae to punk/rock, and metal,
and this pedal does it all.
rocks through and through..

All in all its a very easy pedal to use. There are a few quirks to some of the shape modes for the Fuzz section that you just kind of have to memorize but all of them sound good so it doesn't matter really. Pretty much anything you turn on will be a perfectly usable sound, but because of the sheer amounts of tonal flexability you do have to do a lot of knob twiddling before you get the "one" you are looking for...but the sound is definetly in there.

The manuals are excellent and personally written and offer tips and suggestions the way you would pass on a good sound to a friend.

I am using this pedal with:

1998 US Fender Strat or 1981 Gibson ES-335
Tube screamer
Digitech Whammy
Handbuilt Tonebender Clone (built by Dave Koltai)
Fulldrive Fulltone 2
Line 6 DL 4
Pigtronix EP-1
T.C. Electronix G-Major
Dr. Z Maz 38 or Polytone Mini-Brute II

Even with the other pedals, the pedal is extremely quiet. Like i said before, all the sounds are pretty usable in live situations. Usually i use this through a tube amp like the Dr. Z, but i frequently use it thought my polytone and it really "tubes-up" a solid state amp better than any other kind of overdrive i know of.

There are definetly a lot of great sounds in this box. For the most part i just use the overdrive portion just warm up a solid state amp or just give my notes a little bit more girth. The thing that REALLY stands out about this pedal is the dynamic fluctuation and dynamic sensitivity of the overdrive section. If you play lightly its extremely clean and even but if you really dig it it can pick up a LOT of dirt even if its just on the overdrive section. I use the Fuzz a considerable amount too. Since it can work indepentant of the Overdrive and in parallel (and thus not clouded) by other channel. it works well mixed in subtley mixed in with the overdrive to make a good full high gain oveerdrive. Mixing in more of the gain or level of the fuzz will reveal a very powerful grinding kind of tone that is great for big rock riffs.

The Fuzz is set up with a Shape knob that gives you 6 different settings of filters. They are: bass, mid-scoop, treble, smooth, F.A.T, and Full Range. Experimenting with the each one presents many options for different genres. Although you can get a vintage fuzz tone out of it (usually using the treble filter shape) but it is definetly a much more modern sounding pedal overall. Even with the Octavia, which is in many ways a "throwback" kind of effect, it has a decidedly modern sound, especially when playing consonant intervals like major 3rds, perfect 4ths and 5ths and octaves. Playing dissonant intervals like a trione cause sounds very close to that of a ring modulator. Using the Octavia side in solo is also an interesting sound, which when used on bass can curiously give the effect of a biting moog sound (think Headhunters). Additionally there is a clean out which can be used as a sidechain out for the EP-1 Envelope Phaser (as it's intented) or to a tuner etc.

I have never had it fail on me in any way, nor has any of the other pigronix stuff for that matter.

I have and would take it alone without a backup.

The customer support is extremely detailed from finding a good sound to performing modfications and repairs if need be.

I havent had any problems with it at all.

I play all kinds of music, from shoegazer riff rock to bebop. For the most part i play a kind of jazzy improvisational rock music.

I have been playing guitar for about 11 years.

If it were stolen i would definetly get another

I love the fact that it can really act as a convincing tube emulator which can really get the same kind of response from dynamic performance and i love the sheer pallete of tonal options it allows me to have on the fly. There isn't much about it i dont like, except that just becouse of the gain it allows, you can let yourself get a lot louder than any other distortion pedal ive seen so you just have to be careful. Then again, if your goal is to get really loud then you can definetly use this pedal to achieve that. In all honesty it sounds great even at low volumes though.

I wish it had some kind of expression pedal options

It definetly helps me make music, especially in the studio.

Plug in and start having fun; but for maximum effectiveness, you'll need to dial in the proper settings for your guitar and playing style.

Absolutely awesome. Dial in a Nuclear distortion sound that'll curl the hair on a dead, bald man when you hit the strings and will be as silent as a grave when you mute them. Perfect for staccato rhythm tracks. Now you can easily record the crunchiest guitar without having to mute or gate the track because your pedal is adding noise when you're not playing. Also has a very nice, pop rock style, Jason Falkner Fuzz setting. My favorite setting though might be plugging in the Ibanez Jazz guitar and adding just a touch of authentic distortion and fuzz when I really dig into the strings. With a lighter touch the tone remains perfectly smooth and bell-like, so depending on how hard I hit the strings, I get everything in-between. Much more responsive than any other pedal I've played.

Since the pedal is brand new I haven't had a chance to drop kick it across the stage, but it sure looks to be built like a tank with standard, heavy duty switches, rugged knobs, and a heavy, metal enclosure.

A small, friendly company that personally answers their email. I begged to get one of the first ones after hearing it at NAMM earlier this year, and David at Pigtronix made it happen.

Take a little time to check out this pedal at your local store. There's something here for everyone from metal crunch, pop fuzz, and authentic blues/ jazz fuzz. Since I dabble in all of these styles, this pedal really replaces quite a few wants from my list. I've spent a fair bit of money on boutique pedals over the last two years, but this really holds its own in terms of sound and even has a few sounds that would be difficult to achieve with any other device.