SIB FatDrive

very easy!

it sounds very fat, bright , sparkling
more than chorus, so sometimes i use it instead of chorus
drive knob made your sound very versatile, dynamic
i use it with varidrive
guitar- hotcake -barber burn unit2 - varidrive-fatdrive- honda sound works denchimen amp
so, i can easily make sound of dream theater..
very punch , beautiful drive sound like mesa triaxis sound

foot switch is bad , so i changed it with fulltone 3pdt switch myself

i can't touch with SIB.

i'm very disapponinted with them with customer support.
but, the sound compensate everything...
very very impressive pedal...
its not just pedal but like preamp...
finally ,i found a box for my life

Fairly easy to use. The knobs are EFFECTIVE. Small tweaks make a large difference in the color of the drive. Swapping tubes is easy enough. Takes a little work to get things just right, but it has an incredible potential. It can make amps do things you didn't know possible, and it's pretty easy to make that happen.

I have been floored at what this pedal can do tonewise. It is amazing in front of a good tube clean channel. From light crunch to heavy stupid noise, it's all VERY convincing. This pedal commands authority. There are no weak and wimpy sounds, it's pretty beefy. The best I thing I ever did with this pedal was change the tube. It is a great pedal to test tubes with, because it will tell no lies, and the chracther of the tube is pretty easy to hear, as there is only one tube in the thing, making it a great test bed to "hear" a single tube. I like using 12AT7's or 12AU7's, because you can get NOS ones cheaper than NOS 12AX7's, and this thing still makes a lot of drive even with the lowest gain tubes. The only reason I give it a 9 instead of a 10. The character of this pedal is heavy, solid, present, and rich. Very modern sounding. If you want very true classic Marshall type tones, the Budda Phatman is a better bet, but it is much less versatile than the Fatdrive.

I've had trouble with the footswitch. It is very touchy and intermittent. I need to replace it. I've heard that this part is a common failure point, and the only weak link on the Fatdrive.

I talked to the guy about getting a new footswitch shipped to me. He tool all my info, and said he'd send it out. Never saw it. But honestly, the guy sounded to be in another world, chemically induced, so I don't think he remembered telling me anything...

It's one of the best tube overdrive's I've played, and I've played and owned a bunch of them. Very cool, versatile, and convincing. Put this in front of a Fender Twin, and stand back!

Sure the pedal has its basic knobs but for me to dial in my sound took about 2 hours. But was it worth it!! Didn't need a manual, easy enough to use...straight forward.

It took my about 2 hours two find my sound but am I glad I dinkered! This thing has beautiful tone. Nothing weak about this pedal it has a ballsack that is to be reckoned with. Gave me just the PHAT sound I was looking for. My setup is...Boss TU-2, Boss GE-7 (truly amazing for fine tuning your sound), Barber Ltd Overdrive, SIB Fat Drive and Fender Blues Deluxe 180W. As for sound of my favorite artist...not trying at all. I'm after my own unique tone and it's a killer fat tone but doesn't sound like anybody I've heard. I could play all day of course at the expense of pissing my wife off!

This thing does have a tube but overall is built like a brick house. Very solid and durable. Would absolutley gig with this pedal.

Haven't had to deal with customer support. No opinion here amigos.

I play blues, rock and a touch of jazz. This pedal is awesome and is highly recommended, in my opinion, for someone who looking to enrichen, fatten and deepen your tone. But do take the time to zero in your sound. It's not going to come automatically and the more gizmos in your chain, the longer it will take. Truly amazing.

Works just like an amp, drive adjusts input level, volume adjusts output level. Passive 3-band EQ with bright switch. 1 12AX7 preamp tube. Thats pretty much all you need.

I am primarily a bass player and this thing will make any bass super super warm and vintage like. In some cases it was a little too warm with my custom Warmoth bass, even with the bright switch on. However, this thing is an absolute godsend for acousic guitars. Makes first position chords bloom and takes away any harsh brittleness often associated with most acoustic preamps. Made my guitarists lousy Crate head sound noticably better but definitely works best with a good tube amp. Awesome unit.

Dropped on my driveway once and only dislodged the tube. Chassis is made from thick steel, is about the size, shape and weight of a large brick. Tough rubber feet keep it from wandering. Top notch construction.

Never dealt with them.

Expensive but worth it. Hasnt found its home in my bass rig just yet but when it does, im sure it will be irreplaceable. Very very useful for recording just about any instrument, particularly acoustic guitars. The only thing I wish it had is a cup holder, but im workin on that.

Very easy to get a good sound out of it. Your basic Treble,Mid,Bass EQ. it has a gain knob for input volume and a volume knob for output volume to your amp. Also has a bright switch that makes it more trebly when needed. Works like an amp. So not hard to get around.

I use a Fender American Deluxe Stat into the FatDrive then into a VOX AC30 Custom Classic reissue amp. The unit is not noisy. Just your normal hiss you get from your amp. It produced a bigger guitar sound. It can do this without altering your tone as well. Recommneded use is with a Tube amp with good tubes in it. Works great in that scenario. I use it to overdrive my amp and it does a very good job of that.

Seems to be built like a tank. I don't see this thing breaking anytime soon. Maybe the footswitch. That's about it.

N/A

I play blues based music. Works great for this type of music into a tube amp. It helps to warm up your sound if needed. I've been playing for over 20 years now. Own and have owned lots of pedals. This is a top notch one. I would buy it again it lost or stolen. If you want to hear some of what this pedal sounds like, check out http://insurrectiononline.com. Peace.

As simple as any other stomp box effect.....easy.

I bought this preamp as a direct box for my acoustic guitar (Taylor 714ce) I have tried dozens of things including the usual suspects (acoustic guitar preamp/EQ/direct boxes and various chorus pedals etc...) all in an effort to 'warm' up and give the acoustic a natural tone instaed of the brittle nonsense I was getting running direct to most PA boards. The Fatdrive arrived from Musictoyz with a broken tube rattling around in the chassis interior...at first I was a little upset and then realized I was going to change the tube anyway to a NOS tube (JAN Philips 12ax7 in my case). Once I cleaned the glass debris off of the components and installed the new tube I was good to go. The Fatdrive is absolutely silent in operation (I'm sure some of it is due to the JAN tube) and enhances my acoustic guitar level and tone in exactly the way that I had hoped! The 'bright' switch on the side doesn't seem to add or subtract much to my ears. I run the 'level' and 'drive' at 12 o'clock the bass around 8 o'clock and the mid and treble around 3 o'clock (I'm sure that different tubes will require different EQing) then I run my Fishman pre on the guitar relatively 'flat'(I blend in only a hint of 'microphone' between the two pick-ups in the guitar (mostly saddle PU)) and the tone, feel and dynamics are what I was looking for. I get a lot of compliments on my acoustic sound and owe most of it to the Fatdrive in front of the guitar. Chain: Guitar---Fatdrive---direct box---PA. I tried this in front of my Fender Vibrolux amp between a 54'strat and it definitely adds warmth and FATTNESS....It definitely belongs on the end of an electric guitar chain (right before the amp) But I primarily use it for acoustic guitar and it rocks!

Been using it for 6 months and flawless....

Don't know.....

I recommend it for someone looking for a fat warm sound.

As long as you match the amp signal level w/ the effect level your set to go! Not a complicated effect. This unit is an easy upgrade!! This is a mild overdrive unit. But I think it's best in front of a nice tube amp to add a nice thick class A tube tone to your existing sound that doesn't need more gain.

I'm not using this as an overdrive. I think the SIB Varidrive is what you want if you need more gain. This is just like a preamp to any amplifier. I'm getting a very thick Class A sound now out of my amps. It sounds so good that the clean tone no longer needs a chorus. It's very satisfying! But my high gain tones are killer too. My main amp now is a Diezel Herbert.

Built like a tank!

This is an easy way to upgrade ANY existing tone. This pedal is a keeper! They're a steal at $200!!!! Sounds better than a 10!

I did the 9/16/2003 review below. I'm still using it, it's killer. I'm just wondering if anyone has any idea what unity is for the EQ section. Meaning, where would you set the knobs of the EQ section so that they have no effect on the sound? I might like to boost the mids a tad but would rather have the highs and lows come out exactly as they went in. I'm using it for a volume boost for solos. If you know you can shoot me an email at dblank3@webtv.net. Thanks.

Very cool indeed. Very easy to use. 5 chicken head nobs and one bright switch on the left side. No manual ... but you don't need one. Plug in turn nobs and play. The "volume" nob boosts your sound from the guitar and the "Drive" nob pushes the tone into the amp. The 3 tone nobs (Treble, Mids and Bass) color the sound like having a tube EQ and compressor made spiciffacly for electric guitar and acoustic instruments all in one. (simple discription)

Gibson Les Paul DC > Boss GT-5 (Switching only) > SIB VariDrive > SIB FatDrive > Fender 64 Vibroverb or 65 reissue Super Reverb.

There is no noise from this unit at all.


It boosts all my sounds because it is the last item before the amp
It sounds great with true bypass but it is always on

My VariDrive has been around for almost 6 years with no problems.

One call o Rick 5 years ago. Very helpfull

I play mostly blues and R&B with some country rock. I have been playing for35 years + or - and this unit fits all styles of music.

I also have a rack guitar system = Guitar > Mesa Boogie Formula Pre amp > a TC electronics G Major effects > a Peavey Custom 50-50 tube power amp for Guitar > 2, Fane Loaded (out of an old Hiwatt 4X12 cab), > 2X12 open backed cabs. I may sell this rig because I went back to Combo amps

I love the way the FatDrive sweetens up the sound. I thought the Super Reverb sounded the best of any amp for clean tones but the FatDrive kind of coaxes a sweet tone that is both compressed and Fat (thus the name).

I don't think I could or would want to play without it so I would replace it.

I have had a long career and now finally towards the end I get the best sound. Some of my old fenders from a long time past came close to this (Band Master,

This is the older, non-bright switch model.

I haven't used it much yet. I'm putting it in bewteen my preamp and power amp. I was using a 15 band graphic EQ to sculpt the sound a bit. But I stuck this thing in it's place and holy moley! I couldn't believe how much warmer it sounded! The graphic EQ sounded, as they say "cold & sterile". Tube warmth finally dawned on me. Plus it just sounded bigger. Bit of added hiss/hum though.

i'm not going to rate it, it's too soon. if i'm still using it 2 years from now I'll update.