Vox Satchurator

A nice sounding overdrive, with typical controls and a pad switch for matching with hot pedals in the chain. Very easy to get a mild to wild overdriven tones -though not a clean boost pedal.

I use a Fender Strat with Texas Special pickups, very standard -this goes through a Vox AC30 amp, plus I use an old Boss ME5 for digital delay. The Saturator is pretty quiet sonically and it can get a very sweet grainey sort of mild overdrive, not unlike a Strat straight through an old '70s Marshall cranked up, then of course you keep adjusting the pedal for more and more complex overdrive -it gets very rich and in your face.

I would say it should be reliable -top build quality

No need yet

Benn playing for over 30 years and I'm playing more contempory covers music at the moment (used to be more old rock and roll and Blues..the Saturator is not really for those styles..maybe ZZ Top blues) so I need a more "modern" sounding overdrive, and this is where the Saturator fits in -and I don't lose the quality of the Strat sound. The sound quality of the pedal is very sweet.

A simple-looking pedal: 3 knobs and a PAD switch. However, i must admit that getting "your" sound out of it is really quite hard. I mean this in the best way i can, but you can spend a really unnecessary amount of time twiddling the knobs. I should add that you get a fantastic buzz when you DO finally get the sound you're looking for.

I'm using the Satchurator with a PRS SE Custom (two Humbuckers) and a Vox AD30VT-XL amplifier. Really, this pedal is exactly what you make it. You want a Satch tone? Dial in a Satch tone. You want heavy, chugging distortion? You can get it. (It might take some time though, see above). I also like that you can roll back the volume knob on your guitar and lessen the gain, it works wonders and many other reviewers have raved about it.

The only problem comes when you "dime" the pedal; it gets fizzy and trebly. However, if you had any sense, you wouldn't "dime" the pedal and you would spend some quality bonding time getting your sound out of the pedal.

I've had no problems so far, and i'm not a gigging-quality guitarist yet. Having had only 6 months use out of the pedal, i don't think i can comment fairly on the reliability.

No dealings so far, although i'm sure Vox are a delightful company.

As what some would call a "fledgling" guitarist, i play quite a manner of styles (although mostly instrumental/rock). This pedal does exactly what it says on the tin: it gives Satch-style tones. I am, on the whole, extremely satisfied with the pedal as it suits my exact needs as a guitarist. However, i would not recommend the Satchurator to somebody who isn't interested into instrumental or "shreddy" styles, as there are better pedals out there for punk/blues etc.

I've compared this pedal to a Boss DS-1 and a MetalZone, and to my playing styles it wipes the floor with both. Given some time to set up, this pedal provides the gorgeous, creamy distortion that i crave. However, it does niggle at me sometimes when i change playing styles and can't get the settings right.

If stolen, i'd buy it up again in a snap, only i'd invest in a quality amp first as the pedal cost nearly as much as the amp i currently use.

Very simple to use, traditional controls.Has a pad switch which comes in handy when clobbering the input signal with other pedals, especially-wahs.

using it with a Ibanez Jem into the satchurator into a keeley comp into a Tech 21 GT2 amp simulator into a Behringer ultra G DI/cabinet simulator into a pod x3 live(delay and reverb)into a Tech 21 Power engine.
This is by far the most quiet distortion ever- unbelievable!
All you have to do is find the sweet spot for your guitar/amp set-up and dial-in the amount of distortion you want. I have the tone all the way down for the Marshall setting and at 9:oo for the boogie setting on the GT2 and it sounds tight, sparkly and lively. The satchurator is set up to sound great even with tone down, in fact it is difficult to clip or get a bad sound. It nails the Halen/Satch/Vai distortion if you have the right amp set-up. I've compared the sound with a Radial Tonebone,Rat,Mxr,but their is really no comparison. this pedal has output but the secret is really the harmonically complex distortion and the more button. the sound is thicker and has no low-end loss when engaged,just rich saturation

Seems very reliable and is a beautifull looking pedal

no opinion

perfect,perfect

You have to spend a little time working with this pedal and your volume knob.Full blow its over the top but its amazing how much you can change the tone and satchuration by rolling your volume knob off a few notches. Set your lead tone, then start backing your volume knob off until you have just enough crunch for rythm. Had the same problem with my Mesa Lone Star. Thought I'd made a big mistake until I started tweaking, then found the amp could do anything (but metal). Same with this pedal. Gave it a 8 because it does take some work to get your sound out of it.

I use this with a Mesa Lone Star and a Orange Tiny Terror (depending on the size of the Bar)with a Carvin DC127 (Ducan distortion in the bridge),88 Les paul Custom (a JB in the bridge), stock Clapton Strat and stock Gibson ES 137. IMHO it sounds much better with humbuckers than single coils, but then again Joe probably dosent play single coil guitars much so it should be expected to sound better with humbuckers. Dont bash it for what it wasnt made to do. My favorite setting through the orange (with the Carvin) is Gain @ 1:00 , Tone @ 11:00 and Volume @ 12:00.(Orange set at 12:00, 2:00 and 1:00) Roll back the volume until you have a nice crunch for rythm and no matter where your at on stage when your lead comes up all you have to do is reach down and turn your volume up. No scooting back across the stage to stomp on a box. I have also had great results with a keely compressor in front of it. It tames it a bit and makes it more articulate if you hit the more button. We cover music from the late 60's to present and i find this pedal seems to work much better for 80's music on. I have my Carl Martin Plexitone and ACtone to cover the early classic rock tunes.

So far,so good ? I Always have back up pedals. You'd be crazy to do a gig without some kind of backup ! No matter how well the pedal performs and is built. Remember Murphy's law.....lol

No need yet.

I have Carl Martin(Plexitone, ACtone and compressor/limiter) ,Keeley mods(Blues driver,TS9DX-flexi x 4 and 4 knob compressor)and a Fulltone GT500. I also use the Vox Big Bad Wah (very versital too), Dunlop cry baby and a Boss DD-20. You can see I have early and classic rock covered. With the Satchurator i now have a articulate voice for modern rock too. It has taken the place of the GT500 on my board if thats any help ? Its also sounds great as a lead voicing on channel one through my Lone Star. So , if you want to sound like Joe it's in there. If your looking for your own sound.....odds are (especially for modern rock)it's in there too. Just remember that volume knob (ever wondered why some guitars come w/out tone knobs but all have volume controls) on your axe of choice is on there for a reason. Start experimenting with it !

It's got 3 knobs and a switch, doesn't get much easier than that...The gain knob does what it's supposed to and it has more than enough gain on tap. The tone knob, in my opinion is really only useful from 0-5. After that, it's a little too trebly for my tastes, but if you have set at about 2 o'clock and use the pedal with the gain on 1 as a boost to a darker voiced amp, it's not too bad. That basically points out that this pedal is very reactive with the amp, and some amps won't like it at all...so try before you buy. Also, the pedal, like an amp, seems to me to respond and get better if it's turned up at least half way. It opens up a lot more then. The pad switch, I guess it does something, but I haven't had an issue where it's really made a difference. In general, the pedal gets Satriani/lead distortion tones very easily, without thinking, but it can be a bit trickier to dial in something not geared for solos.

I use this with all my guitars and it works very well for anything guitar lead heavy. It gets Satch to the letter and will do the other usual suspects with some slight tweaking. I've also found that it reacts very nicely to the guitar's volume. When I roll off the volume on my guitar, the pedal cleans up very nicely. Overall, I think it perfoms great for it's intended purpose...make you sound like Satch, or one of the other virtuosos who do mostly instramental guitar work. Where I've found it to be lacking is when I try to do any sort of rhythm stuff. It wants to solo...

I've had it a year now and never had a single problem with it. It's been gigged with and always performed well. Metal casing and the switches and knobs are all solid.

I'm a big Satch fan and that was a huge reason why I bought his pedal...there, I said it. I had a MIT DS-1 prior to this and went through phases where I thought it sounded ok, but most of the time didn't like it. The Vox is phases where it sounds awesome but sometimes only ok. Tonally, it's very similar to the DS-1 but it has more gain and a bit more open sound to it. It also has a bit wider range for adjustments with the tone knob. I would probably buy it again if it was stolen, but I might also take a look at a few other distortion peals that are out there and in the same price range. The major drawback for this pedal with me is that it isn't the most versitile pedal. It's made to play lead guitar in 80's style music and it does that great, but it's only average in most rhythm settings or other genres.

Very easy indeed - plug & play style.

Been playing for 20+ years, have tried gazillion of various od/dist pedals, this baby really tops 'em all. Crank up the volume, adjust the gain, explore. Can get virtually any sound - from mild gain to over-the-top distortion. The pedal is absolutely quiet - until you hit that power chord, that is! I also own a classic Big Muff and a Tube Screamer - the Satchurator is like having the best of both worlds.
Another bonus: cool chicken-head control knobs.
Have tried it with the Strat and the Les Paul - superb. Amp: Fender Blues Deville 410 Reissue. Distorted tube heaven. Wear earplugs though :-)
But bear in mind: it only becomes Satriani-ish when you want to. You absolutely must fiddle with the controls and get your own sound. This pedal definitely allows it!

The box itself seems sturdy enough. Would use it without a backup.

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Pop-rock, blues.

Very easy to use controls have a smooth operation
only time i needed the manual is to check the operation of the pad switch out

Straight out of the box the pedal doesn't disappoint tried all of my Guitars with the Saturator now Strat ,Les Paul, Ibanez Through a Rat Hot Rodded Harley Benton Valve amp , would say the pedal is very similar to a MODDED DS1 , And one thing would say when i use a compressor with the stock pedal bottom end notes do sound a little muffled , so will give the stock pedal 7 ,
But since changed the stock clipping Diodes(kept them in a safe place) and spent a good day experimenting with all the different diodes i could lay my hands on added a switch and ended up with silicone Diodes one side and Leds on the other which has also improved the Bottom end muffiness loads ,just waiting to try the pedal out with some decent volumes for final verdict But very happy with it so far

Would say i should be reliable seems very well built with good parts no probs so far

No Need as yet

The Pedal is good for Rock Lead and excellent for rhythm , and really love the more switch especially when the Gain knob is dialled back superb , and a serious contender with the Boss DS1 is it going on my pedal board OH YES !!!! WELL worth a go for the money

Easy to use with three knobs and a more switch.

The sound varies alot depending in what channel you are or which channel you are using. I have a Stratocaster into a Peavey Valveking 112. First I was disappointed with the harshness of the sound after tone knob is pushed over 9 when I used clean channel like Joe apparently does. Then I tried it in overdrive channel with practically clean sound and it sounded like the demos in youtube.

Its quite silent even with full gain, but it humms louder in the clean channel.

I play blues and rock and its great for that.

Still working

I play blues and rock which this pedal is made for I think.

The Chicken Head knobs glide, and if I need to change a setting, I can easily do it with my foot. It sounds good right out of the box.

I use this through my Charvel Custom and my Fleshtone amp. This pedal has a lot of grit to it and is very good for rhythm parts. The "More" switch gives it a nice gain boost which is very good for lead parts. What I also like about this is the "Pad" switch which lowers the effect a slight bit so that it can be used with other Pedals(Such as a Wah).

I play primarily Classic Rock such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Van Halen and alot of Yngwie and Vai. This pedal has the versatility and tone quality that I need. The only thing I discourage is the size. I bought this primarily to get rid of my Little Muff Pi and Its is a bit bigger in width. As a result I had to cut out a bit of foam from my Pedalboard to make it fit. But in any case, this pedal is a great addition to any pedalboard.

The 3 knobs are self explaning - the first channel is controllable, the 'More' channel is the full undiluted channel. The cut switch does not work - is this an 'in' joke perhaps?

it sounds awful with my Marshall DSL 100w (clean channel) - it has a mid-range ball od mud which throttels chords - it does sound slightly better with a Marshall 1987 amp.

It will not boost clean sounds but some clean does come thru if you back off the volume (but they all do that right?).

It is not good enough to be a intregal part of my sound - the rhythem is muddy and the distortion is compressed - it does not understand British crunch like most pedals. However I do like it for soloing.
Facit - nice toy for soloing but a real distortion unit would have been better (Hughes&Kettner/Fulltone etc...). eg, could not record with it

Is solid

Only for widdling along to songs in my cellar - not for professional use unless you only play widdling music.