Vox Satchurator

Pretty simple. Plug in, find the settings that you like and blast away. Getting the settings absolutely perfect is nigh on impossbile the first time, so lots of tweaking here and there sure helps.

I'm running mine through a CryBaby GCB-95 Wah, to a Randall KH120 head and cab on the clean channel. Guitars are an ESP LTD EX-260 and a Schecter Revenger, Cort instrument cable from the guitar, and Hot Wires interconnects for the pedals. With the gain on full, the tone on 11 o'clock and the volume at 12 o'clock, the sound is absolutely amazing for metal/hard rock tones. It is fairly noisy but this can be controlled with a noise gate (at the sacrifice of some of the tone.)

Seeing as it's not a vintage pedal it will probably last a long time, only thing I'd suggest is buying a power supply for it if you plan on gigging.

Never had to deal with them.

For the price (??60 secondhand) I think it's an absolute bargain. The distortion is leaps and bounds over the Randall distortion. Absolutely ace for metal and hard rock, and if you dial back with the gain there's some nice classic rock tones to be had. If it were lost or stolen I'd definately buy another, without a second thought. Having a decent amount of distortion without sounding muddy is definately one of the things I need as a metal guitarist, and this helps brilliantly.

Easy to use. I did not use the Pad switch, because I don't use a Wah, etc.

I am using a Mesa Boogie F50 amp. I like the Contour setting on Channel 2 of the amp. So I wanted to use the Satchurator on the clean channel to overdrive the tubes, similar to what Satch does.
This pedal sounds good in that situation and is very sensitive to guitar volume. I use a MusicMan John Petrucci guitar and a PRS Custom 24. The JP guitar is so hot that there is not much difference in the tone at different settings. The PRS has more laid back pickups, and it produced alot of nuanced tone.
Satch and Vai supposedly use the DS1 pedal and have patterned their signature pedals on the DS1. So I put the Satchurator and the DS1 side by side to test them. The DS1 overdrives my clean channel and brings out the tubes, but it is more of a classic rock feel. It misses some presence. The Satchurator sounds similar but adds some compression and some shimmering presence.
The More button gives a good lead boost.
The biggest complaint I have with the Satchurator with my equipment is that there is a sweet spot between 3 and 4 on the tone where the distortion turns from great to treble buzzy. Anything less is not there but anything more is too much.

I would but I could probably revert to the regular distortion channel on my amp.

I play classic rock and progressive rock with a tone from classic to modern rock, depending on song.

Easy in one way - only three knobs and a couple of switches. But a bit of a learning curve in some other ways - suddenly your guitar's volume and tone controlls really start to make a difference, even without starting to fiddle with your amp.

I'm playing my Jem555 into a Fender Super Champ XD. Playing straight into the amp itself is fine. Adding the Satchurator makes my guitar's controls come alive. Some reviewers have commented on how overly treble this pedal can sound. The best thing to do is to turn your guitar's tone control down. The pedal makes sure the tone doesn't become dull.

Semms solid as a rock.

Not needed

Wish I'd had this pedal (and the Fender Super Champ XD) when I was in a blues band a few years ago. So responsive and expressive. Just remember the tone and volume controls on your guitar make a big difference with this pedal, not just the knobs on the pedal itself

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