Vox Satchurator

3 knobs (Gain/Tone/Volume), 2 footswitch, 1 padswitch
very simple to use....like how hard can it be??

manual was pretty helpful with the specs

Setup

Ibanez RG570(Dimarzio Pickups)>Vox Satchurator>MI Audio Crunchbox>Boss ME-50>Digitech Digidelay>Randall RG50TC

its a relatively very quiet pedal, only noisy when gain is set @ full and more switch engaged. This is probably the best distortion box i ever heard and it sounds so versatile for almost any kind of genre except Heavy/Death Metal and Jazz. it has a fuzzy but rich sounding distortion but when gain is set halfway, it sounds like a vintage tubescreamer. SO its very much in between DS-1 n TS-9 but still has its own character. Tone is very sensitive and this pedal can make u not only sound like Joe Satriani but also classic rock like Jimi Hendrix, Led Zepplin, Cream (Early CLapton)

i agree to the fact that it can sound thin but this pedal is definitely giving the user a very clean distortion. U cant expect it to sound overly fat since its analogue n transistor. if u want fat sound, buy a tube pedal or amp OD but don complain of muddy either cause u cant have both worlds.

this pedal sounds best with some delay or if just used alone. Chorus is nice too but i prefer it with delay only

Seems tough n well built but the paint isn't tough thoo. i somehow chipped it without knowing how it happened.

Get a backup for this one.....in gigs its likely to get stolen

talk to the hand

Good match with the genre i play (Hard rock, classic Rock, blues and 80s rock/metal, Worship songs, Shred)

Been playing for 4 years and i also have tried DS-1, TS9 and other distortion/fuzz boxes and this one did stand out to me for i trust Satch's ears. Thank u

i really love the distortion, it should have been out on the day i started buying pedals (sigh). Its cheaper than many boutique pedals out there and yet to me, it sounds better. REALLy great value for $$$

i would buy it again anytime

Very easy to use.Gain,tone and volume along with a "pad" switch that works with any pedal you might put ahead of it.Two foot switches,"on" and "more" exactly what they do.These are smooth,silent switches,no click or pop.

Ive run this into a Budda Super Drive 18 with a Taylor solidbody and a Rivera Quiana Studio with my favorite,a 1988 Fernandes Revolver, neck through body,loaded with Seymour Duncan pickups.Fairly quiet set up.Both these amps have clean and overdrive channels and unless everything was on overdrive,{the amp,the pedal with both switches on,}there was not a bunch of hiss.When you did kick everything on you need to be playing hard because it will get very active at that point.There are a few comparisons to Zen Drives on this review.I also own one and love it but they are not for the same purpose.A Zen is a overdrive unit that truly has a incredible range of rich tones.It will not put out the type of distortion the Satchurator does.The Satchurator does a great smooth controlled distortion that will hold notes,scream chords or just go to a total break-up.A little knob twisting on my amp and there was no thin sound to me.This pedal does what they say it will and much better than a lot of others I have played through or owned.At least try it if you can find one,{what is going on with Vox and Ibanez talking January 2008 release for products that still aren't out or are trickling in?}

Seems to be well built,not fragile.Always have some type of back-up.

No need yet,hope not to.

Play anything that suits my mood,makes me happy or gets rid of some aggression,LOL!Mostly blues based material on into Vai and Satriani,{go figure..,}Jeff Beck,Santana,Leslie West,Tommy Bolin.Rory Gallagher,Clapton,Ronnie Earl,Robben Ford,{there's that Zen pedal again.}The list goes on,{Ive been into this for a "few" years...}I like this pedal.It puts out a good sound without a lot of playing around with it and the "more" button does just that,gives it a good kick!

3 knobs, 2 footswitch, 1 pad >.<

Pls read the manual b4 using which it came very helpful
its so easy to use and if u struggle with this, OMG damn u're slow

MADE IN JAPAN!!

I'm using it with a Randall RG50TC
IBANEZ RG570 with dimarzio PAFJoe+Mo Joe>hey its not only Satch's pickups but the most versatile set i've heard in my entire life

Setup :Guitar>Boss DS-1>MI Audio Crunch Box>Vox Satchurator>Boss ME50>Digitech Digidelay>amp

its a relatively dead quiet pedal even when i dial in on 10 it still shines but yes, to some its fizzy or muddy. but the fact that this pedal sounds so organic n analogue i could easily play hendrix's music with it. i like it cause i always had digital sounding distortion/overdrive from pedals and this one.....well sounds so organic

i'm a huge fan of Joe Satriani's sound so this gets me close but still the way u sound is also in your fingers and style of playing. Still i love it.

This pedal blends very well with almost any effects u put ahead of it n with it. Its nice. It doesn't cater too much for metalheads but for blues/rock, alternative it does the job nicely. The MORE switch comes in very handy esp when u dial back the gain for softer dist. it really kicks in!!

Pair with tube amps for better sound (if u can)

Yea....seems tough. i wud try buying a 2nd in case it gets nicked in a gig. Realiable for almost any genre

Havent tried them but their distributors are nice

I play blues, rock, Christian worship, heavy rock, shred/wanking (watever u wanna call this) and some pop once in a while. M

i really love this pedal. i agree that it can 'clone' the user but if u have your own style too, u should be fine by all means. don expect this to be a overly/tube fat sounding pedal cause its not. its transistor analogue fat sound. this pedal would work well with almost any guitar IMO and its very inspiring sounding. if stolen, well sad but anyway life goes on.

i chose this over the Ibanez Jemini cause its analogue n its cheaper which i'm glad. i compared this also to the Ibanez Tube Screamer (TS9) n i still prefer both the sound n price tag of this baby.

Would like it cheaper.....Can u guys @ VOX drop it to US$50? LOL

Very easy to use - much subtlety with a small shift in the knobs.

THis gives you instant Joe - or Stave Vai - or any of that ilk.
Thats great - if that what you want.
When compared with a ZENDRIVE however - the Satchurator come up thin,
especially in the higher note range.
Single coils seem to derive more benefit from this pedal
than humbuckers.
TRhis pedal is great, quiet, and built solidly - but it is very generic.
If you are trying to establish your own voice - move on.
If you want to sound just like the shred guys, you are in luck.

It seems very reliable.

Have not needed it.

3 knobs could not be easier

This is my second review... I have now used it extensively in practice and 1 live gig and it is awesome. It does not get hot as I had it on for 6 hours straight during some rehearsal and practice time. It is very quiet, and with the gain at about 3 o'clock, when I roll off my guitar volume it cleans up wonderfully. At full gain with the "MORE" switch on, there is no feedback or warble when I cut the strings with my palm during some start/stop action in one of our heavier tunes. Normally I am rolling the volume down and then up, but this pedal allows me to keep it open. The "MORE" switch is the coolest thing I have ever used. It just gives you MORE of the same sound you have going without adding a harshness or unwanted tonal quality. I love it. The tone knob seems to be the secret for me, going from a bassy side to piercing treble. I tend to use it based on the room I am in and have found I use slightly different settings depending on that situation alone. I use 7 string guitars at standard pitch and this pedal keeps things from getting too muddy. If you are looking for Pantera or heavier type of distortion this is not the pedal, but for everything else in a distorted world this pedal really has a ton of sonic capability, and I must say, 99.9% of it is workable...a first in a distortion pedal.

So far so good...

Haven't had a chance to use it and I hope I will not.

The price point alone is huge on this pedal. Keep in mind it is made in Japan, not some other far away place. I tend to have the best luck with pedals made there although the better English or USA made pedals have done well for me. I will buy a second one of these as soon as I can find one to have as a backup and to simply have because I think these pedals will be highly sought after for a long long time. I am a Satch fan and enjoy instrumental rock music tremendously, but that had zero influence on my purchase. In fact, I stay away from signature series anything if I can. I really think it sounds that good and I am sure Joe or whoever spent a lot of time coming up with this pedal and making it work for guitarist's that just want to drive the front end and that's it. It is really a killer pedal and I cannot say enough thanks to whoever designed this thing. I have been waiting for a pedal like this for 15 years. The only piece of gear that has impressed me more is a Roccaforte Jenelle 80/100 head. What reminds me of that head in regards to this pedal is how well you can clean up your sound by simply rolling off your guitar's volume. The most dynamic and responsive distortion pedal I have ever used, period.

Very easy to use. Could not be simpler
yet - there is a wide range of versitlity with small changes
in the 3 knobs.

The sound is harmonically rich - very musical and dynamic.
For me however - I have gotten used to playing through a
ZENDRIVE and the Satchurator does not sound as real as the Zen.
The Satchurator is a great pedal if you really want tons of
distortion. Compared to the uniqueness of the Zen, the Satchurator comes up very thin, especially in the higher range, and a bit cheesy
and generic sounding. It has instant Marshall Plexi tone.
Also - I got far more usefullness from a Strat than from a Les Paul.
The single coils seem more affected than humbuckers.
If you want real over-the-top distortion, and classic Marshall tone - you will probably like the Satch.

no opinion - no problems, but it seems very well made.

no opinion - no problems

The MORE button is totally Joe's sound.
if you want that you will love this pedal - if you are trying to
establish your own voice - it will leave you sounding cloned
like so many others.

Easy, but you have to dial in the tone knob correctly.

The sweet spot is 10-11:00...if you go past 12 it can get super fizzy fast and loose all tone. Therefore, unlike Brassear who slamed this pedal - all you have to do is dial in the rest of the eq band with either your guitar tone knob, your amp or eq pedal. If that still does not do it for you , then get an eq pedal or something like an Xotic RC boost pedal with treble and bass to round it out. Good to have anyway.

Its easy to use, but you do have to find the sweet spot for your gear and when using the more button. For example, on my strat neck pickup I can't go past 12:00, but on my tele neck I can go to 3:00 or 12:00 and kick on the more button.

You will be much better off to lower your pickups with high gain and use lower gain pickups at least for strats IMO. For me, I need to put my lollar blondes back on my strat to see how these handle gain. Best pickups I have found so far for toneful high gain. My fat 50's are fairly muddy. If Everything at 10:00 is a very nice tone indeed.

Excellent tone - Thick and crunchy when dialed in correctly.

Using Strat, Tele thru new Fender Champ 600 (with RCA blk plates and preamps), Tweed deluxe and Fender Custom vibrolux Reverb. Review is from 600 only. Using holy grail reverb pedal. Very quite pedal the satch..

I was looking for a mild to moderate blues tone - no problem. I dont use the super high gain for anything yet, but to mess around with. . Sweet spot to my ears is gain 0-2:00(depending on guitar), Tone at 10:00-11:00 and volume 9:00-2:00. I have a decent line of pedals: Klon, Timmy, Xotic BB PReamp, RC. So far its a keeper.

No problems so far

Have not needed. Don; texpect to.

Play blues, Rock - mess arounf with high gain to.

Playing long enough to know what good tone is and how to dial it in. I would likley buy this agian. The price is reasonable. This pedal is close to my Xotic B PRe amp which has a slighly more flexible eq section - but not as much gain and that pedal has gobs of gain. Will know more after I play some more if they both are keepers. Will update my review then. I mainly wanted to post to talk about the tone knob - be careful. Don't conclude to quickly. You have to dime it. Most people should be happy - but their will be some whose ear is set to different freqencies and will not find their sweet spot. Hopeing to read reviews on vai's pedal.

This pedal is simple to operate. If 3 knobs is too tough pick another hobby!

I have placed this pedal before my Rivera combo, a JCM 800, and the JC 120 combo. All amps set on clean really get spanked by this pedal. The "MORE" switch is fantastic and if you leave the gain at less than 75% you can use it like two channels, rhythm and lead. It does not color my sound at all and sounds killer with my CM chorus and MXR carbon copy delay.

I play all types of music and mainly on 7 string guitars. This pedal sounds so dynamic and lively you can't stop jamming. It is without a doubt, the best sounding natural distortion I have used. It is not mega metal or too over the top, just right for most applications. I can drop down and crank the gain and it rips, or roll the volume back and it cleans up. Virtually noise free with the "MORE" switch not on, and slightly a hiss with it engaged and gain maxed.
I did not by this because of the endorsement but because I wanted a good analog distortion and did not like my MXR 3 because it doesn't drive the front end like I want. I usually play fusion/metal type of instrumental music and want that gain for the leads, but man does it clean up.

This is a very practical pedal. Three familiar knobs, and a Pad switch... great idea. On-off and "More" footswitches. Both footswitches are silent, so there's no mechanical clicking when you step on them. Manual has some useful info in it. Battery compartment is easily accessible (i.e. no screwdriver necessary). Cool paint job, too.

I tend to avoid using pedals... ESPECIALLY distortions. There are only a couple distortion pedals that I'll use... the Satchurator has been added to that list. I've only played my Satchurator with humbucker-equipped guitars and a Carvin Legacy (clean channel), but it sounds great. At gigging levels, this thing roars. I was surprised at how much gain this pedal can produce, and by the quality of the tone... it produces a very full, fluid drive that sounds very natural. Even with the Gain fully up, picking stays defined. With my typical amp settings, the Tone control is most useful between 9 and 10 o'clock, but there's huge tonal range in this pedal. I've found that the More button is most useful when the Gain knob is not set to maximum... the effect is much more apparent, versus when using More with the Gain cranked. Decreasing the guitar's volume also yields great results for more mellow playing.

Solid-feeling switches, knobs, etc. The pedal has enough weight to it that it doesn't feel particularly cheap. I don't dance on my pedals, but it seems to be built to withstand normal wear-and-tear just fine.

I haven't needed customer support... this is my first Vox product, and it's too new.

I like rock. That's about it. The Satchurator is a winner, especially at $129. This is a great pedal that isn't just for the high-gain shred heads out there. If you want Satriani's tone, this pedal can do that, though there's so much more under the hood that most guitarists might find this pedal enjoyable to play.

Very easy. 3 knobs, on/off and more switch. Can't get any easier

Awesome. I use a Ibanez JS1000, ESP LTD EC-400VF, and a Peavey JSX half stack. Can easily get satch tones out of it. I find myself liking the distortion out the satchurator more than from the jsx. I've never been a fan of distortion pedals and preferred distortion created from tube amps. But I thought, Satch uses it so I might give it a try. And it does rock. I put the gain around 10 o'clock, tone around 2 o'clock, and volume around 12 o'clock. Gave me a nice meaty classic rock sound. If you use a tube amp and putting the gain and tone all the way to the zero position on the satchurator can give you great sustain when combined with the amp's distortion. At least it did for me with the jsx. Don't need a sustainer with that setup.
Just a little bit of hiss when the more switch is activated but nothing too noticeable.

Built like a tank.

I love this pedal. I'd buy it in a second if lost or stolen. If future pedals by VOX and Satriani are this good of quality I'm going to get them. The price is just right for this quality of pedal and you're not paying boutique prices which they probably could have.