Pigtronix gets FAT

GEAR IN REVIEW - Pigtronix FAT Overdrive

Our friends at Pigtronix just released and was kind enough to let us test drive their new FAT drive right before releasing it at the 2012 NAMM show.

Personally I am a drive pedal snob. Having owned and having demoed the original Zendrive , Timmys ,  most modded TS drives and holy grail overdrives on the market I can tell you after testing it Dave Koltai and crew have brought a serious contender to market with the FAT drive.

Right off the bat I always test to see if a new drive pedal will kill the low end when engaged. Alot of drives out there kill the bass. Nope not here the FAT drive does not mess with the low end and stays tight. Passed the first test amazingly well.

Jamming....

I use drives for a lead boost and sustain. The FAT drives OOZES smooth and singing gain. At low gain settings sweet singing gain is happening in spades. The gain structure is very warm and amp like. Too many drives out there have weird artifacts happening in the overtones. The FAT drive is very tube like and did I mention smooth? Seriously this pedal will make any drive snob very happy. I am still smiling. It SLAYS with a strat neck pickup. See the video below for proof. 

2 way toggle....

 In the down position on the twin toggle the gain is less compressed and open. It kills here for rhythm comping and neck pickup soloing. In the up position extra comp for singing gain is there giving up the sweet gain for smooth Gilmour like sustain. I can see having two of these on board one in each gain position on the toggle. This pedal KILLS with single coils. It is everything I love about a TS pedal with all of the normal TS shortcomings fixed and more.

Tone Control....

The Tone control on the FAT drive is VERY useful. Actually turning it all the way down takes the filter circuit out of the equation. Very useful for a very open unaltered sound. A very interactive tone control that is usually not found on other drives. It makes this pedal very versatile and easily tuneable to any gig or recording situation.

All in all....

The more I played the FAT drive the more I wanted to play it. The true sign of a great pedal. The FAT drive is a serious contender in the high end overdrive arena. Try one at a dealer soon.

See Pigtronix.com

• 100% Analog wide range overdrive

• Multi-Stage Tube Emulated Clipping

• Hi / Lo gain mode switch

• Passive LPF Tone Control

• True Bypass Switching

•  18VDC 300mA supply included

• Chassis Size = 2.4” x 4.4” x 1”

•  Circuit Design by Howard Davis

• Sound Design by David Koltai

Pigtronix FAT Drive is thick and juicy, dripping with
touch sensitive overdrive that responds to every
nuance of your playing style. Multiple cascaded
gain stages enable the FAT drive to cover sounds
ranging from slightly overdriven to rich saturation,
all while retaining musical dynamics and the original
character of your instrument.

FAT Drive takes a futuristic analog approach to
create complex crunch tones using CMOS clipping
and a variable low pass filter for tone shaping.
Bringing the tone control all the way clockwise
takes this filter completely out of the circuit for total
transparency and robust low end. Rolling the tone
control back smooths out the highs, leaving ample
mid-range bloom and bottom end punch.

A Hi / Lo toggle switch brings additional versatility
to the FAT Drive’s wide-ranging palette of overdrive
tones, altering the gain structure for enhanced crunch
and soaring leads. The FAT Drive features true
bypass switching and runs fine on standard 9-volt
power but ships with an 18-volt adapter for superior
headroom, clarity and overall output.