Pigtronix Bass Fat Drive Review

The third review of bass pedals from Pigtronix is the Bass Fat Drive. (Check out previous reviews on the Pigtronix Envelope Phaser  and Philosopher Compressor.) The Bass Fat Drive is everything you would expect and more. Easy to use controls include volume, gain, tone, and a “more” switch. I want to point out that this pedal is not only great for a multitude of variable levels of overdrive but also functions great as a clean tube type boost. If you want a touch more overdrive without having to adjust the gain, apply more attack to the strings. When using just as a clean boost, you can also engage the “more” toggle switch for just a subtle amount of overdrive. The volume control allows you to adjust the amount of boost, gain controls the amount of overdrive, and the tone is a low pass filter, giving you more brightness in your tone when it is adjusted completely clockwise. The “more” toggle switch does as stated.

The pedal performed nicely on gigs. Being I have gigs with bands that play different styles of music, I found the pedal useful on everything from classic country as a clean boost to heavier rock styles that demand different levels of overdrive. The Bass Fat Drive will help DRIVE your bass and rig to new lengths and give you more variety. I found that the pedal responds no matter how hard or soft of my attack on the strings either finger style or with a pick. The Pigtronix comes with an 18 volt adapter and can also be used in a pedal board with a 9 volt adapter. I recommend that in order to get the full functionality out of this pedal that you use the 18 volt adapter. There is not an option for a 9 volt battery.

If you really want to complement your setup, or go with a new one, add the Pigtronix Bass Envelope Filter and Philospher Bass Compressor along with the Bass Fat Drive and your setup is complete. If you want to keep your setup small, these three pedals will give you everything you need. Check out the Pigtronix Bass Fat Drive at a music retailer near you.

Specs:

• 100% Analog wide range BASS overdrive
• Multi-Stage Tube Emulated Clipping
• Touch Sensitive Performance
• 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
• Voltage: 9-18V DC
• Current Draw: 38mA @ 9V 120mA @ 18V

Visit online at pigtronix.com