By: Rob Cavuoto
Pigtronix PolySaturator
I love testing distortion pedals just as a wine aficionado loves collecting and tasting wines. I feel that there is a place and song for every distortion pedal. I enjoy the simplicity of a good stomp box in a world of digital rack mounted clutter and complication. I don’t have the time nor want to read a one hundred page manual to figure out how to program a unit. I want to plug my guitar into a box, step on it, and be blown away, and that is exactly what happened when I hit the gas on The PolySaturator by Pigtronix.
The PolySaturator produces everything from subtle grit to blue velvet sustain inspired by our favorite tube amp lead channel. It also has a powerful 3-band 12 dB/Octave Graphic EQ to dial up wildly diverse and satisfying textures of analog distortion.
This little green machine packs quite a punch and gives you endless distortion options to dial up. It’s pretty simple to use with only five knobs needed to achieve your dream distortion; it has a Volume, Gain, Low, Mid and High. It’s great on rhythm with bar chords, so you can a get nice full crunch without the mud yet it’s smooth on leads and harmonies. I was able to pull off a spectrum of distortion from the warm fuzz of Aerosmith blues to the super crunch of James Hetfield thrash. One of the great things about this unit is there is little to no noise or hum. It’s quiet whether engaged, off, or hooked up to multiple pedals.
Click to Buy the PolySaturator from Amazon.com
The PolySaturator is really loud; impressively loud. I was able to get to “11” and other heavy metal levels without compromising the tone. I can’t tell you how many pedals I have tried that get thick, dark and unrecognizable when you increase the volume, but not with this baby.
I really had a lot of fun using this pedal and testing it out on a combination of high end and inexpensive guitars from my San Dimas Custom Charvel to my ESP Kamikaze to my cheap Dean VX, across multiple styles of music. I particularly loved the way it sounded when I was jamming to Aerosmith; I think it really nailed Joe Perry’s sound.
It’s light as a feather and built like a tank, plus it comes with an AC adapter. How cool is that? I really recommend checking out this distortion pedal and cranking it up!
