Fetto Demo Reviews (Place Them Here!!!)

[JofZ]

Lets try to streamline the Demo reviews :D
Matt has the Fetto and he will get his review up first!

I can't wait to hear what you guys think of this pedal.

[Sherman]

I was second in-line to receive the Fetto. I got it last Thursday and due to work, Father's Day and everything else going on I've not plugged it in until today (Monday). I'm not the best player in the world but I do appreciate good tone. I like to play rock and blues based guitar tunes w/my buddies.

When I first plugged in the Fetto it sounded very familiar. After about 20 minutes I figured out that it reminded me of the Box O Rocks and an Indyguitarist Plexi Drive. The key word here is "reminded". The Fetto is more articulate where the BOR sounds bloated to my ear. I do like the presence control as you can dial in a bunch of different tones and match up the pedal to different types of pickups. Another thing that I noticed is that the pedal has a bit of hair to it. Nothing bad but it is present. I was reading another thread about altering the hair factor with different voltage inputs.

As for the gain, there's enough of it on tap for me. It's not supersaturated but just right to my ear for straight ahead rock and roll. You can dial back the gain and use it to boost your signal with a bit of the hair that I mentioned earlier.

I opened up the back and saw that the jumpers were not in the standard position. I played around with some combinations and didn't find a bad sounding one. Some of the tweaks are subtle but at volume I can imagine them being more pronounced. BTW, the construction looks very nice. I set the pedal back to the stock position before I closed her up.

Bottom line, this is a very nice sounding pedal if you're looking for a Marshall type sound. I might seriously consider the deluxe version for added tweakability.

Thanks for letting me participate in the tourbox.

I'll get it out to Bumbox tomorrow.

Sherm...........

[Bümbox]

Ok, so I've made vids ( http://theguitarhub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1149 ) and I've thought on it for a night. The Fetto is the bridge pickup's bitch. It's basically a JCM800 squashed into a box and forced to live on a battery. From power chord number one, this proved to be a rock machine. Into a clean, quiet amp, the Fetto sounds huge and makes you feel like you are pure arena rock. Into a cranked Marshall style amp you get a new layer of gain that augments what's already there. Think grinding, dynamic, hard rock rather than smooth, compressed, and fluid.

The construction is solid. The box is heavier than you'd expect and feels real good in your hand. The switch is a little easier to click than the ubiquitous 3PDT. Inside are some jumpers and trimmers which I didn't bother with. The pcb is good quality with silk screening and solder mask and all. Can't comment on components, their on the other side, hidden from view.

Is it worth $299. It is if it is the sound you looking for (duh :D ). I could see using Fetto, Cusack Screamer, and an NOC3 Fuzz to cover every sound I need.

[Himmelstrutz]

Hi guys,

It's a pleasure to read your analytic reviews, also good to read you seem to like it a bit. Internal tweaks will never make FETTO a completely different pedal, it's more for adding a raspberry, some cream or liquorice the day it's needed. Most people I've speaked to so far have never even tried the tweaks, which is just fine. So I guess it's more for nerds like me :) Thank you for taking the time to test it.

Have a good summer all of you!

/Joakim

[gururyan]

http://homepage.mac.com/ryansdesigns/.Pictures/Gear/Effects/DSC_1115.jpg

Joakim, I sent you a PM.

Review to follow after I have had more time to play it.

[Himmelstrutz]

PM replied :)

[gururyan]

Ok, check the gut shot...lots of tweaking available.

http://homepage.mac.com/ryansdesigns/.Pictures/Gear/other/DSC_1120.jpg

(posted guts with permission from builder)

[Himmelstrutz]

Wow, I can see the gain trimmer is decreased there. Does it sound better that way?

/Joakim

[gururyan]

Wow, I can see the gain trimmer is decreased there. Does it sound better that way?

/Joakim


Can't compare it yet, I haven't changed a thing myself...yet. How can you tell it's decreased anyway? It looks like a phillips "X" in there.

[gururyan]

How can you tell it's decreased anyway? It looks like a phillips "X" in there.


Ahh, wait. Is that actually a little arrow?

[Himmelstrutz]

Yes it's a tiny arrow on it and I was lucky enough to see it :D And when this trimmer is decreased people tend to increase the external Drive more than needed; maybe also the tone control in the search of "it". It's all about a balance and it's not too easy to find it.

http://www.himmelstrutz.com/screen.htm

[gururyan]

Just want to say, dialing that trim back to a "reasonable" range really made a difference. It's too bad Nate didn't mess with these, he missed out on hearing the pedal at it's default settings. I wonder how many on the tour neglected the alternate settings. Anyway, after going back to default, I started in on the jumpers and found "my" default. I'll reset it before sending it on, but will post another gut shot showing "my" preferred settings...none of which involve the trims, those are best at default.

[gururyan]

I'll reset it before sending it on, but will post another gut shot showing "my" preferred settings...none of which involve the trims, those are best at default.

Ok, here is the shot of my preferred settings as far as the inside goes:

http://homepage.mac.com/ryansdesigns/.Pictures/Gear/other/mysettings.jpg

Now, according to the "key" so cleverly provided in the lid, I changed three jumpers, no trims, and no dip switches.

To use my settings, adjust these jumpers:
Bass 1 - ON
Bass 2 - ON
Mid Cut - OFF

Now maybe these adjustments sounded better because I was on a Strat, not sure...but I did prefer those jumper settings over the default. While I am on the subject of default, I would refrain from adjusting the trims. When I got the pedal, they were out of whack and really made a difference...in a bad way. I feel sorry for those that never got to try the pedal at the default settings.

http://homepage.mac.com/ryansdesigns/.Pictures/Gear/other/DSC_1120.jpg

Rhino, it should be at your door in the morning. And I reset the pedal back to default for you.

[Rhino]

I'll be sure to give these settings a try as I only play single coils. Looking forward to receiving it and giving it a test drive! :D

[Rhino]

I received the Fetto Tuesday and took it to rehearsal that night. Plugged it in with the internal "tweeks" set at default and the external controls at "noon." I liked it but it needed a bit more Umph. Played it again last night with Bass 1 jumpered. Better, but I'll reserve judgment until I can play with Bass 2. All-in-all...and in a word...WOW!

...more later!
:D

[Rhino]

The Fetto's time to leave has come. :( But...a review is part of the deal, so here goes! :D

The Fetto arrived with the jumpers, trimmers, and DIP switches in their default locations (thanks GuruRyan!). I immediately found that with the strat and tele, I'd need more bottom. Moved a couple of jumpers and there it was! I played with everything else but pretty much left it with Bass1 and Bass 2 jumpered. Lot's of gain on tap, even with single coils. I read that someone thought Christain's (Plankton) demo was a humbucker! Not hard to believe with this pedal!

So...great pedal with lot's of uses. It cleans up well with and can cop a wide variety of tones and gain structures. Bottom line...I need a Fetto! :p

Gkelm...if you're out there, it's on the way to you tomorrow...in the same condition I received it...everything in the default location)

Dave
(aka Rhino)

[Himmelstrutz]

Good to hear you like it, Dave. Now I see one more reason to continue with it. Thank you!

/Joakim

[gkelm]

Received the pedal a-okay from Rhino yesterday! My first impressions are quite positive...I've begun taking a few notes and will post my thoughs in a couple days :)

Greg

[gkelm]

Day Won
First impression: nice small box—solid and weighty. I like the raw finish and birdie graphic. Plugged it in and instantly got some great grindeage…on the knobs I quickly settled on 11:00/11:00/1:30, or there abouts. Running it into my Heritage Colonial (SL plexi mode) into a Germino/Mojotone big 2x12 with Scumback H75/H55 speakers (an Airbrake in between w/a few clicks back to tame the madness). One little thing…at first I thought it was not a typical Boss style power jack, but eventually pushed it in far enough (snug fir with the cable I was using). I got some shorting noises when inserting the DC barrel jack in as it touched the the metal housing, never had that happen before, I guess most pedals have a plastic jack. Not a big deal, just an observation—most would never notice this.

At this point there seems to be an overwhelming amount of treble on tap on the presence knob, but easily adjusted to taste great. Lots of volume if needed to, plenty of give either way to get to unity gain or +/- as desired…nice linear travel and easy to adjust. Not sure at this point how the internal stuff is set, I’m assuming standard settings. (And keep in mind I’m playing at relatively low volumes—I know that gear can do different things when pushing the decibels.)

Day Too
Got a few similar pedals out to compare—old small box Rat, very different. The following seem to be in the same league as far as gain and genre of tone: OCD v.3, DRD, Crunch Box, and AC Booster (chrome), but they all have their differences. I think the DRD and OCD are the closest. The Fetto has a bit more JCM800 flavor, more in-the-face attack and presence, while the DRD seems a bit more polished (maybe slightly more compressed, a bit more greasy and smooth)…as well as having a bit of a different frequency curve. The OCD seems fairly close, but somewhat different character…not easy to put into words….but both have a similar transparency. The OCD seems a bit thinner in the mids.

The Fetto is quite amp-like—lots of depth, and a lively clarity, and behaves well when you roll off the guitar volume, highs remain in tact, but some bass loss (might be able to adjust with the jumpers inside). Tomorrow: Jumper time!

Day Threee
Jumper time didn’t happen…between grilling out and hanging with our one year old boy, the night shrank fast. Got to play with the Fetto only a few minutes.

Day For
Today I decided to try it through my ’78 Deluxe Reverb…great sounding clean platform for pedals, especially the normal channel (the rev channel is a bit bright and sizzley with drive pedals). FETTO shined through the Fender with nearly the same settings. Here I found the differences between the DRD more pronounced…the DRD seems to work better with the reverb channel of this amp (than all the other pedals above), seems the high highs might be rolled off?...anyway, I suppose the Fetto could be tweaked to work well in this channel as well. In the normal channel, the OCD is definitely close to the Fetto, and another pedal that is similar is the ReezaFRATzitz, although the latter has a certain scooped thing going on that gives it a touch of a metal flavor, which can be mimicked to a certain extent by tweaking the Fetto.

Day Fyve
I think it’s totally cool that the inside of the back plate has that jumper diagram. I spent a few minutes pulling the jumpers…nice little tailoring options. As the Fetto creator has stated, it’s not night and day, but fine tuning—and it’s effective at that.

SUMMARY:
Great tone - Really great sounding distortion pedal…not too compressed, and very amp-like in response.

Flexible - Cool tweakability factor with the internal jumpers and trim pots, but not overwhelming. Can also get a more overdrive type tones by increasing the mids with the internal jumper.

Consistent - One thing that struck me about this pedal…its consistent to from a marshall to a fender type amp. Seemed to work equally well with both.

Quality - Impressive build quality. I can’t see if the jacks are mounted to the circuit board (I think not), but overall seems solid and durable. Also seems like a reasonable value at it’s sticker price.

Thanks to Joakim and JofZ for this opportunity.

Greg