Frantone Hep Cat

The Frantone Hep Cat is an overdrive pedal, offered as a reissue of the rare and highly prized 1990s era Hep Cat overdrive. Frantone says those originals were known for their transparent tone and bright grind, and the reissue carries that character forward as a new, hand-made pedal¹. For a player, that places it among overdrives that aim to keep the guitar's own voice while adding a brighter edge of grit, a different aim from the mid-humped voicing of pedals like the Boss SD-1 vs Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer comparison covers.

Sound and character

Frantone describes the Hep Cat's sound as a transparent tone and a bright grind, the quality the 1990s originals were known for¹. The maker's pitch to players who missed the originals: "If you have only heard about those rare and highly prized 90's era Hep Cat overdrives, known for their transparent tone"¹. The reissue, the maker says, "has all you need"¹.

Build and hardware

The pedal is built into a tough cast aluminum case with a Baby Blue Enamel finish, white knobs, and an amber indicator LED¹. Connections are Switchcraft jacks, and power comes from an external power jack rather than a battery compartment¹.

Frantone also notes that "All new Frantone effects come with full signal bypass and status light!"¹, which is why the Hep Cat's true bypass switching includes the amber status LED.

The Hep Cat Daddy-O

The Hep Cat is also the basis for a variant, the Hep Cat Daddy-O. Frantone describes it as "Packing all the punch and glimmering tinsle that made those metal-flecked Hep Cat Daddy-O single coil twang players smil"¹, tying the variant to bright, single-coil guitar tones.

Where it sits

The Hep Cat is one of Frantone's overdrive offerings alongside the Frantone Brooklyn Overdrive and the Frantone Hi-Ball. If you are comparing it with other grit pedals, the overdrive and distortion type pages cover the wider field¹.

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