Pigtronix Star Eater

The Pigtronix Star Eater is an all-analog, dual-footswitch fuzz pedal from Pigtronix, billed by the maker as a "super-jumbo Fuzz" with a footswitchable booster and a variable filter stage¹. One footswitch engages the fuzz itself; the second, labeled Contour, turns on a filter that reshapes the tone on top of it. It was unveiled at Sweetwater Gearfest in June 2022 and remains available at select dealers worldwide².

The core of the pedal is a fuzz circuit with selectable diode clipping: a Voice control switches between silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge) clipping, two flavors players know from vintage fuzz history¹. On top of that sits the boost-plus-filter side, which Delicious Audio described as making the pedal "a dual-footswitch fuzz sculptor with lots of tweakable options"³.

Controls and how it shapes the fuzz

The Star Eater's front panel is built around five knobs and a pair of switches. Pigtronix's own descriptions of the controls:

The Contour footswitch is the pedal's second stage. With it off, Sweep does nothing; with it on, the Sweep knob moves the filter's frequency response while the Contour knob shapes the tone¹.

Scoop and Bump voicings

A two-way rocker switch selects between Scoop and Bump voicings for the filter⁷. According to Pigtronix, the two voicings drastically change the frequency response of the Sweep control across its range¹. In practice, the switch gives you two different filter curves over the same knob, one voiced to pull frequencies out of the tone and the other to push them up, before you even touch the Sweep knob.

Pigtronix also publishes a set of starting-point tones on its product page: Warm Fuzzies, Feast, Siamese Dreaming, and Bright Vintage Fuzz¹.

How it differs from other fuzzes

Two things separate the Star Eater from a straight-ahead fuzz box. First, the selectable silicon and germanium clipping means one pedal covers both diode characters without swapping pedals¹. Second, the footswitchable filter stage means you can set a scooped or boosted contour and kick it in only when you want it, rather than committing the whole fuzz tone to one EQ shape¹.

Delicious Audio wrote that the design was inspired by "the chunky chassis feel of the late 70s and early 80s," built for a fun, tactile user experience³. The enclosure measures 3.5 by 4.75 inches and weighs 1 lb, with top-mounted jacks that suit tight pedalboards¹⁶.

Inside, the fuzz circuit uses precision-matched transistor pairs³. Performer Magazine reported that "Pigtronix states that the transistors are matched for the optimum sweet spot of fuzz"⁵, the same matching philosophy Pigtronix applied to later fuzzes such as the Gas Giant.

Power and setup

The pedal runs on 9VDC and draws 100mA¹, which is worth checking against your power supply's per-output rating before you plug it in. Input impedance is high and output impedance is 1k¹.

Where it came from

Pigtronix unveiled the Star Eater at Sweetwater Gearfest 2022, in June 2022, with a US MAP of $179.00⁴. Guitar World reported the announcement that same month, noting the two-way rocker switch for the Bump and Scoop voicings⁷. The pedal sits in Pigtronix's broader fuzz line alongside the Disnortion and the later Gas Giant, and the maker's Octava Micro grew out of the octave-up side of the original Disnortion³.

What reviewers said

Premier Guitar reviewed the Star Eater in September 2023 and was taken with its split personality⁴:

The reviewer found the pedal could serve both a solo or a driving rhythm part, holding up in a recorded mix and onstage⁴. Performer Magazine's review praised its fuzz tones and tweakability at a $179 street price³, and Delicious Audio summed it up as a pedal that lets players "easily sculpt a massive array of inspiring, unique fuzz tones"³.

Videos

Click to load

Click to load

Click to load

Questions