Amptweaker unleashes FatMetal Pro distortion effects pedal

Good on James Brown. The 5150 amp pioneer is never one to rest on his laurels, and his company Amptweaker has now responded to requests for a dual-footswitchable version of its FatMetal distortion pedal - enter the FatMetal Pro.

Voiced to suit black metal, sludge and doom metal, the FatMetal Pro packs two boosts (one pre- and one post-gain), which can both be activated simultaneously by the boost footswitch - handy for those high-gain solo spots.

Like the company's existing TightMetal Pro, the FatMetal Pro features a three-band EQ with smooth edge, thrash and mid-boost switches for quick EQ presets.

Elsewhere, the FatMetal is packing three effects loops: a universal loop; another that activates with the boost; and a Sidetrak loop, which comes into play when the pedal is off, and can be used to switch over to clean effects, or an alternative distortion sound.

What's more, the pedal features a built-in noise gate and runs on 9V-18V batteries or power supplies.

As we've come to expect from Mr Brown, it's an exhaustive feature set, and one that's sure to please players of a heavier persuasion - the FatMetal Pro is available now for $320 from Amptweaker.

Michael Astley-Brown

Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism, and has spent the past decade writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as a decade-and-a-half performing in bands of variable genre (and quality). In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.