I'm in a heavy rock/metal band and don't use a real amp, so my tone relies on pedals and cab sim/IRs. I've tried a few distortions and "amp in a box" pedals with pretty good results but often lack someway, specially because, from what I've noticed, I don't have a power amp section to control the depth and resonance.
The Solar CHUG has been instant gratification! There was a bit of tweaking to understand the pedal and get my tone right but since then it delivers what I was looking for and even my friends congratulate for the great tone!
Heavy, saturated, punchy, aggressive, defined....can even sound fuzzy similar to a RAT!
Don't expect a clean tone from it though! Besides not being its purpose, turning down the volume knob will only make it less saturated. It's not an overdrive or blues breaker, it's an high octane pedal so take that in consideration.
Tried it in different ways and find it very flexible and adaptable due to the many knobs it comprises.
About the KNOBS, they are very good quality but distributed in a tight space and visibility close to none unfortunately, even during the day it's hard to see where each knob is set since the pointer seems invisible.... should have been white or fluorescent, haven't took time to fix that myself...
Also, some knobs take a while to respond or have a subtle effect, still useful for fine tuning such as the frequency knobs.
The NOISE GATE is quite good, it's limited but works! It was for me a good selling point because it saves space, saves money, less wiring and occasional gremlins. Imo, all distortions and noisy pedals should have a feature like this, it simplifies the setup and doesn't rely on third party pedals, which often are set global into a rig, sometimes not working well in between a canopy of different sounds and eventual tone suck....
I say it is limited because it has kind of a curve but it isn't possible to adjust the hold or release. Too less still makes noise and too much is Djent territory. Finding the sweet spot can take a while but I'm happy this was included.
Wrapping up, the Solar CHUG sounds brutal and can fit different setups due to it's high tweakability (as long it's metal).
Even though the knobs are good quality, they are very close to each other and lack high visibility. However, they are tight and shouldn't move if touched lightly by accident. Some knobs have a subtle effect anyways, so there's some margin to move around.
The design is pretty cool but I think it could damage something or injure someone with its sharp edges....lol
The noise gate is very useful and I find it great to be part of the pedal.
Considering the sound, features and price, for me this may be the best metal distortion on the market!
My current metal tone is only the CHUG pedal and an impulse response, voilà !
Well Ola/Solar, congratulations, not bad for a first!
