Let’s face it… distortion pedals are a dime a dozen. Many have common elements leading to common sounds all under the guise of a different name and unique paint job. Still, there are some distortions that hit the market these days with a little something extra under the hood. This was our hope for the Aria from the New York-based pedal gurus at Pigtronix. The Aria promises a singing distortion tone more powerful than a modded tube screamer and tastier than an old Muff… ahem. We hit up Pigtronix top hog David Koltai to send us an Aria for review, and he obliged. But does this little red wonder deliver on the promise or is it just another buzz box?

The Pigtronix Aria takes a unique approach to diode clipping, according to the builder, that retains the expressive nature of your music while imparting creamy sustain and enhanced harmonic content. The Aria comes with a three-band active EQ that is voiced for maximum versatility. The Aria’s 12dB/octave EQs boost and cut at carefully selected frequencies, allowing the player to adapt to a variety of amps or to craft entirely new tones. The pedal comes in a bright red box that houses the pedal, a User’s Guide complete with sample settings, a non-skid pad to apply to the pedal base if desired, and an 18V DC power supply. The pedal can run on the standard Boss-style 9V DC adapter was well. The pedal does not take batteries.

The pedal has five knob controls – Volume, Gain, Low, Mid and High. The Volume knob controls the level of output from the stomp. The Gain knob layers in the distortion as it is rotated right. The Low, Mid and High knob controls are the pedal’s EQ. When all three EQ knobs are set to noon, the frequency response is flat, retaining the guitar’s natural tone. Rolling any of these knobs right of noon will boost that frequency. Roll left and the appropriate signal is attenuated.

Let’s see what the Aria has under the hood! First with the Strat, bridge pick-up, we’ll dial up some grit that packs a low-end punch. With the Volume knob at noon, Gain at 10 o’clock, Low at 3 o’clock and Mid and High flat, here’s a little taste of the Aria.

Right off the bat, we were fans of the beefiness the Aria delivered to the signal – a tight bottom end and tasteful distortion that did not mud over the chords being played. Over to the neck pick-up, we dial up the Volume and back off on the Gain. With the Volume dimed, the Gain at 9 o’clock, the Low and Mid at 10 o’clock and the High at 2 o’clock, here’s a little arpeggiated riff. First clean, then the Aria.

Santaria lift notwithstanding, the Aria brightens the arpeggio nicely with a touch of drive sizzling underneath. Switching to the Les Paul, we go for a little boom and bloom. With Volume at noon, Gain dimed, Low and High at 3 o’clock and the Mid rolled full left, here is a variation on a sludgy riff from our past. Extra points if you can name the band and song we’re abusing. First clean, then the sweetness!

The Pigtronix Aria is a full featured distortion that can get the job done for a fairly wide range of tastes – from OD sizzle to guttural distortion. We particularly dug the touch sensitivity of the EQ on board… with subtle changes offering an extended palette of gain-flavored tones. We favored the high gain settings on the Aria more than the low gain voices, but with a price around $150 (and seen as low as $99) the real question is… Can you afford not to have a distortion pedal that sounds this tasty kicking around your gig bag? That’s our take anyway… your mileage may vary!

PLEASE NOTE: All YMMV Review clips are played through a Fender ’65 Princeton Reverb RI using Lava Clear Connect cables. No reverb or other effects were added to the clips. Guitars used in this review include a 1979 Gibson Les Paul Custom and a 1998 Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster.