The Fender Pugilist is a Fender distortion pedal. Close alternatives include the Crowther Hot Cake and the Suhr Riot. It pairs well with the Peavey Bandit 112 and the Vox MV50-CE Rock.

Fender Pugilist

Fender · pedal

The Fender Pugilist Distortion is a MOSFET distortion pedal from Fender featuring a blend control that mixes the dry clean guitar signal with the distorted signal for a layered, articulate distortion character that retains note clarity under heavy drive. The MOSFET clipping stage produces a dynamic, harmonically rich distortion that cleans up well with guitar volume, and the clean blend control allows the fundamental note attack to cut through the distortion for a more defined sound under extreme gain. Guitar World noted the Pugilist as having a tactile, full-bodied feel with excellent note clarity.

  • distortion
  • mosfet
  • drive
  • attack
  • articulate
  • fundamental
  • dynamic
  • full

Genres the Fender Pugilist is commonly used in

  • Hard Rock
  • Metal
    citedInferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag.
  • Alternative
    citedInferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag.
  • Rock
    citedInferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag.
  • Punk
    citedInferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag.

Amps that pair well with the Fender Pugilist

Peavey Bandit 112

Peavey

22% match
$375via Reverb

Peavey Bandit 112 pushes a high gain tone toward tight

Vox MV50-CE Rock

Vox

22% match
$134.20via Reverb

Stack Vox MV50-CE Rock on top and a high gain tone tightens toward tight

Mesa Boogie Lone Star Head

amplifier

tonal match
$1800via Reverb

Voiced for Fender-style amps

Milkman Sound Creamer 20W Combo

Milkman Sound

tonal match
$3449via Reverb

Voiced for Fender-style amps

1970s Mesa/Boogie Mark I 'Snake King'

Mesa Boogie

tonal match

Voiced for Fender-style amps

Fender Vibrolux 6G11

amplifier

tonal match

Voiced for Fender-style amps

Bogner Barcelona

Bogner

tonal match

Voiced for Fender-style amps

Suhr Bella 44-watt Tube Amplifier Head

Suhr

tonal match

Voiced for Fender-style amps

Pedals that stack with the Fender Pugilist

Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Electric Mistress

Electro-Harmonix

21% match
$208.07via Reverb

Keep Fender Pugilist's tight voice out front: Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Electric Mistress goes after Fender Pugilist in the signal chain so its modulated voice doesn't muddy it

Suhr Shiba Drive

Suhr

20% match

Suhr Shiba Drive takes that high gain character and pushes it toward mid-forward

Xotic EP Booster

Xotic

19% match
$149via Reverb

Xotic EP Booster pushes a high gain tone toward clean boost

Hungry Robot Moby Dick V2

Hungry Robot

17% match
$140via Reverb

Keep Fender Pugilist's tight voice out front: Hungry Robot Moby Dick V2 goes after Fender Pugilist in the signal chain so its ambient voice doesn't muddy it — goes in the amp's FX loop (or last, into a clean amp)

Walrus Audio Fathom

Walrus Audio

17% match
$188.50via Reverb

Put Walrus Audio Fathom after Fender Pugilist in the signal chain, clear of Fender Pugilist's own gain stage — goes in the amp's FX loop (or last, into a clean amp)

Warm Audio Pedal 76 Compressor

Warm Audio

16% match
$229via Reverb

Warm Audio Pedal 76 Compressor's tight voice suits Fender Pugilist's own tight character

Amptweaker Tight Drive

Amptweaker

tonal match
$149via Reverb

Voiced for Fender-style amps

NuX SSD-10

Nux

tonal match
$39.22via Reverb

Voiced for Fender-style amps

Alternativessee all similar tone character →

Crowther Hot Cake

Crowther

71% similarity
$213.51via Reverb

Shared character: clean_signal, articulation, full

Suhr Riot

Suhr

70% similarity

Shared character: hard_rock, pick_attack, mix

Fender Duel Pugilist

Fender

70% similarity
$175via Reverb

Shared character: blend, hard_rock, stage

JHS PG-14 Paul Gilbert Signature Distortion

JHS Pedals

70% similarity
$199via Reverb

Shared character: high_gain_settings, articulation, pick_attack

MXR ZW-44 Berzerker Overdrive

MXR

70% similarity

Shared character: hard_rock, full, high_gain_settings

Suhr Riot Mini Black Edition

Suhr

69% similarity

Shared character: hard_rock, mix, high_gain_settings

Strymon Riverside

Strymon

69% similarity

Shared character: pick_attack, high_gain_settings, stage

Boss SD-1 Super OverDrive

Boss

69% similarity
$59via Reverb

Shared character: blend, players, full

Amptweaker Tight Metal

Amptweaker

69% similarity
$189via Reverb

Shared character: live_use, hard_rock, articulation

Friedman BE-OD

Friedman

69% similarity
$169.99via Reverb

Shared character: guitar_world, hard_rock, mix

Electronic Audio Experiments Model FeT

Electronic Audio Experiments

64% similarity

Shared character: pick_attack, hard_rock, distortion

Crazy Tube Circuits Ziggy V2

Crazy Tube Circuits

94% similarity
$183.01via Reverb

similar tone character

See all alternatives to the Fender Pugilist (cheaper + boutique) →

Questions people ask

What are good alternatives to the Fender Pugilist?+

The closest matches in character are the Crowther Hot Cake, the Suhr Riot, the Fender Duel Pugilist.

What pairs well with the Fender Pugilist?+

Strong matches from rig and tone-complementarity evidence: Peavey Bandit 112, Vox MV50-CE Rock, Mesa Boogie Lone Star Head — Peavey Bandit 112 pushes a high gain tone toward tight.

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Related searches

Fender Pugilist — NodeTone