From the maker:

Add some grind to your bass. Dial in full-on fuzz or just a little grit while keeping a solid low end. Definitely a thick tone with a hint of octave up. Tuned especially for bass guitar and has a blend knob to maitain some clean signal.

The tone control lets you choose how much mid-scoop you like whether it’s none or excessive.
The blend sets how much fuzz to add to the clean signal
And the level control goes to 11. That’s one louder than 10!
Custom made and professionally screen printed silver ink in a heavy duty black aluminum box. Run it off a standard Boss style 9v adaptor or a single 9v battery. Super bright blue LED power indicator.

Initial thoughts:

The first thing that hit me when I started playing with this pedal was the high frequency of the fuzz coming out of it. This is not your momma’s fuzz pedal, and those looking for a muff replacement need to look somewhere else.
The blend knob keeps things in check if you want, but when you combine the tone knob (which is more of a notch filter) and the drive in the right combinations you can get a few really interesting sounds out of this goat. The blend fully counter-clockwise is not off, but rather a 10% or 15% dry/wet to my ears. This adds just a light touch of octavy fuzz to the signal, which is crisp and bright, but not overpowering.

I was also able to achieve a dual instrument characteristic with some basses, at some settings, in some ranges. Make no bones about it though, this pedal shines when you let it get brutal. If a hard diamond edge bass cut is what you are after, this is certainly one of the pedals you should look at.

I’ve shared a few brief notes with the maker of the attack goat and he was nice enough to respond to my interview request.

Video Overview

Samples

Positions for Testing (in o’clocks):

1. tone: 12, drive: 12, blend 12, level: 12
2. tone: 3, drive: 5, blend 12, level: 12
3. tone: 11, drive: 3, blend 3, level: 12

Note: Headphones or good speakers required. Bass samples!

P Bass

Active J

Fretless

Short 5

Picture Gallery

Construction and cosmetic concerns:

The Attack Goat is coated in what seems to be a durable textured black powder coat with attactive silver silkscreened print. The input/output jacks and and power located at the top are all ideal for me. Battery changes can be accomplished via a screwdriver and some time. I always check a new pedal to see if it comes with a battery and this one did not. The wiring and soldiering inside are passable, but not awe inspiring.

I usually give pedals a little ‘shake test’ where I see how firm things are mounted inside. I must say, the Attack Goat sounded a little loose. Looking around inside, the board isn’t really mounted to the case, it’s wedged on top of some foam on the back of the pots and the edge of the bypass switch. There are a couple of short plastic risers that are lined up with the holes in the circuit board, but they don’t really reach. The end result is that the circuit board is not mounted firmly inside the pedal, and makes we a tad concerned about long term durability, espically for those people (cough*cough) that are a little hard on things.

I also wonder if, with a little creative packing, this bad-boy could fit into a smaller enclosure.

Conclusion:

This is a fun and different pedal, that will likely either knock your socks off or leave you flat. The vibe I get from it is modern lead bass cut, so if you are looking for something else… look elsewhere. This isn’t to say that the Attack Goat isn’t capable of more subtle sound, it’s just not what it does well.

Thumbing around the website, I see that they will do the Attack Goat inside a wah shell, I can see where that might be a fun time. I guess I’ll save that for a future review!

Note: A rating of 5 = acceptable and should considered a ‘good’ basic score