Fatar VFP1-25

I've deliberately waited several months before reviewing this product. All-too-often reviews are written within days of purchase but as a gigging musician I not only need gear which does what it's designed to, but which is also well-built and reliable. Almost 6 months in, this pedal has performed very well indeed. Yes on the surface there's perhaps not too much to say about a sustain pedal - it only does one thing, after all. It's built well, especially for it's price; the pedal action is quiet and smooth with a pleasing depth of travel and weight to it and there is a very useful polarity switch on the underside. In fact it's very similar to the much more costly Yamaha FC-5 which I also use.

The additional weight of playing whilst stood up takes its toll on sustain pedals, especially piano-style ones. Even the premium-branded ones suffer over time. I'm pleased to say after 6 months use the Fatar VFP1 has been excellent - no glitches; squeaks or rattles. Will it survive as long as a Yamaha FC-5? Time will tell, but at less than half the price, the Fatar has unbeatable bang for your buck.

Some keyboards are able to sense pedal polarity (normally open or normally closed) upon boot-up., and adapt to whichever type of pedal is plugged in. (The Kurzweil K2600XS is one of these keyboards). There are however, still lots of keyboards that don't have this ability, and you need a specific type of polarity pedal (either normally open or normally closed) -in order for the pedal to work properly with your keyboard. For those who are constantly swapping keyboards (or pedals) and want one pedal that will work well with all the different keyboards, this pedal is just the ticket. It is made by Fatar in Italy, and has a polarity switch on the bottom so that you can easily switch the pedal between normally open and normally closed polarities, -depending on what your keyboard requires. Studiologic pedals are made by Fatar in Italy. They are ruggedly built and very durable and should last many years. I have had several Fatar pedals over the years and they are very high quality and have never let me down. Fatar are the pedals that are supplied O.E.M. with keyboards from manufacturers like Kurzweil.

Really good sustain pedal for a great price.

My favourite thing about the pedal is the polarity reverse switch, in the past I have owned pedals in which do not have that and i've had to go into the keyboard and figure out how to get it to recognise the polarity of the pedal, however with this its as simple as a flick of a switch.

Really sturdy pedal which i don't expect to be replacing anytime soon. If you're unsure of the brand, it came boxed to me as a Studiologic product, who make good quality products at reasonable prices.

Really pleased!

My thoughts initially, was that most pedals these days would be cheaply made and flimsy. This is my first Sustain pedal,as I had brought a keyboard that did not come with one. So I can only give my first impressions of the pedal.

I was surprised by the weight of it, useful switch underneath the pedal to change how you use the pedal,sustain wise. It looks sturdy and will I think last me a long time!!

At the moment the spring part of the pedal is quite tight, there is a slight squeak when press down , I suspect as it is new, both the spring and the squeak will sort it self out eventually.

At the moment the pedal is doing what I want from it, and used on an Roland Rhodes 660, so far so good!!

First time in using Thomann too. Service brilliant! Will use Thomann for future purchases.