Apologies for the long post but I thought I'd share my informal review of the BC Gigster. The text below is from an email exchange with a fellow drummer so I thought others here on the forum may find this information useful. Note that I am in no way affiliated with Porter & Davies - just a consumer who has purchased their product. Please also note that the following is my opinion and your results may vary. Additionally, if you have a Butt Kicker and love it then good for you - different strokes for different folks.
The Gigster was sent air freight directly from England and arrived about 2 days after they shipped it. At first I was a little on the fence in regards to the value as the price tag is pretty high, (exchange rates may cause that price to fluctuate as they charge in British Pounds and I of course paid in US dollars).
I have used it on numerous gigs since receiving it in mid-May and I definitely like it especially since the bass drum in my in-ear monitor mix is usually inconsistent and thin in my mix for each gig. If you are not using it on every or nearly every gig then it may not provide as much value. I have noticed that I am able to pull off better licks on the bass drum as I can "hear" each beat rather than a mush that gets absorbed into the mix, (if that makes sense).
There is a similar product called the “Butt Kicker” that retails for about $600 but in my opinion it seems to have several disadvantages from the research I did prior to the purchase of the Gigster.
First, the Butt Kicker transducer is externally mounted to your existing drum throne. Other then being really heavy it doesn’t look so good although no one in the audience would ever see it anyway. With the Gigster, they send a custom throne that will mount on any normal throne stand, (it works on my Roc-N-Soc and Gibraltar throne stands). The transducer on the Gigster is fully integrated into the throne seat and while it certainly weighs more than a normal throne it is lighter than the Butt Kicker.
Secondly, I believe the Gigster is a more quality product. I read on the forums that some folks with Butt Kickers experienced thermal shutdown on their Butt Kicker amplifier that amplifies the bass drum signal to the transducer. This is apparently a factor of any transducer device as it converts the sound signal into a physical energy. I have yet to see my Gigster amp get even slightly warm. I should also mention that I rarely have it above 30-40% output as it seems to be over engineered. If I turned it all the way up I think I might hurt myself!
The Gigster also authentically reproduces the “sound” of the bass drum. If you have a punchy bass drum with little sustain then the physical energy feels punchy too. More open bass drums such as a John Bonham boom “feels” like it sounds. Hard to explain but I think you get the idea. You can tune the physical signal to some degree as it has a “contour” adjustment. They also mention that if you want a punchy feel for a very open and boomy bass drum then you can just run a separate mic placed near the batter head.
If you play or practice with an electronic drum kit it completely changes the feel of the entire kit when used there. The line out from the e-kit is connected to the Gigster so you can feel not only the bass drum but the toms and snare as well. This freaked me out at first because I thought the neighbors would be calling the cops.
Another factor is that it is completely silent so you could have no external amplification of your bass drum through the sound system at smaller gigs yet feel the presence of the bass drum as if you were playing a fully mic’d large venue and the audience would have no idea.
More on the throne:
The custom Gigster throne is much firmer than a normal throne. I think this is so the energy is transferred to your body more concisely. The only trade-off is it is somewhat less comfortable than a normal throne after about an hour or so especially if you sit on the edge of the throne.
I prefer a tractor type seat rather than a round throne. For the Gigster throne I do not think it matters as much due to the firmness of the throne and the fact that their tractor seat is nearly completely round anyway.
The Gigster throne is about twice the thickness of a normal throne. If you sit really low when playing your kit then your current throne stand may not be low enough when you use the Gigster throne. I sit with a very slight downward angle of my upper leg when I sit behind the kit. Unless you sit with your knees above your hip when playing I don’t think this would be a factor. They do offer a very low throne stand at an additional charge for drummers that sit very low.
I hope this information is helpful. A tad expensive but its all about the value it brings that matters to me.