Some guitarists have become real pedal “geeks”. Until now, I didn't really understand what could turn someone into an “effects maniac”. Today, however, after these tests, I'm starting to get it. Some of the changes certain pedals can bring open up new tonal possibilities and even change the dynamics of the instrument/amp. When our rig becomes richer, the whole thing does indeed become addictive, especially if the investment is far lower than changing one of the “heavy” components of the setup (guitar/amp). Let's discover some of these temptations...
An overview of our guests
I received a package containing five pedals. I had no prior references, so this was a blind tasting. My favorite way of testing: without any pre-test-bench preconceptions. The first thing that caught my eye was the boxes. Printed cardboard, like comic-book panels, with brightly colored stickers bearing the name of each pedal.
The family of products we're going to review has features in common: the same size, construction in identical materials, the same location for the battery compartment, similar knobs, switches, LEDs and finishes, etc.
Size, finish and weight
With a metal housing, it's a pedal somewhat wider and lower in height than the typical Boss®. Lightweight, easily portable products. I like their design and finish: aggressive colors, big lettering. These features make it easy to tell which pedal is which when it's on the floor, even in the darkness of the stage. Another nice detail is the generous size of the knobs: highly visible, easy to handle and solid.
Price
Generally speaking, we have to bear in mind that these are metal enclosures. They're pedals with an excellent signal-to-noise ratio, with that much-acclaimed vintage look and appealing, and in some cases even surprising, sonic results.
If you're thinking of spending €60, this isn't your choice. But the product line doesn't reach the cost of “handmade USA” manufacturing either; let's say it's a middle-ground alternative, closer to the top of the line than to the “toy guitar” end.
In short, what's it all about?
Except for the delay, which we'll talk about a little later, the family of “critters” at hand is essentially about saturation, from a dynamic shift with a creamy attack to the most profuse, even beastly, distortion. Let's take it one step at a time.
Way Huge Aqua Puss MKII. Analog delay
With the same finish and dimensions described above, we come across a pedal that stands a little apart from the other four. It's an analog delay with a certain vintage flavor. Flexible and versatile, it lets us control the usual parameters for this type of effect: repeat rate, duration, effect level relative to the original signal, depth, etc.
Its standout features are how easily it adapts to any kind of repeat our context calls for, its appealing old-school “echo” tone and the wide range of possible variations, with delays ranging from 20 ms to 300 ms.
Way Huge Pork Loin. Soft Clip Injection Overdrive
Next we'll go through the pedals in order of their saturation level, starting with the mildest and finishing with the Super Jumbo Fuzz (the scrappiest of the family).
Pork Loin is without a doubt the pedal that surprised me most of the five. By a wide margin. Regardless of my musical tastes, which shouldn't influence the tests, I confess that as a guitarist I was hugely impressed. It had been quite a while since I'd tried such a fantastic pedal, and when I last did (talking about an effect of this kind), it was a product that cost roughly 30% more.
A moderate saturation level is one of the hardest to pull off successfully. The Pork Loin takes us from “clean with spirit” to “soft saturation that screams”. When we move within this tonal range, the intensity with which we play plays a fundamental role. The guitar's dynamics become very sensitive. If we play softly, the sound is lively and cutting but practically clean. However, when we dig into the strings, the tone becomes ragged and dirty. A sonic environment where there's a directly proportional relationship between playing intensity and saturation. Personally, I think this richness of expression is magnificent for conveying emotion or meaning in our phrases.
I tried the pedal with a Godin guitar and a tube amp. I already had this “clean-to-scrappy” repertoire on the amp's crunch channel. Even so, with the pedal the change was remarkably significant. So much so that I decided to switch to the clean channel and handle the saturation textures with the effect alone. The result turned into something much better than the gain atmosphere generated by the amp itself.
Finally, I want to add that controlling the nuances through its five knobs is precise. It lets us steer the character of the sound toward our specific intention as we fine-tune the “gadget's” settings.
I'm in love; I want a Pork Loin.
Way Huge Angry Troll – Linear Boost Amplifier
We move on to the red saturation, one step further along the path to the wild side. This “angry” pedal covers a wider saturation range than the previous one. Through its controls we get a feeling similar to working with a vintage mic preamp. We're talking saturation and light overdrive.
Settings
While one of its knobs is free-turning (the volume, specifically), the other has five positions ranging from the mildest to the most screechy. These are touches of British punch, in a scene that could be described as “scrappy garage”.
And what happens if you combine the Pork Loin with the Angry Troll? A curious combination of resources between saturation and crunch suggestions with lots of attack. Still, I prefer the former.
On top of that, it has to be said that it's relatively moderately priced, even compared with its own “cousins” mentioned in this article.
Way Huge Fat Sandwich. Harmonic Saturator-Distortion
We keep moving toward progressive distortion. The Fat Sandwich is another step up on the road to full-on distortion. Although its range again starts at crunch and ends in distortion, it's fair to say it offers a more aggressive repertoire than the Angry. To tell the truth, it's quite a versatile pedal. It covers everything from classic distortions to quite dense, more contemporary ones. In short, it offers a range of sounds adaptable to almost any context, going beyond the dirty garage vibe without reaching heavy metal (although you could use it in both situations too if you work at it a bit).
Controlling the pedal
It has two large knobs for volume and distortion respectively, a medium-sized central one for tone, and two smaller ones for resonance and presence. It's important to highlight the richness these last two provide; although tone, volume and distortion obviously shape the sound a great deal, the two small controls give the pedal something special.
By adjusting the resonance parameter you can give the guitar body, punch and thickness: from thin, well-blending distortions (for very busy songs with little “room”) to very dense sounds that occupy practically every frequency in the spectrum (almost, mind you). In the latter case, I mean a very punchy, fat sound. Presence, for its part, helps give definition to those thick textures or, conversely, tones down the bite if it gets too piercing.
Conclusions
Medium and high distortion, lots of versatility and precision when defining how dirty the guitar gets and its timbre. The crunch results are appealing, although the pedal is scrappy overall and strays a bit from the British vintage concept. It's the least cheap of the family on test (though only just).
Way Huge Swollen Pickle - Super Jumbo Fuzz
We reach the peak of hard-hitting adrenaline. This little green monster surprised me quite a bit. At first I thought it was a conventional fuzz. Hendrix vibe, thick, dark distortions and that characteristic tubey rumble (I mean sounds that give the impression of passing through a tube because they have a bit too much resonance).
Well, that's what tests are for. We cleared up our doubts and broadened our views. Let me tell you.
The Swollen Pickle is much broader in concept than I imagined. In general, I think very focused fuzz is powerful but not very versatile (personal opinion). I think it almost always has very specific roles in playing. However, with the Super Jumbo Fuzz we come across an unexpected richness of color. Through its five controls we can get dozens of sounds, from that classic, typical crunch to surprisingly metal distortions to the max.
Striking
In my view, the most remarkable thing is how easy it makes personalizing your sound (just like its predecessors). The controls are well thought out and the adjustments take us from one extreme to the other. You can fine-tune the detail you're looking for at any given moment: a bit thinner, a bit longer, more beastly... and so on. Besides being one of the cheapest, it's a striking, energetic and quite aggressive pedal if you push it.
So, what kind of discount can you give me?
If I had to choose two, I'd go with the Pork Loin and the Swollen Pickle, although between the four (setting aside the delay) you actually cover practically every type of saturation/distortion you could need.
In the end, your tastes and needs will draw you to one or another. Basically, if you're into “pedal geekery” or you're looking for new colors for your sound, you should try the Way Huge pedals. You might just flip over one of them.