WAY
HUGE
Pedals
The two controls on the face of the device,
Presence and Resonance, control the response
of the high and low-end frequencies. Pushing
up the presence and maxing the gain gave up
a killer eighties metal and hard rock tones, and
with the volume knob rolled down it was very
responsive to pick attack—really responsive. A
higher setting of the Resonance control with the
gain turned down was perfect for vintage rock
tones in the vein of Kossoff and Red-era Robert
Fripp. The sound and feel was tight but giving, and a blast to play. This is definitely the
sleeper in the new Way Huge line, and could
easily hold it its own against most boutique
distortion pedals.
Buy if: a versatile, dynamic distortion is just
the ticket.
Skip if: the idea of such extensive control
scares you.
Rating...
4. 5
Street $180
Way Huge Swollen Pickle
Jumbo Fuzz MKII
This is it, the one we’ve been waiting for with
bated breath. Out of the original Way Huge
product line, the Swollen Pickle Jumbo Fuzz
certainly garners the most attention. Obviously
inspired by the Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi,
the Swollen Pickle has been a trade secret
among gearhounds for years. While it’s definitely in the same vein as the EH fuzz, the voicing of
this device and the reaction of the Tone knob
set it apart. The reissue, dutifully designated
by a “MKII” label, continues the tradition of
the famed fuzz, while adding a few other features under the hood.
One thing that made the original Swollen
Pickle so unique was the heft that that sound
had. The best way to describe it would be
that the sound pushes a lot of air, but is quite
aggressive. Most Muff-esque pedals have
a huge, thick sound, but are often plagued
with a farty low end and a displeasing upper
frequency range (icepick highs when the tone
control is cranked). The Swollen Pickle MKII
has all of the punch of the original, and a
massive tonal range. With a stock setting (Tone:
12 o’clock, Sustain: 1 o’clock, Volume: 11
o’clock) the pedal immediately sounded fantastic, with great note separation, clarity, and
a nice even frequency range. There is a very
hi-fi quality to this pedal, but in a surprisingly
musical way.
With an opportunity to improve upon the
original idea, Way Huge has included four
more controls in the circuit: Scoop, Crunch,
two internal controls for adjusting the intensity of the Scoop control, and one to change
the style of clipping. These additional options
seemed a little overboard at first, but provided hours of fun.
The Scoop control allows the player to
scoop or boost the midrange frequencies of
the unit, which is highly useful on its own.
Crunch controls how compressed the fuzz
is, which resulted in highly squeezed square
wave-esque sounds to all-out sonic annihilation. Using these in tandem with the Scoop
intensity control yielded very smooth vintage
tones to razor-sharp modern distortion, and
the clipping type control provided a sucker
punch intensity that just took it completely
over the top. It was actually strange to turn
off the pedal after an hour and play clean; the
tone felt wimpy after being hit in the chest by
this little beast for so long. The pedal can dish
out fantastic, less extravagant traditional fuzz
tones if need be, but it excels at aggressive,
huge sounds.
Construction-wise, the Swollen Pickle is no
slouch either. The enclosure is identical to the
originals: thick, brushed aluminum. The jacks
were solid and the pedal was very quiet with
the Scoop intensity knob at lower settings
(which was very nice). Even the battery compartment, which is usually an afterthought in
so many pedal designs, is clever—it’s situated
on the front edge of the device and requires
no tools to get to. Why doesn’t every pedal
out there have this as an option? The Way
Huge Swollen Pickle MKII is an extraordinary
fuzz pedal, and certainly lives up to its name.
Buy If: huge fuzz tones are your thing, and
you want to craft a unique voice with lots of
punch and clarity.
Skip If: you need more subdued, low-key fuzz.
Rating... 5.0
Street $160
wayhuge.com
