cranked the Gain with the Tone control at
noon. Before I comment on the resulting tone,
I should mention that we get a lot of really
amazing gear at PG from a very eclectic group
of individuals and manufacturers.
The Initial Mojo
The sound that I got with this setup and the
MKIII was one of the best fuzz tones that I’ve
ever achieved. The note separation, low-end
response, and sensitivity were near perfect. I
was particularly impressed by how punchy the
MKIII was, with every note that I played up
and down the neck hitting me in the gut like
a prize fighter. The highs were very present
and sharp, exhibiting more of the qualities
of a distortion pedal than a high-gain fuzz
device. It reminded me of when I used to run
my old Boss SD- 1 into my Big Muff, which
resulted in a colossal wall of sound with more
sharpness and intensity than the stock Big
Muff was capable of. In this case, the MKIII
achieved tones in that realm that were tighter
and thankfully quieter (it sounded great, but
the feedback I used to get from that setup
was enormous). Flipping the toggle switch
to the fattest setting threw me into vintage
metal territory, with the MKIII kicking out
some of the most fantastic, midrange-heavy
fuzz this side of Master of Reality.
I had to tear myself away from the Iceman to
pick up the Tele, which had been sitting alone
in the corner of the room while I’d been beat-ing on the Ibanez. Ultimately, that proved
to be the best course of action. The MKIII
sounds great with humbuckers, but it really,
really likes single coils. I put the pedal back to
the original settings that I first used with the
Iceman, and the resulting tone was almost
completely different. All of the afore-men-tioned articulation was there, but with a raspy
bite in the mids and a rock-solid low end that
was extremely pleasing to hear. Rolling down
the guitar’s volume knob yielded one of the
best vintage Jimmy Page tones that I’ve ever
come across, including that sharp bite Page
had in his pick attack that is so elusive in fuzz
pedals of today.
The Final Mojo
If the MKIII is any indication, Kirkland is definitely on to something. What is basically a copy
of a common, simple fuzz circuit had me captivated for hours on end. Come to think of it, I
don’t think I’ve ever played the riff to “Whole
Lotta Love” for that long at any other point in
my life. The combination of the extreme attention to detail, high-quality parts and impeccable
build quality here is testimony to just how
central those things are to a great product—
the MKIII nailed all three of them. Stay on the
lookout for this up-and-coming pedal builder
and artist, because if the old saying, “it can only
get better from here,” is true we’re all in for an
amazing treat in the future.
you want tight, articulate and sensitive fuzz that’ll still satisfy your vintage fuzz jones.
Buy If...
Skip If...
you prefer the looser low-end
response of other fuzz pedals, such
as the Big Muff
Rating...
5.0
ONTHEWeb
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clips of the pedal in action at
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Skinpimp Hand Crafted
Street $250
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