I’ve seen the Swollen Pickle Fuzz pop up around different guitar forums and stuff, and it always seemed to have a pretty good reputation, so I was eager to see what all the hype was about. This big, fat, green beast is one of those pedals that you plug into and turn on, and are instantly blown away. I immediately loved the fuzz sounds coming through my amp, and I hadn’t even adjusted any of the knobs yet, which is always the sign of a good pedal: one that gets great sounds no matter where you set the controls. I was gonna have fun with this, I thought, and I certainly did.
The big thing I noticed throughout this test was the awesome Low-End presence. It’s so smooth that it’s hard to detect at first, but once you really dig into this thing, you realize the lows are blended perfectly, allowing for adjustments elsewhere that really diversify this pedal from other fuzzes in its class. Loudness controls the volume/output of the pedal, and the Filter knob adjusts a huge range of band-pass filter sounds, making for some pretty customizable settings. The Sustain is massive on the Swollen Pickle, and also boasts a large array of tones. Start off with a nice, mild crunch, and then crank it up to get full-on fuzz glory!
Some smaller additional controls lurk just beneath these main knobs, and they are essential to dialing in your sound, too. The Scoop dial goes from nice mid-scoop to flat-frequency, while the Crunch dial adds in (or takes away) the amount of compression present in the fuzz sound. There are 2 internal controls as well: Voice, which controls how intense the Scoop dial is, going from light to heavy, and Clip, which switches between smooth or open clipping diodes.
Not a one-trick pony, this thing is diverse and full of options, and it looks pretty slick, too, kinda like a pickle… If you’ve been searching for a powerful fuzz that can cut through ANY mix and still give you a ton of options, don’t wait. Run out to your local music shop and try out a Way Huge Swollen Pickle.
Submitted by Mike B, Website
