30 Pedals in 30 Days 2014: Way Huge Havalina


HavalinaGermaniumFuzz-11

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Way Huge gave the fuzz market a quick slap to the face with their Swollen Pickle. That pedal still resonates with me as one of the biggest sounding fuzz pedals that I’ve ever heard. The Havalina is the answer for purists who are looking for a more classic sounding fuzz. For 30 Pedals in 30 Days 2014, TheToneKing.com gets our fuzz fix with the Way Huge Havalina.

Ole number 32 on the Periodic Table, germanium is a gray-white metalloid from the carbon group. Sitting just below its arch nemesis, silicon, germanium is prized by fuzz purists as the only path to the ultimate fuzz tone.

Although the knife fights are getting out of hand, fuzz purists do have a point. germanium transistors have greater capacity, lower bandwidth, and lower gain than Silicon. Generally, that equates to less breakup, smoother low end, and an overall less shrilly fuzz.

That’s what Way Huge had in mind when they put three hand-selected Russian germanium transistors in Havalina’s box. With a passive tone circuit that minimizes or eliminates any additional boosting of frequencies, the Havalina lets the germanium do the talking.

Way Huge describes the Havalina as a “peccary of a pedal.” A peccary, aka “skunk pig,” is a gnarly looking pig-like creature with short tusks and a peculiar smell. Basically, the Havalina has enough gain to it to sound pretty gnarly if you lean into it. But, surprisingly enough, this peccary can also be quite cuddly. Players looking for a smoother, more mellow kind of fuzz will relish in its openness and warmth.

Fuzz had its heyday in back during the summer of love, a startling sound that brought with it a new wave of consciousness that covered the world with a sense of love, community, and individuality. Of course, that time has passed, and the good news is that you don’t need to be a dirty hippie to love the sound of good fuzz.

Iconic sounds are always tough to master, and none get more iconic than fuzz. Now that fuzz is making a huge, or Way Huge, comeback, manufacturers are getting a chance to really push the limits of what fuzz pedals can do. Of course, the farther you go with it, the farther away you move from that iconic sound. Which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your preference. While we here at TheToneKing.com always appreciate pushing the limits, sometimes we’re just looking for a quality classic sound. And that’s what we found in the Way Huge Havalina. The Way Huge Havalina was yet another great addition to the 30 Pedals in 30 Days 2014 line-up.

 

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMbsfzYr2MY’]

 

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Elx0qpMPljE’]

 

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Filed Under: FeaturedPedals3P3D-2014

About the Author: Marc published his first novel Becoming in 2010. It’s a kick-ass book with monsters and dreams and stuff, and you should buy it. Since then, he’s written thousands of articles for TheToneKing.com, many of which have been picked up for circulation by manufacturers and other news outlets. His next book, Drugs and Pancakes, should be available early 2014 if his alcoholic editor can find time to work on it in-between destroying his liver and screaming about punctuation. He graduated from Roosevelt University with honors, which means that he’s not as dumb as he looks. He’s been playing guitar for over 25 years, which is almost twice as long as most of his students have been alive.

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