Stompbox Blog: Way Huge Swollen Pickle

Stompbox Blog

Welcome to the guitar effects virtual museum. I have been collecting stompboxes for the past few years and wanted to share some thoughts. I will continually add more pics and opinions. Any comments or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks for looking.

Monday, May 31, 2010

Way Huge Swollen Pickle


Before there was "Boutique", there were a handful of people tinkering with electronics in the early 90's as a hobby. There wasn't all the information accessible as there is today on the Internet. Sure there were a few Basic Electronic's Handbooks but not many geared towards musicians. Guitarists are infamous for wanting to alter or tweak their tone and they can never "leave well enough alone". There was Prescription Electronics, Fulltone, Voodoo Labs and a handful of other builders like Analog Mike making a name for themselves. Jeorge Tripps came up with the name "Way Huge" when he was 18 working at a music store in Monterey California. He came up with quirky names like Aqua Puss, Red Llama, Purple Platypus, Saffron Squeeze, Blue Hippo, Tone Leper, Piercing Moose, Foot Pig, Camel Toe, Sasquatch, Super-Puss and Swollen Pickle. He wanted to just have fun by making these unique and quirky pedals because he knew most musicians are well..... kinda weird themselves. They were not only quirky pedals, they used great electronic designs and developed a cult-following very fast. Unfortunately, it was very short-lived much like another famous boutique builder Lovetone but that's what makes them much-desired collectibles today. By the time he had just gotten started, another company by the name of Line 6 snatched him up with his reputation in the electronics industry. As he put it,"Okay, maybe I should get a real job". He still owns the name of his company Way Huge but has partnered up with Dunlop to resurrect some of the more popular designs and even create a few new models. One pedal has achieved a sort of cult-status among collectors... The Swollen Pickle and for good reason. Among all the fuzz pedals this one can created quite a sound. Think Smashing Pumpkin's Cherub Rock or some of the most corpulent fuzz by Hendrix. It has quite a range of tonal filth to satisfy any fuzz freak. As they say,"It has more fuzz than a moldy peach". For the latest incarnations visit http://www.wayhuge.com/ or http://www.dunlop.com/



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