Hiwatt Customized Filter Fuzz MK II | Evaluate

MSRP: (UK) £TBC / (US) $TBC

Unlock unparalleled sonic versatility with the Hiwatt Customized Filter Fuzz MK II. That includes its predecessor’s wealthy, creamy fuzz with an expanded filter part for exact tonal sculpting, the Filter Fuzz MK II’s analogue circuitry delivers heat, natural fuzz tones good for all the pieces from traditional rock to fashionable experimental sounds. With rugged building, intuitive controls, and true bypass switching, the Customized Filter Fuzz MK II ensures each sturdiness and readability in any setting. Whether or not you are dialling in searing leads or thick, textured rhythms, this pedal presents a dynamic vary of sounds that can elevate your musical expression to new heights. Nick Jennison opinions.

Hiwatt and fuzz go collectively like espresso and cream. From David Gilmour’s hovering melodies to the ominous grind of stoner and doom, the mixture of pummeling clear quantity, rounded highs, and dense proto-distortion is difficult to beat. So, who higher than Hiwatt to make a fuzz pedal?

Impressed by the Heathkit fuzz utilized by Grand Funk Railroad within the late Sixties, the Customized Store Filter Fuzz was initially launched as a hand-wired unit on a turret board, housed in a big vintage-style enclosure – with a equally giant price ticket. The MK II model is similar circuit however in a smaller, lighter, and extra inexpensive package deal. It is nonetheless hand-wired and made to order in strictly restricted portions, but it surely’s sufficient to make this wonderful pedal much more interesting.

Regardless of its comparatively easy interface, the Filter Fuzz is a surprisingly versatile pedal. The “fuzz” management is usable throughout its complete taper, and there is an equally broad vary of usable quantity – it will probably get quiet sufficient that it will not blow out a unclean amp, but it surely has greater than sufficient output to punch approach above your clear tone. The acquire goes from a mild purr to a raging wall of filth, and it begins to freak out in a delightfully controllable approach with the fuzz management set to full. Dimed, you’ll be able to count on octave oscillations in each instructions and a spitty, gated assault, however again the fuzz knob down only a contact and the tone turns into easy, furry, and sustaining. There’s additionally an inner bias pot for fine-tuning the pedal’s response.

There are two tone-shaping controls on the Filter Fuzz, with “Thick” including a monstrous low finish into the circuit and blowing up the pedal’s transient response, however the star of the present is the foot-switchable “Filter” management. This notched three-position change emphasizes totally different areas of the pedal’s midrange, which influences the way in which the pedal feels as a lot as the way it sounds. All the way in which to the left, and you’ve got biting “take your head off” higher mids. The centre place is vocal and throaty, and the suitable pushes the decrease mids for a sludgy bark that is good for beefing up single coils.

Fuzzes are famously choosy beasts in relation to how they reply to totally different guitars and amps, however the Filter Fuzz MK II was fully unfazed by the gear I threw at it. It appeared equally snug with single coils and humbuckers, and even sizzling energetic pickups could not fluster it. Equally, it sounded equally killer by way of a mid-pushed Deluxe-style amp, a scooped Tremendous, a vivid AC, and a bushy Marshall tone – all with none controls to “sculpt” the highs or lows. That is fairly a formidable feat!

The Hiwatt Filter Fuzz MK II is an absolute monster of a fuzz pedal, able to classic ’60s maintain, doom grind, and blown-up gated noise, all infused with its personal distinctive flavour. It is a pedal that deserves to be on each fuzz lover’s board.

For extra info, please go to:

hiwatt.co.uk