THE CURRENT STATE OF SMALL-TO-mid-
size pedal builders seems like a parallel
to bands and online music delivery: Not
long ago, a few big corporations held all
product and channels of distribution. Now,
there are hundreds of small companies—be
they pedal builders or record labels—that
can directly connect with musicians via
the Internet. While that may require more
research from us players, the more motivated
among us can immerse ourselves in
this world to find the perfect product.
One of these smaller stompbox manufacturers
is Wren & Cuff, located about
40 miles outside Los Angeles in Westlake
Village, California. Judging from the company’s
website, it seems like a reasonable,
almost humble organization, making some
boost pedals, some Big Muff spin-offs, and
a few crazy creations. Judging by the names
of the pedals tested here—the Phat Phuk
B and the Pickle Pie Hella Fuzz B—the
company’s California origin shines through
loud and clear.
PHAT PHUK B
This Germanium-loaded Phat Phuk B bass
booster is dead simple, with just a knob and
a stomp switch. The Phat Phuk’s pink sparkle
finish is as flashy as the pedal’s name,
which is … well, maybe a little over-thetop.
The build quality is excellent, with
top-notch components. The circuit board
is mounted with a standoff, and everything
else bolts to the enclosure. (Nice!)
It’s tempting to be a little blasé about
booster pedals, as they typically have little
to no personality. But I’ll cut straight to it—
this pedal sounds great. I found the Phat
Phuk B (let’s just call it the PPB from now
on, okay?) added a nice boost in the low
mids, and I liked that the transistor was
biased to add just a touch of clipping. The
PPB had all the warmth and sonic goodness
that everyone promises in a Germanium
booster, but that few actually deliver.
The PPB is buffered at the input, making
it active-pickup-friendly and safe to place
after other buffered pedals.
I plugged the PPB into a fairly neutral
solid-state 1x15 combo and played it
with both passive and active Jazz Basses.
It was a cool booster for providing a temporary
punch in the mix, but I found more
joy in the “always on” applications. The
pedal is capable of adding a dark, dirty
vibe to a modern, clean amp. When playing
driving rock music with a pick, the
PPB had a natural edge that helped cut
through without dominating or competing
with a guitarist.
PICKLE PIE HELLA FUZZ B
Does the world really need more takes on
the original Big Muff pedal? The answer is
yes. Muff-style pedals can be wildly inconsistent,
and small changes in the circuit can
make big sonic differences. In my mind,
there are two things for which there can
never be too many recipes: chocolate chip
cookies and Muff-style fuzz boxes.
The Pickle Pie Hella Fuzz B uses a 14-pin
chip (similar to the Way Huge Swollen
Pickle), rather than the much more common
setup with four discreet transistors. Unlike
any other Muff variant I’ve seen, the Pickle
Pie uses FET transistors as clipping diodes.
The pedal has the usual SATURATION (gain),
SHAPE (tone), and VOLUME controls. There
is also a blend knob to balance between a
buffered clean tone and the fuzz, a handy
feature for controlling the amount of low
end in your signal. Somewhat irritatingly,
this knob is side-mounted, located right by
the input jack. I’d prefer to see it on the top,
or at least on the back by the power jack.
Plugged in and stomped on, the Hella
Fuzz has a great fuzzy, Muff-like low end, a
nice bite in the upper mids, and no crowding
or muddiness the lower mids. What
surprised me was the refined quality of
the sound. The Pickle Pie is the secret service
agent of fuzz pedals: apparent, strong,
threatening, but never rude, overbearing,
or inappropriate. The clean blend is very
welcome for pedals with this much thickness
and distortion. When I cranked
SATURATION, the sustain of the fuzz sounded
like a synth, and that tone blended with
the clean signal resulted in a nifty doubletracked
or dual-unison effect. The range of
the SHAPE control goes from thick and dark
to having brash upper mids, but it never
sounded piercing or overly bright. There
are a ton of useful sounds in between, but I
found neither extreme all that useful on its
own. The extremes were fun when mixed
with the clean signal, though.
The Pickle Pie Hella Fuzz construction
seems even nicer than that of the Phat Phuk,
having dual standoffs for the board, neat
wiring, and a high-end battery clip. The lime
green case is quite eye-catching, as well.
The small operation of Wren & Cuff has
succeeded in making pedals without cutting
any corners. The Phat Phuk B is as
good as any booster I’ve heard. The Pickle
Pie brings class and refinement to the Muff
framework. They might cost nearly double
that of a comparable product from the corporate
big boys, but they have a quality
and essence that simply can’t be found on
machine-made, mass-produced pedals.
PHAT PHUK B
Direct $170
Pros Warm, organic sound; pleasingly
mild breakup
Cons None
PICKLE PIE HELLA FUZZ B
Direct $200
Pros Great fuzz tone, useful range of
controls
Cons Side-mounted BLEND knob
TECH SPECS
Switching type True hardwire bypass
Power supply 9V battery or standard
“Boss-style” 9V adapter
Made in U.S.A.
Warranty One year limited
Contact wrenandcuff.com