Pound for pound, today’s large-format guitar pedals offer tones and features you’d be hard-pressed to find in a mini equivalent. Whether it’s an extra gain stage to tap into, a colorful discrete analog signal path, or the tactile luxury of being able to wrap your whole fist around a knob, there’s just something about these colossal pedals that continue to capture the hearts and ears of the players at Sweetwater. That’s why they keep showing up on our pedalboards despite the plethora of mini and micro pedals that offer similar sounds.
This begs the question: Are these king-sized pedals worth the extra space on your board; are they worth the space of two or three mini alternatives? Many players say yes. For your consideration, here’s a look at six unapologetically epic pedals that, for our money, deserve every inch of space they command on a pedalboard.
Fender Duel Pugilist Distortion
Fender’s double-barreled Duel Pugilist is one distortion pedal that makes no bones about its size. This dandelion double-wide expands the 2018 Pugilist by giving players the ability to switch, stack, and customize its Distortion A and Distortion B tones like never before.
In addition to independent Level, Tone, and Gain controls for each distortion circuit, the Duel Pugilist also gives you a 2-band master EQ, separate on/off footswitches, and a 3-way Mode switch to access rhythm/boost operation, series stacking, and the variable A/B blend mode of the classic.
Yes, it’s big. But the Duel Pugilist is 99% as useful as having two discrete distortion pedals on your board, and so, it definitely gets our nod for space justification.
Itching to get your hands on the Duel Pugilist Distortion? You won’t find it anywhere but Sweetwater.
Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler
It’s rare to find a pioneer-days digital pedal with as much staying power as a boutique amp. But that’s exactly what Line 6 has created with their ubiquitous DL4 Delay Modeler. If you’ve played out in the past 20 years, then you’ve no doubt spotted this value-packed virescent digital delay at the feet of a bandmate or headliner. Here’s the real kicker: it remains one of Sweetwater’s best-selling delays to this day.
The DL4 has changed surprisingly little over the decades — a testament to its impressive tones and ease of use. And we’re pleased to report that this stereo delay still gives pricey modern digitals a run for their money in terms of sound and sheer utility. One spin on the dial reveals 15 highly usable delay-based algorithms, which range from tape-style rockabilly slapbacks to churning waves of tonal undulation. A dedicated tap tempo makes it easy to sync the DL4 to a drummer. And the left-field Tweak/Tweez controls make it easy to take delay effects over the top for solos and statement making. There’s even a super-advanced 14-second stereo looper onboard! Okay, 14 seconds may be a little dated by today’s standards. But it’s still enough time to pump out an 8-bar phrase and solo over it.
Large though it may be, the DL4 makes a great addition to the board of any player who wants loads of delays at their feet with an easy-tweaking (no menu diving!) control scheme.
Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi
Today’s silver-boxed production Big Muff Pi is one fuzz that lives up to its namesake — both in terms of size and tone. The Big Muff’s mammoth chassis leaves plenty of room between knobs for dialing in tones with fingers or toes. And, from a gnarled sputter to an endless Floydian sustain, the Big Muff is able to lengthen leads and crunch up chords like no other pedal in its class.
The Big Muff owes a debt of thanks to Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins and Gish/Siamese Dream producer Butch Vig for immortalizing its larger-than-life guitar texturizing capabilities. Though in recent years he has recanted his pedal-mongering personality, the mystique Corgan built around his op-amp Big Muff is, without question, one of the big reasons why many of us players own one today.
What’s sort of humorous is that the full Big Muff circuit could, today, fit in a housing half the original’s size. But, when you’ve got a reputation like this fuzz, you’ve got room to throw your weight around. Verdict: a useful addition to many boards.
Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man
The 1980s were a decade built on decadence and excess: big yachts, big phones, big hair, big sleeves, and big egos. But, for EHX founder Mike Matthews, the Deluxe Memory Man analog delay — which really came into its own around the turn of the decade — was a triumph in shrinking acclaimed tape-style delay and chorus effects into (what was, at the time) an exceptionally small, slim pedal form factor. Scores of players like Ed O’Brien of Radiohead still cite this pedal as one of the few essentials on their boards.
Today’s big-box Deluxe Memory Man captures all the bucket-brigade analog goodness of the original in a more robust modern build. You get longer repeat times and none of the liabilities (overheating, excess noise) common to the late-’70s/early-’80s models while still getting to revel in the gritty imperfection of its NOS Panasonic ICs and the breezy spaciousness of its large form factor.
Sure, there are smaller delays on the market. But, for true BBD relay effects and a tape-style delay that feels as good in the hands as it sounds in the ears, the Deluxe Memory Man is one pedal that’s likely to find a permanent spot in your setup.
Strymon BigSky Multidimensional Reverb
If Strymon’s blueSky Reverberator was the Terminator of a threadbare reverb genre, then its successor, the BigSky, was definitely the T2: bigger, more immersive, and packed with even more explosive, reverberant goodness.
The BigSky and blueSky came out at a time when computer-based digital reverbs offered tones that most pedals couldn’t match. Strymon’s response was to pack its reverbs with high-performance SHARC DSP chips that could unleash the power of these resource-heavy effects in ways that not even their digital contemporaries could touch.
Strymon’s synth-like ambient guitar effects blew open a new corner in the market. And, while you’ll find both pedals occupying the boards of many synth and guitar players at Sweetwater, it’s the double-wide BigSky that gets our vote for best use of space. Right onboard, you’ll find 12 spacious reverb effects and enough tactile controls, including two custom parameters per patch, to quickly shape ethereal soundscapes in the heat of a performance. Factor in a bank of 300 recallable presets and remote MIDI switching, and the Strymon BigSky is one effect whose versatility actually exceeds its large size.
Even with the NightSky close at its heels, the Strymon BigSky remains a favorite on the pedalboards of many ambient-music lovers at Sweetwater and throughout the industry. If you’re a player who favors eerie, immersive, angelic reverb flavors, then the BigSky is one pedal you’re going to want to make space for.
Origin Effects RevivalDRIVE Hot Rod Custom
While it’s certainly not the biggest pedal on this list, the Origin Effects RevivalDRIVE Hot Rod Custom gets high marks on our list for jamming the most knobs, slides, and switches into every nook and cranny of its not-insignificant surface area. It definitely wins first prize in the category of KSI (knobs per square inch).
All told, this all-analog drive enhancer is a tone chaser’s delight. Decades of tube- and silicon-inspired topology ooze from every inch of its jam-packed tone internals. In addition to familiar amp-face controls, this pedal seeks to re-create the harder-defined properties of classic British and American amplifiers, including dynamic speaker load, tone ghosting, and tube sag.
If you’re wondering where the RevivalDRIVE Hot Rod Custom fits in your signal path, it’s the same as where a gorilla sits in a movie theater. Answer: anywhere it wants. Whether you’re front loading or loop feeding an amp or injecting an amp sim with true amp-derived color and feel, this is one midsized drive pedal that deserves its monster status.
When It Comes to Pedals, Go Big or Go Home!
When you want to make the most out of the usable space on your pedalboard, sometimes you just can’t afford not to go big. Want to take any of these plus-sized pedals on our list for a spin in your setup? Give your Sweetwater Sales Engineer a call at (800) 222-4700! You might just find you need a bigger pedalboard to make room for them all. Not to worry — we can help you with that, too.
