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Swollen Pickle vs Sonny Bluebeard

Musicman1901

Musicman1901

Jun 1, 2012
2,190
2,183
Rochester, NY
#1
Hey everybody, I have recently been hit with some fuzz GAS again and am trying to decide between these 2 pedals. I know a lot of people are going to say the bluebeard right away but I feel like I can't count the swollen pickle out. It sounds like a great fuzz. I would love to hear opinions from people that have used these pedals. Especially people that have tried both! Thanks everybody!
 
#4
I have owned them both. The pickle is more tweak-able than the Bluebeard. And it has more low end for sure. I'm not saying the BB is bad. They are both nice muff clones. Honestly, you should really consider the Grey Stache vs. the Pharoah. Same price range, and in my honest opinion they are the best muff clones that iv'e tried. But, of course it'd be best to hear for yourself. I'm sure you will be hear plenty of others chime in on the topic. Best of luck to you.
 
#6
here's a partial list of some of the 'muff based' pedals:

EHX Civil War
EHX Green Russian
Earthbound Audio SuperCollider
Blackout Effectors Musket
Way Huge Swollen Pickle
BlackArts Pharaoh
Catalinbread Manx Loagthan
Mojohand Iron Bell
Earthquaker Devices Hoof
Cornish G2
BJFE Fire Red Fuzz
Bass Big Muff
W&C TFR
S&S Bluebeard

out of all of those, my personal faves are the Cornish G2, The BJFE/MP Fire red Fuzz, the BE Musket, and the EA Super Collider.
 
#7
Hmmm I remember awhile back considering getting a grey stache and I never got around to it. My current fuzz is a colorsound tonebender which I plan on keeping. This will be my secondary fuzz. So I'm definitely wanting the one that's most "different" from the tonebender.
 
#8
franksgbass said:
I have owned them both. The pickle is more tweak-able than the Bluebeard. And it has more low end for sure. I'm not saying the BB is bad. They are both nice muff clones. Honestly, you should really consider the Grey Stache vs. the Pharoah. Same price range, and in my honest opinion they are the best muff clones that iv'e tried. But, of course it'd be best to hear for yourself. I'm sure you will be hear plenty of others chime in on the topic. Best of luck to you.
Click to expand...

It's interesting you say that because awhile back I posted a thread comparing the stache and the bluebeard and everybody was essentially telling me how they were apples and oranges.
 
#11
Fuzzrocious seems to have alot of nice dirt pedals. I don't know what distracted me from getting some stuff from him about a year ago when I was interested. The grey stache seems a little more tame compared to the bluebeard. I have never tried either of them. Just going by videos
 
#13
I owned the Swollen Pickle. Great sounds in there, but way too complicated to use. Many knobs, and the internal trimpots are, unfortunately, essential in getting a good sound out of it. Having to open the pedal to fine tune the sound is a huge design failure imho.

I don't know about the bluebeard. But if you haven't chosen yet, like many people suggested above, have a look at the Fuzzroicious, Wren and Cuff and Dwarfcraft stuff. And the Malekko Diabolik of course...
 
#15
I looked up a couple videos of the grey stache and it seems more grindy with alot more presence in the mids which is nice but it seems much more subtle than the bluebeard. It sounds like it cant really scream as well. Also, that's a good point about the pickle. I don't need 10 knobs plus internal trimpots to dial in a good fuzz sound. It will honestly probably annoy me haha
 
#16
I went through a huge Muff clone phase where I owned quite a few of them. I had a Pickle but no Bluebeard. In the end I decided on keeping only my BE Musket. It's just a great fuzz with everything you need to get a killer sound.

One of these days I will be getting a Civil War Muff or a Wren & Cuff Box of War.
 
#20
I own a Bluebeard, and if you want screaming fuzz, this is your guy.
It does muffled fuzz too.

I owned a Tall Font Russian (different beast really) and it has LOT of low end content.

I compared the two, and the TFR won for board space due to this.

However, when it came time to hock pedals for much needed cash, I sold the TFR and kept the Bluebeard.

The Bluebeard doesn't cut too much lowend for straight through to amp use (without clean blend), and you can always boost the low-mids after it if you like using a preamp (I do, works great).

But it screams, and is kinda amazing when pushed into other drives/fuzzes etc.
Gain for days.

The only drawback I see is the wait period, but you can email Sonny and get a decent estimate on build/delivery time. Unless you buy used of course.
 

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