The Way Huge Fat Sandwich offers a variety of fuzz, overdrive, and distortion tones in a professionally designed pedal that reeks of quality and road-readiness.
When Jorge Tripps founded Way Huge electronics in 1992, it’s safe to say he had no idea what a “boutique” effects pedal was, since such language didn’t really enter the vernacular until the rise of the Internet and discussion boards. Though Way Huge closed its doors in 1999, they had already established themselves as a premiere company for unique effects pedals (with unique names). Flash forward to now, and Jim Dunlop has adopted the Way Huge brand and brought Tripps on board to oversee their production. One of the most popular Way Huge pedals is the Fat Sandwich.
The Way Huge Fat Sandwich is a multi-gain stage pedal. Tripps designed it so it would sound like a couple of overdrives or distortions being fed in series. The pedal exterior features controls for Volume, Tone, Distortion, Presence, and Resonance. Internal trim pots control Curve (frequency roll-off for the first clipping stage), High-End (further control over the high-end spectrum), and Drive (controls the second distortion stage). Obviously, this is no half-baked Tube Screamer clone!
Tripps recommends running the Fat Sandwich into a loud clean amp, so I tested it with a reissue Fender Twin Reverb. My first response, playing through a Fender American Deluxe HSS Stratocaster, is that the Fat Sandwich is, for lack of a better phrase, very musical. It’s subtitle is “Harmonic Saturator,” and I think that’s a pretty accurate description. Even single notes take on a richness, a thick tone that’s hard to put into words. Also, the controls are very responsive. It’s easy to radically change sounds just by making slight adjustments. If you decide to modify the internal trim pots, you could possibly drive yourself mad with all of the tonal options available. The Fat Sandwich can sound like a 60’s fuzz, a 70’s overdrive, or an 80’s distortion, all in the same pedal. It also cleans up very well using the guitar’s volume knob, which makes it even more useful.
Kudos to Jim Dunlop for resurrecting a company and a line of pedals that offers something more than just a repackaged Tube Screamer. The Way Huge Fat Sandwich offers a variety of fuzz, overdrive, and distortion tones in a professionally designed pedal that reeks of quality and road-readiness.