Catalinbread WarMECH

The original Ultra Fuzz needs a lengthy setup, and several of its settings produce no sound at all. The WarMECH subtly expands some of its features while still letting the player dial in the original response.

Fuzz sets the amount and type of saturation, from a lighter, more responsive sound to thick, compressed distortion. Color moves the character from tight to thick. Gate decides how notes decay and how easily quiet passages are cut off, from controlled fuzz to choppy, broken-up textures. Rez feeds part of the signal back for longer sustain and screeching tones, including synth-like, theremin-like slides.

The guitar's volume knob plays a large part. It affects how dynamic the pedal is, can bring high Fuzz settings back to a clean sound and unlocks other sounds and oscillation frequencies. Some control combinations give very little usable output, while others become unruly or highly expressive.