WAY HUGE
SAFFRON SQUEEZE
COMPRESSOR MKII
REVIEW BY DAVID A. EVANS
STREET PRICE $149.99
Saffron is probably one of
the most expensive spices
on the planet and is prized
for its inimitable taste. The
folks at Way Huge probably
took inspiration from the
spice for their Saffron
Squeeze MkII compressor.
Fortunately, the Saffron
Squeeze will spice up tonal
palettes and leave listeners
wanting more without
breaking the bank.
Way Huge’s MkII Squeeze
is a second-generation
compression pedal. Along
with the previous version’s
Volume and Sustain knobs,
the MkII includes Gain,
Tone, and Attack controls
that cleverly allow for a
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GEAR REVIEW
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variety of tonal possibilities.
The Tone knob adjusts
the level of the postcompression signal’s
higher frequencies, while
the Attack knob dials in a
gradual release, a slipperyquick release, or anything
in-between. The Gain
control actually adjusts the
level of the incoming signal
prior to its compression.
Players of low-output
pickups might find the
Gain knob handy simply
because it can boost the
incoming signal. If only a
bit of compression is called
for, the extra control over
the input signal’s volume
gives users the chance to
dial in subtler compression
levels. Alternatively, if
the big squeeze is called
for, boosting the input
Gain knob will tend to
overdrive the compression
circuit, lending it a warmer,
occasionally clipped quality.
In the majority of its
settings, the MkII Saffron
Squeeze compresses
without adding the sort
of grit that bedevils lesser
versions of the effect.
Indeed, in the suggested
“Classic Squeeze” setting,
the pedal more than ably
handled funky, percussive
strumming and picking
patterns as heard in, for
example, Talking Heads’s
Way Huge Saffron Squeeze Compressor MKII