This was the pedal that got us started in 2010, and it’s based on a classic 1970s DOD OD-250/ Proco Rat style frame: single op-amp pushed really hard, hard clipping to ground, and a discrete transistor buffer between the tone and volume control. We incorporated a variation of a known mod to these kinds of pedals courtesy of Phillip Ruetz that we called the Shape control (named that way because I once saw the actual shape of some treble frequencies I played go from square to sine as we changed the values), and added the feedback loop we called the Havoc control after I did it by accident on the breadboard.

The long story short is that this thing is an unrepentant, unapologetic distortion pedal that is totally nasty and fun. This Cannon comes pre-loaded with balls (pun alert!) and is capable of going from cranked, lightly dirty amp tones to the sound of a furry Godzilla devouring a junkyard full of broken a/c window units.

It’s different than the original, which was based on the classic ’70s fuzzstortions we grew up playing. It’s different from our Haymaker™, which is a wide range drive pedal based around the rotation of a clipping network into different locations in the circuit, and which is intended to respond and feel like an extension of your amp. This pedal is really about rocking your socks off.

While it can do some extremely cool mild-to-medium crunch tones, Wave Cannon II is really capable of overwhelming your amp. The focus (mids) and tone controls are different from what we’ve done before and can give you a really broad range of textures and voicings. There is a LOT of gain and volume on tap, as we’d been infuriated in the past by great sounding classic distortion pedals we’ve owned that didn’t go far enough with clean amps, or were quieter than unity gain or the bypass signal. The rumble switch allows more low end if you want it, or lets you tighten things up if you don’t need it.

Warranty

This item is sold without the Sound Pure 3-year warranty (used / B-stock / dealer-exempt). Coverage terms for items in this category live in Terms & Conditions, Section 27.

Returns

Try Before You Buy: take it home, commit only when it's right. Program details →