With a name like Marion Henry Electric, we really didn’t know what to expect when we reached out to Alex and Co. in an attempt to get a loaner pedal to test drive from their hand-wired, hand-painted and super-colorful line. After some discussion, including how the pedal maker now had the guitar slingers for Umphrey’s McGee using their gear, MHE sent us their two-knob fuzz – the Fuzz Bucket. Like the crew says in their propaganda, the Fuzz Bucket is a drive pedal with a fuzzy nature that offers up broad range of analog fuzz tones. Eager to test drive, we dove right in.

The Fuzz Bucket comes in the standard little white pedal box. Inside we found the pedal and a pair of stickers – one nice Marion Henry Electric sticker and one promoting Wildman Steve Radio, a nifty internet radio site… though we’re not sure about the connection between Steve and the pedal. The Fuzz Bucket itself boasts a wild and unique multi-color paint job and just two knobs – Vol(ume) and Fuzz… pretty self explanatory.

To the pedal itself, and with the Les Paul, we wanted to take a listen to the range of the Fuzz Bucket. With the Vol knob at noon, we take the Fuzz knob from full left to full right in a slow, deliberate sweep down the Greasy Grass River. First clean, then the Bucket.

You get a good idea of the range of the Fuzz Bucket with that clip. It can do the low-gain growl and the thick, fuzzy howl with simple adjustments to the fuzz levels with a good handful of sweet spots in between. Moving the Strat, neck pickup, we dial up the Fuzz. With Vol at noon and Fuzz dimed, here’s a little density. Clean first, then the pedal.

We were instant fans of the way the Fuzz Bucket thickens up without losing all of the string articulation in the picking section. You can still hear a little ’string sing’ underneath the fuzz, which is a cool effect on its own. Over the bridge pickup on the Strat, we dial the fuzz back in order to get just a little sizzle on this percussive riff. With Vol at noon and Fuzz at 9 o’clock, we go for a little post punk power chordage. First clean, then the fuzz.

Marion Henry Electric has created a simple, no-nonsense fuzz that is a lot more versatile than its two-knobs would lead one to believe. We were impressed with the lower gain tones as much, if not more, than the full fuzzed-out offerings – and the pedal’s responsiveness across the gain spectrum. At $199, it’s the most expensive pedal Marion Henry makes, but we believe it stacks up well against other fuzzes in that price range and beyond. If your looking for a fuzz that can produce a wide pallet of tones without having to labor with multiple knobs and switches to dial it in, we suggest you give the Fuzz Bucket a look-see. And we’re not just saying that because we’re GIVING ONE AWAY! That’s our opinion anyway… your mileage may vary!