The Internet is a wonderful thing. Not only does it give ideas like WTDP? a platform to exist (thanks, Internet!), it gives folks like us the ability to cast a much wider net when it comes to gathering up knowledge on the plethora of smaller pedal making shops scattered across the globe. I can say with little doubt that without the Internet we would have never heard of Israel-based PiggyFX and certainly never had been able to get our hands on a Schweinefleisch fuzz to review. But we did! The only thing left was to figure if this wild boar was made of straw, sticks or bricks?

The Schweinefleisch is PiggyFX’s take on a MkII type fuzz unit, but is a hybrid using both silicon and germanium transistors all newly packed into a tiny, pedalboard-friendly enclosure. The true-bypass pedal sports just two knobs – Level, which controls output… and Fuzz, which adds it the distortion. When we spoke with Piggy’s top hogs Yaron and Danny, they let us know that the smaller footprint was a new look for the pedal. The new shell still maintains the sleek look of the other stomps in the PiggyFX line, which includes the Brown Pig distortion, Oinkomp compressor, Lard booster and Space Hog delay. The Schweinefleisch comes in a variation of the little white pedal box with the PiggyFX logo across the top and two sides. No instruction sheet, but that’s no crime here. If a two-knob fuzz is one thing, it’s straightforward.

Let’s dive in the pen and wallow in the slop with the Schweinefleisch. The first thing that is apparent once you’re plugged in is that the Schweinefleisch has a ton of headroom. This little piggy gets loud… in a hurry! Using the Strat first, bridge pickup, we take a look at the pedal’s power boost pre-fuzz. With the Level around 10 o’clock and the Fuzz rolled off completely, we offer a pop-ish chord progression. You’ll hear the clean tone, then the pedal, then clean-up using the guitar’s volume knob, then the pedal again. Check it out…

Even with the Fuzz all the way off the Schweinefleisch still emits a stout layer of distortion. This little piggy packs a punch. The clean-up control is very pronounced on the Schweinefleisch. You do not have to roll back more than a quarter turn to get most of the fuzz out of your signal. Shifting up to the neck pick-up, we dial the Fuzz knob up to noon to sample the sustain and bass response the pedal has on tap. First clean, then mean…

The Schweinefleisch may be a bit prickly by nature, but it holds the bass together well with a crackly sheen sprinkled over the top of this little groove. The sustain gets much more pronounced as the Fuzz is rolled on, as is evident with our last clip. Over to the humbuckers of the Les Paul, we keep the Level steady at 10 o’clock, but peg the Fuzz full right for an assault on an old Foo Fighters riff. Clean first, then all the hair on its chinny, chin, chin!

At full tilt, the Schweinefleisch gives off more of that ‘edge of insanity’ break-up while still maintaining chord control… if only by a thread. The fuzz is a thick, sputtering wall that has a noticeable sub-mix of warmth and buzz.

The diminutive stature of the Schweinefleisch is very deceptive. This thing is a beast – a loud, fuzzy beast. The range of the pedal – which basically goes from big fuzz to bigger fuzz – may be a concern for some looking for a more versatile fuzz box. However, most MkII-based stomps sport the two-knob configuration with a few sprinkling in a third – either Bias or Tone control. So if you know your MkIIs, then you know what you’re getting yourself into. The Schweinefleisch’s knobs proved a little stubborn at first, but smoothed out nicely by the time we were done with the review. At around $130, the Schweinefleisch is a good deal on top of being a space-saving, amp-blasting good time. That’s our opinion anyway… your mileage may vary!

PLEASE NOTE: All YMMV Review clips are played through a Fender ‘65 Princeton Reverb RI using Lava Clear Connect cables. No reverb or other effects were added to the clips. Guitars used in this review include a 1979 Gibson Les Paul Custom and a 1998 Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster.