EarthQuaker Devices Westwood and Smallsound Bigsound Fuck

[Srellim1]

Hey folks,

I have just received an EQD Westwood. I already own an SSBS Mini and a Fuck. Last night when the Westwood arrived (ordered based on online demos), I placed it on my board next to the Fuck. To my surprise, it sounded almost identical just with greater eq options and without the boom/ crackle. I haven’t had time to compare with the Mini yet.
I am wondering if anyone else here has both the Westwood and either SSBS pedal and what your take may be?
I have emailed EarthQuaker to see what they use for clipping as I cannot find it online.

[AngryGoldfish]

While I haven't played the Westwood it doesn't sound particularly interesting to me. I'm not exactly sure what all the fuss is about. This will likely sound very pessimistic and condescending, but I feel like its popularity is largely based on its manufacturer. Even though that might not be true and I'm just being an asshole, I do periodically can go back and listen to a few clips to see if I hear anything different. But each time I do it just sounds like a normal but versatile transparent overdrive. I do love the simplicity of it and the active EQ, but it doesn't sound much like a Mini or F*ck to me. Or more accurately, it doesn't do what those pedals do, which is create more of a fuzz-drive that sounds like a dying amp, full of harmonics and broken saturation. The SS/BS pedals can be quite fat sounding, and very explosive and aggressive, but also harmonically rich and more an amp. I could be wrong, but I thought they used JFET's, which would make sense since engineers often use them to mimic the feel of a tube amp (Benson uses JFET's in place of tubes for his Preamp pedal that supposed to be the preamp of his Chimera amp). The Mini/F*ck can also do that 'cranked amp that's about to blow up' sound, while the Westwood seems more refined and straightforward to me, and also very much like a pedal. I really would love to try one to see whether I'm hearing things right, to see what all the fuss is about.

[smallsnd/bigsnd]

they're both overdrives?
do they sound the same at all settings? very curious.

[Srellim1]

Im a huge Smallsound Bigsound fan and own all of the consumer ‘main’ line. . I found the Westwood used for really cheap and thought I’d take a chance because I Love my Disaster Transport SR. I needed a clean drive to go on a board with my Fuck and didn’t want a Klon type or a Timmy. I’d seen a video where the Westwood sounded good with a Jaguar and gave it a try. I really like the eq which is different from the Fuck (obviously). It goes super low. Not sure yet how it compares to the Mini’s eq. It has as much gain on tap as the Fuck which surprised me. It isn’t a low gain overdrive as advertised. It doesn’t sound like a lip biting white blues pedal - though I guess you can use it for that. They sound similar enough that I don’t want both on the same board now, though they compliment one another. My thought is that rather than modeling it after a Timmy, perhaps it’s EQDs take on a Mini or Fuck.

[Srellim1]

I should be really clear that it doesn’t do the extra super fun stuff that the Fuck and Mini do.

[DRodriguez]

Yeah, I tried the Westwood out in Austin, it was pretty good.
Didn't hear the fuck in it personally, but we all hear dirt differently

[smallsnd/bigsnd]

yeah i wasn't digging at you. i think the westwood is an opamp based drive with active EQ so it should do a lot of different things. seems like overall they both have their own place.

[Chankgeez]

Aren't the Fuck, Mini and Westwood all inspired by the Klon to some degree or another?

[Srellim1]

It doesn’t bounce your stuff from my board. I was just surprised at the initial similarities
I haven’t dug deeply into the eq and how the knobs play off of one another. I may be mistaken. All at noon or with a little bit of bass boost it gets into very similar territory.

[smallsnd/bigsnd]

Aren't the Fuck, Mini and Westwood all inspired by the Klon to some degree or another?

everything is inspired by the almighty KLON :surprise:

[Chankgeez]

No, I'm serious. Don't you hate overdrive? That's a form of inspiration.

[smallsnd/bigsnd]

No, I'm serious. Don't you hate overdrive? That's a form of inspiration.

i did yeah and that was the vibe but it's not remotely based on the klon - that's all opamps and has a pretty complex design. the fuck is more straightforward jfet gain staging with the tweaks that make it what it is.

[Chankgeez]

I didn't say it was based on the Klon, I said it was inspired by the Klon.

[smallsnd/bigsnd]

i stand mistaken. my apologies sir

[Chankgeez]