REVIEWED
Way Huge Green Rhino MkII WHE202 WAY HUGE
Green Rhino MkII WHE202
Looking to add a bit more grunt to your guitar tone? US effects gurus Way Huge re-introduce a revised version of a much loved overdrive pedal from the 90s...
Words: Tim Slater
American effects designer Way Huge is highly rated among guitar connoisseurs of guitar effects, not in the least due to its knack of coming up with nifty stomp boxes that take an existing concept but refine it until the quirks of the original has been mostly ironed out. This is certainly true in the case of the Green Rhino overdrive, which briefly made its first appearance during the early 1990s as an answer to the Ibanez Tube Screamer. One of the few criticisms levelled at the Tube Screamer is that whilst most of its formidable punch is focused on the mid range frequencies this comes at the expense of some bottom end. Some might not necessarily agree with this notion, but the Green Rhino nevertheless seeks to address this via its extra tone-tweaking controls. This pedal also comes packed with plenty of its own unique personality too.
Horn star
After a ten year absence Way Huge pedals re-launched in 2008 with
WAY HUGE Green Rhino MkII
SRP £165.00
All prices include VAT CONT
ACT
JHS Ltd T:
0113 2865 381 W:
www.jhs.co.uk/wayhuge 24 3pickup
support from Jim Dunlop but its eccentric founder, electronics expert Jorge Tripps is still the driving force behind the company’s distinctive range of high end stomp boxes. Boasting names like Green Rhino, Swollen Pickle and Foot Pig; Way Huge echoes (no pun intended) a homespun quirkiness that brands like Electro Harmonix made popular during the early 1970s. The first thing that we like about the Green Rhino is its construction. The aluminium chassis is solid but still incredibly light, adding the Green Rhino to your pedal board certainly won’t contribute any extra weight. The control layout includes two chunky rotary control knobs for the master volume and gain that are both large enough for the player to nudge with their toe if any quick mid-solo adjustments are deemed necessary! The overall build quality is very impressive; steel jack input and output sockets, a heavy- duty footswitch and an unusual quick release battery compartment mounted horizontally on the front of the pedal chassis demonstrate that the Green Rhino is a thoughtfully designed effects unit.
Power is via a single 9v battery or mains, with a nice bright blue LED to indicate when the pedal is active.
Huge tones Overdrive is a very subjective area, some players love to dollop in on in heaps whilst others use it to add a barely perceptible edge or a mild solo boost. The Green Rhino covers all tastes with a wide choice of overdrive timbres but the first thing
that really impresses about this pedal is the sheer transparency and almost tactile quality of the overdrive tones. The Green Rhino doesn’t mask your tone, even at higher gain levels, and what’s especially interesting about this pedal is that the unique character of the amplifier and guitar continue to shine through. Using a Mesa/ Boogie DC-5 combo (set on the clean channel) and a Marshall DSL50 head through a 212 cabinet loaded with Celestion G12T-75 speakers, we plugged in a US Standard Telecaster (rosewood ‘board), a US Standard Stratocaster (maple ‘board) and a PRS SE One loaded with a one P-90 single coil pickup. Using low, medium and maximum gain settings we just started out using the pedal’s three main Volume, Drive and Tone rotary knobs. Right off the bat everything worked well. The pedal responded consistently well to the different tones of our test guitars, requiring little adjustment to reflect the unique sonic qualities of the two separate amps. The Green Rhino’s ability to translate playing dynamics is also something that many guitarists will learn to value, it cleans up beautifully when the guitar’s volume is backed- off whilst also responding sensitively to soft/hard picking dynamics. Two smaller mini-knobs add an extra dimension to the Rhino’s tone-
shaping tools; a 100Hz knob cuts and boosts the low end by 12dB, which makes a significant improvement in being able to shape the low end with infinitely more detail than you find on most standard OD pedals. There is also a Curve control that – whilst being a lot more subtle – helps to shape some of the mids if things start to get a bit unruly. PM
SHOULD I BUY ONE?
Rock solid construction, true bypass circuitry and a killer sound, what is there not to like? The Green Rhino isn’t what we would describe as ‘cheap’ but in this instance the price is reflected by a performance and quality that are well worth the money. This pedal isn’t just for tone-heads, either. If you are a regular gigging musician you need quality equipment that is portable, tough as nails and will sound consistently great every time that you plug in. The Green Rhino ticks all the right boxes. Whether you are a blues, country or rock guitarist you simply cannot do without one.
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