Review: Walrus Audio Janus Fuzz / Tremolo
Video here.
Just on looks, this has to be one of the wildest pedals out there. The joysticks are relatively unique (though they have been done before), and the stacking of two pedals is a neat bonus.
Despite the looks, it’s actually capable of subtle tremolo effects and the fuzz could be used as the main fuzz on a board — it’s pretty ace, rich sound that still maintains a decent amount of clarity compared to say, a Big Muff. If, on the other hand, you only want a completely over-the-top sound, you can get that; using the three-position switch (top switch) in the middle position it’s a really overblown stacked fuzz sound that sounds like a ripped speaker.
The tremolo (left) joystick controls the speed (up — fast, down — slow) and depth (left — slow, right — fast), while the fuzz joystick controls the amount of gain (left — low, right — high) and the tone (up — treble, down — bass). The tone controls act like a filter, so by moving it rapidly you can get almost a fuzz-wah style filter effect.
Adding the tremolo in over the fuzz sound allows for some crazy ‘helicopter’ type aggressive trem sounds, but if you push the joystick right over into the bottom left quadrant, you’ll find that it makes for interesting ornamentation of lead-style licks and busier riffs where the lack of tap tempo on the trem makes it less usable.
All in all, this is a great, usable fuzz pedal that will hopefully inspire you — as it has me — to play more guitar and write some ace riffs, but be prepared to spend half your time on the floor playing with the joysticks. So it goes.
