The Woolly Mammoth is ZVEX Effects’ fuzz pedal, and it’s designed for bass first: an incredibly sub-frequency-preserving circuit built to hold onto lows that most fuzzes let go of. As Jack White has shown for years, though, it’s just as much of a beast strapped to a guitar.
There’s plenty of low end on tap, and paired with the velcro-y, gated texture and attack, it makes single notes sound thumpy and full rather than thin. I put it through its paces in my bass distortion shootout alongside other bass fuzz and distortion pedals, and on either instrument it feels like a mix of a Big Muff and a starved Tonebender, inheriting a bit of both.
Controls
Panel order runs Output, EQ, Pinch, Wool. Output sets the overall level coming off the pedal, matching or pushing past clean volume. EQ smoothly selects between more bass and more treble; in the demo above I’ve set up a sweep across its full range so you can hear it move from dark and low heavy to brighter and more cutting.
Pinch is what makes the Mammoth what it is. It squeezes the waveform’s pulse width, and as you turn it up a gate starts choking the signal between notes, letting single notes ring out before snapping shut in the velcro chatter the pedal is known for. Its sweep preset walks the full 0 to 10 range so you can hear the gate tighten as it climbs.
Wool governs how much furry, sputtering fuzz texture wraps around each note, or as ZVEX’s own manual puts it, the amount of fur around the note. Back it off and the Mammoth sounds comparatively clean and tight, push it up and each note gets wrapped in thick, woolly saturation. Its sweep preset covers that same range.
How It Sounds
Thumpy Velcro sets EQ bright at 9 and Wool almost maxed at 10 with Pinch at 5, and it’s the classic Mammoth thump: huge low end wrapped in a velcro gate that still lets each note read clearly. Starving Gate flips the balance, pushing Pinch to 9 and pulling Wool back to 4, so the pulse-width squeeze takes over and notes choke down hard between phrases, more stuttering than furry. Full Drive turns Pinch and Wool both off, and without them the Mammoth just sounds like a big, straightforward fuzz drive with no gating or velcro chatter at all. Meaty Distortion sits in between, Wool at 6 and Pinch at 3, for a thick, chewy voice that splits the difference between the gated extremes and the plain drive.
Woolly Mammoth vs Big Muff
The Big Muff is the reference point for big fuzz pedals, so it’s the natural comparison. The Muff is smooth and sustaining: one wide, scooped wall of fuzz that just sings once you land on a setting. The Mammoth works differently. Its circuit holds onto low end most fuzzes lose, and the Pinch and Wool controls give it a chopped, gated attack the Muff doesn’t have. Where the Muff blooms into long sustain, the Mammoth chokes down hard between notes, more percussive than lush. It’s also voiced with bass as the first priority and guitar as a capable second, while the Muff was built for guitar and adapted to bass as more of an afterthought.
There’s also a side by side page for this one: ZVEX Mastotron vs ZVEX Woolly Mammoth, both pedals on the same loop so you can switch between them mid-phrase.
Who It’s For
This suits bass players who want a fuzz that doesn’t collapse into mud, doom, stoner and sludge players especially, and guitarists chasing thick, percussive, gated tones (Jack White’s tone is proof it works on six strings too). The Pinch and Wool combination suits riff based playing where notes should choke down cleanly rather than smear together. If you want smooth, singing sustain for solos or ambient swells, look at the Big Muff family instead. But for a fuzz that holds its low end together and adds real gated character, the Mammoth is hard to beat.
Specs
Circuit: sub-frequency-preserving fuzz, designed for bass and a favorite for guitar
Controls: Output, EQ, Pinch, Wool
Built in gate for silencing the instrument between notes or phrases
EQ control smoothly selects between more bass and more treble
Available hand painted (lifetime warranty, colors and details vary) or in ZVEX’s more affordable, screen printed Vexter series
Pedal dimensions: 4.70 x 2.38 x 1.82 in (L x W x H)
Signal Chain
Fidelity Guitars Stellarosa Lite II with Lollar Firebird pickups (bridge pickup)
