Distortion w/Gate

The Empress Effects "Heavy Menace" is an innovative distortion pedal with an unprecedented level of versatility. It offers users the choice of Heavy, Heavier, and Lite(ish) modes, allowing the user to dial in tones from classic hard rock to searing modern metal. Its robust design and compact enclosure make it a great addition to any guitar setup.

Enhanced EQ

We're passionate about EQ, and the 3-band circuit on Heavy Menace is exceptional. The Weight control adjusts a high-pass filter in the distortion circuit, allowing you to shape low-end character.

Turning the knob up produces a full, thick sound. Turning it counterclockwise gives a tight response, great for palm muting and extended-range guitars.

The midrange is pivotal for a quality distorted sound, with a sweepable range of 200 Hz to 2.5 kHz to find the right frequency for your guitar and amp. Scooping brings the tight, aggressive sound, while pushing adds definition and presence in a mix..

True or Buffered Bypass

The Heavy Menace offers both true bypass for maximum transparency, and buffered bypass to protect against signal loss over long cable runs.

Adaptive Gate

Players loved the gate on the original Heavy. Envelope followers in the circuit respond to your playing, letting sustained notes decay naturally but clamping down quickly during fast stops.

On the Heavy Menace, this gate is now footswitchable, with two available modes of operation. In normal bypass mode, the gate doesn’t affect the signal if the distortion is off, while independent bypass mode is like having separate distortion and gate pedals.

We’ve also added a key input so you can optionally trigger the gate with an external signal. This is particularly useful if you have additional pedals before the Heavy Menace in your signal chain, such as a low-gain pedal for stacking. Split a clean signal with a pedal like our Buffer+ and connect it to the Gate Key Input, and the gate will behave consistently regardless of changes at the main input.