Empress Heavy Menace

Get any high-gain tone from crunch to crushing, with advanced EQ and gating for total control over sound and silence.

HEAVY MENACE

The Heavy Menace is the most versatile distortion pedal that Empress Effects has ever created. It’s an evolution of the original Heavy with new features and a compact enclosure.

In addition to the original Heavy and Heavier modes, the Heavy Menace adds a new Lite(ish) mode, covering any high-gain sound from classic hard rock to searing modern metal.

ENHANCED EQ

Fans of the ParaEq pedals know Empress is obsessed with EQ, and the 3-band circuit on Heavy Menace is one of their best.

The Weight control adjusts a high-pass filter in the distortion circuit to shape low-end character. Turn it up for a thick, full sound, or turn counterclockwise for a tight response that’s perfect for palm muting and extended-range guitars.

Midrange is a key element of a great distorted sound, so the mid frequency is sweepable from 200 Hz to 2.5 kHz to dial in the sweet spot for your guitar and amp. Scoop for a tight, aggressive sound, or push to add definition and cut through a mix.

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.

• Three versatile distortion modes - Lite(ish), Heavy, and Heavier
• Footswitchable noise gate
• Gate key input (⅛” TS or TRS)
• Three-band EQ with sweepable midrange frequency
• Weight control to sculpt low frequency response
• Linked or independent switching of the distortion and gate
• True bypass or buffered bypass
• Requires 9-12V DC, 250mA (centre negative)

• Product Length: 4.8” / 122mm
• Product Width: 2.6” / 66mm
• Product Height: 2.5” / 64mm
• Product Weight: 1lb / 454g
• Packaged Length: 6.5” / 165mm
• Packaged Width: 4” / 102mm
• Packaged Height: 3” / 76mm
• Packaged Weight: 1.1lb / 499g