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Empress Effects Heavy Menace Distortion Guitar Pedal

Original price $249.99 - Original price $249.99
Original price
$249.99
Default Title: $249.99
Current price $249.99
♫ In stock
About Inventory Status


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In stock: It is in stock and available to ship or pickup. Apparel must be shipped from another location and is not available for in-store pickup. We can usually ship or have these items available for pickup by the next business day if they don't require inspection, special handling, or setup. Our pickup location is 11151 Veirs Mill Rd. Silver Spring, MD 20902.

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About Item Conditions


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New: The item is brand new as received from the manufacturer with a full manufacturer warranty. Instruments such as guitars, snare drums, drum kits, brass and woodwind instruments may be opened for photography and quality control inspection and may not be in a factory sealed box.

Mint or Open Box: The item may have been opened and tested but has been repackaged. The original packaging may have superficial issues but the item itself and any originally included accessories are in perfect, like new condition.

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Demo: These items have been on our sales floor for demo purposes and will likely show signs of use. The original packaging may no longer be included, but you can be assured that you are receiving an awesome item and an awesome price.

Used: The item is used. These item may have varying degrees of wear. Please read the description for information about the condition of the item. Used items do not carry a warranty.

B or C Stock: Factory refurbished. These items were purchased from the manufacturer in a refurbished condition. They will show some cosmetic issues, but nothing that would impact performance. Being that these are sealed from the manufacturer, we generally do not open these to photograph the cosmetic issues. They are guaranteed to work and may have a limited warranty or you may purchase an extended warranty in some cases. Please see the listing description for item specific information.

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Get Any High-Gain Tone From Crunch to Crushing with the Empress Effects Heavy Menace Distortion Guitar Pedal

The Heavy Menace is the most versatile distortion pedal Empress Effects have ever created. It’s an evolution of our 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.


  • Three versatile distortion modes - Light(ish), Heavy, and Heavier
  • Footswitchable noise gate
  • Three-band EQ with sweepable mid frequency
  • Weight control to sculpt low frequency response
  • Linked or independent switching of the distortion and gate
  • Gate key input (1/8" TS or TRS)
  • True bypass or buffered bypass
  • All-analog signal path


Enhanced EQ

Empress Effects are obsessed with EQ, and the 3-band circuit on Heavy Menace is one of thier best. Their 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.

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.

They’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.


SPECIFICATIONS

  • Input Impedance: 1MΩ
  • Output Impedance: 100Ω
  • Frequency Response (-3dB): 35Hz - 17kHz
  • Input Voltage: 9-12VDC
  • Required Current: 250mA
  • Power Input Connector: 2.1mm Barrel Connector
  • Height (Enclosure Only): 1.5"
  • Height (Including Controls): 2.5"
  • Length: 4.8"
  • Width: 2.6"
  • Weight: 1lb


Manufacturer: Empress Effects
Model: HEMA
SKU: I745172-N-3-WHX
UPC: 850040850376


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