Walrus Audio Eons Review (pedal in hand)

I often point out that fuzz, distortion, and overdrive pedals should be categorized as gain effects with their own distinct characteristics. Fuzz pedals usually produce a hard or soft clipping waveform. In the Eons, this is modeled after Germanium, LED, and silicone clipping diodes, making up the five selectable stages.

This clipping produces a square waveform, giving the Eons a harsher and more biting sound.

The Eons could also be described as aggressive, and almost metal in its tone. Granted, the five modes give you some flexibility if you want to get away from that style, but the Eons excels in it.

We'll cover the fun in the full Walrus Audio Eons review. 

Compare to Other Fuzz Pedals

This table lets you compare the Eons to a few other popular fuzz pedals, focusing on pricing and basic specs. The comparison table will also have video embeds so you can compare how they sound.

If you don't care about the softer and more tame fuzz tones being harder to come by on the Eons, add two more percentage points and make it an editor's choice.

Walrus Audio Eons Price Guide

We pull live pricing from the most popular guitar gear retailers, and have those listed in a table here for easy price comparison. Note that the price alert and price history graph do not include Amazon pricing, but will follow the lowest price of all the other vendors listed.

Pricing from Multiple Vendors (updates automatically)

Amazon Pricing (if applicable)

Price Alert Tool (lowest price among listed retailers)

Price History (lowest price among listed retailers)

IDEAL FOR: Sustain, rock, metal, variety, and Black Stone Cherry fans

Bonedo's Eons demo video

You can hear the intensity pretty clearly in Bonedo's demo. Our demo is below as well.

The Eons' overall tone quality

There's a lot of dirt on single note runs, though it also seems to smooth out as the sustain rings. Power chords sound like they've got a low-leaning EQ, which helps create the same smoothness on power chords and open chords.

Particularly in the 2nd mode (stage) there's an added bass boost, which is a silicon-style clipping, and more harsh than the first mode.

The third mode is a melding of distortion and fuzz in the Germanium style we mentioned. It's still a soft-clipping waveform, but extremely aggressive and heavy, sort of a step above the 2nd mode.

The 4th stage is (once again) a dark tone, which Walrus Audio bills as a way to tame brighter amps. I would contend that most of the modes do this.

The last stage is a combination of hard and soft-clipping diodes with a more compressed tone. To my ear, it sounds similar to the third stage, perhaps with a little more grit and "anger" in its voice.

Sustain

All of the modes seem to produce a lot of sustain, both with single note runs and long chord holds. Maybe this is typical for fuzz pedals, but I thought the Eons made this particularly noticeable. 

It was on these sustain trails where I really started to hear a heavy distortion pedal as much as a fuzz pedal, especially in mode three.

Distortion or fuzz?

It could almost replace a distortion pedal, especially with the adjustable voltage. The Eons is definitely a fuzz pedal first, but it's one of the few I've played that brings in this much distortion.

One could argue it's about 2/3 fuzz and 1/3 distortion pedal.

This makes it more fun and versatile, in my opinion.

Controls

A lot of fuzz pedals have a single band EQ, sometimes called a filter knob like on the Pro Co Rat. The Eons has a two-band EQ with treble and bass. I got a lot of mileage out of the treble knob which allowed me to promote or roll back a lot of intensity.

A fuzz pedal should feel a bit harsh (or a lot harsh) and the treble knob gives you a lot of control over that quality.

Of course the voltage adjustment is the hallmark feature, giving you a ton of room to experiment, especially with the two band EQ.

I would usually set voltage first, then adjust bass and treble after.

What about gain control?

I think a distortion pedal is doing pretty well if there's that much to say about it before you even get to the gain control. This is what ultimately is running up your distortion and fuzz levels, and I don't recall maxing it out too much.

Leaving the gain knob at 70-80 percent capacity sounded great, while 100 percent almost sounded too messy.

The volume and gain control work in tandem, for clipping and final output, as expected.

Here's a full list of the controls:

• Volume
• Voltage selector
• Gain
• Bass
• Stage selector
• Treble

Value of the Walrus Audio Eons

Considering how unique and involved their pedals are, Walrus Audio has done a good job of keeping prices down, usually around $200.

Check the price guide from earlier for updated numbers, as prices are always subject to change.

But that's a great value for a fuzz pedal with five modes and this much flexibility.

A good comparison would be the JHS PackRat 9 which has multiple modes as well (nine total as the name would suggest). Older fuzz pedals like the Pro Co Rat 2 and Big Muff are a lot cheaper, usually at or under $100, but they don't do as much as the Eons and some of the other fuzz pedals in the $200 range.

To my ear, the Eons also sounds better than a lot of the legacy fuzz pedals.

Read the full review: Pro Co Rat 2

On a more subjective note, the value is going to be highest for folks who want a more aggressive and modern sounding fuzz mixed with distortion. 

Best fit and ideal buyer

And when the dust settles, that should be the deciding factor.

Are you looking for a fuzz pedal with a lot of gain and dirt? Do you like how conventional distortion is mixed in?

Does the budget suit you?

All the conventional styles you would expect for a fuzz pedal apply, perhaps with more of an emphasis on modern rock. I can even see the Eons having some application in metal.

But again, the deciding factor is how you feel about the tone profile.

It's unique, so give it a listen and some thought.

Review Conclusion

Walrus Audio continues to be one of my favorite pedal builders, and the Eons is easily my favorite fuzz pedal to date.

As always, how well it will work for you depends on your own gear, style, and overall situation. Take my review with a grain of salt, do your own research and listen to some demos.

If you have questions, the comments section is always open, and monitored by me directly.

I'll help out as much as possible.

See you there.

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