EarthQuaker Devices Acapulco Gold V2 4-stars Reviews

A one trick pony, but a damn cool one

The Sunn model T amplifier has gained a cult status among doom enthusiasts, thanks to its peculiarly filthy, fuzzy and sinister distortion.

This pedal conveys THAT tone (or tries to, at least) in a more practical (and from what I can judge - having listened to the amp but having never played it - quite convincing) form - that doesn’t need an underground bunker to be enjoyed to the full.

Don’t be fooled by the giant knob, the only control is off (bypass) or on (pure hate). The knob is a volume potentiometer, that ranges from various degrees of useful to RIDICULOUSLY LOUD.

If you want to tame the distortion level the only way is through the guitar’s volume.

Is it versatile? Of course not. Is it able to create a unique kind of distortion that can’t really be replicated with other means? Absolutely yes.

So, if you know and like THAT sound (even if you don’t really need it) this is for you.

Devastating. Mix of fuzz and distortion

I would describe the sound as something between a fuzz and a distortion. It's insanely loud, has a ton of low end, huge wall of distortion, but it's somehow still tight enough so that you can do palm-muted stuff with it. This is where most fuzz pedals fall short IMO.

I use this in my doom/stoner metal project, and IMHO it fits there just perfectly! I would imagine that for less extreme styles this pedal is too much.

I like how well the pedal responds to my amps EQ settings and the guitar's volume control or a volume pedal. The pedal only has one knob, but it works so well with amp and guitar controls that you can color the character of the drive really using those. Dial back the volume using your guitar's controls or a volume pedal, and you get a more mellow overdrive. Change the tone using the EQ on the amp etc.

Only con I can find is that there is generally a really narrow area in the one control knob, where the sound is usable. The minimum setting sounds garbage and maxed out it's just fart sounds.

Kind of one-trick pony. But very good one!

The pedal has only one big output volume control. You can adjust the amount of gain using your guitar volume knob. With humbuckers equipped guitar you have that modern stoner, sludge, doom sound from the box! The pedal works well with low tuning too. The built quality of the pedal and especially its big knob is top notch.

I found this pedal very useful in minimalistic configurations, this pedal to clean amp or even this pedal to power amplifier directly (using the pedal as some kind of preamp). I didn?t find good usage with another pedals, boosters or dirty amp channel.