Hailing from Portland, Oregon, Malekko Heavy Industries has been making effects pedals and synth modules since 2006, and have put out some fantastic gear along the way. The Sloika MkII is another fine example of a great guitar effect: designed by Todd Wolfgram, it’s an Analog Multi-Band Distortion pedal. Don’t let that word DISTORTION fool you, though, this little gold beauty has an array of sounds and functions for any player’s needs.
Multi-Band means that there are multiple bands of distortion simulating different gain stages of different amplifiers, all working in conjunction to bring you a wide range of sounds from one small stompbox. The Drive and Saturate controls are the ones working together here (obviously, Volume does its thing as well!), and the blending of these two can really conjure up some cool tones. The Drive is particularly broad, as it can go from a slightly-crunched boost of your signal to a full-on, balls-to-the-wall wave of chunky, heavy, distorted goodness.
There are many other useful setting in between those 2 extremes as well, especially some great overdriven tones that are nice and level in the EQ department. The overall sound of this pedal is surprisingly un-coloring, too, allowing your guitar and amp’s true sound to continue to shine through, even when the pedal is engaged. Not to mention how responsive the Sloika is, playing well with both single-coils and humbuckers, and is extremely dynamic throughout. You picking technique basically determines the sound this guy produces, and if you want to clean it up on the fly, just roll back your guitar’s volume for a smooth, clean signal.
The Sloika MkII from Malekko Heavy Industries is a distortion like no other: dynamic, responsive, boosty, loud, heavy, metallic, sensitive and grungy all packed into one. I really can’t recall a distortion pedal I have played that was so versatile, and had such a nice range of tones, but could get chunky and hang with the best of ’em as well. Malekko has a huge line of pedals, and guaranteed something for everyone. Thanks to those guys for letting me review the Sloika MkII, make sure you go check out all they have to offer!
Submitted by Mike B, Website
