The Way Huge Havalina Germanium Fuzz, is a three-transistor germanium-powered fuzz box inspired by a vintage 1960s design.
A three-knob unit, based on hand-selected Russian transistors and a passive tone circuit, it's essentially a pedal in the Tone Bender vein, but not a clone.
Sounds
The Havalina offers a range of overdriven tones at lower settings of the fuzz knob, but you can turn it up for nice thick fuzz. Not as syrupy smooth as some vintage Tone Benders, the Havalina stakes its sonic territory with a tone knob that covers a wide range and gets sizzly in the top end.
It's possibly beyond 'tasteful', but good if you need it, and plenty to cut through a band mix. It cleans up wonderfully from your volume control, with a complete range of expression straight from your guitar.
Smartly finished in anodised aluminium, this robustly put-together pedal deserves a spot on hard-working pedalboards. You can pay a lot for a boutique Tone Bender clone, so to get something similar for less than £100 (street price) is sound indeed.