Tone City's Mini Matcha Cream Fuzz is a surprisingly potent take on the Green Russian Big Muff

Like many of you I suspect, I watched the Andertons Ultimate Doom Pedal episode with a mix of glee and bemusement (video below) - where some of that selection was a touch odd. While there were some obvious winners too - including the DOD Carcosa, EHX Ram’s Head Muff and of course the Tone City Matcha Cream. The final winner was declared as the Behringer SF300 (based on the Boss FZ-2) - while as readers know, I cannot see myself ever supporting that brand - for somewhat obvious reasons.

I had thought at one time I should cover that Andertons episode in more detail - but some of those pedals in the selection - in fact several were entirely unsuitable and ill-judged. I can understand Andertons grabbing stuff from their in-store pedal cabinet - but as you will see when I do my upcoming 12 Favourite Doom Pedals article - not a single one of those features in the Andertons rundown - in fact the vast majority of my selection are not stocked by Andertons.

In any case, back to the Matcha Green - which won the most rounds in that shoot-out (8 in total), and which was the one that really impressed me the most in that video (of those I did not already have!) - in fact I see my friend Paul Ewing at Stompbox Steals was equally taken by that budget pocket rocket. I own most of the heavy hitters from the Andertons episode, and I have several smart takes on the FZ-2 SuperFuzz format - in fact where my next one from that category will be the Life is Unfair x Boston Manor Bad Machine.

The Tone City Matcha Green meanwhile is a cool mini take on the Green Russian Muff - with a touch extended gain and low-end. It works particularly great into an already cooking amp - while it just ranks as decent within a clean pedal platform. I have 2 other pedals on the board that are in my 12 Ultimate Doom Pedals Selection - the Earthbound Audio SuperCollider, and ThorpyFX WOPR AtomIC Fuzz + Silicon RangeMaster - and those have a whole other level of low-end heft and saturation.

For me the Matcha Green is at its most potent with both Volume and Sustain Maxed out, and Tone at around 10 o’c.

For Doom / Sludge pedals - those mostly tend to be somewhat heavyweight Big Muff variants or adjacents, while courtesy of Electric Wizard - the Boss FZ-2 Hyper Fuzz (SuperFuzz) is also very popular, as is the D*A*M Meathead High Gain Silicon Fuzz Face take (based on Colorsound One Knob Fuzz).

As you will soon see - I’ve decided that my Dirty Dozen Doom Selection will consist mostly of those Heavyweight Muff and Opamp Fuzz variants! Where funnily enough the Tone City Matcha Cream is no way near potent enough to feature in that somewhat elite and more aggressive group.

I own over 110 Big Muff types - including numerous Green Russian variants / takes - and the Matcha Cream is a decent contender within that category. It doesn’t quite have the added heft that my very favourite Doom Pedals benefit from, while it’s only 10% of the price of some of those!

I’m a huge fan of really potent pocket rockets - where the Free Fall Diver Huge Mini is another all-time favourite Big Muff take. I really like the Matcha Cream, but not quite as much as I love the Free Fall Diver Huge! With its £45 UK price tag though - it’s kind of a no-brainer for me! And the plastic Behringer SF300 is priced at just half of that - or £23!