The BUSS HG,or high gain, is built on the circuits of the B-Custom Super Sport and the Barber Burn Unit. The Five Watt World HG edition uses these circuits to celebrate a higher range of gain than the original fww BUSS, deeper into Modded Marshalls with a touch of cranked Vox and higher gain Dumble tones, think “Talk to Your Daughter” era Ford.
Left toggle settings: The left setting is the Super Sport mode, with a classic British sound that can get aggressive when combined with the high harmonics setting. (It’s normal for this toggle to pop when switched.)
The right setting is for the Burn Unit mode. This is a punchier setting that gives Dumble-like thickness to your bridge pickup and can push a neck pickup all the way to warm flute-like textures.
The Right toggle is a two position “high harmonics and ultra dynamics” switch. With the switch to the left you are in high harmonics mode. Along with the extra harmonics there is a certain amount of sponginess that comes with it that reminiscent of vintage amps.
With the switch to the right you are in ultra dynamics mode. This is going to be a little bit louder, more open, and have lots of articulation. You will be surprised by how much string definition you can still get with higher levels of gain, particularly with your single coil guitars in this mode.
The volume control sets the output of the pedal. Most players find unity between 9 o’ clock and 1 o’ clock, depending on their pickup's output and the guitar’s volume setting. Low output from the guitar requires a lower volume setting to achieve unity.
The Tone control is an adjustable high-end roll-off. A good starting point for balanced sound is 2-3 o’ clock for the Super Sport mode, and 12:30 to 1 o’ clock for the Burn Unit mode. Try rolling off your guitar's tone knob to get fatter sounds, particularly in the ultra harmonics mode.
The Drive control sets the amount of sustain and gain. Practice balancing the amount of drive to the harmonics or dynamics setting you are using. You will get the most variety and value from the pedal by experimenting with each toggle setting and sweeping the drive through all of its range.