Chug vs Chug Lite - a simple GPX Head-to-Head Comparison

So my Chug Lite or Little Chug as I prefer to call it - has landed - and of course I thought I should run it up against its original Big Chug sibling! Someone commented on Instagram that they much preferred the larger original variant - when they seemingly hadn’t even tried the new one!

I only make proclamations if and when I have the evidence to back them up. I can say something doesn’t exactly fit my preferences and sensibilities - while I can’t say I prefer one pedal over another without some degree of hand’s on due diligence.

The core underpinnings or guts of the circuit are the same as far as I understand - while the original is a lot more granular - with its 10 controls, and includes a Noise Gate. I always found those extra controls limited in their reach - as for me they’re more fine-tuners of Ola’s preferred Chug sound. All those different controls are mostly for adapting said pedal to particular amps and rigs. You don’t get major voicing shaping  (say for different eras) - just mostly different degrees of the same thing - where you can all too easily overload said pedal and make it squeal with feedback.

I did end up with some satisfactory sounds on the Big Chug - but it always takes me a while to dial that in, while on the Little Chug it’s just most dials at near 3 o’c, and then the Mid Frequency dial at 9 o’clock. That gives me proper perfusion without needing a gate to tighten up the output. For the Chug Lite you get a really punchy sound with minimal effort. I’m unable to match the pervussive punch of the Lite with the original Big Chug - that one has endless saturation and sustain - but really leans heavily into the modern side of things.

You never really get it into Vintage territory with the original one - while the Semi-Parametric Mids of the Lite make that a breeze.

I didn’t think I would be saying this - I knew the Chug Lite would be easier to dial in - and therefore more practical - I didn’t really I would much prefer its output to th original - as you can largely achieve the original’s sound - possibly not quite as much driving saturation and sustain - but there or thereabouts. While the Lite will easily cover both Punchy Vintage sounds, and the more Modern OLA style Chug Sounds.

That small pedal really is a revelation - it sounds immense - and like I said earlier - it’t a lot more percussive and punchy than the original. Even with Bass + Depth maxed - the original doesn’t get anywhere near the lower-mid augmented output of the Lite.

The 10 Chug Controls - Bass | Depth, Middle, Treble | Presence, Output | Noise Gate, Gain, Low Frequency Input Gain | High Frequency Input Gain.

The 6 Chug Lite Controls - Bass, Middle ±, Treble, Output, Mid Frequency, Gain.

The original Big Chug is @ $199, and the ’Lite’ Little Chug is @ $129 - from the Solar Guitars Pedal Store!

So I like the original Big Chug, but love the Little Chug - and that one will remain more in circulation!

I wasn’t exactly underwhelmed by the original - it was just that it was tricky to dial in - and didn’t seem to have as much shapeability onboard as I expected. By contrast the smaller Chug Lite - has totally blown me away. Some will prefer the original - while the Chug Lite is my weapon of choice here!