Beetronics Tuna Fuzz: What is it?
Beetronics is known for quirky fuzz pedals with elaborately designed and brightly colored casings, but the brand’s latest release is about as far from that design aesthetic as you can get.
What we have here is a fuzz pedal built into a tuna can. And while it’s fair to say that this particular can has never been host to fishy comestibles (it’s 100 percent vegan) and is solidly and elegantly put together, it’s still a tin can… so what’s the story?
Well, in the early days Beetronics’ founder, Filipe Pampuri, started building fuzz pedals using tuna cans, a few of which were still hanging around in the warehouse sparking the idea of releasing the design as an official product.
The result is the Tuna Fuzz, which Beetronics wanted to be accessible to as many people as possible. To that end, the idea was that the pedal could only be purchased direct from Beetronics for $99. However, a deal has been struck so that it can be bought from UK retailers for £85, too. Nice!
Specs
Launch price: $99/£85
Type: Three-transistor circuit fuzz pedal
Made: USA
Controls: Master volume, footswitch
Connectivity: 1/4” input, 1/4” output, power supply input
Weight: 0.20lbs/0.9kg
Dimensions: 80mm diameter
Contact: Beetronics FX
Performance
Beetronics says that this is a simple, powerful fuzz pedal with lots of output and attitude, and that’s a pretty accurate description. Fuzz pedals don’t get much simpler than this!
You get a fixed amount of fuzz here with a Volume knob to set the output of the pedal, which has its unity gain point before you’re halfway through its travel so there’s plenty there for a significant boost to hit the front end of your amp alongside the fuzz.
It’s full-on, thick and gnarly, with a good balance of frequencies
The lack of any gain or tone control is no detriment as the amount of fuzz and its timbre sounds exactly right to our ears. It’s full-on, thick and gnarly, with a good balance of frequencies – a crispy top-end presence, tight bass, and do we detect a slight scoop in the mids?
With really good string clarity and everything cleaning up tidily with guitar volume, rolling back to clean through some practical crunchy drive tones, this is a nicely dialed-in fuzz that many players could find a use for.
Guitar World verdict: The Tuna Fuzz is by far the most affordable pedal that Beetronics has made, and with no skimping on sound quality, it offers the best opportunity to sample the brand. Yes, it’s a quirky design, but it’s a tasty fuzz that’s worth making a tuna-can-shaped space on your pedalboard for.
