Beetronics Tuna Can Fuzz Pedal Review

Beetronics Tuna Can Fuzz Pedal: What is it?

Tuna Fuzz takes the Beetronics story back to the very beginning, to those bygone days when the company’s Brazilian CEO Filipe PampuriHe didn’t have the materials available right now, so he made do by recycling old tuna cans and using them as housings for his earliest pedal designs.

And that’s pretty much the same thing he did with Tuna Fuzz. In keeping with the thrifty spirit of the brand’s origin story, this ultra-simple fuzz pedal is Beetronics’ most affordable pedal yet. Pay no more than $99 and your money’s worth will get you a vintage-style three-transistor fuzz circuit with one main volume knob (“Stinker”) housed in a real tuna can.

No, it wasn’t recycled, but it is a real can of tuna from a cannery. We get a romantic Steinbeck MacGyver vibe from the whole enterprise, and this spirit of invention based on need and necessity has clearly caught the imagination of the general pedal-buying public. The first two batches of Tuna Fuzz, available directly from Beetronics, have already sold out, and pre-orders for the third are now open.

Beetronics Tuna Fuzz — (Image credit: Beetronics FX)

We’re used to seeing concept guitar effects pedals from Beetronics. This is the company that brought us Zzombee’s “Filtremulator” – an analogue multi-effects unit with fuzz/drive and a whole bunch of weird randomized filters, octavers and cross-tremolos, and the ability to dial in some wacky electric guitar sounds.

The brand’s catalog of pedals features truly creative designs like the Royal Series Swarm Fuzz Harmonizer, which converts your guitar’s signal into a square wave and then multiplies and splits it, creating nine different harmonies in two octaves that sound like “a thousand killer bees approaching.” ” to get to you.”

How serious can a fuzz pedal be at this price?

Tuna Fuzz is generally more traditional. This is about as easy as it gets with a fuzz pedal, let alone a Beetronics fuzz. There are no gain or tone controls. Again, there’s only one main volume – the Stinker control – but there’s some serious volume behind it. So if you want the Tuna Fuzz to clear, you’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way by unscrewing the guitar’s volume knob. Beetronics promises a fuzz sound inspired by the earliest fuzz designs and reminiscent of its Octahive, albeit without the octave mode.

But is it all just a clever trick? How serious can a fuzz pedal be at this price and in this body?

Beetronics Tuna Can Fuzz Pedal: Specifications

Beetronics Tuna Fuzz

(Image credit: Beetronics FX)

Launch price: US$99/GBP
Type: Three transistor fuzz pedal circuit
Did: USA
Controls: Main volume, foot switch
Connectivity: 1/4″ in, 1/4″ out, power supply in
Weight: 0.20lb/0.9kg
Dimensions: Diameter 80 mm
Contact: Betronix FX

Beetronics Tuna Fuzz Pedal: Build Quality

Beetronics Tuna Fuzz

Is this a bird? Is this a fish? No, this is Tunabi (Image credit: Ollie Curtis/Future)

Build quality rating: ★★★½

Whether the sounds produced by a Beetronics pedal suit you or not, there’s no doubt that imagination goes into creating these pedals, and the Tuna Fuzz is no exception. The connection layout is clever, with the 1/4″ input/output jacks and pedalboard power supply input placed close together, making it a little easier to find a place to mount the pedal.

The Stinker’s master volume is fairly easy to access, mounted on the side of the pedal. If you’re particularly dexterous, you could probably adjust it with your toe. The foot switch feels quite durable. Clank. The whole thing looks pretty solid, with most of the components mounted directly on the PCB. However, the tuna can design is no substitute for anodized aluminum, and the bottom of the pedal has some flex.

There’s a slightly opaque plastic lid on the bottom – Tupperware’s last stand? – it both protects the internal circuitry and can be removed to allow you to admire the Tunabee design on the PCB.

Size matters. There’s no room for a battery. This requires 9V DC and 10mA current. This is a true bypass, and Beetronics advises against placing a buffer in front of it, qualifying this advice as one of the few truths in music and equipment: if it sounds right, it’s okay.

We love the tuna can concept. Who couldn’t? But we could do without all that plastic packaging it comes in.

Beetronics Tuna Fuzz Pedal: Ease of Use

Beetronics Tuna Fuzz Pedal

(Image credit: Jonathan Horsley/Future)

Usability rating: ★★★½

This is a single knob fuzz, so no manual is required. Just plug and play, turn up the volume and see what happens, and what happens – what you’ll immediately encounter is how impressive it is.

There are no tone, offset, or even gain adjustments here that can enhance the sound and make it play well with the other effects you have.

We placed it first in the signal path, connecting it to a Fulltone OCD and a Catalinbread Belle Epoch tape echo and playing it through a tube combo. We’re not going to complain about the simplicity of the fuzz, but it goes without saying that if you have a lot of pedalboard and a complex signal chain, there aren’t any tone, bias, or even gain controls here to enhance it. sound and make it work well with the other effects you have. It is what it is; the “accept me as I am or not at all” pedal. This is part of its charm.

It can be a little fiddly to install on some pedalboards, or at least keep it secured with a plastic tray on the bottom of the pedal. But it’s compact enough, somewhat similar to the Fuzz Face Mini pedal, that finding space shouldn’t be a problem.

There’s a lot of sound coming from this volume control and the fuzz is greatly amplified. Set the volume as you like and play.

Beetronics Tuna Fuzz Pedal: Sounds

Beetronics Tuna Fuzz

(Image credit: Ollie Curtis/Future)

Sound rating: ★★★★½

Fuzz, like tuna, is a matter of taste. Not all are created equal and opinions are divided. Many people will prefer white-fleshed albacore to skipjack. There are Fuzz Face fans. There are Big Muff super fans. This represents an entry-level fuzzbox, unencumbered by expectations. Since Beetronics is silent about the three transistors doing God’s work on this PCB, we have to trust our ears. And what we hear is an angry little noise with a big sound.

Just because you can’t adjust the fuzz’s settings other than output volume doesn’t mean it’s not versatile.

Resist the temptation to clean it first, but don’t turn down the volume on your guitar just yet. It’s best to fight Tuna Fuzz to the fullest. Embrace the chaos, measure it. The neck humbucker produces woolly mammoth stoner sounds. The Fender Telecaster bridge single-coil gives Tuna Fuzz a harsh electricity that’s bright and searing, yet musical at the same time.

There’s a wild quality to the clipping, but it’s not just about the harsh frequencies and bursts; Just because you can’t adjust the fuzz’s settings other than output volume doesn’t mean it’s not versatile. At its fullest, it’s great fun for doomy metal riffs and ear-splitting Stooges-style punk. Players with a more anarchic bent will enjoy pairing it with a DigiTech Whammy pedal or perhaps a POG. You may have to be careful about adding more gain in front of it – obscure saturation abounds, but we really enjoyed running it in OCD with the Drive knob at midday.

Pull your guitar’s volume control back (or put a volume pedal in front of it) and you can shave some hair off it. There you will find hot and edgy 70s rock tones. A bit like CCR? Maybe it’s us. Still very cool.

Beetronics Tuna Fuzz Pedal: Verdict

Beetronics Tuna Fuzz

(Image credit: Ollie Curtis/Future)

Fuzz is always a wildcard, and at no stage does Tuna Fuzz sound too polite. It was never completely broken, and how could that be? All we have is a master volume, our guitar’s volume control, and our wits.

Obviously there are more feature-rich fuzzes on the market where you can adjust the offset and tone and all that stuff. And so players balancing complex hardware might want to look elsewhere, or at least use it as a backup for those special occasions when you need something to capture the primal energy of vintage fuzz. But it will make your power chords sound big and provide proper violin-like sustain to your solos, and a nimble player will be able to apply these qualities to a range of musical settings.

MusicRadar verdict: Super simple, accessible and a whole lot of fun, Tuna Fuzz is a compelling introduction to the crazy world of Beetronics sound and is a no-brainer for all those Cro-Magnons who like their fuzz wild and grungy. many teeth.

Swipe the screen to scroll horizontally

Rating table
Test	Results	Check
Build quality	It’s a can – literally.	★★★½
Ease of use	Minimum control	★★★½
Sounds	Brutal but musical	★★★★½
General	Accessible and fun	★★★★

Beetronics Tuna Can Fuzz Pedal: Also Try

Beringer Super Fuzz SF300

Behringer SF300 Super Fuzz

$199 / £215
Inspired by the 70’s Tycobrahe Octavia, switch between fuzz and octave modes by double pressing the footswitch. Expensive, but great.

Dunlop Jimi Hendriz Fuzz Face Mini Mini

$169 / £159
It’s also small, round, and features a BC108 silicon transistor under the hood for all your Hendrix needs.

Beetronics Tuna Fuzz Pedal: How-to Videos

Mark Johnston

Beetronics Tuna Fuzz | Secret Weapon – YouTube

View more

Mike Hermans

Demo in the dark

Beetronics Tuna Fuzz // Fuzz Pedal Demo – YouTube

View more

Get offset

New Beetronics FX Tuna Fuzz is only $99 – YouTube

View more

Beetronics Tuna Can Fuzz Pedal Review

Beetronics Tuna Can Fuzz Pedal: What is it?

Archives

Categories