Fender The Pelt Fuzz Pedal

Why did you pick this product vs others?:I had been very reluctant about what would be my first fuzz pedal. THIS IS FANTASTIC!!! High level n low gain gives u clean overdrive reminiscent of strat tones in the neck position.Half position on level n gain (fuzz) gives you fun n dirty tones as with Queens of the Stoned AgeSame settings with low tone n high bloom give you buttery glassy tones like alt bands from the 90sThe on n off switch for the lights on the knobs is cool too

Fender's "The Pelt" Fuzz is a strangely-named but eminently approachable drive pedal that bridges the gap between overdrive and fuzz. The first thing that drew me to this pedal was the physical design of these new Fender pedals. Although it's for admittedly superficial reasons, I really liked the knob LED's and comically bright-colored bypass LED. The Pelt is actually more appealing in person, as it has a brushed nickel finish with a purple tint. It is a relatively large pedal, however. I doubt the profile is that much larger than a BOSS or MXR compact, but it's taller and bulkier.Sound-wise, The Pelt has been very satisfying, but not necessarily in the ways I expected from watching review videos prior to purchase. Many of the reviews emphasize a splatty, gated style of fuzz. This actually appealed to me as it seemed similar to a couple of my other favorite fuzz pedals: the DOD Carcosa Fuzz and Earthquaker Devices Dirt Transmitter. However, the reality is that The Pelt offers a nuanced approach to fuzz, and with different control settings, you can use for applications you would never even think to use, say, a Big Muff or Fuzz Face. You can get those splatty, velcro-type fuzz tones, but only to a certain degree, and only with the fuzz knob turned most of the way up. Unlike the Earthquaker pedal, which can be placed at such extreme settings that it becomes borderline unusable, this Fender offering is well-tuned and offers usable, musical tones across virtually all knob settings.Which is all the more impressive given the number of control variables impacting its settings. There are three knobs (Volume, Tone, and Fuzz) that you would expect to find on just about any drive pedal. Where The Pelt shines is in those additional controls that allow you to shape the style of gain and match it to both your equipment and personal preferences.The "Bloom" control basically controls attack. Some fuzzes will clip aggressively and duck out if you hit them aggressively, resulting in a gated effect. You can do this with higher Bloom settings, or roll it off for a more subtle attack, better suited for chords and swells.There are also two mod switches. One of them simply adds additional thickness/low end. The other one is a three-way switch allowing you to sculpt the mids (boost, flat, cut). This is arguably the most important feature of The Pelt, because it can be a dark and borderline muddy pedal on some settings, but the mids boost really allows it to jump out of the mix.I found myself playing classic rock riffs and solos with The Pelt that I wouldn't even necessarily associate with "fuzz" tones. Some of my favorite tones were using it almost like a Tubescreamer with the Level set at 3:00 and gain at 9:00. This versatility really adds to the value of the pedal - it's good to know that you could throw this on a live pedalboard and get more than one niche sound out of it. If you're looking for a wacky, extreme fuzz sound unlike anything you've ever heard, The Pelt really isn't that. Instead, Fender made a well-tuned, versatile drive pedal that can cover a lot of different music styles and sounds good almost no matter how you set it up.

This and the Bends compressor are my two favorite Fender pedals. I tried fuzzes by other manufacturers like EH, Dunlop, etc and they were just to aggressive/hard. This one is much smoother and more controllable. Makes my Teles and Strat SING. Oh and I think Fender read about the LED brightness complaints. The one I have isn't too bad at all, more frosted than my earlier Marine Layer. If you have one that bugs you just take a tiny piece of blue painter or gaff tap and partially cover it. People rag on electronics equating undependable to where they are made. That is so childish. I have Chinese Behringer gear from late 90s still going strong--and I have had USA-made gear that failed within weeks. So stop it. If it failed, it was probably to your own abuse or you just got a bad one. Sheesh.

Tasty Fuzz with excellent versatile sounds. Love this thing !

As far as fuzz pedals go, this one is the smoothest one I’ve tried. If you’re looking for something to play some Pink Floyd with go with the Fuzz Face or the Analogman bc109 Sun Face! But this pedal is great for a sweet Eric Johnson type of sound for Cliffs of Dover. If you’re looking for something aggressive, this isn’t it. But it’s perfect if you want a smoother fuzz sound.

All you need is FUZZ. This pedal fuzzes really well and has a more than average set of fuzz controls. I’m loving it and it says ‘fender’ on it !!!

gives more body to some tele solos