Hello and welcome back to another edition of Gearheads Demo’s & Reviews! Today I’ve got a very cool offering from Kyle Chase at Chase Tone. Some of you might remember the previously reviewed and demo’d ‘68 Red Velvet Fuzz, a rich and fat BC183 transistor based silicon fuzz face. To my ears, Kyle took that platform and ran with it, resulting in more gain availability and functionality with all types of guitars - including humbuckers! More on all of that later… onto the new Fuzz Fella!
Right from the start, the Fuzz Fella is a well voiced and easy to dial-in circuit. It shines with all kinds of guitars, whether they be single coils or humbuckers, which are usually very hard to use with a fuzz face type circuit due to how wholly they can get tonally… taking over the sound without any definition. The Fuzz Fella reacts well to the fatter humbucker tones immediately due to the refined circuit, which is even more tailored by the EQ controls. Single coils sound big and familiar, humbuckers sound fat and clear… what’s more to want right? The Fuzz Fella is not a one-to-one clone of a vintage unit or a replica in any way (in my opinion, of course) and I don’t think it’s being made or marketed for those types of needs. What the Fuzz Fella is however, is a very good sounding and feeling fuzz face that works with pretty much any setup you throw at it. It’s pedalboard friendly, has top input and output jacks, runs off of a standard polarity power source (in lieu of batteries if you so choose). If you’ve tried fuzz faces before and never got on with them, the Fuzz Fella is an excellent choice to reacquaint yourselves with the magic of the fuzz face.
While I typically don’t prefer a lot of controls or knobs on a fuzz circuit, the controls on the Fuzz Fella are simple, elegant and very useful. You’ve got the typical “Volume” and “Gain”, and then the addition of “Mids” “Feel” and “Bass” . Those three mini knobs control the EQ and feel but also effect how the gain of the circuit interacts with the guitar. I personally found the “Mids” control best around noon to about 1:00 and the “Feel” was to taste, being a bias control you can thin out or fatten up the tone of the pedal precisely. The “Bass” control was the most effective and useful for matching humbucker vs single coils and at the same time being another point of control over the gain of the circuit. This is a common misunderstood idea, but EQ and especially bass or low end will effect your gain. The more low end frequencies enter into field, the more gain you’ll get. Having control over this in a fuzz face circuit is always useful and helpful.
All in all, as a certified fuzz nut I find the Fuzz Fella a fantastic choice for any type of player. Beyond it’s voice and functionality, it’s pedalboard sized, as Kyle Chase puts it, making it easy to swap with most standard sized pedals. The price point is also quite attractive for those who have been wanting to get into the fuzz face world but with less of a budget in mind. I will say that regardless of the price point, it’s a killer pedal that I really enjoyed demoing. Take a look and listen to the demo video below. I’ve used the Fuzz Fella on all the guitars, including the bass! I used single coils and humbuckers and 3 different amplifiers on this track.
As always thanks for watching, please like, subscribe and share! Pass the tone forward! Stay safe and healthy out there and until next time Gearheads… Cheers!
To learn more about Chase Tone & the Fuzz Fella - Blue BC108c Edition take a look below:
https://chasetone.com/fuzz-fella-blue-bc108c/