Review - Fuzzrocious Blast Furnace

This gnarly little fuzz arrived in the post last week from the crazy mind of Fuzzrocious pedals. The Blast Furnace is a glitchy gated fuzz, similar to my old Fuzz Factory without all the crazy controls. The added bonus is a lofi delay that can easily go into self oscillation when you want some unadulterated noise to fill out your track.

One thing I love about the way the gate responds in this fuzz is that it reacts in just the way I would want it to. When playing chords the gate cuts in at the just the right time to leave enough of the chord ringing before dying in an almost organic fashion. Its not over the top but it isn't subtle either. 

The middle switch activates a scooped EQ that can be adjusted via a trim pot inside the pedal. This is great for when you want a hipass filtered tone akin to some ancient video game chip. With the switch in the lower position its just full un-EQ'd fuzz.

There's also added trim pots for the delay time and mix inside the pedals innards. The beauty of this approach is that the pedals outside is simplicity personified. Just a volume and delay repeat knob, two foot switches for each effect and the glorious artwork.

I was especially pleased with how well it plays with other pedals. Like many other guitarists I've had varying results when pairing fuzzes with other effect pedals. Some fuzzes didn't even like other pedals in the same chain as them, going from tone monsters to wet farts just be seeing another pedal. Not this beast, as you can see in the video even pairing it with another fuzz, my Grey Stache/Feed Me combo, it doesn't bother it and yields some great retro results.

It also works with all my guitars, no mater what pickups are being used, its likes both single coils and humbuckers.

I bought this pedal as I had an exact need for it in a track, check out the Keepers Brew song "Toad Licker" to see what I mean. However it really is one of those pedals that inspires creativity and breaths new life into old riffs and solos.

Finally I absolutely love the whole ethos of Fuzzrocious. Run by Ryan and his wife Shannon, their kids help paint some of the pedals and it feels like the best kind of family business, friendly, knowledgable and inventive. I love how you can throw an idea at Ryan and have multiple modifications of any of his pedals and he doesn't bat an eyelid. More of a "Yes, thats crazy and I want to do it" rather than "Its more hassle that its worth" kind of company. He's always willing to listen if you have that insane idea or have any problems and just seems to love what he does. Shame I didn't get to chat to him properly while I was at NAMM due to NAMMthrax taking out both of us!

Go check out Fuzzrocious Pedals for all of their offerings, I can certainly see some more of their pedals being added to the board soon!