Old Blood Noise Endeavors releases Pardner Fuzz pedal

August 27, 2024 · 2 sources

Old Blood Noise Endeavors released the Pardner Fuzz on August 27, 2024, a fuzz pedal built to pair with other stompboxes through an onboard effects loop. It is available now at $229, the price both MusicRadar and Gearnews give as the US list price¹².

The fuzz side is controlled by Intensity and Filter dials, with a toggle switch between Synthy and Fuzzy modes. MusicRadar describes the Synthy mode as giving a low-octave quality "a little like a synthesizer," while Fuzzy is "more recognisably fuzz"¹. Gearnews describes the Filter dial as a combination of a low-pass filter on the left and a high-pass filter on the right on the input signal, and says Intensity sets the input gain². MusicRadar, citing the manual, says Filter controls gain and voice, with more low end as it is turned up, and that Intensity "increases the sizzly, warbly, yodelly quality of the fuzz"¹. Treble, Bass and Fuzz Volume controls are also onboard¹².

The Lasso section is the effects loop, with mini-dials for Gain and Level and its own independent footswitch¹. MusicRadar says it has an overdrive circuit that can apply medium-gain dirt to whichever pedal is run through it, and that the order can be swapped so the partner effect goes into the fuzz or vice versa, or the two can run in parallel, which OBNE advises as a good place to start¹. Gearnews says the external effect can be routed in parallel or series before or after the fuzz, and that the loop's input and output levels are set with the mini-pots². Gearnews also cautions that gain staging needs care when fuzz and Lasso run in series via the 3-way switch, and that combining the pedal with another distortion or overdrive "can very quickly feedback in the most painful ways"².

Connections are on the top of the enclosure, and the artwork is by Garrett Young¹². The two sources differ on the color options: MusicRadar lists Tan, Purple and Blue¹, while Gearnews lists yellow, blue and purple². Both describe soft-touch footswitches for the fuzz and the loop, and MusicRadar says the pedal has true relay bypass when both sides are disengaged¹².