The Bardic Audio Devices Goblin Fuzz is a fuzz pedal, covered by Pedal of the Day in August 2020. The review describes a pedal that does not hold back, "crushing your eardrums and amp right out of the gate once it's engaged," and calls it "one of the heavier pedals we've had in the shop in quite a while"1. It sits in the wider field of fuzz pedals alongside related dirt designs such as overdrive pedals and distortion pedals.
Controls
The Goblin Fuzz keeps things deliberately simple: two knobs, both dedicated to dirt, and nothing else1.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Horde (left) | Sets the primary gain level1 |
| Death (right) | Controls the secondary gain, or fuzz1 |
Pedal of the Day summed up the layout this way:
"Two dirt controls. No volume. No limits. No nonsense."
That absence of a volume knob is the main practical thing a player needs to know before putting the Goblin on a board: the pedal's output level rides with its gain settings, so level control has to happen elsewhere in the chain1.
A related circuit: the Humanoid Pedals Goblin Fuzz
A separate pedal carrying the Goblin Fuzz name, made by Humanoid Pedals, was covered by Premier Guitar in January 2023. Its single Fuzz knob controls what Premier Guitar describes as a voltage feedback-type fuzz circuit, and the suggested approach is to start at maximum and lower it to taste: the most intense tones live in the last quarter of the rotation, while settings at noon and below suit an overdriven valve amplifier. Premier Guitar also notes the knob produces a slight static noise as it is adjusted3. It is covered separately on the Humanoid Pedals Goblin Fuzz page.
The Bardic Audio Devices Goblin Fuzz and the Humanoid Pedals Goblin Fuzz are different pedals from different makers. The two-knob Horde and Death layout described above belongs to the Bardic Audio Devices unit; the voltage feedback-type circuit with a single Fuzz knob belongs to the Humanoid Pedals version.
Videos
collector//emitter
Pedal of the Day
Tommy H *Low End Insight* (Low End Insight)
Questions
Does the Goblin Fuzz have a volume control?
No. Pedal of the Day's review describes it as having two dirt controls and no volume knob, summed up as "Two dirt controls. No volume. No limits. No nonsense." Players who need to set their output level independently of the fuzz amount will need to handle that elsewhere in the signal chain or at the amplifier.
How do the Horde and Death knobs work?
Horde, on the left, sets the primary gain level. Death, on the right, controls the secondary gain, or fuzz. Working the two against each other covers the pedal's range of tones, from its heaviest settings down to whatever the reviewer called one of the heavier pedals the shop had seen in a while.
Sources (3)
- Bardic Audio Devices Goblin Fuzz, Pedal of the Day (www.pedal-of-the-day.com), 2020-08-11
- Bardic Audio Devices Berzerker Fuzz, Pedal of the Day, 2021-03-27
- Humanoid Pedals Introduces Goblin Fuzz Guitar Effects Pedal, Premier Guitar, 2023-01-02
