Beetronics Fatbee

The Beetronics Fatbee is a compact overdrive pedal built around a fully original JFET-based analog circuit, designed in collaboration with the pedal designer Howard Davis¹². It was the first pedal in Beetronics' Babee Series, the maker's smaller-format pedal line, and Beetronics pitches it as "huge tone in a small enclosure"²³⁴. The pedal is currently listed as sold out on the maker's store¹².

Beetronics describes the drive in the maker's own bee-themed language: "A Jfet drive like no other, breaks up sweet and smooth like a tubee amp. The Fatbee can be used to warm up, sting or buzz any instrument you want!"¹. In plainer terms, the company says it delivers natural breakup, smooth drive, and dynamic touch sensitivity, with amp-like warmth from the JFET circuit²⁵. While voiced for guitar, Beetronics states it also works well with bass and synths, especially when you want to add warmth or saturation²⁵.

What the Fatbee does: JFET overdrive with amp-like breakup

JFET stands for junction gate field-effect transistor, a transistor type whose clipping behavior is often compared to a tube amplifier's, because it rounds off the waveform rather than slicing it flat like a diode clipper. The Fatbee uses a fully original JFET-based circuit, designed with Howard Davis, to achieve that amp-like warmth and natural breakup in a small box²³. Beetronics calls it "a fully original overdrive circuit" rather than a clone¹.

The maker's description of the sound, in its own words:

The pedal sits in a small enclosure with top-mounted jacks and a sloped housing, built to fit any pedalboard²³. Alongside the Fatbee, Beetronics' Babee Series has grown to include pedals such as the Beetronics Nectar Tone Sweetener, a switchable overdrive and fuzz pedal.

The controls: Weight, Flavor and Honey

The Fatbee has three knobs, each with a bee-themed name standing in for a familiar control. As gearnews put it when the pedal launched, "translated into English, it means Gain, Tone and Volume"⁸.

Pedal of the Day's 2020 review covered the same three parameters, listing "Weight (Volume), Flavor (Tone) and Honey (Gain)" as the controls⁹. Beetronics says the three knobs make it easy to dial in rich, usable tones⁵.

Power and bypass

The Fatbee runs on a standard 9V DC center-negative power supply, drawing 36mA, and the power supply is not included with the pedal¹²⁷. It features true bypass switching, which Beetronics says preserves your clean tone when the pedal is disengaged². Premier Guitar listed true bypass switching as a feature across Beetronics pedals in its 2016 coverage of the company's early products¹⁰.

History and versions: the first Babee Series pedal

The Fatbee was the very first pedal of the Babee Series, Beetronics' smaller-format pedal line, designed in collaboration with Howard Davis²⁶. gearnews covered the pedal at NAMM 2020 under the headline "drive as thick as honey"²¹¹⁷, and Pedal of the Day reviewed it in May 2020 as part of its Babee Series coverage²¹¹⁷.

Beyond the standard version, the Fatbee has been sold in several forms:

• Custom Shop units: one-off builds with individual serial numbers, such as FB2464, FB2481, FB1897, FB1902, FB2243, FB2246, FB2247, FB2250, FB2251, FB2253, FB2254, FB2255 and FB2256, each with its own finish³¹². Examples include named Custom Series finishes like the Fatbee "Greeny", "Escudeiro", "Rosa Shock", "Purple Eyes", "Khao San", "Vitral" and "Classico".
• Limited editions: including the "Great Pumpkin"⁷ and the Bambee limited edition¹³.
• BEE-STOCK units: pedals sold with scratches, dings or imperfections that "Functions perfectly sound wise"¹⁴.

Prices on the maker's store are shown in pounds sterling: the standard Fatbee page lists a regular price of £124.00 with £146.00 shown alongside², while Custom Shop units have carried prices such as £192.00 and £223.00¹¹². Beetronics offers a 14-day money back guarantee on the pedal⁵, and its return policy, described as the "Hive Happiness Guarantee," asks buyers to email within 30 business days of receiving an order for an RMA form, with the item returned within 7 days and refunds processed within 5 business days of receipt; a 15% restocking fee or store credit may apply if the product shows wear and tear or is missing accessories⁷. Scratch and Dent products are sold as-is and are not refundable¹⁵.

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