Beetronics Royal Jelly "Blue Squid" Custom

The Beetronics Royal Jelly "Blue Squid" Custom is a custom-finish version of the Royal Jelly, an overdrive and fuzz blender pedal. Beetronics describes the Royal Jelly as "an overdrive/fuzz blender like no other pedal," one that "can cover any ground from overdrive to fuzz, running two circuits in parallel and giving you the possibility of blend"¹. Instead of choosing one dirt flavor, the player dials in how much of each circuit they hear.

The Blue Squid is the same circuit in a one-off custom finish from Beetronics' shop. It is listed as sold out on the maker's product page, with a regular price of £270.00¹. Like every Royal Jelly, it is hand made in California¹.

An overdrive and fuzz blender

Most dirt pedals chain their gain stages, but the Royal Jelly runs its overdrive and fuzz circuits in parallel and lets the player blend between them¹. Beetronics says the design blends "overdrive and fuzz in a way no pedal had done beefore"². In practice that means one side of the blend can be set to a clean-ish push while the other carries the fuzz, or both can be pushed for a thicker combined sound.

The pedal also carries a two-band EQ and a Buzz switch on the fuzz side, described below. For players comparing it against a straight fuzz pedal or overdrive, the appeal is that the Royal Jelly covers both territories and the spaces between them from one box³⁴⁵.

The controls: Queen and King presets, HI and LO EQ, Buzz switch

The Royal Jelly's control set is built around two blend presets and a shaping EQ⁶⁷³.

The Queen and King presets are the pedal's signature feature. Beetronics explains that "the presets allow you not only to have two different sounds" but to move between them smoothly rather than jumping¹. These are not digital presets: the two channels work as two customizable voicings of the blend, set by ear on the pedal itself⁷.

The EQ gives each band 10dB of cut or boost, which Beetronics says makes "it possible to shape your tone in many different" directions¹. That is a wide range for a two-band EQ on a dirt pedal, and it matters here because fuzz circuits in particular can be voiced either thin or boomy depending on the amp.

The Buzz switch affects only the fuzz side. Beetronics describes it two ways across its pages: on the Blue Squid's own page it "adds that nasty high end usually found on the vintage fuzz boxes to its fuzz circuit"¹, and elsewhere the company summarizes it as a high-end boost "for extra bite and presence"¹⁸⁹. Either way, it is a fixed character switch rather than a variable control, flipping the fuzz between a smoother top end and a sharper, more vintage-voiced one.

Power and size

The Blue Squid requires a 9V DC power supply with a center-negative plug¹. That is the standard arrangement for most modern pedals and isolated supplies.

The pedal measures 6-1/8" x 5-1/16" x 2-3/4" and weighs 2lbs (1kg); the package is 7-1/2" x 6-1/4" x 3-1/4" at 2.5lbs (1.25kg)¹. This is a substantial enclosure by pedal standards, closer to a double-width box, so it takes real pedalboard real estate. The same dimensions appear across the Royal Jelly line, including the Custom Evolve and the Pink/Blue limited edition⁹⁸.

Custom and limited editions

The Blue Squid is one of many custom and limited finishes Beetronics has built around the Royal Jelly circuit. The maker's site carries a long run of them, each with the same overdrive/fuzz blender circuit in a different paint job or small production batch¹⁸¹⁰:

• Custom finishes such as the Royal Jelly Custom Evolve, Custom Blue Leaf and Custom Fireflower⁹¹¹¹²
• Limited editions including the Pink/Blue, "Plumbee", "Pomegranate" and "Great Pumpkin"⁸
• Custom Shop runs carrying numbered designations such as RJ3247 and the 420 edition¹³¹⁴

The Blue Squid sits in the custom category: a one-off finish rather than a numbered production run. Beetronics also applies the same custom and limited-edition approach across its wider range, including the Swarm and OctaHive families¹.

Availability and warranty

The Blue Squid Custom is listed as sold out on Beetronics' product page¹, and several other custom and limited Royal Jelly finishes are in the same state, including the Custom Evolve and the Pink/Blue limited edition⁹⁸. Custom finishes of this kind are not restocked once a run ends.

For pedals bought new, Beetronics offers what it calls a 30-Day Hive Happiness Guarantee, with shipping not included. Returns go through an RMA process; worn or incomplete returns may be subject to a 15% restocking fee or store credit instead of a refund, and refunds are processed within 5 business days¹.

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