Beetronics Royal Jelly Limited Edition Ballerina

The Royal Jelly Limited Edition Ballerina is one of the many limited runs of Beetronics' Royal Jelly, an overdrive/fuzz blender pedal. Beetronics describes the Royal Jelly as "an overdrive/fuzz blender like no other pedal," covering ground from overdrive to fuzz by running two circuits in parallel that you can blend together or use separately¹. The Ballerina edition carries the same circuit in a limited finish, and Beetronics' product page lists it as sold out¹.

For a player, the appeal of the Royal Jelly design is that you are not choosing between an overdrive pedal and a fuzz pedal. The two circuits run side by side, and the blend between them is the main sound-shaping control. On top of that, the pedal stores two presets of that blend, called Queen and King, which Beetronics says give you "two different sounds on the fly" with a natural transition between them, since the change works by mixing the overdrive and fuzz levels rather than switching abruptly¹.

Overdrive and fuzz in parallel, with Queen and King blends

The core of every Royal Jelly is the parallel circuit layout. Instead of stacking an overdrive into a fuzz, the pedal runs both at once and lets you set how much of each you hear. Beetronics says it "can cover any ground from overdrive to fuzz, running two circuits in parallel and giving you the possibility of blend"¹. At one end of the blend you have a straight overdrive sound, at the other a full fuzz, and in between the two circuits mix.

The Queen and King presets are the second layer. Each one stores a different balance of the overdrive and fuzz circuits, and switching between them changes the character of your sound mid-song. Beetronics describes the two modes as offering "two distinct overdrive/fuzz blends"¹, and says the presets "allow you not only to have two different sounds on the fly, but also make for a very natural transition" because the change is a shift in the mix of overdrive and fuzz levels rather than a hard cut¹.

The DRY control is the third blending tool. It mixes your unprocessed signal back in with the effected sound. Beetronics calls this "a great feature for bass, drums and synths or any studio use," and on guitar says the DRY control "is great to create unique clean tones with a fuzzy background"¹. For bass players in particular, a dry blend is a practical feature, since it keeps the low end of the instrument intact under the fuzz.

Power, size and weight

The Ballerina runs on a 9V DC power supply with center negative polarity, and Beetronics notes that the power supply is not included with the pedal¹. There is no battery option in the maker's listing, so you need a compatible 9V supply on your board before the pedal is usable.

At 6-1/8" x 5-1/16" x 2-3/4", the Royal Jelly is a fairly large enclosure by current pedalboard standards, and at 2 lbs/1 kg it has some heft. Players with tight boards should measure before planning a spot for one².

The Ballerina among the Royal Jelly limited editions

Beetronics has released a long series of Royal Jelly limited editions, each the same overdrive/fuzz blender circuit in a different finish, and each produced in small numbers. The Ballerina is one of these runs, and like nearly all of them it is now sold out at the maker¹. The pattern is consistent across the line: editions such as the Pink/Blue³, the "Wonka" (a run of 5 pieces)⁴, the 4th Limited Edition (20 units only)⁵, the "Beeliever" color series 04³⁴⁵, the "Pomegranate"³⁴⁵, the "Donatello"³⁴⁵, the Black Pinky³⁴⁵, the Black Verde³⁴⁵, the "Plumbee"⁶, the "Great Pumpkin"³⁴⁵ and the Valentine Limited Edition³⁴⁵ are all listed as sold out.

Some of these editions have their own pages here, including the Royal Jelly Limited Edition Black Pinky, the Royal Jelly Limited Edition "Beeliever", the Royal Jelly Limited Edition "Wonka", the Royal Jelly Limited Edition Black Verde, the Royal Jelly 4th Limited Edition, the Royal Jelly Limited Edition "Pomegranate", the Royal Jelly Limited Edition "Donatello", the Royal Jelly Limited Edition "Plumbee", the Royal Jelly Limited Edition "Great Pumpkin" and the Royal Jelly Valentine Limited Edition⁷⁸⁴.

All of them share the same specifications: the same 6-1/8" x 5-1/16" x 2-3/4" enclosure, the same 2 lb weight, the same 9V DC center negative power requirement, and the same hand-made-in-California origin¹³⁴⁵⁸⁹. The differences between editions are the finish and, in some cases, the size of the run. Because each edition sells out and is not reissued, the practical difference for a player today is which finishes can still be found on the secondhand market.

The standard circuit is also covered on the Royal Jelly and Royal Jelly OD/Fuzz pages, and the broader family of fuzz pedals, including Beetronics' other designs, is on the fuzz pedals page.

Questions