Beetronics Swarm Fuzz Harmonizer

The Beetronics Swarm Fuzz Harmonizer is an analog fuzz pedal that turns your guitar signal into a square wave and then stacks pitch-shifted harmonies on top of it. Beetronics describes it as a pedal that delivers "square wave chaos" with harmonies ranging from vintage-inspired octave fuzz to buzzing synths and broken machine textures¹. It sits in the company's Royal Series and is hand made in California².

The core idea is unusual even among fuzz pedals. Instead of clipping your signal the way a typical fuzz face does, the Swarm converts it to a square wave and then multiplies and divides that wave's frequency, which produces nine possible harmony intervals spread across two octaves³. Modulation is then applied to those harmonies, so they can track your playing closely or wander off into wild, unstable territory.

How the Swarm makes its harmonies

The circuit works in three stages. First it converts your input signal into a square wave, which is what gives the Swarm its buzzy, synth-like fuzz character. Then it multiplies and divides the frequency of that square wave, which generates the harmony intervals. Finally it applies modulation to the harmonies, which can make them track your playing almost perfectly or behave unpredictably³.

Pedal of the Day's reviewer explained the same process in 2020: the Swarm "takes your input signal and turns it into a square wave," then multiplies and divides the frequency to give "NINE possible harmonies in two differing octaves"⁴. The reviewer called it "another wonderful, awesomely-noisy creation from our friends at Beetronics"⁴.

You choose from nine musical intervals across two octaves, which Beetronics says covers everything from thick octave fuzz to strange and unexpected textures¹. Because the harmonies are derived from a square wave rather than a digital pitch shifter, the result has a raw, buzzy quality that sits closer to vintage octave fuzz than to a modern harmonizer.

The controls: Worker, Species, Queen, Drone, Sting, Flight and Master

The Swarm has seven controls, each with a bee-themed name. Here is what each one does, based on Beetronics' own descriptions⁵⁶:

The Queen and Drone controls work as a pair: Beetronics describes them as the way to "balance higher and lower harmonies and sculpt a wide range of textures"⁷. The two harmonies stay one octave apart, so the balance between them shapes whether the pedal leans toward thick low fuzz or sharper upper intervals⁵.

Flight and Sting are the modulation controls, and Beetronics calls them highly interactive⁸. Together they let you sweep, pulse or detune the harmonies, which the maker says makes the Swarm feel alive under your fingers⁹. Flight adjusts how the modulation tracks your playing, ranging from precise sweeps to unpredictable glitches, while Sting sets the rate of the modulation⁷.

Using it as a plain fuzz

The harmonies are not compulsory. Beetronics says that with the harmonies turned down, the Swarm works as a gated, aggressive fuzz with a unique edge¹. That makes it two pedals in one: a square-wave fuzz on its own, or a harmony machine when the Queen and Drone levels come up.

Power and bypass

The Swarm requires a 9V DC power supply with a center-negative plug, and the power supply is not included with the pedal¹. It draws around 7mA, which is light enough that a standard pedalboard supply will run it without strain¹. The switching is true bypass, which Beetronics says keeps your signal clean when the pedal is bypassed¹.

Limited and Custom Shop editions

Beetronics has released the Swarm in a wide range of finishes beyond the standard version. Limited Edition runs have included the Cream, Pink Lemonade, Bambee and Majin Bee finishes, each with the same analog fuzz harmonizer circuit, true bypass switching and 9V DC center-negative power requirement¹⁰¹¹¹². The Blackbee Edition carries the same specifications as well¹².

Alongside the Limited Editions, Beetronics builds Custom Shop Swarms as individually numbered units, with listings showing numbers such as SW3337, SW3574, SW3335, SW3571, SW2712 and SW2973 through SW2980⁹. Custom Shop listings have shown a regular price of £230.00, while Limited Edition listings have shown £192.00 and Bee Stock listings £163.00, all in GBP as stated by the maker⁷⁹¹³. Many of these listings, including the Beezarre Bazaar SW3593 and Custom Shop SW3577 units, show sold out status¹⁷.

What reviewers said

Published coverage of the Swarm has been positive. Reviews have highlighted the nine harmonies and the square-wave circuit as its defining features, with the pedal described as turning the input signal into a square wave and then multiplying and dividing that wave's frequency to produce nine possible harmonies in two different octaves⁴. More recent coverage has offered a direct verdict from a writer who owns one:

Related Beetronics pedals

The Swarm is one of several fuzz-family pedals from Beetronics. Players comparing it against other circuits in the hive can look at the Beetronics OctaHive, the Beetronics WhoctaHell, the Beetronics Vezzpa Octave Stinger and the budget Beetronics Tuna Fuzz, each of which takes a different approach to fuzz and octave tones.

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