Beetronics VEZZPA Octave Stinger Limited Edition "Memorial"

The VEZZPA Octave Stinger Limited Edition "Memorial" is one of the smallest runs Beetronics has made of its octave fuzz pedal: ten pieces, each finished as a memorial edition of the standard Vezzpa Octave Stinger. Like every Vezzpa, it is a dual-mode fuzz pedal built around an op-amp, and it is aimed squarely at players who want an aggressive, high-pitched buzz rather than a warm vintage fuzz¹²³.

Beetronics describes the pedal in characteristically vivid terms:

The Memorial edition is sold out on the maker's own store, where it carried a regular price of £154.00¹.

What the Vezzpa does

The Vezzpa is an octave fuzz: a fuzz circuit with an octave component that pushes the sound upward rather than downward. Where Beetronics' WhoctaHell family adds a low octave, the Vezzpa's STINGER mode brings up the high octave, which is what gives the pedal its wasp-like buzz¹.

The op-amp design is part of the character. Op-amp fuzzes, a type built around an operational amplifier chip rather than a row of transistors, tend toward a harder, more scooped and aggressive clipping than vintage-style transistor fuzz, and the Vezzpa leans into that. Beetronics positions it as a pedal for players who want fuzz that cuts, not fuzz that sits politely behind a mix.

The controls and the two modes

The pedal has two modes, FUZZZZ and STINGER, and a SUSTAIN control that behaves differently depending on where you set it³⁴¹.

The SUSTAIN control is the main voice-shaping knob. At low settings it produces what Beetronics calls a "spitty" fuzz, where notes decay unevenly and sputter out; at high settings the fuzz becomes gated, meaning the signal shuts off abruptly when it falls below a threshold, giving a tight, super high gain stop-start character¹.

The multi-function switch is the pedal's most flexible feature. Rather than a simple mode toggle, it lets you either latch into FUZZZZ or STINGER, or hold the switch to reach the other mode only while it is pressed. That makes it possible to drop in the high-octave STINGER sound for a single phrase or stab and return to the wall of fuzz without bending down¹.

Power and size

The Memorial edition requires a 9V DC power supply with a center-negative plug, drawing 36mA, and no power supply is included in the box¹. That current draw is modest by pedalboard standards, and the center-negative plug matches the convention used by most modern pedal power supplies and isolated bricks.

Physically, the Memorial edition is listed at 5.5 by 3.5 by 2.75 inches including knobs and switches, weighing 0.5 lbs (0.25 kilos), with a package size of 6.75 by 5.25 by 3.25 inches and a package weight of 0.75 lbs (0.5 kilos)¹. Other Vezzpa editions list a smaller 4 1/2 by 2 1/4 by 2 1/4 inch dimension⁵⁶, so the Memorial's stated pedal size is the larger of the two figures the maker gives across the range.

The Memorial edition and other Vezzpa limited runs

Beetronics has built much of its identity around small limited runs and one-off Custom Shop paint jobs, and the Vezzpa line shows that pattern more clearly than any other pedal in the catalog. The Memorial is a 10-piece run¹, and it sits among a long list of named editions:

• Limited Edition WHITE³
• Limited Edition (Reverb)⁷
• Limited Edition Redbee⁶
• Custom Shop units with individual serials, such as VZ2941⁴
• BLACK FRIDAY Limited Edition⁸
• Limited Edition "Donatello"⁹
• Limited Edition Cream¹⁰
• Limited Edition BEE BECK²
• The Blackbee Edition¹¹
• Limited Edition "Great Pumpkin"⁵
• Grasshopper bee stock¹²

Beyond the named editions, the maker also lists Custom Shop variants carrying individual unit numbers such as VZ3191, VZ2144, VZ2306, VZ1900, VZ2521, VZ2527, VZ2528, VZ2530, VZ2531, VZ2532, VZ2533 and VZ2534³¹³, each effectively a single decorated unit.

All of these editions share the same circuit, controls and power requirements as the Memorial: FUZZZZ and STINGER modes, the multi-function switch, 9V DC center negative power and no included supply¹⁴¹¹². The differences between them are cosmetic, which is the point of a limited run: same wasp, different paint.

Availability across the range is patchy. The Memorial, WHITE, Reverb, Redbee and Black Friday editions all show as sold out on the maker's store¹³⁷⁶⁸, which is typical of how Beetronics' limited runs sell through. Players hunting a specific finish will mostly be looking at the secondhand market, while the standard Vezzpa Octave Stinger and the smaller Babee-series version¹⁵ represent the circuit in ongoing or alternate formats.

Questions