The Blind Panic Devices B2 is a fuzz delay built as a texturizer: a single pedal that combines a fuzz section, a delay, an LFO Modulator, Pitch Modulation Flutter, and a Feedback Micro Looper. Guitar Pedal X, reviewing it in May 2024, called it a "Buzzy Bee Fuzzy Delay", and the bee theme runs through what the pedal does: it produces Swarms, Drones, Bee flight sounds, and Drunken Bee textures1. For a player, that places it among the stranger corners of the delay pedal world, closer to a sound-design tool than a conventional echo box.
Where it came from
Guitar Pedal X describes the B2 as "essentially Fuzzy Beelay V2 edition", while stressing that it is "a lot more than your typical Fuzzy Delay"1. The same review credits Blind Panic's Matt Valentine as the designer, calling him "definitely one to watch"1. One detail from the design: Valentine told the reviewer that the modulation section is loosely based on the one found in Mid-Fi's Pitch Pirate pedal1. Blind Panic Devices had earlier delays in its catalog, including the Dilithium Delay and the joystick-controlled Super Nintendecho.
The controls
With 14 controls and dual footswitches, the B2 carries more knobs than most fuzz or delay pedals. The sections Guitar Pedal X details are these1:
| Section | Controls |
|---|---|
| Fuzz | FUZZ TEXTURE |
| Delay | Mix, Time |
| Flutter | Pitch Modulation Flutter, Flutter Switch: On/Off |
| Feedback Micro Looper | Feedback Intensity, Feedback Looper Polarity: up/down, footswitch function End Loop / Hold Loop, Feedback Footswitch |
| Master | LEVEL = MASTER VOLUME |
The Feedback Micro Looper is the section that sets the pedal apart from a straight fuzz-plus-delay. Beyond the loop and polarity functions, Guitar Pedal X notes a trick hidden in it: "with the Feedback Intensity / Mix mini knob rolled back to the left - you can generate a pseudo octave mode - which is highly interactive with guitar volume, where rolling it off delivers glitchy, and synth-like low-octaves"1. That gives the B2 a pitch-shifting flavor usually found on dedicated octave and pitch pedals, reached through a feedback control instead.
The right of the two footswitches is the Engage / Bypass switch, so that is the one that takes the pedal in and out of the signal1.
What reviewers said
Guitar Pedal X's verdict on the B2 itself was strongly positive: "It's a classic example of being more than the sum of its parts - even though its parts are already exceptional"1.
At the end of 2024, the same site's roundup of the year's spatial, immersive and time-based effects was more measured about the B2 under its Buzzy Bee Fuzzy Delay name. Stefan Karlsson wrote: "Blind Panic delivers some really unusual but cool quirky delays - and this Fuzzy Delay combination is not of its best"2. Read together, the two reviews frame the B2 as a genuinely unusual texturizer whose swarm-and-drone character will not be for every player, even as its individual sections are held in high regard.
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Questions
Who designed the Blind Panic Devices B2?
The B2 comes from Blind Panic Devices, and Guitar Pedal X credits Matt Valentine as the designer behind it. In his review for the site, Stefan Karlsson wrote that Blind Panic's Matt Valentine is definitely one to watch, and the review was published with input from Valentine himself on the pedal's design details.
Is the Blind Panic Devices B2 the same as the Fuzzy Beelay V2?
Guitar Pedal X describes the B2 as essentially a Fuzzy Beelay V2 edition, but notes that it is a lot more than your typical fuzzy delay. The B2 bundles fuzz, delay, an LFO modulator, pitch modulation flutter and a feedback micro looper in one enclosure, so it goes beyond a straightforward fuzz-plus-delay combination.
What does the Feedback Micro Looper do on the B2?
The Feedback Micro Looper section has a Feedback Intensity control, a Feedback Looper Polarity switch with up and down positions, and a footswitch function that toggles between End Loop and Hold Loop. Guitar Pedal X also notes that with the Feedback Intensity and Mix mini knob rolled back to the left, you can generate a pseudo octave mode that is highly interactive with the guitar volume, where rolling it off delivers glitchy, synth-like low octaves.
Which footswitch bypasses the B2?
The B2 has dual footswitches, and the right one is the Engage and Bypass footswitch. With 14 controls and two footswitches on the pedal, Guitar Pedal X observed that there is certainly a lot going on.
Where is the Blind Panic Devices B2 sold?
According to Guitar Pedal X's May 2024 review, the B2 is sold through the Blind Panic Devices webstore, at the price the review called very reasonable: £229, with an approximate US dollar equivalent of around $290 given on the page at that time.
Sources (2)
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2024-05-30
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2024-12-20
