Cathouse Pedals Fuzzy Tongue

The Fuzzy Tongue is a fuzz pedal from Cathouse Pedals, a small builder whose range also includes The Bender Fuzz. It is a two-knob take on the classic Fuzz Face circuit, built with old germanium transistors that the maker matches and biases by hand, aimed at authentic 60's-style fuzz tones. Writing in Pedal of the Day, the reviewer called it "a brilliant take on the classic Fuzz Face" and said "the Fuzzy Tongue is everything you want from a fuzz pedal."¹

What it does

The Fuzzy Tongue covers the ground a Fuzz Face-style circuit is known for, from a chunky, low-rumbling fuzz to what Pedal of the Day described as "a big, fat, expansive roar," with rich, creamy saturation across its range. The germanium transistors are the reason for that character: they are what give the pedal its 60's-style fuzz voice, and the fact that they are matched and biased matters for a circuit of this type, where transistor variation is the usual headache.¹

It sits in the wider family of fuzz pedals, a different tool from overdrive pedals or distortion pedals: where those shape an amplified signal, a fuzz clips the signal hard and early, which is where the sustain and the roar come from.

Controls

Two knobs is the whole layout, in the Fuzz Face tradition. Pedal of the Day summed up the range as "two knobs full of limitless tonal possibilities."¹

What reviewers said

Pedal of the Day's 2017 review is the published verdict on record, and it was positive across the board¹:

The reviewer's overall read was a pedal with loads of sounds on tap, plenty of volume, and sustain throughout the Fuzz control's travel, with the matched and biased germanium transistors doing the work behind the 60's-style tones.¹

Videos

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