The Chase Tone Blue Stardust BC108 Silicon Fuzz is a fuzz pedal from Chase Tone, built around NOS cherry picked BC108 silicon transistors. Chase Tone pitches it at players who want "punchy blues leads, singing harmonically rich overdrive and glassy cleans ideal for Blues, Rock, Funk and Jazz"1. It is a limited production pedal, and as of late October 2026 the maker's page lists it as sold out1.
A silicon fuzz from punchy leads to glassy cleans
Silicon fuzz differs from germanium fuzz in the transistor type at the heart of the circuit, and the Blue Stardust uses BC108 silicon transistors, selected from new old stock parts. Chase Tone describes the pedal's range as running from punchy blues leads through harmonically rich overdrive to glassy cleans, which points at the volume cleanup behavior fuzz players look for: rolling back the guitar's volume knob to pull the fuzz back toward a cleaner sound1.
The pedal sits in a trapezoidal enclosure that Chase Tone calls pedalboard and gig bag friendly, sized for late night jams or sitting in with a loaner rig1. The finishes across the Stardust series are inspired by a love for astronomy, and the Blue Stardust wears a translucent star dust powder coat finish that Chase Tone notes has zero ozone emissions1.
The controls: volume, fuzz, bias and headroom
The Blue Stardust has controls including Bias and Headroom, which do jobs that go beyond a normal fuzz control set, and both are worth understanding before plugging in. Bias optimally biases the transistors for the preferred gate, feel and pick attack, while Headroom can reduce bottom end, enhance guitar volume cleanup, and reduce or eliminate wah induced oscillations1.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Volume | Higher settings act like an EQ, producing more treble cut1 |
| Fuzz | Full range of travel; backing off slightly from maximum increases feedback and reduces bright fizzy overtones on higher bias settings1 |
| Bias | Optimally biases the transistors for the preferred gate, feel and pick attack, from warm condensed fuzz tones to open punchy exploding blues leads with glassy overdriven cleans1 |
| Headroom | Reduces bottom end, enhances guitar volume cleanup, and reduces or eliminates wah induced oscillations (guitar, wah, fuzz, amp)1 |
The Bias knob is the heart of the pedal. Because it sets how the transistors are biased, it changes the gate, the feel under the fingers and the pick attack, not just the tone. At one end of its travel the pedal produces warm, condensed fuzz; at the other, open and punchy leads with glassy overdriven cleans1.
Headroom is the practical one. Fuzz into a wah pedal, or a wah into a fuzz, is a classic recipe for oscillation, and Chase Tone specifically notes that Headroom reduces or eliminates wah induced oscillations when the pedal runs in the order guitar, wah, fuzz, amp. It also trims bottom end and enhances the guitar volume cleanup, which matters for players who ride their guitar's volume knob1.
The Fuzz control interacts with Bias. Backing Fuzz off slightly from maximum increases feedback and reduces bright fizzy overtones when Bias is set higher1.
The Stardust series and limited production
The Blue Stardust is part of the Chase Tone Stardust Effects Pedal series, a line of pedals with finishes inspired by astronomy. Other silicon members of the series include the Silver Stardust BC183/2L Silicon Fuzz and the Black Stardust BC109 Silicon Fuzz, each built around a different silicon transistor type, and the series also extends to germanium with the Red Stardust Germanium Fuzz1.
Production is limited, and the maker's page currently lists the pedal as sold out1. When it was available, it carried a list price of $239.99, shown at $214.98 in sale pricing, a $25.01 instant savings1. Chase Tone ships with flat $10 worldwide shipping: USPS Priority Mail with 3 to 5 day delivery in the USA, and USPS First Class Mail with 7 to 14 day delivery internationally, with customs possibly adding wait times. USA buyers get a 30 day money back guarantee1.
The Blue Stardust also has a stablemate in the Chase Tone lineup. The Fuzz Fella Blue BC108C is another BC108 based silicon fuzz from the same maker, with its own control set: its FUZZ control produces searing high gain fuzz and feedback at higher settings and fatter, warmer fuzz at lower settings for stacking with overdrive pedals and cranked rigs, and its FEEL control is an updated bias knob with a 2.5X expanded range, running from a saturated, starved voltage dying battery feel counter clockwise to punchy, round tube like fuzz clockwise2. Its BASS control covers similar ground to the Blue Stardust's Headroom, described as a bass gain adjustment for humbuckers or for eliminating oscillating wah pedals before the fuzz2.
Videos
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Questions
What does the Bias knob do on the Chase Tone Blue Stardust?
Bias optimally biases the transistors for the preferred gate, feel and pick attack. Turning it moves the pedal from warm, condensed fuzz tones to open, punchy blues leads with glassy overdriven cleans, so it works as much as a feel and texture control as a tone control.
What does the Headroom control do with a wah pedal?
Headroom reduces bottom end, enhances guitar volume cleanup, and reduces or eliminates wah induced oscillations when the pedal runs after a wah in the chain, in the order guitar, wah, fuzz, amp. It is the control to reach for when a wah in front of a fuzz starts to squeal.
Where are Chase Tone pedals made?
The Blue Stardust is made in the USA. Its input and output jacks are American made as well, and they are rear facing so the cables stay out of the player's way on a pedalboard.
What power connector does the Chase Tone Blue Stardust use?
It uses a standard polarity DC jack, mounted on the rear of the enclosure alongside the input and output jacks. That keeps the power and audio connections on one side, which helps with tidy pedalboard wiring.
Sources (2)
- Chase Tone™ Blue Stardust™ BC108 Silicon Fuzz, Chase Tone
- CHASE TONE® FUZZ FELLA® -BLUE BC108C, Chase Tone (chasetone.com)
