Cusack Music Sub Fuzz

The Cusack Music Sub Fuzz is an analog sub-octave generator and fuzz in one compact pedal. It takes the note you play and generates a copy pitched below it, up to three octaves down, then lets you blend that sub-octave signal with your dry sound and push the whole thing through a fuzz circuit. Cusack Music describes the design as "like the old Blue Boxes, but with super-fast tracking and three octave settings"¹, which places it in the family of octave-down fuzzes descended from the MXR Blue Box while addressing the tracking and range that players found limiting on the original.

The pedal is aimed at players who want synth-like low end without a synth. Three octaves below a guitar note is deep territory, and the Mix control lets you dial in as much or as little of it as the song needs. Cusack Music says it is "equally useable on guitar, bass or keys"¹, so it is not a guitar-only box.

What it does and how you control it

The Sub Fuzz's front panel is deliberately small. Three controls and a switch cover everything¹²:

The toggle is the heart of the pedal. One octave down thickens a part; two octaves down gets into Blue Box territory; three octaves down, as Cusack Music puts it, is "up to three octaves below the note you're playing"¹, which on lower frets reaches frequencies a guitar amp may not reproduce cleanly. The Mix knob is what makes that usable: you can keep a clear dry note on top and slide the sub-octave in underneath rather than replacing your sound with it.

Because the sub-octave is analog, tracking behavior matters. Cusack Music's claim for the design is "super-fast tracking"¹, which is the maker's own description rather than an independent finding, but it is the specific improvement the company points to over the old Blue Box circuit it references.

Power and size

The Sub Fuzz runs on a standard center negative 9V DC supply or a 9V battery, with neither included in the box¹. At roughly 11mA it draws little current, so it fits comfortably on a shared or isolated pedalboard supply. The enclosure measures 4.42" long by 2.39" wide by 1.24" high¹, a compact footprint that leaves room on even a small board.

The Limited Edition version

Cusack Music also sells a Sub Fuzz Limited Edition, listed as a "Limited Edition Analog Sub Octave Fuzz"². On paper it matches the standard version closely:

The maker's pages describe both with the same Blue Box comparison, the same tracking claim, and the same control set, so the Limited Edition is best understood as a variant release of the same circuit rather than a different design²¹.

How it compares with other sub-octave fuzzes

The Sub Fuzz is not the only pedal blending fuzz with an octave-down circuit, and the differences are mostly about range and control layout³⁴.

The Way Huge Stone Burner Sub Atomic Fuzz pairs fuzz with a sub-octave that goes one or two octaves down⁴, against the Cusack's three settings. Its smaller sibling, the Way Huge Smalls Stone Burner Sub Atomic Fuzz, does the same in a compact enclosure, with Delicious Audio noting it "lets you go either one or TWO octaves lower through the flick of a (toggle) switch"³. Writing about the Stone Burner at Gearnews, reviewer Jef drew the same Blue Box comparison Cusack makes for its own pedal:

The standard Cusack Music Sub Fuzz and the Limited Edition share the same footprint and price: both measure 4.42" L x 2.39" W x 1.24" H¹ and both carry a list price of $185.00¹². The Limited Edition is an analog sub octave fuzz², and the two versions match on every specification the makers publish, so a player choosing between them is choosing finish rather than function¹².

The Drunk Beaver Kupiansk Sub Fuzz takes a different approach to the same idea: instead of one selectable sub-octave, it gives separate level controls for the -1 and -2 octave signals alongside Fuzz/Gain and Volume⁵. That layout lets you stack both octave-down voices at once, where the Cusack selects one octave setting at a time and blends it against dry.

For players comparing the category generally, the practical questions are how far down you need to go, whether you want one octave at a time or several mixed together, and how much control you want over the dry signal. The Sub Fuzz's answer is maximum depth, three octaves, with a simple blend³⁴¹.

Where it sits in the Cusack Music lineup

Cusack Music's better-known pedals include the Screamer Fuzz family, such as the Cusack Music Screamer Fuzz and its Germanium and Selenium variants, plus collaborations like the Cusack Music Carolina Reaper overdrive/fuzz built with Haunted Labs. The Sub Fuzz is the company's take on the octave and pitch side of fuzz, rather than another entry in its overdrive and fuzz-drive line¹².

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