Electro-Harmonix Lizard Queen

The Lizard Queen is an analog octave-up fuzz pedal, a collaboration between Electro-Harmonix and JHS Pedals, released in 2023¹. It is a fixed gain fuzz, meaning there is no gain or fuzz knob: the drive character is set by the circuit itself, and the player shapes it with a Balance control that sweeps between two voices called Shadow and Sun². The pedal is housed in EHX's Nano-sized chassis and carries vintage EHX-inspired graphics by Daniel Danger².

Electro-Harmonix discontinued the Lizard Queen in 2025¹.

An octave-up fuzz with a Shadow-to-Sun balance

The Lizard Queen is a silicon-transistor-based octave-up fuzz⁷. The fuzz side is fixed gain, and the octave-up signal sits on top of it at a level the player sets with the Octave knob, from zero to what the maker's description calls "full octave chaos"². The manual describes the result as "a gnarly sounding fuzz with a decent octave up"⁹.

The distinctive control is Balance. Electro-Harmonix describes the two ends of its sweep in plain terms: "SHADOW is a classic dark, yet smooth, sustaining fuzz. SUN is a brighter, raspy biting fuzz"¹. The effect of the balance point is especially apparent with the octave turned up². Premier Guitar's reviewer described the control as a filter, with shadow (counter-clockwise) rolling off highs for a darker tone and sun (clockwise) adding treble⁷.

GuitarPlayer's Art Thompson found the two positions behave quite differently:

He also found an unusual trick at the extremes: turning the octave knob all the way up with the balance set to Shadow produced gated, modulating swells that sound like a backward effect¹⁰. With the guitar volume up and the balance toward Sun, he heard tones that become smooth and vocally in a "woman tone" sort of way, descending into spittiness with a halo of octave chime when turned down¹⁰.

The controls: Volume, Octave and Balance

Three knobs and a bypass footswitch make up the whole interface¹⁰⁸. The footswitch engages or bypasses the effect, and a status LED lights when the effect is on and is off in bypass¹.

The Balance knob resists a simple label. Thompson characterized it as having a dual personality: "not a tone control, but it affects the tone; and not a gain control, but it affects the gain"¹⁰.

Power and battery

The Lizard Queen requires 5mA at 9VDC on a center-negative plug, and the power jack should not be fed more than 12VDC¹. A 9V battery is included, with a 9V adapter optional¹. Premier Guitar's reviewer noted it runs on a 9V DC barrel-type supply or, in a suitable salute to the past, a battery⁷, and it accepts a standard EHX Volt power supply¹¹. One caveat from a review unit: guitar.com's Richard Purvis found that although the Lizard Queen ships with a battery installed, his sample would only run on mains power³.

History: Josh Scott's JHS Show circuit and the big box version

The circuit comes from Josh Scott of JHS Pedals, and was first featured on the JHS Show in 2022, in the "Making a Vintage Electro-Harmonix Pedal!" episode where Scott dreamed up, DIY-ed and geeked out over the pedal⁹¹². Gearnews reported it was originally designed in secret as a loving tribute to the historic sound and design of Electro-Harmonix effects of the 1970s and 1980s¹³. Premier Guitar described the concept as imagining "the vintage EHX Octave Fuzz that never was," with familiar graphics and controls and period-correct components¹¹.

The pedal exists in two versions. The first was a large-form JHS prototype that was never commercialized as a standard product, styled like a vintage EHX stompbox¹⁴. It reached players as a limited-edition big box run with period-correct sheet-metal housings, silk-screened graphics, N.O.S. transistors and old-school circuit-board construction, complete with hand-drawn traces rendered by Daniel Danger himself¹⁰. That limited edition has sold out, so the nano series pedal from EHX is the version players found in shops⁸.

The nano Lizard Queen carries the same graphics and the same volume, octave and balance controls, but adds modern conveniences the JHS version lacked, including a jack for external power and an on/off LED¹⁰. Griffin Effects notes the Big Box and Nano versions have slight circuit differences¹⁵, while guitar.com reported buyers were assured the nano is sonically identical, with the larger unit's NOS components replaced by modern equivalents with matched values³.

The design is credited to Josh Scott with graphic designer Daniel Danger, as a homage to Electro-Harmonix in what the two consider the company's design heyday of the 1970s¹¹¹.

What circuits is the Lizard Queen based on?

Under the homage, the electronics are documented DIY territory. The manual states the Lizard Queen "is well documented as a mashup of two popular DIY circuits. Namely, the Bazz Fuss and Tim Escobedo's Push Me Pull You"⁹. Delicious Audio describes it more broadly as a unique transistor-based octave fuzz distortion circuit designed by Josh Scott, with a tone inspired by EHX's fuzz pedigree and a unique analog octave-up circuit¹⁴.

What reviewers said

Reviewers were positive. GuitarPlayer's Art Thompson called it "the most flexible octave-fuzz available" and "the bomb," giving it an Editors' Pick Award, and judged that "for the admission price of $99 you're essentially getting a boutique pedal for a pittance"¹⁰. MusicRadar likewise listed the Lizard Queen at $99 among must-have guitar effects pedals for 2023⁶.

Premier Guitar's reviewer compared it against other octave fuzz pedals, including the Way Huge Purple Platypus, and concluded that the Queen reigned with its balance of fuzz and articulation⁷.

guitar.com's Richard Purvis found that with the balance control at minimum it produces "a thick and gurgly high-gain distortion," more present than the classic buzzy mid-scoop of a Muff³.

On the JHS Pedals YouTube channel, Josh Scott demonstrated the pedal for specific cover tones, including John Mayer's Crossroads cover, where he noted the gated fuzz used on the recording is very similar, and Jack White style tones¹⁶.

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