Fender Pelt Fuzz

What sets it apart from a basic fuzz box is the set of extra shaping controls. Between the Bloom and Fuzz controls, players can dial in sounds ranging from small, bluesy amp-like breakup all the way to intense, thick wall-of-sound tones¹. MusicRadar's reviewer summed it up as "Characterful modern fuzz with a ton of options to dial in your exact needs"².

A silicon fuzz from bluesy breakup to a wall of sound

The Pelt is a classic silicon fuzz at heart, with a series of added tonal controls on top¹. Silicon transistors clip the signal harder and more consistently than the germanium parts in vintage fuzzes, and the Pelt leans into that character: turning the Bloom control clockwise gives what Delicious Audio describes as splattery and zippery silicon fuzz sounds¹.

At the gentler end of its range, the pedal cleans up into that small, bluesy amp-like breakup, which makes it usable as a low-gain drive as well as a full fuzz¹. Guitar World's reviewer found the Pelt takes fuzz to a new level of excellence by providing "incredibly musical clarity, dynamics and tone-shaping flexibility"⁹.

The circuit is not a copy of a famous vintage pedal. Fender's press release describes it as "an all original design" with a few tricks hidden up its sleeve¹⁰, and guitar.com's Huw Price reported that rather than being a clone of a vintage fuzz, the circuit is an original design developed in response to player requests⁸. That puts it in a different camp from the many Fuzz Face and Tone Bender derivatives on the fuzz market.

The controls

The Pelt supplements the standard fuzz pedal controls with several extras². The core knobs are level, tone, bloom and fuzz⁹, and the pedal adds a Blend control plus two toggle switches.

The Blend control is the one Fender's own product page singles out, noting the versatility it affords the fuzz sound³. The two toggles handle the frequency balance: the mid-toggle switch lets you boost or cut the middle frequencies, useful for cutting through a band mix or sitting behind it, and the Thick switch fattens the sound when the fuzz thins out your low end⁵.

Cosmetically, the pedal has LED-backlit knobs and a Fender Amp Jewel LED, so the settings are readable on a dark stage, all housed in a lightweight, durable anodized aluminum enclosure¹.

What reviewers said

MusicRadar's Rod Brakes called it a characterful modern fuzz with a ton of options, and found the Bloom knob adds versatility². Guitar World's review paired it with the Full Moon Distortion and judged that both pedals take high-gain distortion and fuzz to a new level of excellence, crediting the Pelt in particular with musical clarity, dynamics and tone-shaping flexibility⁹.

In 2023, MusicRadar and Chris Buck revisited the pedal in a piece asking whether Fender's The Pelt is the most underrated fuzz pedal around, noting its $149.99 price from the Fender US store⁶. Pete Thorn has also demoed the pedal on his YouTube channel, using the Pelt in a pedalboard rundown¹¹.

Pete Thorn's demo video shows the pedal in use in a full board context:

Click to load

Price history and the V2

The Pelt Fuzz launched at $129.99 in the US and £96 in the UK in September 2018⁵¹⁰. Later coverage gives higher figures: $149.99 from the Fender US store in 2023⁶. A Pelt V2 reviewed by Guitar.com in October 2026 lists at $229.99, described there as a slightly more affordable mainstream option compared with the Crazy Tube Circuits Triptychon in the same review⁷.

Where it sits in Fender's fuzz range

Videos

Click to load

Click to load

Click to load