The Frantone Cream Puff is a fuzz pedal hand-made in the USA by Frantone, in a tough cast aluminum case finished in pink baked enamel1. Frantone describes it as a high gain fuzz with drive and full fat harmonics, calling it "the ultimate rhythm pedal"1. Independent technical reviewers agree on the character: the team behind the Guitar FX Layouts stripboard project wrote of the circuit, "Dear sweet Jesus this thing sounds huge. Very Muff-like. Love"2.
The pedal was reissued via a Kickstarter campaign after the company folded3. Blanche Frantone of Frantone Pedals started the campaign to help bring the company back, and the much-loved Cream Puff fuzz was revived as part of that return3.
A Muff-like fuzz with big gain and fat harmonics
Frantone's product page pitches the Cream Puff as a fuzz built around high gain, drive and full fat harmonics, aimed squarely at rhythm playing1. MusicRadar's 2016 coverage of the reissue described the same character: "Like the original, the 2016 Cream Puff offers huge gain levels and fat harmonics, adjusted via a unique tone contour con[trol]"4. So the reissue was voiced to match the original rather than rework it.
The DIY community that reverse-engineered the circuit reached a similar conclusion about where it sits in the fuzz landscape. The Guitar FX Layouts vero layout project, which published a stripboard version in April 2013, found the sound unmistakably in Big Muff territory2:
"Dear sweet Jesus this thing sounds huge. Very Muff-like. Love"
Not every player loved it in every setting. Gearnews' writer, who owned a Cream Puff for a few years, called it "a nice fuzz pedal" while finding it a little too bass heavy in a band scenario3. That low-end weight is worth knowing about if you play dense mixes, though it is one player's experience rather than a consensus.
Reviewers found the pedal's sound unmistakably big and Muff-like: "Dear sweet Jesus this thing sounds huge. Very Muff-like. Love"2. Like the original, the 2016 Cream Puff offers huge gain levels and fat harmonics, adjusted via a unique tone contour control4. Frantone describes the pedal's character in its own words: "The high gain, drive, and full fat harmonics make this one the ultimate rhythm pedal"1.
Original, reissue and Kickstarter editions
The Cream Puff's history runs through three distinct phases:
The Cream Puff came back through Kickstarter pledge tiers: backers could pledge various amounts or pay the full amount and receive a Cream Puff pedal3. Blanche Frantone of the then semi-defunct Frantone Pedals ran the campaign to help restart the company3. A related model, the Cream Puff Plus, is a completely custom made Frantone pedal, made to order, with a pink enamel finish5.
After the company folded, original units became collector items. Gearnews reported that prices on auction sites went "into overdrive since the company folded"3, which is the context the reissue answered.
The Cream Puff Plus
Frantone also offered the Cream Puff Plus, a custom made-to-order version that answers the question "So you love the idea of having a Cream Puff but you'd like a little something extra?"5. It is a double-sided pedal: the standard configuration pairs the Cream Puff with The Sweet on the flip side, but any other Frantone effect can be custom ordered instead5.
The Cream Puff Plus is made to order rather than stocked, so availability depends on ordering directly from Frantone5.
Its build matches the standard pedal's philosophy: pink enamel finish, tough cast aluminum case, Switchcraft jacks, hard mounted PCBs, and full signal bypass with a status light, each one custom made in the USA by Frantone5.
Build and controls
Frantone's product page lists the Cream Puff's construction and control features as follows1:
- True bypass switching, with full signal bypass and status light on all new Frantone effects
- Cool white retro knobs
- Switchcraft jacks
- Aviation grade Silver-Teflon wiring
- Tough cast aluminum case with pink baked enamel finish
- External power jack
The tone contour control is the one control the press singled out: MusicRadar described the gain and harmonics as "adjusted via a unique tone contour control"4. The external power jack means the pedal runs off a supply rather than an internal battery1.
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Questions
Is the Frantone Cream Puff true bypass?
Yes. Frantone lists true bypass switching with full signal bypass and a status light on all new Frantone effects. The original unit used relay based switching, and DIY stripboard layouts of the circuit use standard true bypass wiring with a 1M resistor added to prevent popping.
Is the Frantone Cream Puff based on a Big Muff?
Independent technical reviewers describe the Cream Puff as very Muff-like, with huge gain and fat harmonics, and Frantone's own product page calls it a high gain fuzz with full fat harmonics. It is a fuzz pedal in the same big-sounding family, though Frantone does not describe it as a clone.
Why did Frantone fold?
Frantone Pedals folded or went into hiatus around 2009. In 2016 Blanche Frantone returned and launched a Kickstarter campaign to reissue the Cream Puff and restart the company, after a Peachfuzz Kickstarter earlier that year sold out in 12 days.
Where is the Frantone Cream Puff made?
Each Cream Puff is hand-made in the USA by Frantone, in a tough cast aluminum case with a pink baked enamel finish. The Cream Puff Plus is likewise custom made in the USA.
What did the Cream Puff cost when the reissue launched?
The 2016 reissue was offered at $295 through Kickstarter preorder, with a recommended retail price of $295 USD. Pledge tiers let backers pay various amounts or the full amount to receive a pedal.
What is the Cream Puff Plus?
A custom made-to-order version that puts a second Frantone effect on the flip side of the pedal. It comes standard with The Sweet paired with the Cream Puff, but any other Frantone effect can be custom ordered instead.
Sources (5)
- Cream Puff, Frantone Electronics, 2026
- Guitar FX Layouts: Frantone Cream Puff, Guitar FX Layouts (tagboardeffects.blogspot.com), 2021-04-17
- Frantone Cream Puff fuzz pedal returns via Kickstarter campaign, gearnews.com, 2016-04-21
- Frantone announces return of Cream Puff guitar effects pedal, MusicRadar, 2016-04-19
- Cream Puff Plus, Frantone Electronics, 2026
