The Humanoid Pedals Goblin Fuzz is a hand-made fuzz pedal built around two high-gain silicon transistors. Humanoid describes it as designed to deliver "an intense yet smooth and full-bodied fuzz tone", and the pedal was available for purchase at humanoidpedals.com when Premier Guitar covered its release in January 20231. It sits in the broad family of Fuzz Pedals, the oldest style of dirt box, and its silicon transistor design puts it in the camp of fuzzes that aim for density and smoothness rather than the spittier character of some other circuits.
Controls
The Goblin keeps things simple with two main controls, and both do more than their names suggest.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Drive | Augments or diminishes the natural "chubbiness" and density the circuit produces. Fully up gives maximum bass and gain response with more intense fuzz; decreasing it adds clarity and helps preserve natural pick attack and dynamics1 |
| Fuzz | The more intense tones are found in the last quarter of its rotation. Less intense tones at noon and below are useful with an overdriven valve amplifier, and low gain settings give classic '60s/70s transistor distortion tones2 |
Pedal of the Day's review describes the Drive control as aiding "in the refinement of your desired fuzz tone", either augmenting or diminishing the circuit's natural density, and notes that it preserves picking dynamics and aids interaction with higher output pickup types2. That makes the Drive usable as a tone-shaping tool rather than just a gain knob, and the low end of the Fuzz range means the pedal can lean toward Overdrive Pedals and Distortion Pedals territory as easily as full fuzz.
Power and switching
The Goblin runs on 9-volt DC from a standard external power supply and has no battery compartment, so it needs a supply rather than a battery1. Switching is true bypass, and the pedal uses genuine Neutrik jacks2.
Because there is no battery compartment, the Goblin will not run on its own. Make sure your pedalboard power supply has a free 9V DC outlet before adding it.
A note on the name
The Goblin Fuzz name belongs to Humanoid Pedals alone on this page: their pedal is built around two high-gain silicon transistors and is designed to deliver "an intense yet smooth and full-bodied fuzz tone"1. It is hand made in Raleigh, North Carolina, with true bypass switching, runs on 9-volt DC via standard external power, and has no battery compartment1.
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Questions
Does the Goblin Fuzz run on a battery?
No. The Goblin has no battery compartment, so it runs on 9-volt DC from a standard external power supply. Plan for a spot on your power brick or a dedicated adapter, since there is no battery fallback.
Is the Goblin Fuzz true bypass?
Yes. Humanoid built the Goblin with true bypass switching, so when the pedal is off, your guitar's signal passes through without the fuzz circuit loading it. It also uses genuine Neutrik jacks for the connections.
Sources (2)
- Humanoid Pedals Introduces Goblin Fuzz Guitar Effects Pedal, Premier Guitar, 2023-01-02
- Humanoid Pedals The Goblin Preamp Overdrive Fuzz Distortion, Pedal of the Day, 2023-10-13