Olinthus Earwig

The Olinthus Earwig is a fuzz pedal that packs a circuit inspired by the 1969 Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi into one of the smallest enclosures ever used for an effect. Olinthus promotes it as the world's smallest effects pedal, and the numbers back the claim up: the box measures 30 x 45mm, which reviewers have compared to a 9-volt battery and even to a guitar pick¹²³. It was released in October 2025 at a price of $99².

Inside, the Earwig is an analog fuzz built on the classic Big Muff recipe: four cascading gain stages using silicon transistors, with symmetrical clipping diodes¹. RockBoard's PedalPedia describes the result as "a huge range of thunderously beautiful fuzz sounds" and "ferocious distortion and sustain"¹. Guitar Pedal X identifies the specific lineage as the '69 Triangle Big Muff, the first version of the circuit².

A Big Muff circuit in a pedal smaller than a guitar pick

The original Big Muff Pi, introduced by Electro-Harmonix in 1969, used a four-stage silicon transistor circuit, and while it is usually thought of as a fuzzbox, its circuit is more complex than the early fuzz boxes that came before it⁴⁵. That four-stage architecture is what the Earwig recreates. RockBoard's PedalPedia says the pedal is "inspired by the 1969 Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi circuit" and that it provides "a variety of iconic fuzz tones"¹.

Delicious Audio called the Earwig "the most improbable fuzz pedal ever made," packing "the entire sonic legacy of a classic American fuzz circuit into a stompbox smaller than a guitar pick"⁶. The size comparison is not an exaggeration for effect: at 30 x 45mm, the pedal is nearly as small as a 9-volt battery, the same battery that would power a conventional pedal on its own³².

The Earwig is not Olinthus's first pedal in this format. It follows the Cicada overdrive, which Guitar.com reviewed in 2025 and described as "a fun and cheap gimmick that will illicit gasps and coos from all who encounter it," rating it 8 out of 10⁷. Olinthus itself has acknowledged the absurdity of the concept, saying of the Cicada: "Yes, we're aware that an overdrive pedal this tiny is a bit ridiculous"⁸. The Earwig applies the same thinking to a Big Muff Pi-style fuzz.

The pedal ships in a metal tin, with packaging that forgoes single-use plastics in favor of a compostable insert and a sturdy, reusable metal case²⁶.

The controls

The Earwig carries three tiny knobs, matching the control set of the original Big Muff rather than the level, drive and tone arrangement of the Cicada overdrive²⁷.

Pedal of the Day found that the three knobs "produce of wonderful range of tones, from crunchy breakup to all-out fuzz madness"³.

Power and connection

The Earwig runs on a standard 9V DC center negative supply and draws 50mA, so it works with the isolated power supplies most players already own¹. The unusual part is the connection: because the enclosure is too small for conventional jack sockets, you need to deploy the included TRRS cable to wire the pedal up².

What reviewers said

Reactions split between admiration for the sound and skepticism about the practicality. Pedal of the Day's reviewer wrote³:

Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson took a more measured view, finding the pedal works and sounds good but has limits as a working tool²:

His verdict was that the Earwig is better suited to a tabletop setup than a touring pedalboard, because the narrow click area makes it hard to hit reliably on stage². In a later piece he noted he had presumed the Earwig would be similar to the Cicada in being short on volume⁹. On the plus side, he found the packaging excellent, with the pedal arriving in a cool metal tin².

Earwig and the tiny-pedal family

The Earwig is the exact same format as the Olinthus Cicada, with the same three-knob topology and the same $99 price². Where the Cicada covers overdrive territory with level, drive and tone controls, the Earwig covers fuzz with the Big Muff's sustain, tone and level set²⁷. Olinthus has since continued the line with the Pillbug, a tiny FET compressor that Guitar Pedal X called the company's most practically useful tiny pedal to date⁹.

For players who want the Big Muff sound in a small but more conventional enclosure, Electro-Harmonix itself offers the Nano Big Muff and the Little Big Muff, both of which shrink the classic circuit into standard pedal housings with normal jack sockets¹⁰¹¹¹².

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