The ThorpyFX Tacit Blue is a germanium fuzz pedal that plays nicely with your pedalboard, in ThorpyFX's own words. Its sound is built on a highly modified Fuzz Face-type circuit, tuned for what the maker calls a more versatile vintage-style sound: it can give a subtle hair to your notes or get crazily thick depending on where you set the controls, and it works well in any position within your pedal chain12.
Despite the name, this is not a Blues Breaker variant. Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio reported at launch that the Tacit Blue is "a highly modified circuit with a much broader sonic palette than the original, being able to deliver even thick lower gain overdrive tones when the Fuzz knob is set lower"2.
A highly modified Fuzz Face
The Tacit Blue's lineage runs through an earlier ThorpyFX pedal. Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson describes it as a deconstruction of the ThorpyFX Germanium Veteran: the Tacit Blue and its companion, the Have Blue Germanium Rangemaster, essentially split out the two sides of that original pedal, each with slightly different NOS germanium transistors5. The Tacit Blue side uses NPN-type transistors and also deploys an audio transformer in each pedal4.
Guitar Pedal X also notes the Tacit Blue uses similar military-spec transistors to those in the Boneyard Multi-Bender, and in his 2023 fuzz roundup Karlsson ranked it among his favorites6:
"this has the same amazing visceral vibrancy and sizzle of that pedal - sound amazing6."
Guitar Pedal X, on the Tacit Blue's kinship with the Boneyard6
The pedal began life in unusual circumstances. It was the first product to come under ThorpyFX's special "Secret Projects" division, originally designated Secret Project #1, and the early editions went to what Karlsson called "a very select and secret VIP cabal of pedal luminaries / collectors / enthusiasts" before wider release4. Only a few hundred, in the low hundreds, were made4.
The controls: Fuzz, Smooth, Bias and Volume
Four knobs shape the sound, two of which go beyond what a stock Fuzz Face offers4:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Fuzz | Sets the fuzz amount; lower settings give thick lower-gain overdrive tones2 |
| Smooth | An impedance control that sets the wooliness of the fuzz tone2 |
| Bias | Adds a little bit more aggression to the fuzz tone2 |
| Volume | Sets the output level2 |
The Fuzz knob is the key to the pedal's range. Run low, it pulls the circuit back toward a thick, low-gain overdrive character; run high, it delivers the full germanium fuzz face. Smooth and Bias then shape the texture, from wooly to aggressive, which is what gives this circuit its broader palette compared with the original24.
Part of the Vintage Reimagined series
ThorpyFX places the Tacit Blue in its "Vintage Reimagined" series, a range RockBoard's PedalPedia describes as retro-inspired pedals reworked for modern pedalboards1. guitar.com's Richard Purvis, reviewing the series back in 2017, called it "a new range of retro-inspired pedals called the Reimagined Series"7. The Tacit Blue arrived as part of that line in a laser-cut black anodised aluminum enclosure2.
Within the series, the Tacit Blue sits closest to the ThorpyFX Tacit Blue Germanium Fuzz Face, the compact pedal that grew out of the same Secret Project, and it shares its germanium Fuzz Face heritage with the wider ThorpyFX fuzz range481.
What reviewers made of it
Videos
ThorpyFx
MAS Distro
News
Questions
Is the ThorpyFX Tacit Blue a germanium fuzz?
Yes. ThorpyFX describes the Tacit Blue as a germanium fuzz pedal, and press coverage identifies it as a Germanium Fuzz Face-style pedal using NPN-type germanium transistors. Guitar Pedal X notes it uses somewhat softer and smoother 2N-type germanium transistors.
What does the Smooth knob do on the Tacit Blue?
Smooth is an impedance control that sets the wooliness of the fuzz tone. Guitar Pedal X calls it an additional but essential control on this extended-range Fuzz Face, letting you shape the texture beyond what a stock Fuzz Face offers.
What does the Bias knob do on the Tacit Blue?
According to Delicious Audio, the Bias knob adds a little bit more aggression to the fuzz tone. It works alongside the Smooth control to shape the character of the germanium transistors.
Can the Tacit Blue do low-gain overdrive?
Yes. ThorpyFX says the pedal can give a subtle hair to notes or get crazily thick depending on your preference, and Delicious Audio reports it delivers thick lower-gain overdrive tones when the Fuzz knob is set lower.
What circuit is the Tacit Blue based on?
It is based on a highly modified Fuzz Face-type circuit, not a Blues Breaker variant as the name might suggest. Guitar Pedal X describes it as a deconstruction of the Thorpy Veteran, with the Have Blue Germanium Rangemaster being the other half of that pedal.
Sources (8)
- Tacit Blue Fuzz by ThorpyFX, RockBoard PedalPedia, 2026
- New Pedal: Thorpy Tacit Blue Germanium Fuzz, Delicious Audio, 2023-11-09
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2025-11-07
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2023-11-09
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2024-03-11
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2023-12-18
- ThorpyFX Chain Home Tremolo Review, guitar.com, 2017-03-29
- Guitar Pedal X - GPX Blog - Thorpy sneaks out super limited The OLD Timer 3-in-1 Hendrix in a Box - Octavia + Tacit Blue Fuzz + ER-2 Uni-Vibe, Guitar Pedal X
