The Tone City Matcha Cream is a compact silicon fuzz pedal that delivers classic "pie" fuzz tones from a mini enclosure. Tone City describes it as capable of huge "wall-of-sound" fuzz that even dedicated shoegaze players will admire, and Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson identifies the circuit as a mini take on the Green Russian Big Muff, with a touch of extended gain and low end12.
The Big Muff lineage matters here. On That Pedal Show, Daniel Steinhardt and Mick Taylor called the Big Muff one of the cornerstones of classic fuzz, alongside the Tone Bender and Fuzz Face3. As MusicRadar's Alex Lynham explains, the Big Muff is based around transistor amplifier stages and generates its unique tone by soft clipping in the amplifier feedback loops, which is what gives this family of fuzz its thick, sustaining character4.
Controls
The Matcha Cream keeps things to the standard three-knob Big Muff layout1:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Sustain | Adjusts the gain of the pedal |
| Tone | EQ dial giving precise control over the highs |
| Volume | Sets the output level |
On the tone control, Tone City's own guidance is to keep it low for sludgy, doom-metal guitar riffs, or crank it to really cut through the mix1. Karlsson's settings go further: "For me the Matcha Green is at its most potent with both Volume and Sustain Maxed out, and Tone at around 10 o'c." He found it works great into a cooking amp and decent on a clean pedal platform2.
Power and size
The pedal runs on a DC 9V power supply, drawing 4 mA1. Tone City's Chinese product page likewise states the pedal is powered by a DC 9V power supply, with no battery option mentioned5. At 4 mA it is light on current, so it will sit comfortably alongside other pedals on a shared power supply output.
Physically it is a mini pedal: 9.4 cm long, 4.5 cm wide and 4.8 cm high, weighing 0.26 kg. Tone City describes it as a compact pedal that can easily be squeezed into any crevice on your pedalboard1.
What reviewers said
Karlsson's Guitar Pedal X review is the main published verdict. He calls it a "cool mini take on the Green Russian Muff" and, with its £45 UK price tag, "kind of a no-brainer"2. The overall picture from his review is a small pedal that punches above its size: most potent with everything near maximum, strong into an amp that is already breaking up, and still decent on a clean platform2.
Videos
Andertons Music Co
TONE CITY
W-Music Distribution
Questions
Is the Tone City Matcha Cream true bypass?
Yes. Tone City's product page lists the Matcha Cream as True Bypass, so when the pedal is off your guitar's signal passes straight through to the amp without the fuzz circuit loading it. That matters on a crowded board, where a non-true-bypass fuzz can dull your clean tone.
Does the Matcha Cream use a battery?
No. Tone City states that the pedal is powered by a DC 9V power supply, and no battery option is mentioned on the maker's product page. Plan on a standard 9V center-negative adapter or an output from your pedalboard power supply.
Which Big Muff is the Matcha Cream based on?
Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson describes the Matcha Cream as a mini take on the Green Russian Big Muff, with a touch of extended gain and low end. The Big Muff itself is one of the cornerstones of classic fuzz, generating its tone by soft clipping in transistor amplifier feedback loops.
How big is the Tone City Matcha Cream?
Tone City lists the pedal at 9.4 cm long, 4.5 cm wide and 4.8 cm high, weighing 0.26 kg. It is a mini enclosure that the maker says can be squeezed into any crevice on a pedalboard.
What tone setting works best on the Matcha Cream?
Tone City suggests keeping the tone low for sludgy, doom-metal riffs or cranking it to cut through the mix. Guitar Pedal X's reviewer found the pedal at its most potent with Volume and Sustain maxed and Tone at around 10 o'clock, working especially well into an amp that is already breaking up.
Sources (5)
- MATCHA CREAM-Compact Fuzz Pedal With Classic Fuzz Tone-TONE CITY ▏Analog Pedals & Power supplies, Tone City Audio, 2026
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2024-06-10
- That Pedal Show, That Pedal Show, 2016-11-11
- 5 fuzz pedals guitar players need to try, MusicRadar, 2021-03-16
- MATCHA CREAM-Compact Fuzz Pedal With Classic Fuzz Tone-桂林华声乐器有限公司, Tone City Audio (桂林华声乐器有限公司), 2026
