Bispell Audio's V2 Gleam is an incredibly potent Silicon 4-Transistor Multi-Fuzz which has you brilliantly covered for all the early classic Fuzz types
I’m not usually big on hyperbole - while this V2 Gleam might just be the most potent silicon fuzz pedal made to date - where its 8 controls incredibly deliver pretty authentic FZ-1, MKI, MKII and FF voicings and then some. There’s an additional 8-Bit Fuzz preset in the manual which I will allude to later.
A lot of the smarts here is down to those 2 x 3-way Impedance and Tone toggle-switches which combine so intricately to perfectly sculpt the pedal’s output to match those classic voicing profiles.
This is my second Gleam, where for the V1 edition the Bias control was internal, and the Impedance and Tone controls were slightly less granular 2-way switches. Note that the Gleam is a sensitive fuzz - meaning it needs to be close to your guitar’s output in the signal chain - at or near the start - and that’s where you get the greatest dynamics and most potent guitar volume gain cleanup.
I actually found the V1 edition a little temperamental and unruly - where the gain beyond midway was somewhat overly aggressive and interacted / reacted in ’interesting’ ways to the tone-stack. So it took me a while to get a handle on the V1 - where I relayed all that back to Bispell’s Thomas Woods - the various challenges I was having with that particular fuzz. It was still capable of some pretty great output - but it wasn’t particularly easy or predictable for me to dial in - and where for me the Mids and Gain controls behaved very oddly for me indeed.
The new V2 edition by contrast is a complete revelation - nay I would say it’s ’magical’ - as all those challenges / issues I had with its predecessor are gone. The Tone Stack is now more predictable - and all the controls seem better balanced and with more even tapers. Each has incredible range - which you really need in order to cover the full gamut of Fuzz Tone, Tone Bender and Fuzz Face voicings - and then some. It just sounds amazing now every which way - and all the in-between spots are as interesting for me as those exacting settings that Thomas has honed to perfection.
I have a particular preference for those pristine Magpie style Aluminium knobs from 'Love My Switches', where I've swapped those in on all my Bispell Audio pedals as in the image above - to make them stand out a little more on the board - in fact those knobs veritably 'gleam' and are thus eminently suitable in this context!
I have a few 'Face Bender' pedals as I typically call these kinds of Multi-Fuzz hybrids - that can mostly cover you for most of those early fuzz varieties - they are typically Germanium or Hybrid Transistor pedals, while the fact that the Gleam accomplishes these voicings so brilliantly entirely via Silicon Transistors is something of a marvel. Each of those transistors are a different reference and different hFE value (actually 3 different types overall) - all TO-92 case types - but incredibly well chosen / selected and ingeniously matched up to deliver those exceptional textures.
I still quite liked the first version even though it was a bit of tussle hitting those sweet-spots - while with the V2 however - the dial-in is wholly effortless - it really helps to have all those controls so finely attuned - I can't imagine how much time Thomas spends on calibrating all those transistors and controls - this is high science indeed!
Thomas describes his Gleam as :
"Gleam is a Silicon based fuzz that can precisely recreate the sound of several vintage Germanium fuzz pedals, the Tone Bender MKI, MKII, Fuzz Face, and FZ-1. This gives you the best of both worlds, the stability of Silicon and the tone of Germanium. The internal 9V to 25V conversion, along with other carefully crafted elements of the circuit, allow the Silicon transistors to accurately mimic the sound of the OC81D transistor, providing exceptional distortion characteristics and dynamics. Roll back your guitar's volume a little and enjoy some truly inspiring touch sensitive fuzz."
Controls - Bass, Mid Cut, Treble, Volume, Bias, Gain, Impedance : MKI / FZ-1 / MKII + FF, Tone : FF / MKI + FZ-1 / MKII
The Dot next to knob indicates ideal neutral starting position for that control - typically when not noon.
Impedance Switch
- UP : The higher input impedance of the MKI
- MID : The high impedance and lower gain of the FZ-1
- DOWN : The lower impedance of the MKII and Fuzz Face
Tone Switch
- UP : The higher capacitance transistors of a Fuzz Face
- MID : The untouched clarity of the FZ-1 and MKI
- DOWN : The high frequency roll-off cap of the MKII
8 Bit Preset
- Bass @ noon, Mids @ Max, Gain @ noon, Volume @ 2 o'c, Bias @ fully CCW, Gain @ 10 o'c, Impedance : UP, Tone : UP.
Current Favourite in-between GPX Preset
- Bass @ 3 o'c, Mids @ 11 o'c, Treble @ 12:30 o'c, Volume @ Max, Bias @ 2 o'c, Gain @ 11 o'c, Impedance DOWN, Tone Down.
The Gleam Fuzz is simply incredible value at just £159 currently on the Bispell Audio Webstore - it's worth so much more, I can't imagine that low price will hold for long - I expect these to sell by the bucketload once this review goes out. This really is a magnificent high watermark for Fuzz! It sounds amazing every which way - a must-have for every fuzz fan.
Demos
12 Degrees of Saturation 2023 Compact Edition
