BJFE 4K Honey Bee Overdrive is the Ultimate in Dynamic, Warm, Sweet and Smooth Sounding Overdrive - the very definition of Mellifluous!

I’ve long wanted a 4-Knob BJFE Honey Bee, and when I did the feature on Sweden’s These Go To 11 and owner/founder Sebastian Nylund - the opportunity arose to get Björn Juhl to make me one of these slightly rarer 4-knob varieties as Sebastian is best friends with Björn and was his very first dealer from what I understand.

I consider Björn to be one of the finest living circuit makers - who has a wonderful ear for tone and the skills to make everything he hears in his mind happen. Björn has variously been associated with Bearfoot FX, Mad Professor and OneControl over the years - the last mentioned of which carries Björn’s business card currently. He still makes his classic BJFE pedals by hand - with artwork / hand-painted enclosures and lettering by his wife.

To date I own 19 of Björn’s designs - 7 x Bearfoot FX, 6 x Mad Professor, 5 x OneControl, and just the one BJFE so far - where I have plans to acquire at least 3 more - The Flame Top, Model G and ODS 34. I stopped buying Bearfoot FX just before Björn parted ways with them over alleged quality control issues. I was fortunate that all my BFFX pedals were perfectly assembled and all sound great.

If you’re thinking of acquiring some of Björn’s superb circuits - then Sebastian’s These Go To 11 is the OG dealer - with a direct connection to the maker! While new kid on the block for BJFE is Joe Light’s Joe’s Pedals - which is due a re-stock any day soon. I helped Joe launch the BJFE collection back in July - and all 10 varieties were sold out not long after - with the rarer Model G and ODS 34 the first to go.

Top of the tree for me are the Honey Bee Overdrive and Emerald Green Distortion Machine - then followed by Model G, ODS 34 and Flame Top - and of course all of Björn’s fuzzes are great too - and he’s celebrated for his Green Mini Vibe!

The Honey Bee 4K could not be easier to control - with the perfect amount of nuance and shaping via 2-band EQ - Bass and Treble - and then just Volume and Drive. A key secret to this pedal is its phenomenal feel - or touch-sensitivity. It has just the right amount of compression bloom and sustain - and hints at a smooth almost fuzz-edged cello-ish overdrive - beautifully woody and really organic sounding.

Unusually for me gain is dialled pretty far back to 9 o’c, Volume at Max as it’s not a particularly loud pedal, and then Bass at 3 o’c and Treble at Max - for me that sounds like absolute perfection - a really gorgeous warm tone - perfect for soothing away these cooler autumn months.

The Honey Bee was supposedly based on a worn-down and beaten up early Supro combo amp which emitted these wonderful honeyed tones. This is still Björn’s key flagship pedal - and deserves to be celebrated every bit as much as the Klon, TS808 and SD-1/OD-1.

There are Vintage and Modern BJFE Honey Bee varieties, a OneControl edition with a switch for both, and this 4-knob edition - alongside some further rarer editions - including larger Deluxe versions. Obviously Mad Professor has the Sweet Honey - where I also own the Deluxe version. I feel every collection should have a Honey Bee - and if you can afford it - get the the 4-knob BJFE one same as me - you won’t regret it!

Any fellow Björn Juhl fans out there?