Funny Little Boxes' Caught By The Fuzz is the perfect everyman everyday fuzz!

I was expecting good things from the ’Caught By The Fuzz’ but it still genuinely caught me by surprise. I’m not always a fan of 2-knob fuzzes - I typically like an external bias or some kind of EQ control. While this is one of the those rare fuzzes that can do everything it needs to - with just those 2 knobs - you can also rely on your guitar’s tone and volume controls to further shape the output of his fuzz. It has excellent guitar volume gain cleanup - so you can set the Fuzz Gain fairly high, and then roll it back with your guitar volume.

And while it was modelled on Supergrass’s ’Caught By The Fuzz’ song - it can deliver a whole lot more besides!

It’s actually a really simple fuzz - just consisting of 2 x R4558I OpAmps - typical of what you would find singularly in a Tube Screamer. Those 2 stages combine so well - that you get an enormous range of gain and textures - with no clipping diodes or any other circuit extras needed - it’s really mostly just those 2 OpAmps combining - and they sound amazing - delivering a very classic sounding warm and richly textured fuzz.

The Fuzz dial kind of starts at 8 o’clock (there’s no output below that) - and then ramps up beautifully predictably - where I’m already getting plenty of gain by 3 o’clock - in fact possibly a little more than I need - where I find I like having the peak set at that value - and then rolling off some of that gain with the guitar volume control. I did have some placement challenges with the previous Funny Little Boxes pedals - where they could suffer from impedance and capacitance further along the chain. There’s no such challenges with this pedal though - it really works beautifully predictably consistently - with nice and even tapers.

And there is so much gain and volume onboard - way more than you would typically need - as mentioned, I tend to keep the Fuzz dial at 3 o’clock - while the Volume knob is already plenty loud enough at just the noon position - so I have ample places still to go - but you really don’t need that extra volume and gain. While it’s always nice to have so much in reserve - this should really combine superbly with every and any kind of rig!

Back down with Fuzz at 8 o’clock you’re in overdrive territory - and this is a petty decent overdrive too - but then it ramps up fairly quickly to fuzzy-drive, and then more textured and searing fuzz.

It’s a beautifully textured and warm sounding fuzz throughout - and it’s really fun to play. Those alternately flashing Police LED’s add quite a bit to the enjoyment of this pedal.

Andy has already declared that this pedal contains the most Funny Little Boxes DNA - with a combination of ultimate utility, usability, versatility, and fun. It really looks and sounds the part - and is a joy to deploy.

I don’t know if its the current strained economic climate or some other factor - but for some reason this Caught By The Fuzz hasn’t taken off quite as fast as its predecessors - which is a mystery for anyone who has encountered this pedal.

The Caught By The Fuzz is just £99 - and may just be the only fuzz you need. It’s wonderfully easy to dial in and operate - and therefore good for novices and journeymen alike. I really don’t have a single criticism to make here - it comes with top-mounted jacks, looks and sounds great, is everyday fun!, and is light on your pocket - this pedal deserves to sell as well as JHS’s Notaklön!

Get yours now from the Funny Little Boxes Webstore!