Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
Thorn Soundlabs' Black Swamp Flex Fuzz is a killer all-rounder Multi-Fuzz which covers the classic fuzz flavours and a quite a few more
Key Points
Thorn Soundlabs Black Swamp Flex Fuzz is a Multi-Fuzz that covers Fuzz Face, Tone Bender and Big Muff flavours. Controls: Gain; Damping (Tightness); Mid Frequency 300Hz–2kHz; Volume; Character (Smooth/Natural/Hot!); Hard Clip Off/On; Bass; Mid±; Treble.
Preferred settings: Gain noon; Damping 9 o’clock; Mid Freq, Volume, Bass and Mid± at 3 o’clock; Treble max; Character Smooth; Hard Clip Off. Hard Clip tightens and darkens the output—typical for Big Muff styles.
It has 3‑band EQ with semi‑parametric mids and Damping. Reviewer suggested an Octave option (second footswitch + Octave Intensity). Interior has a reversed board so components aren’t visible; reviewer imagined OpAmps, Transistors and clipping diodes. Output doesn’t fully clean up.
Retails for $199 (€190 / £166). As of 2026-07-13, the price was £166; available from Thorn Soundlabs and select dealers.
Props to Thorn Soundlabs for a fantastically versatile circuit that easily takes you into Fuzz Face, Tone Bender, and Big Muff territory - depending on how you dial it in.
It has a really potent tone-shaping ability - combining 3-Band EQ with semi-parametric mids and a Damping control. And 2 toggle switches to deliver different characters and timbres.
Controls - Gain, Damping (Tighness), Mid Frequency : 300Hz > 2kHz, Volume, Character : Smooth, Natural, Hot!, Hard Clip : Off / On, Bass, Mid±, Treble.
Preferred settings (sort of Tone Bender adjacent) - Gain @ Noon, Damping @ 9 o’c, Mid Freq @ 3 o’c, Volume @ 3 o’c, Character : Smooth, Hard Clip : Off, Bass @ 3 o’c, Mid± @ 3 o’c, Treble @ Max.
The Hard Clip instantly tightens up and darkens the output - so typically you would have that on for Big Muff styles. And you would also typically scoop the mids to get the classic profile. Big Muffs are typically darker sounding and need a fair amount of gain for the usual sustain profile.
The 3 x Character Options are often quite subtle - Smooth / Natural / Hot! - where I mostly tend to lean on Smooth. ’Hot’ opens it up a little more and gives it a smidge more sizzle. And Natural sits somewhere in-between those two for me.
That combination of controls is really very potent and delivers the perfect all-rounder fuzz.
I would make it one level better by having an Octave option - enable by a second footswitch, and a further Octave Intensity mini knob - that would elevate this brilliant circuit even further.
As it is - it’s already killer at what it delivers - with plenty of everything on board - loads of volume too which is fantastic for me. Really nothing to criticise here - really smartly conceived and executed - for those looking to get a basic grounding in classic fuzz flavours - you would be hard-pressed to do better than this.
The interior circuit has a reversed board - which meant it was not practically possible for me to see what components are in use - I would imagine a mix of OpAmps and Transistors - and definitely some clipping diodes!
You can kind of hear the clipping diodes when you dial back the volume on your guitar. The pedal’s output doesn’t quite clean up - it does drop output / gain a little - but you can hear that clipped sound throughout - so you never get close to cleans really - while it does impact on the output to some degree - certainly not in the Germanium Fuzz Face class.
Overall I was really impressed with this tuzz. It’s really well built, and sounds fantastic.
The Black Swamp Flex Fuzz retails for $199 typically (€190 / £166), available direct from Thorn Soundlabs, and at select international dealers, including in UK and Europe.
Demos
