Fender reboots the Fender Blender Fuzz as an extended features Kevin Shields Blender Limited Signature Edition

This is not the first reissue of Fender’s seminal Fender Blender Fuzz - there was at least one back in 2010 or thereabouts which was a pretty faithful reproduction of said 4-knob dual footswitch original Silicon Fuzz from 1968. I’m not clear whether the 2010 reissue was also a limited edition - but you do get those popping up on Reverb.com every now and again.

For 2023 Fender have hooked up with one of the most famous users of the original Fender Blender - one Kevin Shields, lead guitar player for legendary shoegaze band My Bloody Valentine - who pretty much created that heavily saturated and sustaining wall-of-sound distortion that birthed an entirely new genre. Kevin was a leading proponent of gain-stacking and over-saturating amps - combining several gain pedals from as many as 30 different pedals on his many generations of pedalboards.

The new Shields Blender pedal is a fantastic concept - while Fender has fed right into the scalpers once more I wager - by limiting this release to just 700 units - where price gauging is already in full swing. Had you been lucky enough to get one of the 700 - which I believe are pretty much all sold out already, then you would have paid $499 / £449 and equivalent - while we’re already seeing prices nearing double that! UPDATE - all those scalped pedals have disappeared from Reverb.com overnight - most likely caused by Fender flexing some of its influence over that platform!

I do wonder whether this is an artificially limited release - as I’m not aware of the use or extent of rare or NOS parts. The original had 2 x 2N3391A and 3 x 2N3391 Silicon Transistors - with hFE values of between 250 and 800. There are several modern silicon transistors that are easy subs for these - while Fender does not quote exact variety used - and whether the new circuit is wholly THT, SMT or some hybrid. I’m really not sure that Fender had to limit it to so relatively few for its global audience! Seems slightly cynical. When Boss did its limited release TB-2W that was strictly limited by the availability of rare Germanium Transistors - but they still managed to make around 3,500. The 700 limit for the Shields Blender seems ever so low!

Original 1968 Controls - Volume, Sustain, Tone, Blend, On/Off Footswitch, Tone Boost Footswitch.

Shields Controls - OCTAVE } Fuzz, Octave, SAG } Trigger (Threshold), Sag, FUZZ } Volume, Blend, Tone, 2nd Octave switch, Sustain, FOOTSWITCHES > Bypass Footswitch, Octave Footswitch, Sag Footswitch, Expand Footswitch.

The original Fender Blender was already large - but here Fender and Kevin have doubled down - with twice as many controls and footswitches to really get that sense of ramping up through several stages of gain-stacking - and with no less than 3 octaves of blendable analog fuzz tone!

The pedal really does sound fantastic, while conceptually it kind of reminds me of the very first EQD Sunn O))) Life pedal which was a behemoth too - before we got the more practical 1590-BB size one. So the challenge for the Shields Blender - is to try to get that same experience in a more compact and pedalboard-friendly enclosure.

When I first saw the Shields Blender - my first thought was - wow that’s really enormous! - and then hearing how good it sounded in the demos - by which time it was already too late to hit the trigger. With these sorts of limited releases - there is no time for consideration or hesitation. And I know I would have really struggled to fit this in on my board - but boy does it sound glorious!

So I still really want one - but hopefully in a more practical and compact size - with just 2 footswitches - and where you have 2 of those long extended length (but robust) toggle-switches (like Spaceman used on their original Sputnik Fuzz) - which you can kind of flick with your toes - so 2 of those plus the two footswitches - and you can kind of recreate the Shields Blender experience in a smaller box! 

There is no point listing out which dealers had these - as they’ve all been snapped up by now. Hopefully Fender is encouraged to make a more pedalboard friendly version - and perhaps some other enterprising builder can do a more pedalboard-friendly version of this too.

I feel kind of bittersweet about the whole experience - I know that the pedal doesn’t really fit my usually criteria and preferences - and there would have been some significant post purchase dissonance - and it probably would not get as much use in the chain - because of its inherent inflexibility in format.

I will be satisfied some day though I would think - when I can get this in a more manageable format!

Did any of you manage to snag one - and how many of you wanted one but reacted too late - like me!

FEATURES

• Original vintage Fender circuit combined with an all-new control set
• Two channels and three octaves of blendable, analog fuzz tones
• Footswitchable, reactive voltage sag circuit controlled by picking dynamics
• Custom 1970s inspired roadworthy chassis with top-mounted jacks
• True-bypass switching
• MAP / RRP : $499 / £449