Redbeard Effects Unleashes a Monster 3-Voice Fuzz - the aptly named Hairy Squid

On this occasion it’s best to start off with a history lesson - as the provenance and multi-generational development path for this fuzz is simply incredible.

The story starts with Mr Redbeard - Mikey Demus himself wanting a more pedalboard-friendly tour-grade version of his favourite  old school Barnes and Mullins 70’s Fuzz Unit - a fuzz best known for starring on Edwyn Collins’ "Never Met a Girl Like You Before".

Now the Barnes & Mullins Fuzzes were made by Colorsound - and in fact the B&M Fuzz Unit is a variation of the Colorsound Tone Bender Jumbo - Colorsound’s own take on a Big Muff, but with one gainstage dropped - i.e. one less Transistor and Clipping Diode at its core. So the B&M Fuzz Unit and Tone Bender Jumbo are in effect sibling 3-transistor Muffs with some parts variances - and with the Fuzz Unit delivering a slightly stickier and zingier fuzz voicing.

The downside of that pedal is that there’s only really one great sound in it - which you know from the Edwyn Collins song just mentioned. So the task was initially just to replicate that one classic tone largely.

While in engineering the circuit though Thorpy really does not like to work to limitations - and he decided fairly early on that the original circuit replication was just too inherently limited in scope and just not as much fun as it should / could be. So there followed a significant path of evolution and development - where much of the circuit was changed along the way - so that the new one AKA the Hairy Squid has really changed beyond recognition. Adrian is utilising just 2 of the 3 original transistors (Silicon) - while he’s added a further Opamp among several parts changes, and of course a trio of killer Clipping Diode options including a beautifully harmonic NOS Germanium type. The original prototypes were labelled The Big Huff - and were also Special Editions for the Band - We Are Scientists.

In fact the clipping is really at the core of this circuit - as each of the 3 clipping options render quite differently and each option requires its own tweak of the dials. Meaning you are really getting 3 quite different fuzzes in this one unit :

CLIPPING DIODE OPTIONS :

• UP | 2 x Germanium - Incredible softly clipping / soft-attack Germanium - which delivers the most amazing loose-limbed harmonic breakup - with a cool woolly / saggy response - a beautiful vintage and classic style of fuzz therefore.
• MIDDLE | 2 x Silicon - Smooth, liquid and singing - the most searing of the 3 here and prime for a sort of TBIII style smooth distortion.
• BOTTOM | 2 x Red LED - This is the ’Hair’ of the Hairy Squid - Crisp, Tight and Dense - you could describe this as the most gruff or barky of the 3 - it kind of has something of a dry-reedy feel to it, but not the same reed as on a TB-1. Probably the most Muffy voicing of the 3.

So with those killer Clipping options you’re then further armed with a Muff-style tone-stack, and the most expansive of Volume and Gain controls - the Squid can get incredibly loud and incredibly distorted - while that tends to impact the compression and feel of the fuzz - so you constantly need to tune those dials to suit the Clipping path you’re on.

The 3 knobs are incredibly interactive and each can aid in the reduction of compression when deployed diligently. Note that there’s tonnes of low end available here too for some really thunderous results.

The only downside with this particular fuzz being in that you have so many different sonic options here that you will struggle to find a single favourite sweet spot. I like a variety of different points of the dials for each of the 3 clipping modes (multiple per voicing) - the amount of shaping and sound-sculpting you can do with this fuzz is incredible - and it sounds equally good with low-end accentuation as with high - just a really great all-rounder fuzz!

I would place this as an intermediate fuzz as some delicacy is required on the dial-in. Thorpy has deliberately left the training wheels off this pedal and removed all limiters - the fuzz equivalent of removing the mufflers and exhaust!

This is kind of the perfect partner to the Redbeard Angry Rhubarb - which is kind of the all-rounder everyday overdrive, and thus the Hairy Squid is pretty much the super-versatile fuzz equivalent of that.

There should be plenty here to appeal to all fuzz-lovers - while this pedal can get really nasty - in a good way of course - meaning it’s probably not for the faint of heart.

I’ve had 4 killer fuzz pedals in this month - all different and all special - and 3 of them wholly revolutionary in their own way. You’ve likely seen my Focus Fuzz review already, and the Bispell Audio Gleam one is yet to come. You could say that with the Hairy Squid - that Redbeard has further reinvented and redefined the Muff format - but this is so much more than a Muff!

The Hairy Squid is vailable to order as of now from the Redbeard Effects Webstore - for a very reasonable price tag of £199.99. I suggest you get your skates on here on as there is some parts scarcity on the NOS Germanium Diodes - which sound totally amazing in this version - depending on demand, later batches may likely need to rely on slightly different Diodes - where the current ones are proper Mojo grade parts!

For all existing Thorpy Fuzz fans - this is in effect a sister brand to that - with every Redbeard pedal equally lovingly and precisely crafted as Thorpy’s own mainline series. Not enough players have woken up to the delights of Redbeard Effects yet - each of those now 4 pedals are total killer in their own category and all are eminently worth getting! Go on and complete the set! - Red Mist, Honey Badger, Angry Rhubarb and Hairy Squid!

Is anyone among you a Redbeard completist like me?