BLACK CAT BEE BUZZ
BY CHARLES SAUFLEY
Fuzz, and I mean real fuzz—the nasty, buzzing stuff of “Satisfaction” and
Davie Allan biker soundtracks—is a tricky
little beast to wrangle. Though it sounds
cool as hell on records of the ’60s, dealing
with the tangle of high-mid frequencies
in loud live settings can leave listeners
writhing in agony under a squall of feedback. What’s more, the simple circuits of
the ’60s that best copped that sound are
chronically unreliable, unpredictable, and
at this point, often locked up in the closets
of hoarding collectors.
It doesn’t leave a fuzz fiend with many
places to turn. But the recently resurrected
Black Cat Bee Buzz is a brilliant beam
of stinging light in the world of brawny,
super high-gain fuzzes. What’s best is that
with the flip of a switch it transforms into
a meatier Muff-like fuzz that can run with
those tigers too.
Born Again Bee Baa
The Bee Buzz was born when Black Cat’s
Japanese distributor requested a clone of
the rare and coveted Roland Bee Baa, which
was introduced in the mid ’70s. Black
Cat did another run of 50 for domestic
consumption, which disappeared at a rate
that suggested they might be onto a winner.
There’s about a million reasons to love
this thing if you love fuzz. For starters, it
packs a ton of functions in a very small
enclosure—about a third as big as an original Bee Baa. It’s also crazy-cool looking. Our
test version came in what Black Cat calls
Candy Red, but you can also order it up in
Candy Blue, Denim Blue, Coppertone, and
a wonderfully shocking Limonade.
The control set consists of four knobs,
a small switch for switching between Buzz
and the much gnarlier Bee setting, a bypass
footswitch, and another that switches
between the fuzz and boost sections. The
three leftmost knobs are for the fuzz section. Volume controls the effect level, Tone
ups the sting quotient, and Sustain enables
you to pile on the fuzz.
The Bear and the Bee Hive
The Bee setting on the Bee Buzz’ fuzz circuit
is downright wicked. It will transform an
otherwise clean and well-groomed Fender
Jaguar and Vibroverb into a filthy garage
punk thug. But the beauty of the Black Cat’s
Bee section is that even the most mosquito-
like fuzz has mus-
cle and backbone
if you put enough
Volume behind
it. More surpris-
ingly, it’s resistant
to feedback in a
way that similarly
grimy fuzzes are
not, which means
you can actually
employ the most
radical version
of the effect in a
pretty loud band
context.
Flip to the
Buzz setting and
the Bee Buzz
Rating:
Buy If...
a combination of stinging ’60s fuzz and
crunchy heft has thus far eluded you.
Skip If...
all but modern, high-gain distortion
is useless to you.
Black Cat Pedals
Street $225
blackcatpedals.com
CLICKHere…
or scan this QR code with a
mobile device to hear audio
clips of this pedal at
premierguitar.com/nov2011.
reveals another surprise—a burlier, fatter
fuzz that combines the voice of the Bee
section with an almost Big Muff/Fuzz Face
hybrid tone that you can use for more
aggressive Black Sabbath and Stooges chording and Hendrixian leads. It’s not afraid of
a big amp either, and will happily punish a
higher-wattage amp and a pair of 12" speakers without turning into a screeching feedback machine. It doesn’t have quite as much
gain or push as a Muff, Fuzz Face, or Rat,
but if your amp has enough headroom, it
can sound very mean in very loud settings.
If there’s a limitation in the fuzz section,
it’s that for clean and powerful amps, you’ll
have to keep the effect’s Volume up pretty
high to prevent a volume cut. On the other
hand, this probably isn’t a pedal for those
seeking less aggressive shades.
The boost section isn’t, as the name
suggests, a clean boost or a treble boost
like that on the original Bee Baa. But it’s
a great—if somewhat monochromatic—
overdrive that works especially well on
small amplifiers.
The Verdict
There aren’t many fuzz boxes quite as versatile as the Bee Buzz. Granted, that assertion assumes an affinity for the scrungy
sounds of ’60s fuzz, which is far from every
player’s cup of tea. But if that’s a trip you’re
psyched to take without leaving your bigger, brawnier fuzz tones behind, this Black
Cat is your ride.
