Sanford and Sonny Bluebeard Fuzz Review
Model:Bluebeard Fuzz
MSRP/Paid: $159/Loan
New/Used/Loan: Loan
Battery: Yes
Power Supply: 9v boss style
Size: Aprox. 5” tall, 3 5/8” wide, 2” deep (jacks/knobs etc included)
Available from:Direct Only or Atomic Music
From the maker:
SANFORD & SONNY BLUEBEARD DISTORTION/FUZZ PEDAL:
The Sanford & Sonny BlueBeard Fuzz/Distortion is a true-bypass pedal for bass or guitar that won’t lose the low end when engaged and won’t rob any of your signal when bypassed!
Controls are Volume, Tone, and Distortion — simple, and to the point.
This is NOT a clean boost — this is NOT a chilled-out blues overdrive. This pedal is designed to destroy and obliterate!! Think Cliff Burton with more low end or the sound of a Sunn Model T catching on fire and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what the BlueBeard sounds like.
It features a 9V negative tip jack for easy pedalboard integration.
Additionally I surfing around for info, I found the following quote attributed to Sonny, which explains a lot.
“Hello my name is Sonny friend of Surachai. I would like to clear up some things. Along time ago i tried a 70’s lamb’s head big muff that sounded very girthsome for bass. The guy Brian would not sell it too me but let me take it to Alfonso Hermida (www.hermidaaudio.com) to copy so that i could have a true bypass version with a barrel type power supply and a sturdier more beer proof hammond box. I am not an electrical wizard ALL credit goes to Alfonso. Alfonso said he had a friend who could make the PCBoards in small batches of ten this man’s name is JD Sleep El Presidente of generalguitargadgets www.generalguitargadgets.com Once i heard the prototype and a few changes were made my one pedal was going to be a batch of ten as I had several friends who wanted one. JD wanted to move into eventually making pedals full time and we struck a price for 10 assembled. Years and many pedals later I still do not have a web site just a myspace. JD makes pedals for lots of people and oh yeah the lack of paint… When I had the first ten no one wanted to wait for them to be painted and i didn’t want something cheap that would just flake off like alot of projects i had seen I think it would make the build seem cheap. So i looked into powder coating and with every batch i had people waiting saying no just give it to me and after 50 pedals and def after 100 I gave up on the idea of painting them and the idea of engraving or stamping did not work out so well. So I have nothing to hide and all I do is sell to friends and people who hear about me through friends. I pay JD to make the pedals. I do not. There are alot of things to talk about in the world and alot of things to spend time doing on the net but when anyone asks I tell them JD built it and if you get something you want built he is THE man he is now able to build pedals full time for alot of other people. I pass the pedal on to people who want it and in the, i guess 5 years i have been doing this I have always said if this pedal does not work with YOUR rig then you can return it for a 100% refund the only people I have had problems with is some dude that bought through Atomic and was more concerned about hatin online when he could have gotten his money back in full. I do not say that this pedal is the end all be all I waited for the EH BM reissue i even stupidly waited for the line 6 distortion modeler before i made it. I like to use an EQ after but not everyone does that is why i make it as a replacement fdor all the thin black eh out there. I like the green ones but the backdoors and the switches sucking oh yeah and being hella spensive. Well I never pretended to be anything other than a nerd looking for the best bass sound ever I talked to Mike Matthews about the buckets of parts put into the 70’s pedals there is a wide variety of parts in them all and the pedal i copied had aged a few years I am trying to build a pedal for people who want a solid pedal that will not crap out on them in ten years and will be just as awesome when they are old. man i hate typing. I have only taken out one ad and that was for an independent publication… I do NOT want to sell to crappy blues smooth overdrive guys I want to sell to people who kill kill kill. I am not putting out myself as anything other than a conduit. if you don’t like the taste don’t drink the water. I am not gonna proof read this I have to go play bass now nite nite Metal, Sonny”

I’ve been waiting since November for mine. It’s been 2 months over the promised ship date. No emails from Sonny. This pedal better be worth it. And judging by the video and samples it should be. But I think I might hate looking at it too much on my board to keep it once/if I get it.
The lesson here is, if you want one, try to find it used, don’t waste your time and try to buy new.
Comment by Eric — August 6, 2008 @ 10:19 am
That video review… Wow, you REALLY need to stop the yammering.
Comment by Jimmy McMeatbeef — November 16, 2008 @ 4:41 pm
i got mine like, 5 months after i ordered it. sent MANY emails to sonny that went unanswered.. finally had to call and leave a message saying if i didn’t hear back i’d have to open a claim with paypal (hey, how do i know the dude didn’t just run off with my $150?!?)
anyway, he left me a message apologizing saying there was trouble finding parts etc… another month passed by and it FINALLY arrived. I do love it very much, the sound is definitely killer.
My only complaint is the lack of communication – but sonny is a dude of his word, so be patient and you’ll be rewarded ;)
Comment by Coyote — February 26, 2009 @ 1:05 pm
PLEASE if anyone has his contact information please let me know, I would like to avoid the bullshit emailing process and speak with him directly. Anyone have his phone number that they can email me?
Comment by Rob Shine — May 24, 2009 @ 4:59 pm