Specifications

Manufacturer:
Coffin Case, coffincase.com

List Price:
$399.00

Originally published in Guitar World, Holiday 2008

Coffin Case is known for its coffin-shaped guitar cases and the lovely Coffin Girls, the company recently expanded its horizons with the casket-shaped Blood Drive distortion pedal. With the introduction of the limited-edition Bat Fuzz pedal, Coffin Case has produced perhaps the coolest sounding— and certainly coolest looking— fuzz pedal ever made.

FEATURES

If you dig the look of this vintage Batman-logo-shaped box, you’ve probably already whipped out your credit card. Fortunately, Coffin Case enclosed an impressive fuzz distortion circuit inside, so the Bat Fuzz sounds as bitchin’ as it looks. Its features are very basic, consisting of just volume and fuzz controls that allow you to adjust the overall volume and the intensity of the fuzz effect. An AC adapter jack is conveniently located on the bat’s head. But the coolest feature is the pair of red LED bat “eyes” that light up when the effect is engaged.

This supersized pedal may not fit on the average prefab pedal board, but the metal housing is very solid, sturdy and heavy, so you don’t need to worry that it will fly across the stage while you do the Batusi or get crushed when some joker does the monster mosh on it.

PERFORMANCE

Producing vicious square-wave distortion, the Bat Fuzz creates a true fuzz effect but without the sputter and ear-splitting treble that many basic fuzz circuits can produce. Its tone is big and beefy, almost like a bass boost. In fact, this pedal sounds as good with a bass as it does with a standard six-string.

Like most true fuzz effects, the Bat Fuzz works best on single-note lines, riffs and solos. Any combination of notes beyond root-fifth dyads turn to mush, although you can use the bleating oscillation as a sound effect unto itself.

THE BOTTOM LINE

With production limited to only a few hundred hand-signed units, the Bat Fuzz is an instant collectible. Although it’s expensive, it’s also a must have for true connoisseurs of fuzz.

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