Cool Cat Fuzz

Am I the only person who just loves the Danelectro Cool Cat Fuzz? I bought it about 18 months ago for $30 bucks and it continues to be my favorite fuzz pedal. I have a ZVex Fuzz Factory on the way (sold my Lovepedal Englishman for it) so maybe the Cool Cat with finally be dethroned. But it will still be the best fuzz for under $150!

I have tried it side-by-side with:

• ZVex Mastotron
• Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Fuzz (the old two knob black box version)
• Visual Sound Angry Fuzz
• EH Big Muff (large box NYC version)
• EH Holy Stain (worst and noisiest pedal I have ever owned)
• Guyatone HM2 Harmonic Distortion (called distortion, but to my ears sounds very similar to a muff)

My feelings on the Cool Cat are that it’s pretty versatile in terms of gain and tone and that it cleans up well from the volume control of the guitar. Word on the street is that the Cool Cat is a clone of the Frantone Peach Fuzz. Not sure how I feel about Dano “stealing” the design, but I do know that of the pedals listed above the only one that competes with the Cool Cat is the Mastotron. The Mastotron is more versatile and the subs switch is cool and makes for a much tighter low end. The pulse wave is also fun and makes for some very synth-like sounds.

I did a blind test between the Mastotron and the Cool Cat with the co-guitarist in my band switching between the two pedals and adjusting the dials while I played. The Mastotron won in most cases (especially for single note leads). But for $30 the Cool Cat Fuzz just kills!