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Knife OD & Fuzz - Lateral Phonics

Aug 8, 2025

The Knife OD Fuzz nails that classic Fuzz Face lineage while delivering way more usability than vintage circuits. Lateral Phonics built this around BJT transistor clipping with no diodes, capturing early Tone Bender essence but optimizing every setting to sound musical.

What sets the Knife apart is its incredible range. At low settings, it’s a clean boost with immense headroom. Crank the ATTACK knob to medium for rich saturation and vintage overdrive with ripped-speaker textures. Keep going and it morphs into musical asymmetrical fuzzy overdrive, finally unleashing thick, sustaining fuzz at maximum. The SHAPE knob is a pre-clipping frequency sculptor – brighten in the left position or warm things up turning right.

The ATT foot switch cuts gain by half, giving instant access to both low and high-gain territories without readjusting. This pedal responds beautifully to your guitar’s volume knob regardless of gain setting, cleaning up like a proper Fuzz Face when rolled back. The SHAPE control affects frequency response before clipping, so you’re sculpting tonal foundation rather than just EQing.

I’m impressed by how musical this sounds at every setting – no dead zones or harsh spots like vintage fuzzes. Perfect balance of vintage character with modern playability, and the build quality from these Moscow-turned-France pedal makers is solid.

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