Great Eastern FX Co. Focus Fuzz Deluxe review – a boutique dirt machine that does pretty much everything

£299/$349/€349, greateasternfx.com

When you see the word ‘Deluxe’, you know you’re getting something a bit special. On a Telecaster, that generally means a pair of humbuckers. As a pizza option, it might mean some extra toppings (hopefully not anchovies). But with this new version of the Great Eastern FX Co Focus Fuzz, the D-word feels like an understatement.

• READ MORE: Buzzing Bugs Stargazy review – “Not so much quirky as downright eccentric”

The Focus Fuzz Deluxe isn’t just a lightly enhanced variant on the formula. First of all it replaces the all-silicon circuitry of the standard pedal with the mixed silicon and germanium transistors of the original 2023 limited edition; then it adds a three-way switch for jumping between fuzz, drive and boost settings; and then, the final flourish, it lets you slap on some angry octave-up overtones via a second footswitch. 

Combine all of that with the ingenious tone-sharpening control that gives the Focus Fuzz its name, and you’ve got – in theory at least – a uniquely powerful all-round noise-making contraption. 

What is the Great Eastern FX Co. Focus Fuzz Deluxe?

You might be wanting some context. Following on from two terrific overdrives, the original Focus Fuzz was the third pedal from this Cambridge-based indie builder. It rocked like a three-legged camel in an earthquake, and its USP was a control that ‘focused’ the midrange response: loose and natural to the left, tight and raspy to the right.   

So that’s the starting point for the FF Deluxe, adding all the aforementioned bonus features in a package that, if anything, looks even more lustable. It’s bigger, inevitably, and reassuringly heavy (650g – that’s almost a pound and a half, imperial fans); but you get the same skirted knobs and hammertone finish – this time in gold instead of grey, and with a small metal nameplate across the middle instead of a full-face panel. 

The three-way switch is a rotary one rather than a toggle, which helps with the symmetry if nothing else, and it’s worth clarifying right away that the fuzz control only works when the pedal is in that mode – so if you’re boosting or driving, the gain is fixed.

What does the Great Eastern FX Co. Focus Fuzz Deluxe sound like?

Let’s be more specific: Does it sound exactly the same as the 250 original Focus Fuzzes? It’s supposed to, but actually this one seems to have a bit more body in the lower mids, so it feels slightly more grounded and less frisky. Whether that’s a good thing or not is, like anchovies on pizza, a matter of personal taste; but with the focus control at minimum, it’s very close indeed to the classic Tone Bender MkII sound. 

So we’re looking at a thick and throaty fuzz with a balanced tonality and plenty of muscle in the mids. And if you like your muscles extra-toned, at the expense of some openness and low-end warmth, the focus control can take you anywhere from a subtle tightening-up to something like a superpowered Tube Screamer.  

The gain range in fuzz mode is decent, from tidily controlled distortion to barely controlled rage; and while it doesn’t clean up like a Fuzz Face, you can certainly use the guitar’s volume knob to cool things down. But for really expanding your options, you’ll be wanting to dive into those new lower-gain modes.

Yes, you can deploy this pedal as a clean boost, with quite a lot of added output available, but what’s more interesting is the way, as well as bumping up the overall level, you can use the focus control to turn your bypass tone into something more biting and angular. The focusing effect is much less pronounced here than it is in fuzz mode, but precision tweakers will still be glad of it. 

Drive mode has too much fuzzy fluffiness to sound like any kind of conventional overdrive – it may be tonally neutral but ‘transparent’ somehow feels like the wrong word for this medium-gain crunch. It’s no less likeable for that, though; and while the fixed gain might appear to be a limitation, it hardly feels like it, especially as cranking the focus adds a distinct kick to the intensity of the drive. (That’s no accident: in both non-fuzz modes this knob is also adding gain to the front of the circuit, so strictly speaking it’s not ‘fixed’ at all.) 

And what happens to all of the above if you stomp on the second footswitch? Basically, it turns nasty. This is most obviously appealing in fuzz mode, where you can use it to get some nice blended octave tones high up the neck, but the sheer belligerence of the sound means it does have uses in lower-gain territory – not least if you’re in the mood for some blackboard-scraping ring-mod effects on open chords. But, dammit, I’ve just realised this is where I should have used the anchovies analogy – because it’s sharp, salty and very much not for everyone.  

Should I buy the Great Eastern FX Co. Focus Fuzz Deluxe?

In some ways this feels more like a high-class studio tool than something to slap on your pedalboard in time for the next pub jam. That’s partly because it’s expensive and hefty, but also because it’s not a footswitchable three-in-one like, say, the Dinosaural Cogmeister: it’s packing a huge range of tones, but they’re designed to be explored by intrepid fingers, not instantly accessed by a stomping boot. 

That’s something to bear in mind if you are a gigging player looking for multiple gain options in one box… but if we’re judging the Focus Fuzz Deluxe purely on the sounds it makes, then it’s – oh so predictably – another Great Eastern triumph. 

Great Eastern FX Co. Focus Fuzz Deluxe alternatives

There aren’t many pedals offering pure vintage fuzz and subtle overdrive in the same box, but your options for combining high and low gain include the uniquely fabulous Hudson Broadcast (£159) and the Cornerstone Nero Fuzz (£259). See also the Benson Amps Stonk Box (£289), another hammertone-finished germanium fuzz with added versatility.