Fender Blender Reissue

It's easy to use, and as someone else mentioned here, the controls are sensitive and tweakers will like this pedal.

I keep the volume all the way up, the boost channel on, tweak the amount of tone (trebliness) to taste, and then mess with balancing the sustain (gain) and blend (dry to effected ratio). The trick is to find a sound that's not overly boomy, but is still as loud as possible.

The Fender Blender, as harsh as it sounds, is rather quiet when not in use. I think this is because it's not really all that high gain compared to modern pedals. The harshness comes more from the weird overtones it generates. I don't particularly like the sound of the thing just by itself. The output is not quite loud enough, and the regular channel sounds dull. I definitely prefer to keep it on the boost channel.

What I really think this thing was made to do was be combined with other distortion units, with the Blender first in line. The level of fuzz I was able to get this was way beyond anything else I've ever heard. I doubt there's any other way to get this sound.

It seems well made from sturdy components. I haven't had it very long, so we'll see if it can go the distance.

I haven't tried or needed to contact customer support yet.

I'd been looking for this pedal for 7+ years (after reading a Billy Corgan interview in Guitar World), so I was ecstatic to discover that Fender reissued it. If you have an insatiable lust for fuzz and distortion, then I think this pedal is definitely a must-have.

Another thing that's cool about the Blender is that it's true bypass. I was still able to get a signal through with the thing without a power supply when it was off. And you will need that power supply because the battery holder was made to the wrong dimensions apparently. There's no way I could fit a 9v battery in that rigid plastic compartment without breaking off one of the sides. I'm not about to do that, so I guess I'll just be using an adapter.

If anyone from Fender is reading this- I hope you'll modify the battery compartment in future productions. Also, I find it very annoying that the Guitar and Amp jacks are reversed of where they would conventionally be placed. It would be great if you could fix that in the future as well.

It's a stompbox, 4 knobs with 2 switches...a bit of tweaking, to be sure. It's not a Harmonizer...you'll be fine.

Sound Quality...well, it's a germanium fuzz pedal. In the realm of germanium fuzz pedals, this one stands out near the top. If you wanted an octave fuzz sound, and bought a "emulation pedal" that covers a whole gamut of stomp boxes, then I would consider that "poor sound quality". But this is the real deal, so the quality is just fine.

Built solid and then some. They've added a nice battery clip...no problems.

never talked to them...but thanks for the reissue!! (finally)

I'm writing this review from a very personal nature. I've wanted the Fender Blender for about 10 years, simply because of Billy Corgan. Or more specifically, because of the tone on "Girl Called Sandoz". Even more specifically, the part at 2:32 in the song. That organic, wailing fuzz sound...I've been haunted by it for years. I even attempted building one back in the day, but no luck...this is the #2 pedal on my "most coveted pedal that Billy uses" list (Mutron Bi-Phase being #1). So, here comes Fender, after 28 years, and reissues it. NICE. So let's get into it...

I read alot of reviews talking about "sonic destruction", and volume levels that "rattle the windows"; I think that's a bit much. I have this thing with all knobs pegged at 10. Do I get the sound I want? Yes. Can I emulate the precise Pumpkins sounds? Sure can. Am I happy? You bet. But is it a "destroy your sound" kind of pedal? I don't see it. Reality is, it's an octave fuzz...with its own spin on things. I can get a very similar sound running my Big Muff through a pitch shifter; however, there's definitely a more "organic" sound to the Blender (a moving, breathing kind of fuzz) than you wouldn't get by adding a P.S. to a fuzz pedal. And all this talk of "farty, nasly, unusable sound" is heresay. Yeah, you can't play chords with it pegged, but it's not like the sound is unusable. When I think of "unusable" fuzz (in a good way), I'm thinking of something like the 3ms Atoner, for example; that's sonic destruction.

Overall, I'm elated to finally own one. Would I have paid $300 for one before the reissue? I may have, and I wouldn't regret it either, because I would have had a very sought after pedal (to me). But I thank Fender for listening to the fans and reissuing this thing; now I can finally put the legacy to rest.

I only got it yesterday, but the knobs actually seem to do what they say they do - although sustain = fuzz. Ignored the factory presets, but lots of sounds to be had with some tweaking.

I was running a 62 reissue tele custom into the blender directly into a tascam pcketstudio 5. Not the greatest test of sound quality, but I've done this with a few things, and in comparison it sounded pretty good. It's not noisy. By using the tele's low output neck pick-up I could get some interesting mellow fuzz or ring mod sounds. I used to have a Mooger Fooger ring mod, and on first impression think that the kind of sounds from this are more usable (for guitars anyway)

Interestingly, I had not read anywhere that they are made in Korea - not on the Fender web-site or anything. I'm not sure how this affects the reliability or quality, but because I hadn't seen it mentioned anywhere I assumed US manufacture. Seems wll built and tough - I like how the knobs are recessed.

N/A

After years of plugging straight into an amp, I have dicovered the joys of pedals. I'd been looking at the Ampeg Scrambler RI for a few months, but went for this cos its Fender, has more controls, and is a fair bit cheaper for something in a similar ball park. A good value pedal IMHO, but I am a little bit miffed that the only place you find Made in Korea is when you flip it over to put the battery in,

Pretty straight forward pedal of mass destruction!!
Its got textures that I have never really used before and I'm a texture junkie. It has a fuzz/octave/distortion/insane sound that can be very useful in my opinion.....It's another color on the palette.

Quality of sound? Well....um...
Think My Bloody Valentine meets The Smashing Pumpkins.
It was evidently the pedal used for "American Woman"...the original version mind you...not Lenny Crap...I mean...Kravits.

Seems like if the sound doesn't sound right, it's working.
It's housed in the original format as far as I know. Built well and should last some time.

Fender has always been good to me in the 20 odd years I've been playing. I don't expect any issues

I like it. It's challenging to dial in a sound that is musical...but it's in there!! I look forward to running other devices into it such as vocals or bass...or even filtering drums through it. I am playing a Rickenbacker 360/12v63 through a Vox AC30TBX and a Vox AC30HW. I have yet to try it through my other amps and guitars but I'm sure it will provide me with options I could never dail in using any other pedal.
Get one.....go nuts!

5.Don't think for a nano second that you can just plug and play this this ridiculus beast.Came with manual with sample settings that I didn't look at.

I tried several different guitars,including a 76 strat,a Dean Cadillac,and a 65 Jazzmaster.I used a 77 Vibroverb,and a mid 70's Kustom 250.As has been noted in many reviews of the original,the sustain and blend functions need to be kept on a leash.moderation is the ticket to the sickness within.It seems to like humbuckers and solid state amplification the best,but it did some sick stuff with a Jazzmaster,too.This is a great pedal for Fumanchu/Nebula stoner heavyness.Don't throw out your Bigmuff or Rat,thuogh,you'll need 'em when you wanna get musical!This pedal is even harsher than my Super fuzz when you crank the sustain knob.{which is really just fuzz. amount}

I don't know,I just got it,but it's housed in a tuff enclosure.

It's new,it's a Fender.

It's good for real heavy stoner and sabbath stuff.you have to dial it down to do two finger moron chords.don't even try it if your'e a blues guy.It sounds like the discriptions of the originals,so that's good.It's a valuble addition to your big muff,not a replacement.