Roland AF-100 Bee Baa

The BeeBaa is essentially a 3 control silicon fuzz coupled with a silicon treble booster, with three footswitches handling effect/bypass, fuzz/treble booster and A/B fuzz tone respectively. The fuzz is very similar to the EHX Big Muff in both tone and layout, with volume tone and sustain controls. It's very easy to get a good tone out of the BeeBaa, provided you like that thick wall-of-noise fuzz it puts out, because that's all it does really. In my experience the only real difficulty is in finding a tone control balance that favours the tone A and tone B equally - setting the tone control to the 'sweetspot' on tone B with my setup seems to make tone A sound dull, and setting for tone A makes tone B too piercing. Separate tone knobs for each mode might have made things easier.

Looking at ease of use practically, well it only runs on battery (though thankfully the sustain pot is also an off control, so there's no need to disconnect the cable to save the battery), there are no leds so you can't visually confirm what's on, and the bypass is typical 70 DPDT - ie not true bypass.

This pedal is great for that thick "wall of fuzz" sound - it's huge sounding. Tonally it's reminiscent of the EHX Big Muff. I wish I still had a Big Muff to describe the subtle differences, but it's in that general vein compared to say a Fuzz Face or Tonebender style of fuzz. On memory fuzz tone A has less of a mid scoop than a Big Muff and a tighter bass, whilst fuzz tone B sounds like a Muff with a treble boosted.

Fuzz tone A is a strong midrange, balanced fuzz that suits itself well to rhythm guitar. Fuzz tone B scoops the mids and seems to kick in the treble boost, which makes it really cutting for lead work. I've read a few reviews where people are calling the boost a clean boost - it's a treble boost like a Rangemaster, only it's silicon not germanium. Sure there's not much gain, but it's not frequency neutral like you'd associate with modern 'clean boost' pedals, like the Catalinbread Super Chili. The boost works great to give you amp a kick or in front of your overdrive pedal - the level of boost on tap is huge.

There seems to be plenty of these units around that are still alive and kicking - they were made to last. The bypass switch on mine seems to be going - it will switch on the fuzz but kills the signal most of the time if I try and switch to bypass. I checked inside but there's no loose wires. I'll desolder then resolder the switch as a solder joint might have gone bad but if that doesn't work it's not a big deal to replace the switch - it's held up for over 30 years so has done its bit.

BeeBaas are almost impossible to track down - I think I've seen two locally in the past 5 years, including the one I snagged. They're usually a bit expensive, but when you factor in that you're really getting two effects in one (fuzz and treble boost) they're not a bad deal really. There's a few clones on the market (Bargeconcepts BB-1 and ProphecySound Black Sheep Fuzz) which are great for those who want the BeeBaa tone with modern features (true bypass, leds, DC jack) and don't want to try hunting for an original, but sometimes they're just as expensive or only slightly cheaper than an original. I'd have to fall on real hard times to contemplate selling this. Great pedal.

Simple. More options that most pedals these days but its 2 fuzz types and a boost. Funny, those who give it a lower score here just have no idea what they bought. Do your homework people.

Is it noisey? It can be depending on the settings. Its overall slightly noisey but its a fuzz pedal from the 70s. SO OF COURSE its noisey... but well worth it. It is a seriously pissed off fuzz! I bought this as soon as I saw it. You can't get a better fuzz. PERIOD. If you don't like it- then apparently you don't like fuzz or what all distortion is based off....

Its 33 years old- let it go..... Mine has a fussy effect on/off switch but if thats all I can complain about I give it a 10! Built like a tank. The thing I like most is the knobs. They turn and feel like knobs should.... no joke. SOLID!

Again, let it go......

If you like original 70s noisey fuzz that made rock what it is today- then this is the grandfather of them all. Well not the only grandfather but one of the founding fathers. It is big and mean and very angry...... Can't ask for much more.

Im not a big fan of the boost but its there if you need it. I only bought this for FUZZZZZZZ!

It is a silver box with three foot switches on the top and the controls on the back side ala Roger Mayer boxes. The box has three distinct functions:
1) Clean/Treble boost
2) Heavy, tight, midrangy and bassy, saw-blade sounding fuzz.
3) Heavy, broad, bassy and trebley, harmonically heavy distortion.
The footswitches allow you to switch between these on the fly; with the general Effect On/Off on the far right, the fuzz/clean boost in the middle, and the type of fuzz switch, the fuzz/distortion switch, on the far left.
The controls on the back are fourfold: first, a volume control that only applies to the clean boost function. Second are the three standard controls that relate to the fuzz functions: Volume, Tone, and Sustain.
Well, I am going to give this an eight because it takes awhile to figure out what to do to get a good/great sound. This is primarily because this stompbox is a beast. It is easily the loudest box I have ever played (my roomates can attest to this) and, until you figure out what to do, you will get feedback and noise, crazy harmonics and earsplitting harshness. However, any well designed box requires such learning. I prefer my stompboxes with the most controls/adjustments possible, allowing for the most variety and customizability. With the three modes and the controls this certainly has more versatility than any fuzz/distortion I have ever encountered. But, in general, this is not a plug and play toy.

This, of course, is where the Beebaa shines. With all of my distortion/fuzzes I own I could easily cut them all out for just the Beebaa. The third mode, what I would call the distortion mode, is quite Big Muffy. I am not sure that I will use this mode in place of my Big muffs (I love the muff and know it very well) but it is certainly a high quality sound. I think the distinction between distortion and fuzz holds here. For those who don't know the difference; the distortion is harmonically richer and covers a broader range of frequencies, the fuzz is a tighter sound, more midrangy, what I call the saw blade effect. Both distorted modes on this thing have more bass than I have ever encoutered in an effect. This is wall-shaking, wake the man across the street bass. Especially if you are playing through a bassy '68 twin with the bass turned up, as I am.
As for the fuzz mode, it is simply incredible. When I first got it I set it up for fuzz, with the sustain on half, a little (1 or 2) reverb on my amp and simply strummed an E major chord. I was flabbergasted. Absolutely no harshness, just a loud, punchy, tight, rich, robust tone. When I started playing with the knobs I was, of course, able to dial in harshness. This can be done with any fuzz. But, in general, when you find that setting on the pedal, with a great interplay with the amp, it is magical, and jaw dropping.
The clean/treble is definitely usable. In the 70's when I don't think there were any pure "clean boost" pedals, it must have been a god-send. However, I have a Zvex Super Hard On and I plan to continue with that. I will not be "up a creek" if the SHO breaks though.
In reality it is three distinct tones in one box; three pedals in one, if you will. All for $250, at least what I paid.

Seems like a rock. Stainless steel and 25+ years old

Again 25+ years. No customer support here.

As I have said, this is a beast that requires taming. But I have had a blast in the past week whipping it into shape. And now it does what I want. It is a wonderful wonderful pedal that produces long sought-after tones. My tendency to play loud, shoegazer type music, agressive rock, and experimental noise jams will all be buttressed by this great new toy.
If you want an idea of the sound go to the tonefrenzy page and load up the test suite: http://www.tonefrenzy.com/2/roland_beebaa.htm
It is a pretty good representation. I would suggest forwarding it to about 5:07 and listen to the riffage that goes on there. When he kicks into the metal-esque riff you will hear a fair representation of the sound. Then, open up any other fuzz/distortion file and compare. Forward it to 5:07 again (it is all the same sound file, run through the different boxes) and listen to how other boxes do the same riff. The difference is immense.
For the record, I am playing a Gretsch Electromatic with p-90's into a '68 twin.

Um, pretty easy - but take some time to have a look at the controls and where they're set before stamping on any switches - I neglected to do this and found myself getting huge bursts of scary volume at unexpected moments.

The top of the pedal has 3 switches - Effect/Normal, Fuzz/treble booster, and Fuzz tone select. On the back face of the box you get the in/out jacks (labelled "to guitar" and "to Amplifier") and 4 knobs - Sustain, Fuzz Tone, Volume, and Booster Adjust

This would be considered a rather unusual design by today's standards - The pedal is basically a twin toned fuzz with a switchable clean boost. The "sustain" knob also can be used to switch the unit off entirely (like a maestro)

Simple set up - I like to use as few effects as possible, So I run this with a modded strat (HB in the bridge) and a DSL combo

OKAY - sounds simple enought dosent it?

This is how I would best describe the two generic fuzz sounds using very few words:

Fuzz "1" - Full range fuzz - Massive bass and mids - sounds like a large truck. Very round and creamy sounding.

Fuzz "2" - No midrange whatsoever - a real demon fuzz sound - agressive as all hell with again, massive bass but no mids and a screeching top end. Very chewy and textural sounding.

Words only do so much when describing rare fuzz textures like this. You really have to hear it

http://www.tonefrenzy.com/2/roland_beebaa.htm

this is a pretty good representation - but the heft of the sound is absent from the recording.

Start with the fuzz on mode 1 and play a few chords, then hit fuzz 2 and turn up first the sustain, then the tone - It's one of those times where you think things should start to peak and that the knob will stop twisting soon - but there's always more - more fuzz, more thickness, more sustain, more layers of complex fuzz texture. Oh I'm in love!

If you turn the sustain down the fuzz gets squelchy and quirky - sort of rubbery sounding. Very cool

It is 26 years old.

I got this for like $80 US used - sonicflux has them for $325US. I have been aware of the Bee Baa for some years now, but never actively sought one because I thought that the would be near impossible to get especially out here in NZ - But yesterday I went to my local independant store to check out an Explorer with my freind, saw this and nearly fell over!!

We demo'd it in the shop thru a 55 watt solid state amp and thought it was fat, so I got it cause I'm a fuzz pedal slut.

Got it home - Cranked it up through my Marshall and thought - "yeah, this is R E A L L Y fat, Wait - the bass on my amp is suddenly on zero, oh, and I'm playing single coil pickups and it's still the fattest thing I've ever heard! So we break out the Rat and the other fuzz pedals to do a little A/B'ing - absolutley no contest - this thing will kill and eat anything it comes up against both for versatility, craziness, and when needed, evil, hellfire sounding FUZZ!

Hell yeah!

Here are some quotes I dug up:

"Roland. The stainless-steel Bee Baa has individual fuzz tone select, fuzz treble booster, and bypass footswitches, plus sustain, tone, volume, and booster controls. Fuzz select yields two distinct fuzz sounds: one full-range, and the other dark and midrangy. The fuzz treble booster provides a choice of fuzz or overdrive with separate boost control. This incredibly deep and wicked-sounding box has at least as much bass boost as our bottom-heavy Colorsound Jumbo. In our opinion, it's the heaviest and most demonic-sounding fuzz around. In comparison, our anemic-sounding Bee Gee had little to offer aside from its realistic squealing-pig impersonations. "

? GP online

"Eat your heart out on this feast of 70?s aural magnificence....,while the Bee Baa Fuzz Box is one to truly rival ,if not dominate the Big Muff. "