The Fender Shields Blender is a signature pedal realized in collaboration with legendary My Bloody Valentine guitarist Kevin Shields. Debuted as a limited edition, it was quickly promoted to standard production after a noteworthy sales run.
Few rock bands have been able to devise and define the guitar sound of an era. Irish-English trio My Bloody Valentine is one of them. Their legendary album Loveless, with its noisy, at times grating and yet entirely otherworldly guitar tones, has set in motion an entire musical genre based on the intense use of effect pedals (in particular fuzz, chorus, delay, and reverb), a genre now known as Shoegaze.
The Shields Blender is a modded version of the original Fender Blender Fuzz/Octave, a vintage pedal from the ’70s used by Shields for many of its fuzz tones. The new version adds an Octave-Up push button to toggle the original octave-up fuzz voice on and off.
There are four footswitches in this pedal, versus the two found in the original unit:
- the left one is your regular on/off footswitch, activating the fuzz, which can be blended with your clean signal when the following footswitch is off.
- the 2nd to the left footswitch activates the octave fuzz channel, with dedicated level controls, allowing blending the fuzz voice with with a sub-octave fuzz,
- the sag footswitch, the main mod brought to the table by Shields, simulates a power supply voltage dropout, triggering sputtering and ducking effects controlled by the intensity of the player’s dynamics.
Check out the videos below to hear the device at work.
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Fender Shields Blender, Builder’s Notes
This limited-edition pedal marks Fender’s first ever signature fuzz pedal, the Fender Shields Blender. A truly historic collaboration between Fender and My Bloody Valentine’s front man and effect pedal genius, Kevin Shields, this special edition pedal is final assembled in the USA and comes accompanied with a limited print art box, a limited print hand signed collector’s booklet with an exclusive story and photos, and a plaque bearing Shield’s signature.
An innovator and pivotal influence on effect-laden guitar tones, Kevin Shields awakened iconic sonic walls of fuzz like the world had never heard as he defined the tone of alternative rock in the ‘80s and ‘90s. His tool of choice for fuzz laden chaos: an original Fender Blender effect pedal, prized for its dynamic response and gripping fuzz splatter. Now, through over four years of co-development Fender and Shields have resurrected this mythical 1970’s fuzz and injected a subversive feature set, creating the all-new Fender Shields Blender.
At its core, the Fender Shields Blender echoes the tone of Shield’s own vintage 1970s Fender Blender, thanks to carefully hand tracing the circuit from his personal fuzz box. Built around this vintage circuit are entirely new ways of controlling and blending the original fuzz voice, all crafted with performance in mind utilizing four easy-access foot-switches. Two foot-switchable channels of fuzz, each with dedicated level controls, offer the ability to blend the fuzz voice with your clean signal or to blend the fuzz voice with a beefy sub-octave fuzz, while the sag foot-switch introduces sputtering and ducking effects like never before heard, all controlled by the intensity of your playing dynamics.
FEATURES
- Original vintage Fender circuit combined with an all-new control set
- Two channels and three octaves of blend-able, analog fuzz tones
- Foot-switchable, reactive voltage sag circuit controlled by picking dynamics
- Custom 1970s inspired roadworthy chassis with top-mounted jacks
- True-bypass switching
- Powered by 9-Volt Battery or center negative AC adaptor, not included
DESIGNED AROUND A CLASSIC
Designed around Kevin Shield’s original Fender Blender circuit, with his added tweaks, the Fender Shields Blender adds an Octave-Up push button to toggle the original octave-up fuzz voice on and off, unlocking all-new vintage fuzz tones.
TWO FOOT-SWITCHABLE CHANNELS
The Octave Foot-switch toggles between two channels of fuzz. Channel one blends the fuzz voice with the original clean signal. Channel two removes the clean signal and instead blends the fuzz with a monophonic sub-octave fuzz.
BLENDABLE FUZZ
Use the Volume and Blend knobs to set the right balance of clean and fuzz signals to create unique crisp tones, then use the Fuzz and Octave knobs to craft the right mix of double, or triple, octave fuzz.
REACTIVE SAG CIRCUIT
The revolutionary sag circuit uses dynamic sensing circuitry to creating imploding fuzz tones. By starving the transistors of power relative to the picking intensity used by the player, you can harness controlled chaos like no other fuzz.
VINTAGE SYLE, MODERN APPOINTMENTS
Just like its predecessor, the Fender Shields Blender sports an angled, brushed aluminum chassis with vinyl appointments, while new additions like LED indicators and a 9V DC power jack provide modern convenience.
PERFORMANCE READY FOOT-SWITCHES
An unprecedented four foot-switches provide a wealth of fuzz tone and effects on tap, whether performing on stage in front of millions or recording in your home studio.
