Jetter Gear's Zap Fuzz Brings Good Fuzz, Good Tone Quality, and Good Times

The design and artwork featured on Jetter Gear's Zap fuzz stomp box is something that immediately stuck out to me the first time I saw this pedal. Plastered across its bright red, plain backdrop is one word, 'Zap'. This pedal caught my eye the first time I saw it, and I found myself even more intrigued wondering what types of sounds this pedal would produce. I made a trip to a local music store to take Zap for a test drive, and as I began to play, I was mesmerized by the simple elegance of this little stomp box.

Fuzz pedals have been used by guitarists for decades to develop unique and original guitar tones. Legendary guitarists like Jimi Hendrix and David Gilmour used them as an integral part of their sound, and this led to the popularization of the fuzz effect. Some guitarists favor overdrive pedals over fuzz pedals since they both have a similar sound, but almost all guitarists opt to include at least one fuzz or overdrive pedal on their pedal board to sculpt their tone. Zap is an interesting pedal because it gives a more muted and subtle take on fuzz distortion.

There are just two controls on this pedal: Level, and of course, Zap. Level controls the volume of the effect signal, and Zap controls the amount of effect signal being mixed in with the clean, unaffected amplifier signal. The user-friendliness of this effect definitely justifies the $180 price tag. Simplicity can sometimes be best with distortion pedals, and with Zap, all you really need to do is step on the foot switch to receive nice, subtle sounding fuzz tones no matter what settings you go with.

I didn't know much about Zap before playing it at the store, but I quickly noticed the precision of the pedal's sound. A lot of fuzz pedals alter the amp signal to the point that it can make it hard to discern the dry guitar signal from the wet effect signal. This is not the case with Zap. Zap almost sounds more like an overdrive pedal than a fuzz pedal, but the effect signal still has an element of gain that make this unmistakably a fuzz effect.

I demoed this pedal using a Gibson SG Special guitar and Fender Blues Junior IV amp. While I played, I alternated between single notes and full chords, and not once did I notice too much gain or low quality tone. For this reason, Zap is much more versatile than your average fuzz box. You can easily turn the Level knob down on Zap and use it as an amplifier boost at the end of your signal chain, or you can order Zap closer to the top of your signal chain with the Zap knob all the way up for high-quality fuzz distortion. I would recommend Zap to any player that is looking for a guitar pedal that provides lower-frequency distortion, but with more overall tone control.