The Algal Bloom from pedal upstarts Fuzzhugger has been getting a lot of attention in the forums lately. As the pedal has landed in more hands it has gained a growing reputation for being a full-bodied, texture-filled fuzz that offers the right mix of aggression and smoothness. I have become quite the fuzz fan lately, tending to move more toward the tuneful cream machines than the circuit-bend glitch boxes… so the Algal Bloom was definitely on my list to try out. When Fuzzhugger offered to send us one to put through its paces, I jumped at at the chance. I was hoping to find a pedal that could move from a hairy wall of doom tone to a more discreet and hummy fuzz, but did I?

The Algal Bloom comes in a nifty, decorative fabric pouch that can easily double as sweet storage for picks, strings, etc… if needed. Inside the pouch, you’ll find the pedal, a Fuzzhugger sticker and an instruction sheet for the pedal. The instruction sheet is limited to giving the maker’s description of the knob functions along with a graphic of the pedal itself.

The Algal Bloom has four knob controls. From left to right, they are Level, Starve, Bloom and Trim. Level controls the volume output from the pedal. Starve (or Texture) controls the level of juicy allowed to hit the circuit. Full left allows full power to flow to the circuit. As you rotate the knob right, it reduces power levels and gives the Algal Bloom different textures. Turning the Bloom (or Gain) knob give you more of a full-throat gain tone. Rolling off the Bloom knob gives you a thicker, darker low gain growl. With the Trim knob full right, the circuit is letting full signal hit the circuit. As you roll it back, the signal diminishes and gives you a thinner tone more prone to sputter and fizz.

Diving into the Algal Bloom, I wanted to test its ability to get bluesy. Almost any fuzz can blow your doors with high gain goodness, but not all can get soulful. I started with the Level around 2 o’clock, Starve at noon, Bloom dimed and Trim around noon. With the Strat, bridge pick-up, we dial up a little Texas blues. Clean first, then the fuzz.

Switching over to the humbuckers of the Les Paul, I tweaked a few knobs to get a fuzz-tasic lead tone out of the Algal Bloom. With the Level knob pegged, Starve rolled all the way off, the Bloom around noon and Trim dimed, listen to the Bloom roar, then hang on! Clean first, then the Algal Bloom.

In order to give you a good idea about how the Starve function works, listen to the following clip with the same setting as above except with the Bloom dimed, but we’ll slowly rotate the Starve knob so that you can here the different in tone as we start to deprive the circuit of juice, then roll it back. Mid clip, you should notice a more brittle tone. Clean signal first, then the pedal.

The Fuzzhugger Algal Bloom is a great fuzz box – highly competent to get you to the sonic, wall of fuzz tone if that’s your bag, but versatile enough to achieve more subtle fuzz tones. I liked this box a lot. My main beef with the Algal Bloom – at least the one I received to review – was the lack of knob labeling on the pedal itself. I found myself having to refer to the diagram provided with the pedal to recall exactly which knob was which. It’s a small gripe, but one nonetheless. If you’re looking for a fuzz that can dial in sounds ranging from the massively thick to sputterting grit, you might want to give the Algal Bloom a look-see. That’s our take anyway… your mileage may vary.

PLEASE NOTE: All YMMV Review clips are played through a Reverend Hellhound 40/60 combo amp with 1×12 extension cab. No reverb or other effects were added to the clips. Guitars used in this review include a 1979 Gibson Les Paul Custom and a 1998 Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster.