Key Points
Wyatt Audio’s Kozel is a mid-size Big Muff Style Fuzz combining Triangle, Ram’s Head and Sovtek Muff elements, with low-end heft and searing delivery. Features include Mids Push, Voltage Starve, Noise Gate, Tone Defeat, and Q2/Q3 Silicon, No Diodes or Red LEDs.
Controls include Volts, Level, Clamp, Mids, Push, Freq, Tone and Noise. BC108B transistors provide rounded sear and punchy character. Preferred settings use maximum sear, Hi Mids Boost, Push maximum, Freq at 2 o’clock, Tone On, Q2 LEDs and Q3 No Diodes.
As of the review, the price was £219. Wyatt Audio considers it a masterpiece.
I was super impressed with Wyatt’s Heiress Fuzz that I reviewed last week - a fantastic sounding Fuzz Face take with Transistor switching on the Q2 Stage - with a really potent output.
The Kozel though is even more impressive - definitely S-Tier for me in that category. It brilliantly captures all the best aspects of the Big Muff profile - taking in elements of the Triangle, Ram’s Head and Sovtek Muffs. Therefore combining low-end heft with searing cutting delivery.
The Kozel has several aces up its sleeve - including Mids Push, Voltage Starve, Onboard Noise Gate, Tone Defeat, and Killer Clipping Options - including Diodes Lift and Red LEDs.
This Muff evolution hits harder than almost any other - with significant evolved range in every direction. You can also go very classic Muff with the Silicon Clipping on and all the extras dialled out - but why would you?
For me it sounds utterly magnificent on No Clipping and LED options - each delivers a slightly different character - and I find it very hard to decide which is my out-and-out favourite selection - whether No Diodes, LEDs, or a Mix of each!
Controls - Volts (Starve), Level, Clamp (Gate Threshold), Mids : Hi Mids Boost / Stock Mids / Lo Mids Boost, Push (Mids Cut / Boost), Freq (Master Tone), Tone Switch : On / Off (Tone Defeat), Q2 Clipping Options : Silicon 1N914 / No Diodes / Red LEDs, Noise (Fuzz/Gain), Q3 Clipping Options : Silicon 1N914 / No Diodes / Red LEDs.
I discovered with my Dazatronyx Big Fuzz Console - that I tend to prefer the Mid-Gain BC108B variants over the more high gain BC109C's - the 'B's have a more rounded sear to them, and more of a punchy character, while the 'C' are typically darker, more dense, and more compressed. BC108B's are a great choice of transistor here - while the overall choice of transistor is less important for Big Muffs than for Fuzz Faces - but you can certainly hear a noticeable difference in the room.
To my mind Wyatt has got pretty much every aspect spot on here - this is a quite superb take on a Muff. The only slight future iteration I can suggest is to put the Tone Defeat onto a Second Footswitch - that way you can better engage it on-the-fly - for a kinda sorta 2-Channel deployment.
Everything here has been really well thought out - down to the layout of the controls, and indeed the highly symmetrical layout of the PCB components. The weapons-grade output profile is matched by very elegant aesthetics here, inside and out! - and the perfect knob choices!
Wyatt considers this to be his masterpiece - and on this evidence - I have to concur! An every way superb evolved Big Muff take - with tonnes of superb tones onboard - exceedingly versatile in every direction.
I love everything about the Kozel - it's just a perfect execution - and a total joy to deploy.
For my Preferred Settings - I have Volts all the way back for maximum sear, Level @ Noon, Clamp @ 2 o'c, Mids on Hi Boost, Push @ Max, Freq @ 2 o'c, Tone : On, Q2 on LED, Q3 on Diode Lift / No Diodes.
I pretty much like every combination of No Diodes and LEDs. Silicon is for wimps! And purists I guess!
Note that I only have Level and Noise @ Noon! - I'm only using 50% of this pedal's potency - and it's already super loud and searing at those levels. Utterly magnificent for sure.
This is how I like my fuzzes - a totally killer full fat and cutting output - it sounds genuinely exhilarating! One of the very best for sure.
Considering how magnificent this Kozel is - £219 would seem to be an absolute steal - courtesy of the Wyatt Audio Webstore.
There's no proper demo as yet, but there is a sort of introductory launch video as per below! :
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