Fender Drops V2 Effects Pedal Lineup: Santa Ana, The Pelt, Pugilist, & The Bends Get Major Upgrades
Upgrade your pedalboard with Fender’s new V2 effects line! Featuring top-mounted jacks, momentary switching, and boutique-level tones from overdrive to fuzz.
Fender has officially refreshed its acclaimed effects pedal lineup with the release of the V2 Series, bringing performance upgrades, smarter enclosures, and professional-grade routing to four of their flagship dirt and dynamics stompboxes.
Fender V2 Effects Pedals
The Santa Ana V2 Overdrive, The Pelt V2 Fuzz, Pugilist Distortion V2, and The Bends V2 Compressor have all been re-engineered with the modern player in mind.
Retailing at MSRP of $229.99/£169 each, these pedals ditch side jacks for space-saving, top-mounted jacks, feature tour-worthy aluminum enclosures, and introduce innovative Multiswitch-enabled footswitches capable of both latching and momentary operation.
It is all part of their huge mid-year gear announcement. Here is an in-depth breakdown of what the new Fender V2 lineup brings to your pedalboard.
1. Fender Santa Ana V2 Overdrive Pedal
Tube-Like JFET Roar with Unrivaled EQ Routing
The Fender Santa Ana V2 is a Class A, JFET-based overdrive that mimics the sagging, touch-sensitive response of a real tube amplifier. By running at 18 volts internally, it offers massive headroom and an organic gain structure.
Aside from standard Level, Tone, and Drive controls, the Santa Ana V2 stands out for its tone-shaping flexibility:
- The Voice & Tight Switches: Toggle between a natural, tight drive and a smooth, thick lead tone, while the Tight switch cuts muddy, pre-gain low end.
- Pre/Post active 3-Band EQ: This independently switchable circuit features a center detent for flat response. Flipping the placement switch Pre-drive changes which frequencies get clipped hardest, while Post-drive acts as a surgical studio equalizer after the dirt.
2. Fender The Pelt V2 Fuzz Pedal
From Classic Psychedelia to Glitchy "Chaos"
For the fuzz connoisseur, The Pelt V2 utilizes a silicon transistor-based design paired with a buffer-friendly input stage, ensuring it plays nice anywhere in your signal chain. It covers everything from standard garage rock to walls of shoegaze gain.
- Texture Control: Alongside Fuzz, Tone, and Level, the pedal introduces Sag and Bloom controls to dial in everything from starving, zipper-style sputter to smooth sustain.
- The Chaos Mode: The dedicated Octave footswitch does not just deliver traditional octave-up tracking; it activates an alternate Chaos mode for asymmetrical, glitchy, and beautifully unpredictable artifacts. A Blend knob ensures your core clean tone never gets lost in the wash.
3. Fender Pugilist Distortion V2 Pedal
Dual-Engine Gain Stacking
The Pugilist Distortion V2 packs two independent gain engines into one chassis, making it a masterclass in versatility. Whether you want classic rock grit or high-gain saturated bliss, the magic lies in how those engines talk to each other.
- The Path Switch: Choose between three routing options to stack the engines in series for thick lead tones, or run them in Parallel mode side-by-side to create entirely new harmonic layers.
- Tone Correction: Onboard Bass Boost and Mid Cut switches let you easily optimize the pedal when swapping between thin single-coils and hot humbuckers.
4. Fender The Bends V2 Compressor Pedal
Studio Dynamics Meets Independent Clean Boost
The Bends V2 brings low-noise, studio-grade OTA (Operational Transconductance Amplifier) compression directly to your feet. It effortlessly balances dynamics while offering a dual personality.
- Modern vs. Vintage: A specialized Vintage switch lets you toggle between crisp, modern, surgical compression and a smooth, warmly saturated vintage response.
- Pre/Post Clean Boost: The pedal features an entirely independent clean boost circuit. Using the Comp Pre/Post switch, you can place the boost before the compressor for endless sustain, or after it as a pure volume jump to push your tube amp over the edge.
Verdict & Score
Fender has hits on its hands with the V2 effects lineup. By upgrading the enclosures to include top-mounted jacks and adding highly practical dual-mode (latching/momentary) switching, they have addressed virtually every critique of the original series.
The inclusion of switchable true/buffered bypass across the board makes these a dream for complex signal chains. At $229.99/£169, they offer boutique-level routing features at a slightly more working-musician price point.
They are still quite expensive when compared to other well-known pedal brands.
Final Score: 7.2 / 10
Where to Buy: Available now at authorized Fender dealers and via Fender's Official Effects Collection.
#Fender #V2 Effects Pedal
- +Top-mounted jacks save pedalboard space
- +Dual-mode footswitches (latching/momentary) for flexibility
- +Studio-grade routing and tone-shaping features
- +True/buffered bypass on all four pedals
- +Durable aluminum enclosures
- −Expensive at $229.99/£169 compared to other well-known brands
- −Limited mention of tone comparison to competing products
What is the advantage of the V2 pedals' top-mounted jacks?
Top-mounted jacks route your cables out of the top of the pedal rather than the sides. This allows you to place pedals flush against one another, saving massive amounts of horizontal space on your pedalboard.
What do the "Multiswitch-enabled" footswitches do?
They allow for dual functionality. Latching mode operates like a traditional stompbox (click on, click off). Momentary mode engages the effect only while your foot is holding the switch down—perfect for adding a quick burst of fuzz, distortion, or boost for a single riff or solo fill.
Do these pedals require a special 18V power supply?
No. While the Santa Ana V2 runs at 18V internally to maximize headroom and tube-like response, it uses standard power inputs and converts the voltage internally, meaning you don't need a specialized power supply.
