The Octave Fuzz Thread

[hulakatt]

I still want... no, NEED... a Blue Box in my life one day.

Why don't I have a Blue Box in my life?

[Zork]

I’ve never been able to try one, but have always heard that the fuzz is really heavy and gnarly by itself. And I like octave up too. So it’s basically a win-win. I have a couple other irons in the fire at the moment, then I believe I’ll finally film this void in my fuzz toolbox.

Yeah, the Tone Machine without the octave in a dirty amp, preferably with a low tuned Tele, is one of the most perfect sounds ever. Based on your pedal collection you posted recently there's no doubt you'll be absolutely into it.
I've had several versions, starting out with the Danelectro French Toast which was good but very flimsy. I now have a kit build from Musikding.de which has a tad more low end than others I had but I thought the Orange Fur Coat was an exceptional good iteration of the Tone Machine. Dedicated footswitch for the octave and an extra dial for octave amount set it apart from other contenders, but it absolutely nails the sound of a good old Tone Machine and the graphics are nice, too.

[i love sharin foo]

I’ve never been able to try one, but have always heard that the fuzz is really heavy and gnarly by itself. And I like octave up too. So it’s basically a win-win. I have a couple other irons in the fire at the moment, then I believe I’ll finally film this void in my fuzz toolbox.

Yeah, the Tone Machine without the octave in a dirty amp, preferably with a low tuned Tele, is one of the most perfect sounds ever. Based on your pedal collection you posted recently there's no doubt you'll be absolutely into it.
I've had several versions, starting out with the Danelectro French Toast which was good but very flimsy. I now have a kit build from Musikding.de which has a tad more low end than others I had but I thought the Orange Fur Coat was an exceptional good iteration of the Tone Machine. Dedicated footswitch for the octave and an extra dial for octave amount set it apart from other contenders, but it absolutely nails the sound of a good old Tone Machine and the graphics are nice, too.

It does sound right up my alley! I need to build up the PCB that I have unhand as a stop gap until I am able to get my hands on a reissue.

[zhivago]

Any fans of the fOXX Tone Machines?

Another favourite circuit, for sure...the octave up can be so clean and prominent on them.

I've never had an original, but I had a Way Huge Piercing Moose for a while that was great...and of course, a Dano French Toast.

Very cool pedals!

[Shadoweclipse13]

Any fans of the fOXX Tone Machines?

Another favourite circuit, for sure...the octave up can be so clean and prominent on them.

I've never had an original, but I had a Way Huge Piercing Moose for a while that was great...and of course, a Dano French Toast.

Very cool pedals!

Are they kinda picky with what pickups you use them with? I love the sound of them on recordings and demos I've heard, but I had one last year for a week or two (Danelectro 3699 Fuzz) and it did nothing for me.

[Unicorn Warrior]

My first ever pedal was a Dunlop Octavia? Idk for sure but it was the grey one and kinda a bigger box. I didn’t really know what to use it for and could barely play at the time. It’s worth quite a bit now I think, although I no longer have it

[zhivago]

Any fans of the fOXX Tone Machines?

Another favourite circuit, for sure...the octave up can be so clean and prominent on them.

I've never had an original, but I had a Way Huge Piercing Moose for a while that was great...and of course, a Dano French Toast.

Very cool pedals!

Are they kinda picky with what pickups you use them with? I love the sound of them on recordings and demos I've heard, but I had one last year for a week or two (Danelectro 3699 Fuzz) and it did nothing for me.

I think so...it seems that most of these fuzzes worked better with Fenders for me...with lower output...I still haven't found a fuzz that I loved with Gibsons...maybe a Tone Bender MKI...that was the closest.

[MayTheFuzzBeWithYou]

I wasn‘t into octave fuzz at all until 3 about years ago.
Then I discovered my love for the Italo-Western Fuzz sound.
Currently I have an „Unpleasant Companion“ that sports FZ-2 & 6 (of which I prefer the Superfuzz), a Tentacle, two FuzzRite based devices and a JPTR FX Silvermachine of which I accidentally grilled the option to octave up when trying to make it switchable. (still sound good though)

My main Fuzz is the Surfadelic Soundwaves Mindfuzz and I‘d love to fire that up into octave territory but somehow it doesn‘t interact too well with any of them.
Any advice on how to best achieve that?

Positioning? At least my Surfy Bear (after) and my Tuner (atm 2nd in the Chain) are buffered.
Other solutions are welcome too!
Thanks a lot!

[jorri]

Superfuzz clone is back on my board. Ditching a DBA pedal which was ok but not that out the box as much as the SF.

The mods i did if i remember rightly:
- volume boost (this does change sound a little since i this is with existing circuit not an extra boost)
- matched octave components to enhance octave
- octave off switch
- feedback loop, which makes intermittent duck/frog sounds. Not so useful, but some settings are like a broken Blue Box with subharmonics.

I think in hindsight i'd add a tonal blend between the switch settings or low pass control. Maybe just a full on two knob eq but pre and post. The scooped setting is way too much.
I like feeding it with my guitar tone off, so could hardwire a knob for that. could have a little of the scoop for bass or could roll off a bit of top end. I imagine it would be perfect with that.
(Plus probably add a boost circuit as my volume boost way adds bit of noise.).

[CorporateDisguise]

I really love the Superfuzz circuit! I had a vintage orange and blue one that was unfortunately stolen. Now I use a Wattson EFY6, which may be my favorite fuzz of all time. Instead of a tone switch, they put it on a pot, so it is continuously variable between the two extremes. It also has an octave blend so you can dial in as much or little octave as you like. I like to dial it back a bit when playing chords, and crank it for single note stuff.

I also have a Dano French Toast, which is supposed to be a Foxx Tone Machine clone. Its a bit more bright and cutting. Not a huge fan of the fuzz sound, but the octave is great. I tend to run the fuzz really low and slam it into another fuzz.

I also have the EQD Hoof Reaper, that is basically a muff and tone bender, with a green ringer circuit. I stopped using it because the footswitches got a bit wonky. I should really send it in for repair…….

[CorporateDisguise]

Another favourite circuit, for sure...the octave up can be so clean and prominent on them.

I've never had an original, but I had a Way Huge Piercing Moose for a while that was great...and of course, a Dano French Toast.

Very cool pedals!

Are they kinda picky with what pickups you use them with? I love the sound of them on recordings and demos I've heard, but I had one last year for a week or two (Danelectro 3699 Fuzz) and it did nothing for me.

I think so...it seems that most of these fuzzes worked better with Fenders for me...with lower output...I still haven't found a fuzz that I loved with Gibsons...maybe a Tone Bender MKI...that was the closest.

My french toast isn’t super picky, but if you want the octave to shine on any octave fuzz, you need to use the neck pickup. It helps to roll the tone knob back a bit too. That said, with a strat, the octave is super clear, and more prominent. It still sounds good with my Jazzmaster and Firebird, but it’s just extra good with the strat.

[Shadoweclipse13]

Are they kinda picky with what pickups you use them with? I love the sound of them on recordings and demos I've heard, but I had one last year for a week or two (Danelectro 3699 Fuzz) and it did nothing for me.

I think so...it seems that most of these fuzzes worked better with Fenders for me...with lower output...I still haven't found a fuzz that I loved with Gibsons...maybe a Tone Bender MKI...that was the closest.

My french toast isn’t super picky, but if you want the octave to shine on any octave fuzz, you need to use the neck pickup. It helps to roll the tone knob back a bit too. That said, with a strat, the octave is super clear, and more prominent. It still sounds good with my Jazzmaster and Firebird, but it’s just extra good with the strat.

Interesting. The only guitars I had completely together and working when I had it was my Jazzmaster, and possibly my Tele Custom. I didn't know about the tone knob trick. I love that sound, but maybe it just wasn't one for me and my board...

[Russell1982]

I mentioned it in another thread but man, I LOVE this Octane in blue sparkle. I’ve been on the lookout for an Octane for a while but they never really come up anywhere. I have looked at some dealers having to special order one in for me.

Has anyone had any experience with the fender blender reissues? I’m sure I remember reading somewhere that they weren’t as good as the originals or something.

[hulakatt]

I mentioned it in another thread but man, I LOVE this Octane in blue sparkle. I’ve been on the lookout for an Octane for a while but they never really come up anywhere. I have looked at some dealers having to special order one in for me.

Has anyone had any experience with the fender blender reissues? I’m sure I remember reading somewhere that they weren’t as good as the originals or something.

I had a Fender Blender before I really understood how to get usable sounds of of an octave fuzz and unfortunately sold it. I've been wanting to get one back ever since. They're super aggressive and gnarly, more so than even the Ampeg Scrambler I have.

The ZVex Octane is a special pedal, you really should pick one up I think I have 4 now.

[hulakatt]