Titan Boost/Up Octave Review

[jmusser]

I finally got to build the John Hollis Boost/Octave, with the weirdo Maplin transformer (thanks Lightningfingers!). I can say one thing for sure, it's my wife and son's favorite pedal so far, because it doesn't scream and have sonic mayhem :lol: . They're used to me lighting off the Ugly Face or Simple Octave Up. This pedal is a Booster/OD type effect, and does a great job at that. It makes your playing a lot more distinct and enhanced. I really enjoyed playing through it and getting my Angus Young thing going. The up octave section of it was disappointing. It does do the up octave thing, but it's just not as "in your face" as I'm used to. The Psychtar I built, would blow it out of the water. I think if anything, it adds an overall treble tone to the pedal. I built the boost and octave sections to be switched back and forth with a DPDT switch. I would call this pedal the "mistake enhancer", because if your chords or notes aren't fretted cleanly, you'll know it right away :wink:  I would like to see how Dragonfly's Sparkle Boost would stack up to it, since he's really bragged about it. This is my first circuit of this type, so I'm going to have to play it awhile, and up against other boosters to see how it stacks up, but it does a great job at overall tone enhancement.

[jmusser]

I've been playing it a little bit more, and like it more all the time. The Up Octave portion of it I'm appreciating more. No, it's not "in your face", but, it fits the pedal well. Being this is a booster and not a distortion/fuzz type pedal, it gives what it's supposed to, a clean octave up that tends to brighten up the whole fingerboard, and an apparent octave up tone after the 10th fret. Since it's a booster driven up octave, it suits the booster tone better then it would if it was a real "in your face" screamer. This makes the transition from one to the other more transparent. Does that make sense? :? This would make a good pedal for blues or surf.

[lightningfingers]

So you finally got round to building it  

which diodes did you use? coz the octave on mine is real pronounced....I used 1N34A's.

[jmusser]

I used the 1N34s. I bought a pretty good fist full from Aron awhile back. The octave is very pronounced, as far as being able to tell that you're playing an up octave, and not the standard boost, but it just doesn't rattle the pipes. Every other up octave I have built is more intense than this one is, but that may just be the difference between it getting pushed with a boost, and not a fuzz. Right now, I have to compare it to the Simple Octave Up, because to this point, it has been the most extreme octave up, I have built. If the SOU is a 10, then the Titan Octave is a 6. I haven't built the Super Fuzz yet, so that may knock the SOU out of the top spot, but right now, it's King. Like I said, I believe the lower intensity of the up octave matches the boost well. I really like the tone of the Titan overall, boost and octave. It was definitely worth the cost of the transformer. I guess I felt with the primary to secondary ratio being what it is on this transfomer, that the up octave would go into the stratisphere.