Battle of the Octave Fuzzes!

YouAre · July 20, 2007, 11:26:39 AM

I'm considering building either the Foxx octave fuzz or the Octavia (with the transformer)

I'm not going to ask "which is better blah blah" cause thats obviously too subjective

BUT

Which one is less sputtery and has more sustain? I want the fuzz thats closer to something like a rat, but still a good fuzz.

Can any of you who've had both compare the two?

thanks,
murad

Jaicen_solo · July 20, 2007, 01:11:01 PM

Definitely go for the Foxx (Tone Machine). That's a proper fuzz with octave, wheras the octavia is an octave effect, that's a bit fuzzy.
Personally, I prefer the RM to the transformer octavia, but that's beside the point. The Foxx will work much better at low voltage levels than the Octavia, and you can turn off the octave for a hi-gain silicon fuzz sound. Two pedals for the price of one

Pushtone · July 20, 2007, 01:37:58 PM

I just finished the GGG FTM and I think the Scrammbler sounds better. They sure sound a lot alike.

I don't think either has a pleasant fuzz sound with the bridge pickup and a wide open Tone control on the guitar.
Both MUST have the Tone knob on your neck pickup turned all the way down to get the best octave result.

They are both one trick ponys. And nothing like the RAT sound. Or the BigMuff sound for that matter.

The Scrambler's BLEND control is more useful, I think, than the Foxx's VOLUME TONE or SUSTAIN put together.

Just my opinion FWIW from what I've built.

Sir H C · July 20, 2007, 02:07:49 PM

Favorite is the Ibanez Standard Fuzz, a Super Fuzz variant with FETs at the input. Really gritty and fun. Next would be the Foxx as you can turn off the octave (octive in Foxx speak) if you don't want it.

Mark Hammer · July 20, 2007, 02:16:01 PM

Listen to Adrian Belew and ask yourself if you like those sounds. If you do, you want a Foxx.

Jackie Treehorn · July 20, 2007, 03:43:26 PM

I really like my GGG Foxx Tone Machine. I used the original transistors from small bear and matched the diodes for maximum octave. It gets a wide range of octave sound over the fretboard and different pick ups. I usually do not roll off the treble when I use it.

I don't know if they all do it, but it will also get the Octavia steel drum type sounds when you roll off the volume on the guitar, too. Plus, it works really well into a high gain amplifier. It's one of my favorite pedals of all time.

tcobretti · July 20, 2007, 05:15:19 PM

I think the Scramber is great, but I also love the FTM. These pedals give you a very strong octave and also allow for non-octave fuzz. However, neither is very Rat like; they are both more like a FF than a Rat. Both do have good sustain though.

One of the things I love about the FTM is the extreme flexibility of the circuit. Everything before the Q3 is the octave portion; everything after is the fuzz. So, I believe that with some thought you could set up a blend pot that would allow you the blend in the octave, or even set up some switches so you can turn on just the octave, just the fuzz, or both. You could also tweak the tone section so it is brighter and more Rat like. For that matter, I bet you could just build everything up to Q3 and tack it on the front of a Rat.

Or even simpler, just build my Octo-booster and put it in front of a Rat. If you have any fuzz or distortion you like, the Octo-booster turns it into an octave fuzz.

Solidhex · July 20, 2007, 05:36:52 PM

So far I'm going to go with the Octavia. That's only because the 2 foxx tone machine clones and the Scrambler clone I've made have not worked completely... Both Foxx Octaves ( GGG boards ) lack gain/sustain and the treble in the octave side will make your ears bleed. I used the OG 3565's in one and the 2N2222's in the other. The Scrambler ( Ustomp layout ) is really weak on the gain front too. I'll save that for another post. I do really like the Octavia though...

--Brad

Dragonfly · July 20, 2007, 06:08:21 PM

Quote from: Solidhex on July 20, 2007, 05:36:52 PM
So far I'm going to go with the Octavia. That's only because the 2 foxx tone machine clones and the Scrambler clone I've made have not worked completely... Both Foxx Octaves ( GGG boards ) lack gain/sustain and the treble in the octave side will make your ears bleed. I used the OG 3565's in one and the 2N2222's in the other. The Scrambler ( Ustomp layout ) is really weak on the gain front too. I'll save that for another post. I do really like the Octavia though...

--Brad

read the "debugging" thread, post your results, and lets get those fuzzes working properly !

Fuzzy-Train · July 20, 2007, 06:12:13 PM

Quote from: Jaicen_solo on July 20, 2007, 01:11:01 PMThe Foxx will work much better at low voltage levels than the Octavia, and you can turn off the octave for a hi-gain silicon fuzz sound. Two pedals for the price of one

You can do the same with the octavia... just a matter of putting a diode on a switch.

I love my octavia... is soo nasty and dirty and it sounds really cool with the fuzz cranked.

YouAre · July 20, 2007, 07:09:23 PM

Quote from: tcobretti on July 20, 2007, 05:15:19 PM
I think the Scramber is great, but I also love the FTM. These pedals give you a very strong octave and also allow for non-octave fuzz. However, neither is very Rat like; they are both more like a FF than a Rat. Both do have good sustain though.

One of the things I love about the FTM is the extreme flexibility of the circuit. Everything before the Q3 is the octave portion; everything after is the fuzz. So, I believe that with some thought you could set up a blend pot that would allow you the blend in the octave, or even set up some switches so you can turn on just the octave, just the fuzz, or both. You could also tweak the tone section so it is brighter and more Rat like. For that matter, I bet you could just build everything up to Q3 and tack it on the front of a Rat.

Or even simpler, just build my Octo-booster and put it in front of a Rat. If you have any fuzz or distortion you like, the Octo-booster turns it into an octave fuzz.

yeah, i just used the rat as a reference point. I was just looking for the most distortion like fuzz, meaning not sputtery and with a good amount of sustain.

I tried a dirty version of your oct-booster. I bought the radioshack transformer, tacked it on to the orman mostfet boost and added the germ diodes. It didn't work out too well. Can you link me to your thread with the revised and updated version?

As far as octave, i think the foxx may be more suited for me. Cause...danelectro has the french toast octave fuzz! Haha, i may get that instead. But for now, i think i may try your octave up booster. Ideally, i think i'm looking for a pedal that i can blend the octave in.

So the octave part of the foxx is before the fuzz, and the octave part of the octavia is after the fuzz? interesting. I think i'll try building both octave bits.

thanks!

tcobretti · July 20, 2007, 11:59:35 PM

Octobooster -

It seems like it doesn't work too well if the booster's gain is too high, so this mid gain booster seems to works well. I should point out that it was pure luck that I stumbled on this booster, not skill.

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=46021.0

bumblebee · July 21, 2007, 12:18:47 AM

I just built a FTM the other day and overall its a cool pedal.
It has a real nice fuzz thats in the BMP area but a little different,the sustain is less than a BMP but good nonetheless.The tone is more usable than a BMP imo,you only have to move it a little and it changes the sound a lot,or then again my ears could just be picking up subtle differences.
The octave does work better on the neck pup but i've had no need to mess with the tone on my guitar to get it to work "better",i have my guitar on full all the time.It still sound cool on the bridge pup.

I found if ya do a E chord on octave it sounds like this cool lightning type effect,its pretty neat.

I only had about 2 hours with it so far but i'm looking forward to messing with it and a blue
box together.(octave up and down)

Its a fun effect,and bang for buck as well cause its like two in one!

jonathan perez · July 21, 2007, 12:26:52 AM

the battle of midway

bumblebee · July 21, 2007, 12:34:38 AM

Quote from: thebattleofmidway on July 21, 2007, 12:26:52 AM
the battle of midway

Huh?

Jaicen_solo · July 21, 2007, 01:48:20 AM

So are you looking for clean or fuzzy octave? If you're after clean, you could do worse than check out either of Tim Escobedo's Rambler or Pushmepullyou octavers. They're pretty simple and very effective.

YouAre · July 21, 2007, 10:52:37 AM

Quote from: Jaicen_solo on July 21, 2007, 01:48:20 AM
So are you looking for clean or fuzzy octave? If you're after clean, you could do worse than check out either of Tim Escobedo's Rambler or Pushmepullyou octavers. They're pretty simple and very effective.

hahahhaha "you could do worse than check out." i like that!

I was looking for a fuzzy octave, one with a good sustaining fuzz. Since t(a)cobretti suggested his clean octave, i figured i'd try that with a fuzz i like.

YouAre · July 24, 2007, 12:42:18 AM

ah well, i've been doing my research and i remembered the danelectro french toast. supposedly a straight clone of the foxx.

so i found THIS http://youtube.com/watch?v=GQUFnNqFRnw

skip past his silly banter to like 2:45 when he engages the pedal. That cutting thick fuzz that sustains nicely. For the guys that built the foxx, is yours anything close to that?

thanks,
murad

jonathan perez · July 24, 2007, 12:47:37 AM

i ran my green ringer (built in my guitar) into a CRAZY boss fuzz...the new one, i think...and it was @#$%ing amazing..

caress · July 24, 2007, 01:16:17 AM

...both the foxx tone machine and an octavia can switch out the octave for just fuzz...

i've built two octavias and one foxx and i think that for fuzz alone, the foxx sounds more intense, sustain-ey, compressed, etc...just a bit bigger in general.

for octaver stuff, the octavia works a bit better to get really gnarly ringmod-type clashing sounds.

the tone knob on the foxx works really well, IMO, to go from warm and muddy to tinny and piercing. i tried tacking it onto the end of an octavia with a recovery stage with little success. it worked in a pretty subtle way; not at all like the control you get from the foxx. adding a muff tone section and recovery stage, though, was very nice...

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Battle of the Octave Fuzzes!