Jam Pedals has brought back one of its old limited edition favourites and a bona-fide modern classic of octave fuzz, the Octaurus. And it has brought this gnarly fuzz pedal back in two distinct flavours.
For the cork-sniffers, those whose eyes light up – and wallets open – open hearing the words “New Old Stock”, there is an NOS version in black featuring the very same silicon transistors and germanium diodes as the original – and now sold-out – limited edition Octaurus.
Sadly, it does not come in the same zip-up suede jacket as the original 2023 Octaurus LTD but you can’t have everything. That original design was inspired by ‘golden era’ vintage units, but not one in particular.
Jam Pedals took some of its favourites and tried to design a circuit that would have all those “behavioural attributes”.
“Our mission was to find a way to bring them all together in a single standalone device,” said the company in 2023.
Those rare NOS parts come at a premium, of course. For those less bothered about the provenance of the components, there is a the Standard green version. Both do a very similar job. Both might convince those on the fence about octave-fuzz that this could be a hard-working addition to the pedalboard.
These are deceptively versatile. Jam Pedals prides itself on both NOS and Standard iterations of the circuit delivering a clear and defined octave effect. Furthermore, your electric guitar tone retains that clarity that can sometimes be lost with some fuzz boxes.
And dialling in a sound is simple. You have three knobs for Level, Tone and Gain, plus a pair of toggle switches for selecting between asymmetric and symmetric clipping, and between two voicings, one full-range, the other mid-scooped.
If you are looking to get a bead on where to start, Jam Pedals suggests the nuclear option: dime it and see what you get. Don’t shy away from trying the gain and tone knobs at full throttle as this pedal’s strong attributes i.e. a strong octave and rich harmonics really shine at these settings,” it says.
You will get a tighter and more precise sound from the symmetrical clipping, with a more opened-up and dynamic feel on the asymmetric. Those two voicing switches should help you find a place in the mix, with the full-range mode particularly assertive when playing with an accompaniment.
Rolling back the volume on your electric guitar and you can get a quasi-ring mod tone as the octave shines through and the gain backs off. Jam Pedals says the octave effect will stay clear no matter which pickup you are on.
The Octaurus NOS is available now in limited quantities and is priced £289/$339. The Standard is priced £219/$259. You can run ‘em on a 9V batter or from a pedalboard power supply. For more details, head over to Jam Pedals.
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