Electro Harmonix Octavix

[BenGWU]

Not heard much about this yet but it looks interesting and sounds good on a few demos, especially for the price.

Anyone played/got one? How was/is it for you? What other fuzz is it like?

 

[ruger9]

bump.... just watched the newer EXH demo vid, (the first one they put out sucked), and it sounds reeeallyyyy good...... I've sworn to never buy EHX again due to their terrible QC and CS, but.... the price, it's hard to beat.... compared to the huge cheese wedge dunlop or the superb CI Octavian....

 

[BenGWU]

And compared to the fulltone octafuzz that its very similar to

 

[gennation]

I'll be checking this out in person!

What was the one EHX made in the 70s? It was an octave down with fuzz built in. Was it the octavix back then too? Had one, loved it, not sure where it went though.

 

[neosoulchild]

I remember really wanting to like the pedal, but I didn't like how it sounded in the demos I saw.. I'm gonna check it out again.

 

[ruger9]

Just ordered one, will have it friday. I have tried a bunch, and sworn off trying anymore until I was ready to drop the coin on a Chicago Iron, but these demos and this price is too good to at least not give it a shot. Sounds a lot like a Tychobrae to me, and owners reviews are good. I'm really only looking for a "Blue on Black" type of thing anyway... more octave than fuzz, because I get most of my dirt from my amp.

The other one I recently discovered and wanted to try was the MJM Roctavios, but again- the price of this EHX is too good to pass up (even tho I have had terrible experiences with EHX's quality control/reliability...)

 

[ruger9]

First impressions:

This is ALOT closer to what I have been after all this time. IDK if this is the Tychobrae circuit, or is designed to sound like it, but it sounds very similar to me.... I went thru quite a few octave fuzzes on my quest, but I never had a tychobrae "clone"... didn't buy the CI because it was so expensive, didn't buy the Dunlop wedge because it's so damn (unnecessarily) big, I didn't know about the MJM until only recently.... anyway, even tho I was chasing that tone, I never did by a "clone", I ended up with others (like Foxx clones), not really understanding that the Tychobra has a very unique octave sound.

Well, IDK if I'll keep the Octavix yet, because now I REALLY want a CI, but it's FAR closer to the tone I've been after than anything else I;ve owned... it's gotta' be a Tychobrae "clone" type, or at least attempting to achieve that tone.

The fuzz, on it's own, is a little spitty and thin for me; I prefer my BOG. But as a fuzz/octave, in the right hands, I doubt you could tell whether someone was playing a Tychobrae, a CI, a Dunlop, or an Octavix.

Now, fingers crossed this one doesn't loose it's sh1t on me, like a FEW other EHX pedals have....

 

[Sociophile]

This is one of the pedals that Pedal Morpheus will mod... anyone take the plunge on the mod yet? I am very curious...

 

[ruger9]

What exactly is the mod?

 

[ruger9]

Returning mine.... it's actually quite good, better than any other octave/fuzz I have tried, but it's just a little too spitty for me. I'd like something a bit warmer and smoother.... like my BOG with the added octave
[for those who don't know, the BOG is supposedly the Octavia with it's octave removed]

From everything I read, it looks like MJM is probably the way to go. Contacting him today.

 

[Cuthbert]

Please keep us posted. I too have been jonesing for the Chicago Iron but don't want to drop $330.
Looking for a Band of Gypsies or "Blue on Black" kind of flutey, warm tone. I just missed a Mayer Octavia on ebay. That is apparently the circuit Hendrix played through which is a bit different than the Tycobrahe which the Chicago Iron is built after.

 

[BenGWU]

Returning mine.... it's actually quite good, better than any other octave/fuzz I have tried, but it's just a little too spitty for me. I'd like something a bit warmer and smoother.... like my BOG with the added octave
[for those who don't know, the BOG is supposedly the Octavia with it's octave removed]

From everything I read, it looks like MJM is probably the way to go. Contacting him today.

I think it's definitely worth a shot for me then for that price. My next buy when I get some £££. (started a new job this week, won't be getting paid for a few weeks)

 

[BenGWU]

Tell me about the 9v - 24v switch, does it make a big enough difference?

 

[Roadstar II]

Tell me about the 9v - 24v switch, does it make a big enough difference?

I played an Octavix at a music store recently for about 15 minutes. Went through a bunch of settings on both 9v and 24v. There is a pronounced difference, 24v is a lot beefier. That said, both modes are good.

I liked the pedal a lot in the store, but I didn't get it because of the lack of EQ options. My amp thins out fuzz pedals like no one's business so i didn't take the plunge. I was really impressed with the pedal, though.

 

[ruger9]

I don't hear 24V as "beefier", "beefier" generally meaning more lows or low-mids. 24V gives you more headroom, but I did not hear a dramatic difference between 9V and 24V when using the octave.... I wasn't using much fuzz, I was looking more for the octave, which has it's own fuzz even with the fuzz control at minimum. I didn't spend much time using the pedal as a fuzz only (I have my BOG for that, and it sounds much better), so I can't comment on "24v setting using fuzz only"... but it didn't make a huge difference when the octave was dialed up.

 

[Don Rusk]

Yes its the Ty circuit and yes we will be doing a germanium mod to give it more character and less grind....

 

[ruger9]

Yes its the Ty circuit and yes we will be doing a germanium mod to give it more character and less grind....

Cool, thanks for the confirmation that it is indeed the Ty circuit... with all these clones of that circuit, I wonder what makes them sound different? Some sound fatter/thicker, some sound spittier/thinner, etc...

 

[cuz/karl]

The Fulltone sounds right and is cheap

 

[Don Rusk]

Cool, thanks for the confirmation that it is indeed the Ty circuit... with all these clones of that circuit, I wonder what makes them sound different? Some sound fatter/thicker, some sound spittier/thinner, etc...

Good point....and thats true of most circuits .... there are looots of ways to sculpt the variables and thats one reason there are an infinite number of possible pedals.....

 

[gennation]

Picked one up last night, not really digging it. It sound MUCH more articulate in that video. Kind of squishy meaning you can hear the sound of the device but it's hard to find the notes in the noise. I might try it through a different amp tonight but I'm taking it back tonight or tomorrow