Octave Fuzz Perfected? A Deep Dive into the JAM Octaurus

The fuzz octave effect was created by Roger Mayer for Jimi Hendrix in 1967, as heard on the tracks “Purple Haze” and “Fire”. The Roger Mayer-made Octavia was never mass-produced. In the early 1970s, Mayer's design was stolen by Tycobrahe, who received one for repair and reverse-engineered it. Tycobrahe released their own version without paying Mayer for the design and mass-produced it.

The design for the Tycobrahe and early Octavia used a transformer to create the octave effect. Roger Mayer stated, though, that he didn’t prefer the transformer design. Mayer preferred an all-transistor design, which he started building in the early 70s.

In 1971, Steve Ridinger designed the Foxx Tone Machine, which was the first mass-produced all-transistor octave fuzz. The octave effect was more prominent on the Foxx Tone Machine. You can hear the Foxx Tone Machine on Adrien Belew’s song “Big Electric Cat”.

Many modern octave fuzz builders use all-transistor designs due to their increased reliability, lower cost, power efficiency, ease of tuning the pedals’ octave effect, and smaller size and weight.

I have had a love-hate relationship with fuzz octave pedals. I like the idea, but many of the fuzz octaves I’ve tried, I either didn’t like the octave or the fuzz circuit. It’s been hard to find one where I loved both.

I used to own the now collectible Prescription Electronics Experience pedal. The octave was too pronounced, and the fuzz was bass-heavy and unresponsive. The Experience pedal was modeled after the Foxx Tone Machine, which debuted in 1971. I eventually sold the Experience pedal. I had been holding onto it because it had become quite valuable. However, I wasn’t using it, and I generally only keep gear I actually use. 

I also tried the Dan Electro French Toast, which is a very affordable octave fuzz. The fuzz was too saturated for my taste, and again, the octave effect was too prominent.

After the French Toast, I tried the Fulltone Octafuzz, which is a recreation of the Tycobrahe Octavia with a transformer. The Octafuzz was much closer to what I wanted. The octave ghost was gentler. I still wasn’t enamored with the fuzz, though. Additionally, there is currently the issue that Fulltone is out of business.

So far, octave fuzzes hadn’t blown me away. But I didn’t give up yet. I noticed one of my favorite pedal companies, Jam, released an octave fuzz called Octaurus. Something just compelled me to research more and test the pedal, partly from experience with the company.

That was a worthwhile exploration. I immediately fell in love with the Octaurus. I have a quick response to pedals. For the most part, a pedal should immediately elevate your tone. If I must fight with a pedal to get a suitable tone when I plug in, it’s a red flag.

Of course, there are some exceptions to the rule, especially with more adventurous pedals such as the Red Panda Tensor. However, in general, I can tell quickly whether I’ll love it or not.

Octave Salvation

The Octaurus is a silicon fuzz with germanium diodes and isn’t a recreation of any circuit, but rather its own creature. It’s an all-transistor design, but it doesn’t react or sound like other all-transistor designs I’ve tried. The octave effect doesn’t overwhelm your tone like the Experience pedal. Like all octave fuzz pedals, the intensity of the octave depends on your choice of pickup (neck pickups allow the octave to be most prevalent) and the position you play on the guitar.

Playing around the 12th fret with the neck pickup will give you the strongest octave sound. Playing in other positions and with different pickups can evoke ghosts of the octave effect. The audibility of the fuzz can vary from one circuit to another. The Octuarus loses the octave effect to be audible in many positions and with chords, but it isn’t overwhelming like the Foxx Tone Machine circuit and other modern makes.  

You can play single note lines to create octave-up harmonies. Still, you can also be more adventurous and play dyads, power chords, and triads to create interesting sounds that are reminiscent of a ring modulator. You can start to hear the octaves fight each other, which creates a unique style of tension in the tone.

I enjoy using the Octuarus for garage-like tones by playing power chords with the pedal on. There is a unique trashiness you get from the octave effect.

The Octaurus can be used traditionally, as Jimi Hendrix did on “Purple Haze” and “Fire,” or like Jack White on some of the White Stripes recordings. Alternatively, you can opt for a less traditional and more experimental approach. The Octuarus excels at both of these applications.

You can hear modern artists such as the Black Keys, Mudhoney, and Fu Manchu use octave fuzz.

Toggle for Happiness

The fuzz in the Octaurus sounds very pleasing, which is a big selling point for me. The original Fuzz Tone Machine allowed you to turn off the octave effect to use the fuzz, but the fuzz is very specific. I dig the Foxx Tone Machine Fuzz, but it’s less usable on a regular basis.

Jam included a toggle switch that allows you to change the voicing (located at the top left). There are two options: Full and Scooped. The full setting offers a full-range, harmonically rich fuzz with a nice midrange. The scooped setting cuts out the midrange. Jam clearly understands guitar and noticed that many players often chain an EQ to fuzz pedals to boost or cut frequencies as needed. The toggle means we don’t have to use an EQ pedal, which usually degrades our signal. 

I find myself using the voicing toggle a lot! Especially when dealing with backline amps as you may end up with an amp that is not voiced to your preference.

Another wonderfully thoughtful feature on the Octuarus is the Clipping toggle switch (located at the top right), which allows you to choose between two types of clipping. There is symmetrical clipping, which is a tighter, more precise fuzz that has a fast attack, and asymmetrical clipping, which has a looser, more dynamic sound and feel.  

The ability to change the clipping is unusual in a fuzz pedal and is an appreciated addition. I use the clipping toggle frequently, as I do such a wide variety of sessions and music, and the flexibility is quite helpful.

And the toggles on the Jam Octuarus are made to last! They are not flimsy.

There have been some pedals I’ve acquired over the years that I’ve felt were features added just because they could. And in many of these cases, I’ve felt that those features fell flat because the thought was not given deep consideration. Jam has really thought about guitar players and the everyday frustrations they face with fuzz pedals, offering well-considered options to help.

Jam pedals rather than make an exact replication of with either the transformer model or early all-transistor models decided to observe what wasn’t working in these circuits and evolve without losing the core of what the sound is supposed to be.

Guitar Volume Knob

There is much joy to be found with rolling back your guitar volume knob and playing the Octopus. Rolling back the guitar volume knob exposes the ring mod style capabilities of an octave fuzz. You can create slightly broken fuzz tones that have a wonderful personality. You can conjure up ring mod-like effects with any pickups; however, single coils work best for this scenario.

Silicon and Germanium

The Jam Octuarus uses a combination of silicon transistors and germanium diodes. This is a unique touch. The silicon transistors provide high gain, strong sustain, reliable operation, and an articulate, aggressive octave effect without the harshness associated with some silicon-only designs.

The germanium diodes soften the fuzz’s clipping characteristics, adding warmth, musical overtones, and a vintage texture that rounds off the high end and lends smoothness to aggressive notes.

The circuit avoids overpowering octaves; the octave note remains prominent but well-integrated, and retains full note body across the fretboard, unlike some circuits where the effect is thin or overly “effect-y”

Most fuzz circuits are either all-silicon (brighter, harder) or all-germanium (warmer, spongier). The Octuarus blend aims to capture the best of both: punchy, reliable fuzz with a sweet-edged vintage feel and versatile octave content.

Okay, clearly, I’m nerding out over the Jam Octuarus as it’s a pedal that will remain in my collection for many uses.

True Craft

JAM Pedals are all hand-made and hand-painted in Athens, Greece. The company has maintained its commitment to handcrafted production since its founding in 2005, and every pedal is built, painted, assembled, and audio-checked by a dedicated team at its workshop in Athens.

The boutique guitar world has its share of smoke and mirrors. Some companies publicly claim to be boutique but have their pedals made by a larger manufacturer. The extra attention to detail, such as audio testing, really makes a difference. All of my favorite fuzz pedals are true hand-built and tested. I feel that with fuzz pedals, this is especially important.

Jam also offers a unique option to create your own multi-pedal. You can choose any selection of Jam pedals to be built into one enclosure. This is a fantastic option for fly dates or throw-and-go gigs. I have never been able to commit to a multi-effects pedal because I can’t deal with the tone loss. The option to create a multi-effects pedal with no tone loss and Jam circuits is exciting!