# Octave pedal?



## Iceman53 (Jan 16, 2020)

Anyone build an octave pedal that works well?


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## benny_profane (Jan 16, 2020)

Are you talking an octave fuzz or a pure octave? In the case of the former, more than a few. In the case of the latter, you'd need DSP for that.


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## Robert (Jan 16, 2020)

If you want a clean octave (and can live with a small amount of latency) your best bet would be an FV-1 patch...   The dual pitch shifter does two independent voices, from -1 / +1 octave (and anywhere in between).


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## stevtron (Jan 16, 2020)

I just say ... Pitch Bay ?


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## Robert (Jan 16, 2020)

stevtron said:


> I just say ... Pitch Bay ?



Ahhh, that reminds me....


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## Iceman53 (Jan 16, 2020)

Well, I really don't 'need' one, but I have plenty of ODs, delays, chorus', compressors... I was watching a video on the EHX Pitchfork, so I decided to see if  there was anything similar to build.  I need my next Winter project, without getting too complicated.


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## Iceman53 (Jan 16, 2020)

benny_profane said:


> Are you talking an octave fuzz or a pure octave? In the case of the former, more than a few. In the case of the latter, you'd need DSP for that.


An Octave Fuzz would be good.  Do you have a favorite?


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## Nostradoomus (Jan 16, 2020)

Octave up: Fuzzy Fox

Octave Down: Mantle fuzz


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## benny_profane (Jan 16, 2020)

Iceman53 said:


> An Octave Fuzz would be good.  Do you have a favorite?



I agree with @Nostradoomus with the octave down. I think the octave toggle mod (-1 and -2 octaves on a toggle) is very easy and worthwhile mod for that project.

In terms of octave up, I’ve made:

*Univox Superfuzz*: Very cool circuit and probably my favorite octave fuzz (that I’ve played). Suffers a bit from low output, so a gain recovery stage is often added. Bit more difficult to build since it’s picky about transistor hFE values—certainly doable, though. You might have to measure a few handfuls of transistors before you find some good ones, but you can use current production devices no problem. The web is full of good resources there if you are interested.
*Ampeg Scrambler*: Pretty dirty. The blend control is great for guitar and bass. I’d pick this one for bass/preserving low end
*Green Ringer/Tentacle*: You know what you’re getting with this one. I don’t particularly like it compared to others. Very accessible circuit and you can hear plenty of demos to decide for yourself. I think this one is great for creating texture along with other distortion/fuzz, but as a stand-alone, I’m not crazy about it.
I need to get around to building the fOXX tone machine, tychobrahe Octavia, and the fender blender. The blender is, if I recall correctly, rather similar to the scrambler. The fOXX and tychobrahe units are classics.

*EDIT*: you might find this site interesting.





						Fuzz Central -- Making the world a fuzzier place for 5 years
					

One of the largest sites for do-it-yourself guitar effects builders.  Schematics and Printed circuit board layouts for rare pedals like the Tycobrahe Octavia, Clyde McCoy wah and lots of vintage fuzz pedals!




					fuzzcentral.ssguitar.com


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## Nostradoomus (Jan 16, 2020)

Also the U235 from Parasit studio is great if you want a semi clean octave down!

edit: Hyped Fuzz as well, very versatile unit...the gain boost is rad.


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## Iceman53 (Jan 16, 2020)

benny_profane said:


> I agree with @Nostradoomus with the octave down. I think the octave toggle mod (-1 and -2 octaves on a toggle) is very easy and worthwhile mod for that project.
> 
> In terms of octave up, I’ve made:
> 
> ...


Wow!  Plenty of good info.  Thanks.  Time to research these


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## Chuck D. Bones (Jan 17, 2020)

The dual pitch shifter is one of my favorite patches for the Arachnid.  I set one pitch knob for octave up, the other pitch knob for octave down and adjust the balance for mostly octave up. Turns a 6-string guitar into a 12 string.  The tiny bit of latency makes it sound richer and more realistic.


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## Iceman53 (Jan 18, 2020)

Chuck D. Bones said:


> The dual pitch shifter is one of my favorite patches for the Arachnid.  I set one pitch knob for octave up, the other pitch knob for octave down and adjust the balance for mostly octave up. Turns a 6-string guitar into a 12 string.  The tiny bit of latency makes it sound richer and more realistic.


OK, you got my attention with the Arachnid posts, and I have some questions, just so I know what I'm getting into.  Where do the FV-1  patches come from? How do they get loaded onto the EEPROM, or does that EEPROM come pre-loaded with the patch? And the SMD...how would I solder that?  I do not have SMD soldering equipment (yet). Sorry for all the questions.  Some of this is new to me.

*Edit *- I just noticed that I can have the FV-1 soldered before shipment.  One question solved.



stevtron said:


> I just say ... Pitch Bay ?


Just watched a video on the Pitch Bay.  That _does _look interesting...


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## phi1 (Jan 18, 2020)

The arachnid, octagon, and module8 projects are all the same pcb, just the octagon and module8 have different eeproms (each eeprom holds up to 8 patches). You can buy just the eeproms and swap them out (be sure to use a machined pin socket for the eeprom chip). Check out the eeprom category. There’s also an eeprom builder where you can choose patches for your eeprom al a carte (my favorite way).

You can choose the option to have pedalpcb solder the smd fv-1 chip for you. But it’s really not that hard with a small tipped iron. I did one my first time soldering smd with no problem.


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## phi1 (Jan 18, 2020)

@PedalPCB maybe you could make a sticky thread on general questions for the fv-1 stuff?  It’s not very obvious on the project pages and gets asked a lot. I know I had to ask when I did my first arachnid.


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## Iceman53 (Jan 18, 2020)

phi1 said:


> The arachnid, octagon, and module8 projects are all the same pcb, just the octagon and module8 have different eeproms (each eeprom holds up to 8 patches). You can buy just the eeproms and swap them out (be sure to use a machined pin socket for the eeprom chip). Check out the eeprom category. There’s also an eeprom builder where you can choose patches for your eeprom al a carte (my favorite way).
> 
> You can choose the option to have pedalpcb solder the smd fv-1 chip for you. But it’s really not that hard with a small tipped iron. I did one my first time soldering smd with no problem.


This?answers a lot. Thanks!


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## phi1 (Jan 18, 2020)

Oh and the spatialist reverb is also the arachnid pcb (you can tell because they all have the same build docs). Some awesome reverbs on that chip.


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## Robert (Jan 18, 2020)

phi1 said:


> @PedalPCB maybe you could make a sticky thread on general questions for the fv-1 stuff?  It’s not very obvious on the project pages and gets asked a lot. I know I had to ask when I did my first arachnid.



Yep, definitely needs to happen.     Even more so, the product pages should probably be a bit more informative... All of them.


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