Recommend an Octavia / Tone Machine clone?

[K2000]

Foxrox Octron has octave up and down.

http://www.foxroxelectronics.com/Octron.html

Octron 2 lets you control them separately.

http://www.foxroxelectronics.com/Octron2.html

[tabbycat]

Joyo Voodoo fuzz is a pretty cool Tone Machine/Superfuzz clone with a switchable octave. They're also like 35 dollars on Amazon

+1

Wasn't blown away with mine, but the circuit is supposedly just one small mod away from being a spot on Tone machine clone. The fuzz isn't too hot on it's own imp, but I'm sure it'd be useable if you'd stack it with another drive pedal. And the joyo is the only cheap TM clone I know of that comes with the two switches.

HBE seems like your best bet if you don't mind spendinf a little more.

The Fuzz Master general is an FM-2 clone if I'm not mistaking, which impo is in the same family and probably equally awesome in it's own way.
Never messed with a Devi Vintage Fuzz Master, but it's also supposedly a decent replica of the FM-2.

In case you want to try something that sounds a little different from your old dano french toast: The Superfuzz isn't too different impo. Less octave, but otherwhise similar enough imo. If that's an option at all, I highly recommend the Wattson EFY-6. But the Boss FZ-2 owns the superfuzz game, plus it's probably one of the cheapest options in that category. Not for the faint of heart, and not very vintage-y either, it's got a more balls/compression/gain than your average direct clone. The Maxon 'f'uzz elements' air would be one of the best superfuzz clones out there...if it weren't overpriced.

hey mathias,

the joyo voodoo octave (aka joyo ultimate octave, orignial name) is a foxx tone machine clone, but the standard joyo pcb has two electrolytic caps are soldered the wrong way around.
if you desolder and rotate them so the polarity stripe is pointing in the opposite direction that will give you the full on foxxtone clone.
there are also two minor cap value differences between the joyo and the foxx which you can also swap, but the difference they make to the final sound is negligable and most at fsb who have tried it say it isn't worth doing.

random vid from yt of someone who has done the mod:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHz72syLYvo[/youtube]

link to post at fsb: http://www.freestompboxes.org/viewtopic ... a&start=80
you have to be registered there to see the pics that illustrate the mod, but here's mine (from fsb) showing how the caps should be oriented after the mod:



and these are capacitor solder points (circled) as seen from the back of the pcb:



sounds superb afterwards. octave for miles and a healthy throaty fuzz. highly recommended.

as for the boss fz-2 hyperfuzz, the behringer sf300 super fuzz is a clone.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5RahPrH7qE[/youtube]

i've given mine a germanium/silicon clipping diode switch which actually gets it as close as to a univox superfuzz as you can for absolutely no money, unless you want to build a supperfuzz clone from scratch (which i have too). fz-2 is a relative (in circuit terms) of the superfuzz.
plastic case not as nice as the joyo, but the diode mod is easy enough if you know how to use a soldering iron. can post pics here if you want to see where to take wires off the pcb for a diode switch.

enjoy.

[Uncle Grandfather]

Malekko Helium and Chaos are both really unique octave up pedals, not really clones of anything as far as I know.

[rfurtkamp]

The Joyo works for cheap, even stock.

For octave up I'm a Fender Blender or Ampeg Scrambler dude at heart though.

[hbombgraphics]

the Vox Tone garage trike fuzz is the musiciansfriend stupid deal today
looks pretty cool

Does octave up and down

[mathias]

Foxrox Octron has octave up and down.

http://www.foxroxelectronics.com/Octron.html

Octron 2 lets you control them separately.

http://www.foxroxelectronics.com/Octron2.html

These are interesting and I'll have to look into them.

hey mathias,

the joyo voodoo octave (aka joyo ultimate octave, orignial name) is a foxx tone machine clone, but the standard joyo pcb has two electrolytic caps are soldered the wrong way around.

...

enjoy.

This is really great info, thank you!

I'm tempted to sample a few and then decide what I like/don't like about them. I can listen to clips of the Dano French Toast on youtube but I'm forgetting how it actually behaved (and my setup is completely different other than my guitar now, too)

Stealing from another thread:

That's usually why I build them, "I need a box that can do so-and-so, but there aren't any, or there are some but not exactly what I want" so I build it.

kind of how I'm feeling right now. I'm not so worried about stomp-able octaves -- toggle switches are just fine, and I already have a lot of fuzz/dirt on my board, so thinking if I can get something small (1590A are awesome) that contains an octave up + octave-down fuzz circuit and stacks well with my other dirt and fuzzes, well, that'd be just dandy. I could even just have a level pot on the outside and set the gain/fuzz or blend internally, I bet.

[tabbycat]

The Joyo works for cheap, even stock.

For octave up I'm a Fender Blender or Ampeg Scrambler dude at heart though.

@rfurtkamp

going slightly off topic for a moment, i've got ready-to-box blender and scrambler clones on my desk while i decide which clipping diodes work best. if yours are clones, have you experimented with them? any interesting findings?
apparently germanium instead of silicon 1n4148s/1n914 in the scrambler stops notes gating out right at the very end of their decay. definitely intend on trying before before boxing. not big on over-synthy or gatey fuzz.

@mathias

hey mathias,

the joyo voodoo octave (aka joyo ultimate octave, orignial name) is a foxx tone machine clone, but the standard joyo pcb has two electrolytic caps are soldered the wrong way around.

enjoy.

This is really great info, thank you!

I'm tempted to sample a few and then decide what I like/don't like about them. I can listen to clips of the Dano French Toast on youtube but I'm forgetting how it actually behaved (and my setup is completely different other than my guitar now, too)

Stealing from another thread:

That's usually why I build them, "I need a box that can do so-and-so, but there aren't any, or there are some but not exactly what I want" so I build it.

kind of how I'm feeling right now. I'm not so worried about stomp-able octaves -- toggle switches are just fine, and I already have a lot of fuzz/dirt on my board, so thinking if I can get something small (1590A are awesome) that contains an octave up + octave-down fuzz circuit and stacks well with my other dirt and fuzzes, well, that'd be just dandy. I could even just have a level pot on the outside and set the gain/fuzz or blend internally, I bet.

hey mathias, joyo has the octave on/off toggle you desire.

re cloudscapes quote, building really is the way forward re getting your own tone as you want it. it just opens up so many variables to you. you want a univox superfuzz with a big muff tonestack? you can do it. mix and match, lego for noise-heads. and immediately the word 'standard' becomes the starting point, not the final word.
even if you only learn enough to mod out cheap circuits, joyo, moen, et al, are all producing great metal case true-bypass clones that are only a couple of tweeks away from what you get when you pay for boutique.

as for your octave quest in general, i had a dig around in my favourites folder and found this, which was very useful to me when i was thinking about comparing octave clones. have to bear in mind they are mostly clones, always worth double checking with demos of the originals to see if they are producing the same tones, but this reviewer covers a lot of ground in a very short space of time re octave fuzz quest.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTrLGuARBYY[/youtube]

accompanying evaluations etc: http://tonefiend.com/guitar/octave-fuzz ... -circuits/

[K2000]

I'm tempted to sample a few and then decide what I like/don't like about them. I can listen to clips of the Dano French Toast on youtube but I'm forgetting how it actually behaved (and my setup is completely different other than my guitar now, too)

I found the French Toast to be a bit wild, a little harsh too. Maybe a little too much treble. Your guitar and amp will make a difference though. I also don't like the shallow stomp switches on the food series... they are good for always-on situations and for trying out different sounds, but not as user-friendly as other stomp switch styles.

I have a modded HBE UFO fuzz I would like to sell, message me if interested.

[KaosCill8r]

I'm tempted to sample a few and then decide what I like/don't like about them. I can listen to clips of the Dano French Toast on youtube but I'm forgetting how it actually behaved (and my setup is completely different other than my guitar now, too)

I found the French Toast to be a bit wild, a little harsh too. Maybe a little too much treble. Your guitar and amp will make a difference though. I also don't like the shallow stomp switches on the food series... they are good for always-on situations and for trying out different sounds, but not as user-friendly as other stomp switch styles.

I have a modded HBE UFO fuzz I would like to sell, message me if interested.

What mods are done to it? I have one too but mine isn't modded.

[rfurtkamp]

going slightly off topic for a moment, i've got ready-to-box blender and scrambler clones on my desk while i decide which clipping diodes work best. if yours are clones, have you experimented with them? any interesting findings?

I'm virtually blind in one eye, so I wouldn't be swapping. My Scrambler is a clone, I sold a vintage and RI off when it won by a mile (it's an old, old homebrew PC, has silicon in it. Tried a germanium one that a friend built that didn't have the snarl that makes the Scrambler the Scrambler for me.

On the Joyo vs the Dano, I found the Joyo to have options past simply 'ugly' - it does the garage 60s vibe real well, which is most of what I keep it around for. I haven't modded it or had it worked on.

[tabbycat]

going slightly off topic for a moment, i've got ready-to-box blender and scrambler clones on my desk while i decide which clipping diodes work best. if yours are clones, have you experimented with them? any interesting findings?

I'm virtually blind in one eye, so I wouldn't be swapping. My Scrambler is a clone, I sold a vintage and RI off when it won by a mile (it's an old, old homebrew PC, has silicon in it. Tried a germanium one that a friend built that didn't have the snarl that makes the Scrambler the Scrambler for me.

On the Joyo vs the Dano, I found the Joyo to have options past simply 'ugly' - it does the garage 60s vibe real well, which is most of what I keep it around for. I haven't modded it or had it worked on.

hey rfurtkamp, thanks for the reply.
good to hear that the scrambler clone kicks best with silicon in your opinion. will box it up as is. i put 1n4148 in. usually i socket diodes but i think i was in a rush to finish this one so just slammed them in. have found 1n4148 a shade bright in similar circumstances previously, but what you lose in darkness you gain in crackle. germanium pairs often smoulder menacingly more than crackle violently when subbed with silicon in circuits that accept either.

re joyo. i was a fan of the pre-modded voodoo/ultimate too, which made me put off doing the mod for ages. but once i finallly did it i never regretted it. you get so much more octave. and as mods go, it's actully pretty basic. five minute job for someone who knows what they are doing. maybe get a used one cheap to mod and compare the two.

if you like old school fat garage fuzz, i can recommened this. has that greenbaum 'spirit' fuzz-lag to it. always seems to be just simmering under the boil, while occasionally bubbling up and breaking through. interesting sound.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFx1I6MzkLk[/youtube]

this was the last fuzz clone i actually finished and boxed (just the fuzz side of the circuit). original pedals hard to find but not a complicated circuit to build and all standard components.

[KaosCill8r]

Hey Tabbycat, could you point me in the direction of that Roland fuzz build? Wouldn't mind building that for my self.

[tabbycat]

Hey Tabbycat, could you point me in the direction of that Roland fuzz build? Wouldn't mind building that for my self.

hey kaoscill8r,

this is the one i used. fredrik posts occasionally as freppo here and on other forums. he's the brains behind the raygun youth chaos fuzz. his site is worth checking out for original circuits and reliable veros of classic circuits.
http://parasitstudio.weebly.com/stripbo ... zz-section



it's an interesting fuzz. that draggy-lag fuzz thing makes it a bit different from the usual. good luck with your build.

[rfurtkamp]

Yea, I may have to have one of those built, I do already have a small Roland shrine and miss my old BeeBaa sometimes as well.

I'm at a half-dozen live mean octave fuzzes at any given time on the board, rarely do I turn on more than two at once...but...

I need the different colorations for different things, and for me it's meaner than HM-2 gain or octave+ fuzz as my go-tos past a few chaos designs.

[tabbycat]

I'm at a half-dozen live mean octave fuzzes at any given time on the board, rarely do I turn on more than two at once...but...

I need the different colorations for different things, and for me it's meaner than HM-2 gain or octave+ fuzz as my go-tos past a few chaos designs.

i know exactly what you mean. the differences in darkness/colour, harmonics, decay, grade and consistency of grit, etc, mean that the even same song played on two different octave fuzzes will sound as different to a texture freak (which i admit i am) as playing two different songs on the same fuzz. it almost becomes fetishistic. those little afterburner crackles, one smoulders where another blisters, idiosyncratic harmonics. you can easily become as obssessed as any wine freak. or shoe freak. sound is my thing, so those little details are important to me. so i totally get where you are coming from.

so what are your can't live without octave and non-octave fuzzes?