Hartman Electronics 8VA Octave Fuzz

The Hartman Electronics 8va Octave Fuzz Pedal is a sweet one-octave-up analog fuzz pedal. A meticulous recreation of the original Tycobrahe Octavia guitar pedal, the 8va Octave Pedal gives you unprecedented sonic fidelity combined with essential modern features: heavy-duty true-bypass switching, LED indicator, and a 9VDC input jack for use with external power supply.

Like the original, the 8va uses a transformer-coupled Germanium-diode output stage to produce a tone an octave higher than its input. The higher the note that is played, the stronger the octave tone produced. The pedal's circuitry is entirely analog. The results are immediate--there is no delay or latency commonly associated with digital pitch shifters.

The Hartman 8va is also capable of delivering searing fuzz tones. The octave remains present at higher settings of the Fuzz dial, but because of the overtone series generated by the overdriven Silicon transistors, the octave is less obvious at the attack, emerging instead as a feedback tone on the tail/decay of notes held. The octaves literally bloom.

Because of the way the 8va achieves its octave effect it is capable of producing unusual sonic artifacts distinctly analog in nature, not unlike certain sounds produced by ring-modulators and 4-quadrant multiplier circuits of vintage analog synthesizers: at low settings of the Boost knob, where the octave-up is at its most prominent and the level of fuzz is at its lowest, single notes will produce the anticipated octave pitch, but double stops, chords, etc., will produce NEW tones. The bell-like quality of the tones is a function of the musical interval(s) between the notes played. In other words, 3rds and 6ths produce different results than 4ths and 5ths. You can experiment with this effect in different registers of the instrument, e.g. letting the low E string drone quietly (acting as a carrier wave, to use ring-mod terminology) while playing a line in Bb Major high on the neck on the upper strings, and get some pretty interesting sounds.

Hartman Electronics offers (2) additional features not found in the original Tycobrahe:

Input Trim Mod: passive filter reduces high-frequency content. Input Trim helps evoke octave-up tones more prominently in much the same way rolling back on guitar tone and volume will. This control is engaged when the Octave switch (below) is turned on.

Octave On/Off Switch: Removes the octave generating stage from the fuzz pedal for a straight-forward Silicon Fuzz. The octave-less fuzz sound produced by this circuit is surprisingly warm and rich, responds incredibly well to player dynamics and guitar controls.








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