Chicago Iron Octavian

This is an octave pedal based on the original Tycobrahe Octavia. Only 2 knobs, volume and boost. Pretty simple. In my opinion the tycobrahe octavia is the most fun to play. Chicago Iron is the first company that I have seen who actually recreated this pedal just like the original ones. I have been using octave pedals for over 20 years. The tycobrahe can be found under the best players feet if they can get one. This sounds better than my original Tycobrahe Octavia - which I can now leave home. Manual? Octave pedals scare beginners but are a staple in professional lead guitar setups. This is now my favorite.

I use this pedal with all my guitars and amps. It sounds really cool with single coils and tubes but it wails on just about everything I tried it with. The pedal is very quiet. I am sending my original to Kurt for a tune-up since I got this. The Octavian has a lot of volume and can really push the front end of my Marshalls, Fenders and Boogies. It sounds great. It does Jimi, Stevie, Satch, KWS and just about any other octave players stuff that I can think of.

This Octavia clone hasn't burned out it's first battery yet. Dependable? It is built very well. Stronger than the other clones I have tried. If I threw this one at a wall, it will probably go through it! They used heavy steel just like the originals. Even the pot shafts are metal. Nothing really to break or bend. Would I gig without a backup? I will. I used the original for over 10 years, and looking at this one, it is the same in every detail. Nice_Job_Chicago_Iron! I trust it. It's built like a tank and nails the Tycobrahe sound.

I met Kurt at a Chicago guitar show. He had the biggest pedalboard that I have ever seen! In it were old tycobrahe and new chicago iron pedals, a lot of other pedals and wahs. He invited me to A/B them. I didn't have my pedals to compare and being from the area he told me to come over after the show. Come over to his house? When I was there he converted a guy from digital to analog by listening to his digitech floorboard settings and selecting the analog pedals to do the same. In over 30 years of playing I never had the chance to see this kind of sonic tayloring. I learned so much in an hour, and what a difference analog is! See 'ya POD. Customer Support? Absolutely Un-real. He showed me the difference between building with hand matched parts. We A/B'd them. I would have never thought - but you can really hear and FEEL the difference. He builds custom rigs for other players and I can see why. 100% attention to tone. This guy is a gigging musician and has a lot of the latest stuff in his rig. Nice guy to know!

I have played a little bit of every style I can think of. This is an outstanding octave pedal. Nice and wild just like the original. I'd buy it just 'cuz it's such a good job of remaking the Tycobrahe octave pedal. If the name wasn't different you would have to look pretty hard inside and out to find any difference between the original and the clone. They even got the wood box right! I have owned a lot of pedals, and though this pedal will not replace ALL octave pedals, it is a better choice for me than all the other tyco-clones offered. I just like the nasty tycobrahe octave sound. It seems hotter and darker than the fulltone too. Same octave response and feel as my original, with a great fuzz. Probably what my original was like when it was new. If it was stolen I would buy another. I love this thing for lead solos alone or with other pedals. The circuit that Chicago Iron makes seems to have a better fuzz to it than the others I have owned. It's even better than my original. Kurt says that matching the parts and the right transistors is the secret. The story is on their web site about how they did it at http://ntsys.com/parapedal check it out for yourself.