Fulltone Ultimate Octave

Not to ease to use! to find the right sound between the fuzz and octav features is a hassle.

To much fuzz to begin with. Why not make it less fuzzy in the low range. Fuzz only is very noisy and not so good to my ears. That should not be a problem to fix at the factory you might think!? But you sound like hendrix when you turn on the octavia.

good

Don't know

Pretty good but I should rather have bought the Fulltone octafuzz instead. Less fuzz and more guitarsound left!

This is easy to use as far as setting it up, using the controls.

I use this with a fender stratocaster and I have yet to find a usable sound for anything. The sound is too thin, or sounds like the fuzz into to "satisfaction". As far as saying Satriani uses one, the only thing I can say is maybe he used it once and threw it at a Roadie to get his attention. It is not useful at all and I'm going to see if I can return it....

It seems to be well built.

If someone bought this I wish them good luck for using it. I use a tonebone for my overdrive and this can't even come close to sounding half way decent.

MAybe I'm stupid (got a PhD) or maybe my expectations were too high but I could not get a usable sound from this pedal...I certainly couldnt find the sound that I listened to online or anything close to the Satriani tone everyone else raves about. I keep thinking...it's a pedal for godsake...how hard should this be....

I would like to rate this a 1 but because so many of you appear to be getting usable sounds out of this I will assume that it my stupidity or maybe a bad lemon of a pedal and not the typical experience....

Built like a tank. This is a Fulltone's strength.

I tried calling several times...got a recording that would not take messages and stated that I should email any concerns. I emailed twice with NO RESPONSE. Since I never reached them I cant say that they are rude or awful...so I go with a 5.

Probably if this thing didnt cost so much (way overpriced for a pedal that even if worked would not be a main staple in my effect arsenal) I wouldnt feel a need to write such a poor review. But I live in a major town that for somereason doesnt have a music shop that carried this so I had to special order without trying it out first. Now because I waited too long to return it..because I thought "Hey How bad can this be? It get glowing reviews, the sound samples are what I'm looking for so I I need to do is tweak it...work with it...understand it" $%^&*($%^&*! Well, I havent figured out how to get the sound I am looking for...so I packed it up to sell on ebay at a loss.

The Fulltone Ultimate Octave is very easy to get a good sound out of really.Just plug,balance the volume,tone,& fuzz level,plus decide if you want the bright switch on bright or fat,and away you go!!

I use a Ibanez JEM and JS1000 with a marshall & Boogie rack system ( JMP1 or Tri-Axis pre-amp into 50/50 marshall power amp )with my Ultimate Octave.The `octave sits on a pedalboard with a Morley Power Wah,TSD9 Turbo Overdive,Boss DS1 and Digitech Wammy.It fits in a treat.I can get instant hendrix or satch with just a press of the footswitch!!

It is handmade and built like a tank with a obvious high ammount of care,so I doubt there will be problems!! and no "I ain`t selling it any time soon!"

I have not had to contact Mike Fuller,but i`m sure he`d answer my e-mails if I sent him any...

The Fulltone Ultimate Octave is the only pedal I`ve ever heard that nails that "Octavia" sound made so brill` by Jimi back in the good old days.It is perfect for the "Wild geetar stuff" I do,and is a unique pedal to say the least.If it were lost or nicked I would be straight down to Peach to get another.I just love it`s twisted and tortured sweeet screamyness.When it is heard,they all come running over wanting to know what "that pedal is"!! It helps my music and has featured and a number of recordings already.I am now after either a Fulltone Fat Boost or Distortion Pro to add to the pedalboard.

It is fairly easy if you follow the intructrions and advice that Fuller give you with the product.
I am the kind of guy that will take it out of the box and plug it in and see what happends. Initially I was disapointed becuase I liked the immediate pleasure I got from my BOSS OC-2 (Japanese made) Octaver. Thne I read FUllers advice in the box and began to tweak.

After reading the manual I began to tweak. I wanted the Hendrix octave sound and the Satriani sound. WHat you have to do is roll back the fuzz to about 1 or 2. Take the volume up about 2 o clock and put your fingers on the tone knob. Switch to the neck pick up and turn the octave on and octave up button on. WHile playing with your left hand (higher up in the 12th fret range) rotate the Tone knob to your liking. I did this for a while and got the Satriani octave tone I was looking for. (I use distortion from my head and the Boss DS-1 stock)It does not like the higher treble of my humbucker (bridge). SO I rolled back the tone knob on my guitar and got some more great fuzz octave sounds from my humbucker (bridge).
If you want straight forward octave sounds get a harmonizer or a Japanese BOSS OC-2. If you are looking for Hendrix- Satriani type Octave fuzz - then look no further!

Built like a tank. The only issue is that I dont stomp on it hard enough sometimes, so i got to kick it in 2x. I will make sure to stomp harder to make sure the is nothing wrong with the switch.

I have dealt with fuller one time and it was a pleasant experience.
(via email)

For what it does, it is expensive but it will last. I have had it 2 years now. Tweak before you post here.

There are four sounds: fat fuzz, thin fuzz, fat octave fuzz, thin octave fuzz. The dials lessen or increase the overall impact of the fuzz, but for the most part, it's fuzzy and only so. The octave seems to work only on the neck pickup. It's kind of wacky on the bridge.

Sure is fuzzy. There's a lot that can be done with this thing, but much depends on the guitar, the amp, the player, the pick attack, the volume of the guitar, the settings on the unit, the tones of the amp, if other pedals are involved.... Alone, this thing is a thick, fuzzy curios of harmonics. The fat switch is beefy--sometimes it makes my Orange amp's Vintage 30's Celestion flub under the pressure. The brightness setting is nicely thinned out. I've never used a fuzz pedal before: always relied on an ADA MP1. The characteristics of fuzz are pretty versatile. There's a lack of progression in the harmonics that is a nice break from the syrupy, slathered distortion of the ADA or the Boss Metal Zone. Fuzz kind of sounds like it's constantly applying the brakes, as it hauls arse down the boulevard. But how can so much sustain be present? Fripp and Eno tones are all over this pedal. But it does it without sounding like Santana or Extreme. Bizarre. The fuzz is brittle without being glassy. It's rich without being sloppy. It's heavy without being scooped. It's thin without being weak.

Adding the octave, things change. Again, if the bridge pickup is used, it sounds kind of squirrelly. At the neck, some pretty high pitches can be eked out. It can sound like monkeys fighting, at times. Lowering the guitar's volume helps achieve an octave effect without adding the zoo or jungle tones.

In all, it's pretty excellent at what it does, and because I've paid so much for it, I don't intend to use it once or twice per show. I intend to learn how it can be folded in without being over the top. It is not difficult to go too far with this thing. This is where I'm sure it could cause listener/player/bandmate fatigue. With this in mind, I'm learning to rein it in... a bit.

So far so solid.

N/A

I play a mish mash of styles: none perfectly, but enough to get by. This thing can do No Quarter, Fripp, and Indian Ragas, depending on one's mood. If it could eased up a bit on the fuzz factor, I'd be less apt to be looking into the Soul Bender, but this could be a reason. You know, now that I think of it, I'm glad this thing is so very intense. It does what it does without apology. That's something. There's no reason to complain about a NASCAR because it doesn't have a couch, a bar, champagne, and ice.

Very easy to use.. though can be rather hard to find a setting that works good with other pedals. If you have the volume up loud enough so that it is even with your clean tone when you kick it on.. and then click on a distortion, it overloads the distortion. So then you have to lower the volume, but with the volume lower, you can't use the pedal on it's own, which is unfortunate, as there are many times where I would like to use the pedal with and without a distortion pedal infront of it (which is how fuller reccomends).

Sounds Amazing.. the octave tracking is supurb, especially around the 12th to 15th fret using the neck pickup. The only problem I have is that the pedal puts off noise when the octave is not enaged, I can't use it as just a fuzz alone. Oddly, engaging the octave takes away this noise and it is SILENT.

I don't think I would have any problems with this pedal breaking down.

Emailed Fulltone once about the noise problem with octave on/off, no answer.

I've been playing for 12 years, my main guitar is an Ibanez JS1000, Satriani is a big influence on my playing and is who got me interested in this pedal. Upon turning it on, I could hear Satch's tone ringing through it and place where it was used in tracks (ie. Turkey Man).. I only have two problems with it, one that I have a hard time going between using with and without a distortion pedal, two that it would be nice to use it without the octave and not have the little noise it puts off.

If this pedal were lost or stolen, I would definitely get another. It has such rich tone and is very inspiring to play through. Through tweaking the knobs you can dial in an array of octavia fuzz sounds. It responds well to your playing too, as some pedals get muddied up, this one doesn't, retaining the articulation of each note.

Easy, and pretty self explanatory.

This is my first Fulltone product, and given the hype, and some of the impressive tones i've wittnessed coming out of peoples amps, my expectations were high. I have an original Univox Super-Fuzz, which to me is the ULTIMATE octave fuzz(the only thing I've ever given a 10!)and this does not compare, but I don't think it was meant to.

The basic tone of this pedal is very good; thick rich and fat(not as much gain as I expected, but enough), and the octave is also good; splattered with just a touch of ring modulation.I always keep the octave on, or it seems to loose a little personality. The tone control is a little tricky; I found that it never needs to be more than halfway, especially with the octave on. There are some excellent sweet spots in both settings with the tone almost down and octave on.

Its a real bummer that it lags for a second turning the octave on!

Ah... the fat/bright switch. No one seems to use the bright very much, but I think it is every bit as usable. Ive found that the bright sounds better through a clean (Fender) amp, and the fat sounds better through an amp that is allready overdriven. This is no small feat as most fuzz pedals loose their cool with an allready distorted setup.

My brutally simple guitar setup is: cheap single coil guitar (Yamaha sgv, mex strat, or Teisco)-->fuzz flavor of the week (always come back to the Superfuzz though)-->Earth tube 100 watt head (like a pre CBS dual showman.awesome, and loud!)--> Fender cab.

Built tough, I have no worrys..

I couldnt pass this bargain up when I saw it at the pawn shop, and will probably hold on to it. I want to try it on bass, I think it would probably shine.

I play surf/garage on guitar, and punk on bass; in two different bands.

Overall, I really like it, and the louder my amp is turned up, the better it sounds. A real sweet pedal on it's own, but I think I'm just spoiled with the Univox...

On the surface it seems very easy to use. and when you use it by itself it is, but once you start having it interact with other pedals, and you start playing live in a band things get a bit more complicated. sometimes it sounds better with the fat switch on, but other times it's not.

fender am dexluxe strat into a drivetrain II to a supatrem to a dls chorus/vib to a reverb deluxe. I play serf music and am looking for a reliable fuzz box that sounds like some of the old yardbirds/ventures stuff.
the pedal is true bypass, built like a tank pedal. the octave part tracks well and sounds really nice. the fuzz section is full and rich but does not clean up with the guitar volume. I think the soul bender is a better fuzz sound though. one major problem with this pedal, and which makes it kind of unusable in my opinion is that when you have the fuzz engaged and you subsequently engage the octave there is a MAJOR delay in sound. so lets say you jamming away with a nice fuzz sound and you want to bring in the octave part you step on the switch and your sound disappears for a second. needless to say, I found this aspect to be quite annoying and that is why I had to take it back. to be fair I email mike at fulltone and he said that all fuzz/octave pedals will have a delay. I don't remember the captain coconut doing this but I may be wrong about that. I still want to try a homebrew UFO to see if that pedal does it. another annoying thing is that you cant have just the octave part on without the fuzz. but don't get me wrong fulltone pedals are awesome and this pedal is a nice pedal - probably work better in the studio rather than live that's all.

seem reliable. no issues there

mike is friendly and answered my emails very quickly. I own other fulltone pedals and have always had a good experience.

overall, this is a great pedal if you don't mind the octave cutting out the pedal when it's engaged. I couldn't get it to work with my setup but it may work with yours. it's damn hard to find a good fuzz box (not overdrive or distortion)

3 knobs, 2 footswitches, 1 mini-toggle switch. Easy to use in theory, hard to find a pleasing sound in practice (see below for more details).

I am using this pedal with a 1999 PRS Custom 22 or an 1997 American Standard Stratocaster into a Mesa/Boogie Nomad 55 Head plugged into a Marshall 2x12 cab. Well, this pedal is the first fuzz pedal I ever bought, and it confirmed that I just don't like transistor distortion all that much... The pedal is not overly noisy and is true bypass. The fuzz by itself is ultra-thick, and is much lacking in subtelty... It gives a huge lead sound, but quite quickly gets tiresome to my ears... It is also much too thick to be effective as "dirty rythm". The octave is so shrill as to being virtually unusable by itself, at least on a clean channel --unless you wish to REALLY pissoff the audience and your bandmates, not to mention loosing your hearing! It becomes easier to handle with the smooth Boogie overdrive --but then again anything does! Also, this fuzz does not allow me to replicate any of the classic sounds of Hendrix, Page, Clapton, Beck, etc. It is a different beast in itself. I must say that I am rather disapointed in this product, given all the hype surrounding Fulltone. But I recognize that sound is highly subjective matter.

Built like the proverbial tank!

I play anything from electric blues, to dinosaur rock (Hendrix, Led Zep, Allman Bros), to funk, to alternative music (Tool, Queens of the Stone Age, RATM, etc.). I have been playing for 18 yrs now. In addition to my guitars and amp listed above, I own a Line 6 delay, Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe, and Dunlop Q-535 Wah --all true bypass. My set up is very quiet. I certainly would not buy this pedal again if stolen. I compared it to Fulltone's octafuzz, and the ultimate octave actually sounded better --which speaks poorly of the octafuzz... I also tried Voodoo Lab's Superfuzz and Bosstone --not great either... Well, maybe I'm just not a fuzz guy! I am very particular about my tone, and this pedal just does not cut it... Now, let's see about that Distortion Pro!