Product: Rocktron Purple Haze Octavider
Price Paid: gift
Submitted
02/14/1998
at
08:54pm
by
Kenneth
Ease of Use
:
8
Very easy to use. Manual gives several good, usable settings. More complex than most pedals, though, because it has 5 knobs that may take a while to fully get the hang of. Good jumping-off points in manual, though.
Sound Quality
:
9
Using with 5150, Peavey Classic 30, Fender Champ, Strat, PRS CE--all sound great. This pedal is really amazing, and has a sound all its own. It's so much fun to play. And so hard to describe--there's nothing like it on record that I've heard.
Basically, it lets you add octave below, octave above, or some of both--there's a mix control; turn it all the way to the left, and you've got just 1 octave down, all the way to the right, just 1 octave above, and you can put it anywhere in between for whatever mix you want. But that's not all; you can use the MOD knob to determine how much effect is blended in with your signal.
On top of this is the TONE knob, to shape overall tone, and GAIN, which adds cool distortion.
I guess the best way to start to describe the tone is to say that it makes you sound like you're playing along with a bassist, even though it's just your guitar. That is, if you're using the octave below. So you get that really cool hard-rock tone of the bass doubling the guitar line. And, if you add octave above, your guitar sounds thicker and richer.
The distortion is cool, too. Turn it up and you'll want to just do single-note riffs on the low-E string all night. You'll feel like an entire band just jamming away.
The manual even suggests cool settings for an organ-like sound.
As with many octave devices, the tracking is a bit erratic--the lower octave, especially, will kick in and out.
Oh, it also works well with a fuzz--I put it after my Experience pedal to add more octave and the amp really sounds like it's gonna blow!
Reliability
:
10
Casing is very thick and heavy metal. The casing is shaped to envelop and protect the 5 knobs--they're easy to reach and turn, but you're prevented from accidentally stepping on them. Looks more solid than any Boss pedal.
Overall Rating
:
10
If you like heavy rock, this is a really cool and fun pedal to have. One of those unusual ones people will pay top dollar for someday, I'd think. Tomorrow's classic, today.
Lots of fun, thick, rich tone, and just a riff-rocker's dream come true. Can't get enough of it. Makes even small amps sound huge and rich.
