Mastro Valvola Debuts Impressive OFF1 Octave Fuzz Filter

Last year I was struggling to find Fuzzes that had both Upper and Lower Octaves in the same box. I noted the Drolo FX Giant Hogweed, and Mu-Tron Octavider+ - the latter of which I acquired. While this year we’ve had 2 already and it’s not even half-way through January yet - MXR’s Poly Blue Octave (4 octaves), and this impressive OFF1 3 Octave Filter Fuzz. Funnily Mastro Valvola describes it as the Octave Fuzz Filter (in terms of order of effects), while I label it in terms of its most prominent features!

In any case the OFF1 is an incredibly smart pedal with multiple uses, and two Modes of operation. The default Mode engages Fuzz on the right and (Sub) Octaves on the left footswitch. Hold down said left footswitch on power-up to flip between Mode 1 and 2 - flashing LED indicates change. Mode 2 has both Octave and Fuzz engaged on the right footswitch, and Upper Octave via the left one - make sure ’Up’ switch is set to up! Essentially you can apply footswitch control to Fuzz, Sub Octaves or Upper Octave - while the Filter section needs to be engaged separately via toggle switch.

Controls - Dry (%Dry), Sub 1 Level, Sub 2 Level, Up (Octave) : On/Off, Gain, Mid : Up is Flat / Down is Cut, Tone, Volume, Cutoff (Frequency), Resonance, Filter : Off / On.

The pedal’s three sections are pretty clearly delineated - with Dry, Sub 1 and Sub 2 knobs pertaining to the (Sub) Octaves. Fuzz then has the 5 central controls - included Up (Upper Octave) and Mid (Mids Flat / Cut. On the right hand side are then the Cutoff Frequency, Resonance and Filter Off/On controls - simple really!

Via the 2 Modes you can deploy each element individually, while it’s obviously more fun when combining them. You get a great Fuzz - that you can drive through 3 octaves and further shape and texturise via filter - a really neat confection for sure.

I’ve always thought of Mastro Valvola as the sort of Strymon of Italy - as they make similar high quality mid-size square boxes. Pricing is pretty similar too at €290. The can currently be bought from the Mastro Valvola Webstore. While I’m looking to get mine from Joe’s Pedals - as soon as Joe has them in stock!

I’m really intrigued by this Fuzz - anyone else taken a shine to it?