I’ve followed Okko for some years now - where the Red Dominator MKII Distortion has been on the wishlist for the longest time! In fact both my favoured Okko choices are currently sold out - while the Holy Grit is still available on pre-order / back-order.
The Holy Grit started off as a Face Bender type circuit - part Fuzz Face, part Tone Bender, while it’s been honed to accentuate the more lower-gain overdrive side too - so depending on where you set those dials and switches you can go from overdrive, through fuzzy-drive - to full-on fuzz voicing. The central 3-way Bias Toggle is particularly significant in attaining those different styles of voicing. And you have a top-edge located Buffer switch to make it easier to accommodate the pedal in different positions within your rig.
When I initially saw it I felt for sure it would have Germanium Transistors - the colouring of the device etc. while this is rather one of those warm Silicon Transistors type circuits - no doubt something along the lines of BC183 / 2N3904 or similar. Seems that the transistor types can vary a touch as Okko state that they’re using a set of matched low gain silicon transistors where part numbers may differ from one unit to another - voiced between germanium warmth and silicon presence.
Controls - Buffer : On / Off, Fuzz, Level, Bias : High Headroom / Low Bias Buzz / ’The Golden Middle’, Bass, Treble.
Controls are very straight-forward here - and the Buffer should only be deployed if you really need it - or you feel it sounds better on! As mentioned - the most significant control here is the central 3-way Bias Toggle which puts you in the general voicing ball-park for the different options - and where you then adjust the 4 variable controls - including 2-band EQ.
Readers will know that I’m a big fan of Fuzzy-Drive pedals - and this is another amazing candidate for that selection. This will very likely be my first OKKO acquisition - the Red Dominator will need to wait a while longer still!
You can preorder the Holy Grit for €192,44 from the OKKO FX Webstore.
Any OKKO fans in the house?