Vahlbruch Effects Reboots its celebrated Octavia Upper Octave Fuzz - Now with Schottky Diodes and added Edge Control

So the Vahlbruch Octavia Upper Octave Fuzz has long been one of the best takes on that Fuzz Genre / Circuit - and where it originally utilised traditional Germanium Diodes. This type of Octave Fuzz utilises a Ring Mod style circuit to generate the Octave effect. I believe the very original edition of the Vahlbruch Octavia was launched in around 2010 - so it’s been a mainstay premium choice for quite a while now.

Controls : Gain, Mode : Octa / Fuzz, Volume, Edge, ’MagTraB’ Proprietary Magnetic Soft Touch Footswitch.

You can see from the above visual that much has changed between V1 and V2 editions - in fact the V1 pictured is more properly a V1.5 - where the very original one had slightly different graphics - with a Saturn-like planet as the final ’O’ - but the same arrangement of controls.

I much prefer the positioning of controls on the newer version - while the positioning of the input and output jacks seems a touch unusual. And Ive always thought that these sorts of pedals should utilise a second footswitch to engage the Octave Mode - rather than have it on a very manual toggle-switch.

This is very much a premium version of this circuit - and has long been a favourite among pro players. I’ve featured it at least a couple of times on this site before.

The original version as mentioned had the traditional and typical Germanium Diodes  - while the new version relies on Silicon Schottky types - which do though have the right value of Vf Forward Voltage. In fact to deliver a more Germanium - sounding octave effect - we also have a new ’Edge’ control here - which allows you to adjust the Treble and Harmonic Content of the Octave Effect - and you can crank that dial for more Zing!

There’s a huge range of output here from metallic kind of pinging tones to fully searing fuzz. The Schottky Diodes are more stable and reliable in their performance - and much much better for the environment - so I’m definitely onboard for that - and the new edition sounds every bit as good as its predecessor.

It also features Vahlrbruch’s proprietary MagTrab footswitch technology which is a unique and long-lasting soft touch style of a switch - which does away with any sort of mechanical friction - a sort of magnetic relay therefore as I understand it.

The Vahlbruch Octavia has long been on my wishlist - and while I would like to see it with dual footswitches to engage the Octave Effect more elegantly - I think the time is about right for me to make the acquisition. These are available for €219 and equivalent direct from the Vahlbruch Effects Website, and at Leading Dealers.

Which is your own favourite Upper Octave style fuzz?