My Caroline Guitar Company Gain Pedal Trifecta is now complete - with the arrival of the Special Germanium Edition of the Shigeharu Octave Fuzz!
I had long since identified 3 Caroline Guitar Co pedals that I really wanted, but as is sometimes the case, I wanted special editions of each - and I was just waiting for the right ones to materialise!
I’ve already covered 2 pedals from that Trifecta - my white-knob CCCP edition of the Hawaiian Pizza Fuzz-Drive, and the recent Zero Edition of the Wave Cannon Superdistorter.
This article is really mostly about the third of my selection - where the Germanium edition of the Shigeharu Octave Fuzz very much met my criteria. The Germanium Shigeharu makes use of a vintage Soviet Germanium Diode for the Octave element - and the 2 IC chips have been tuned slightly differently - for a more textured output.
The Shigeharu is an unusual Octave Fuzz - in that a separate Octave Fuzz Circuit sits on top of a hybrid Muff / Screamer circuit - which features 2 x BC184B Transistors and 2 x IC Chips - an LF353P, and RC4558P - further enhanced by an Audio Transformer. There are 3 Diodes onboard too - 2 Schottky’s for the main hybrid fuzz, and of course the Germanium one for the Octave. All those tweets really enhance the output profile - and it truly sounds glorious.
These 3 comprise my Caroline Guitar Co Gain Pedal Trifecta! :
- Hawaiian Pizza Fuzz-Drive CCCP Edition (2 Transistor Fuzz) - $189
- Shigeharu Octave Fuzz - Germanium Edition (Screamer-Muff Octave Fuzz!) - $249
- Wave Cannon Superdistorter Zero Edition (Rat) - $249
Core versions of each are available via the Caroline Guitar Co Webstore, especially the Wave Cannon Zero, while the 2021 CCCP Hawaiian Pizza is long since sold out, and it seems like the Germanium Shigeharu’s are gone from that store - while there are still several with dealers, I got mine from Andertons!
There are futher details on each below, starting with the most recent addition!
Shigeharu Octave Fuzz - Germanium Edition (Screamer-Muff Octave Fuzz!) - $249
Controls - Level, Drive, Havoc Level (Octave), Tone, Body, Bypass Footswitch, Havoc (Octave) Footswitch, Internal Switch for Always-on Octave.
Obviously my most recent of the Trifecta - I've not quite had it a week yet - but it's an instant satisfaction fuzz for sure - that fairly complex circuit delivers the most superb of output textures - with heaps of volume and gain on-tap - it's a fantastic fuzz every which way - albeit I miss the Japanese script and the original's knobs - which I prefer.
This one really is effortless to dial in - where it sounds amazing with the following settings - Level @ 2 o'c, Drive @ 3 o'c, Havoc Level @ Max, Tone @ 2 o'c, and Body @ 3 o'c.
The only nice-to-add here would be one of those smart Momentary / Latching footswitches - where a short press delivers latching, and a slightly longer Press deliver Momentary action. It's fins as is with its Momentary action - where you can of course make the Octave Fuzz always-on if you desire - via the internal switch. A really superb Octave Fuzz - beautifully textured - and for me the Havoc needs to be at Max for the maximum impact and sear - really sounds glorious!
Note that the hammer and sickle icon of the original prototype has since been replaced by a red star!
Wave Cannon Superdistorter Zero Edition (Rat) - $249
Controls - Volume, Gain, Shape, Volts, Tone, Havoc (Oscillation), Bypass Footswitch, Havoc Footswitch.
This is my most recently featured Caroline Guitar pedals besides this Shigeharu. I always wanted a Wave Cannon - which kind of starts with a Rat Distortion, but then adds really unique shaping controls and a sort of feedback oscillation I assume. So a distinctly different take on a Rat, and quite a different path say compared to the Sunn O))) Life Pedal. I really like both approaches - and have several Life style pedals - including the incredibly Sentimental Bob Tephra. This Wave Cannon Zerro is not quite as expansive as the Tephra, but it's every bit as good in its own way. A very unique take on a rat distortion - with all the original full flavour onboard. The Zero edition was obviously the perfect one for me!
Hawaiian Pizza Fuzz CCCP Edition (2 Transistor Fuzz) - $189
Controls - Output, Supply Voltage, Input Gain.
I've always been perplexed by the Control topology on this one - but it works really well nonetheless - and delivers exquisite Fuzzy-Drive and classic Fuzz tones. You do rely a lot on your guitar controls to shape the output of this Fuzz. I may have preferred a slightly different control topology with some of those values a little hard-wired and a little more tone-shaping onboard. But regardless of those apparent limitations - it actually works really well. One of my favourite Fuzzy-Drive pedals for sure!
There have been a number of very attractive editions for this particular pedal variant, while I still feel that the white-knob CCCP edition is the best looking one of the bunch to-date - with those vintage muff style knobs!
