The Tycobrahe Octavia is a Tycobrahe octave pedal. Close alternatives include the Roger Mayer Octavia and the Roger Mayer Octavia Classic. It pairs well with the Roland Cube Street and the Vox MV50-CE Rock.
Tycobrahe Octavia
Tycobrahe · pedal
The Tycobrahe Octavia is a 1970s octave-fuzz pedal built by Tycobrahe Sound Company of Hermosa Beach, California, and the first commercially produced version of the Octavia circuit Roger Mayer originally hand-built for Jimi Hendrix. Tycobrahe traced the circuit from a Mayer-built unit sent to them for repair and released their own pedal in 1973. A transformer-coupled transistor circuit generates a ringing octave above the played note on top of a raw, aggressive fuzz, an effect that blooms most clearly on the neck pickup around the twelfth fret and thins out lower down. Stevie Ray Vaughan owned several and used them for searing lead tones on tracks such as Say What!, and Jeff Beck played one as well. It suits psychedelic rock, blues lead and experimental playing, and its unstable, harmonically rich voice is what separates it from a conventional fuzz.
- octave
- transistor
- transformer
- lead
- rich
- psychedelic
- bloom
- overtone
Genres the Tycobrahe Octavia is commonly used in
- Rock
- Blues
- Experimental
- Psychedelic Rock
cited
Inferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag. - Glam Rock
cited
Inferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag. - Blues Rock
cited
Inferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag.
Amps that pair well with the Tycobrahe Octavia
Roland Cube Street
Roland
36% matchThrough the Cube Street's compact, full voicing, the Octavia's searing octave-fuzz still cuts for a busking or outdoor set.
Vox MV50-CE Rock
Vox
35% matchThe MV50's tight, direct rock voicing gives the Octavia's rich octave-fuzz lead a focused amp platform.
Fuchs FBT 300
Fuchs
tonal matchStack Fuchs FBT 300 on top and a high gain tone tightens toward mid-forward
Magnatone 510
Magnatone
tonal matchMagnatone 510 pushes a high gain tone toward modulated
Orange Crush 20RT Orianthi Signature White
Orange
tonal matchOrange Crush 20RT Orianthi Signature White pushes a high gain tone toward mid-forward
Traynor BB115
Traynor
tonal matchTraynor BB115 pushes a high gain tone toward tight
Magnatone Super Fifteen 15W Head
Magnatone
tonal matchFeed a high gain signal into Magnatone Super Fifteen 15W Head and it comes out closer to tight
Pedals that stack with the Tycobrahe Octavia
Keeley Red Dirt Overdrive
Keeley
38% matchThe Red Dirt's rich, thick mid-drive stacks with the Octavia's transistor-driven octave-fuzz lead.
Ibanez Tube Screamer
Ibanez
38% matchThe Screamer's mid-forward boost tightens the Octavia's rich, transistor-driven octave-fuzz lead ahead of it.
Hungry Robot The Borderland
Hungry Robot
32% matchThe Borderland's lush, shoegaze reverb gives the Octavia's rich octave-fuzz lead tone a wash of ambient space. — goes in the amp's FX loop (or last, into a clean amp)
Hungry Robot Moby Dick V2
Hungry Robot
31% matchPut the Octavia first — the Moby Dick's massive ambient decay wants an already-textured signal to trail behind, not a bare octave-up tone. — goes in the amp's FX loop (or last, into a clean amp)
Friedman Buxom Boost
Friedman
tonal matchFriedman Buxom Boost is voiced for a high-gain amp's front end — Tycobrahe Octavia gives it exactly that
Wampler Cory Wong
Wampler
tonal matchWampler Cory Wong takes that high gain character and pushes it toward clean boost
Spaceman Effects Atlas IV
Spaceman
tonal matchSpaceman Effects Atlas IV pushes a high gain tone toward clean boost
EarthQuaker Devices Swiss Things
EarthQuaker Devices
tonal matchEarthQuaker Devices Swiss Things pushes a high gain tone toward clean boost
Alternatives
Roger Mayer Octavia
Roger Mayer
74% similarityShared character: neck_pickup, effect, original
Roger Mayer Octavia Classic
Roger Mayer
74% similarityShared character: neck, internal_transformer, effect
Fulltone Ultimate Octave
Fulltone
72% similarityShared character: neck_pickup, neck, tight_tracking
Zvex Jonny Octave
Zvex
72% similarityShared character: neck_pickup, internal_transformer, tight_tracking
EarthQuaker Devices Tentacle V2
EarthQuaker Devices
71% similarityShared character: neck, tight_tracking, one_octave
Death By Audio Micro Harmonic Transformer
Death By Audio
71% similarityShared character: internal_transformer, tight_tracking, one_octave
Behringer Octavia Octave Fuzz
Behringer
71% similarityShared character: internal_transformer, tight_tracking, one_octave
Death By Audio Octave Clang v2
Death By Audio
69% similarityShared character: original, tight_tracking, one_octave
Boss OC-2 Octaver
Boss
68% similarityShared character: tight_tracking, sweet, one_octave
Electro-Harmonix POG2 Polyphonic Octave Generator
Electro-Harmonix
68% similarityShared character: tight_tracking, one_octave, attack
Mooer Twin Tender Octaver Pro
Mooer
68% similarityShared character: tight_tracking, one_octave, attack
JHS Double Dragon
JHS Pedals
68% similarityShared character: tight_tracking, one_octave, rich
See all alternatives to the Tycobrahe Octavia (cheaper + boutique) →
Questions people ask
What are good alternatives to the Tycobrahe Octavia?+
The closest matches in character are the Roger Mayer Octavia, the Roger Mayer Octavia Classic, the Fulltone Ultimate Octave.
What pairs well with the Tycobrahe Octavia?+
Strong matches from rig and tone-complementarity evidence: Roland Cube Street, Vox MV50-CE Rock, Fuchs FBT 300 — Through the Cube Street's compact, full voicing, the Octavia's searing octave-fuzz still cuts for a busking or outdoor set..