The Octavia is a fuzz which creates the octave doubling effect (one octave higher) made famous by Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck. The Voodoo Lab Proctavia is an exact replica of Tycobrahe Sound Company’s Octavia, the model used by Stevie Ray Vaughan and considered the most desirable by vintage collectors.
The Proctavia includes the same transistors, germanium diodes and transformer coupled output stage as the original circuit to produce the outrageous distortion and high octave sound heard on classic recordings like “Are You Experienced” and “Wired.”
Voted #1 in
Fuzz Octave Shootout!
“Voodoo Lab's Proctavia: it'll put a spell on you."
"Once the Proctavia is plugged in, it doesn't take long to realise that you're dealing with a quality pedal that oozes versatility from its two controls.”
– WHAT GUITAR Magazine, U.K.
| Proctavia Pedal features: |
Classic fuzz/octave tones
True bypass switching with LED
Hand built in the U.S.A.
5-year warranty*
| Soundbites and Recording Notes |
Hazy – One of the earliest and most recognizable examples of the original Octavia (AKA Octavio) is the Jimi Hendrix track “Purple Haze.” Hendrix created the track using a Marshall half-stack and the single-coil neck pickup in his Stratocaster. For “Hazy” we’ve recreated the signal path for this classic solo.
Signal Path:
’54 Fender Stratocaster Reissue (single-coil neck position)
Proctavia
Amp-Mics-Pre:
1966 50-watt Marshall JTM-50
4x12 late-‘60s stock Marshall cab (25-watt Celestions)
Close mic’d with a Shure Unidyne III SM57 (Mic Pre: 1073 Repro)
Room mic’d with an AKG 414 (Mic Pre: Avalon 737sp)
DOWNLOAD AUDIO: Hazy
ProctaVibe – By adding the Microvibe to the accompanying guitar tracks, “ProctaVibe” has the classic guitar tones of Hendrix-era recordings, but played over the changes of a progressive jazz tune. This groove-based arrangement is commonly used by musicians like Michael Landau and occasionally by John Mayer.
Signal Path:
’58 Fender Stratocaster (Custom Shop)
Proctavia
Microvibe
Amp-Mics-Pre:
1966 50-watt Marshall JTM-50
4x12 late-‘60s stock Marshall cab (25-watt Celestions)
Mic’d with a Rode NTK tube microphone (Mic Pre: Avalon 737sp)
DOWNLOAD AUDIO: ProctaVibe
General Recording Gear for “Hazy” and “ProctaVibe”
Apogee Rosetta 800 AD/DA, Apple G5 dual 2.7, Apple Logic Pro 7, Universal Audio UAD-1 (X2), Audio Ease Altiverb 5 (convolution reverb), Drums courtesy of Spectrasonics Stylus RMX (w/ all expansion libraries).
Written/Recorded by Middle Name Music (ASCAP). |
Demo Clips by BLUES SARACENO
DOWNLOAD AUDIO: | All Knobs Full | Less Distortion | Wide Open |
The Lost Videos
Sometime in 1997, a few friends of Voodoo Lab got together for a “tone party” at the LA home of guitarist Joey Brasler. Players like session great Tim Pierce, Jamie Kime (Zappa plays Zappa, Michelle Branch, Jewel), Blues Saraceno (solo artist), and Randy Jacobs (Was Not Was, Boneshakers) all took turns dialing up tones on the entire Voodoo Lab stompbox line. Everything was recorded on video and the tapes were packed away for safe keeping...
Well for nearly a decade, those tapes were essentially lost until a “former” employee found one of them in a box. Unfortunately some tapes are still missing, but we made digital transfers of whatever we could find. While this footage was never meant to be the definitive demo of these products, we felt like it would be fun and educational to put them out. We hope you enjoy them and we’ll be releasing clips as we find them so stay tuned!
Frequently Asked Questions
User Manual: Download PDF
*North America only. Other regions contact your country's distributor for warranty info.
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