Italian pedal maestro Mastro Valvola has gotten us used to some very elegant and flexible devices, and the OFF1, an octave fuzz with filter, sits neatly within this tradition. Intriguingly, this fully analog pedal can deliver both octave up and down, which is quite unique for a fuzz.
Two footswitches let you use Octave and Fuzz individually for a more classic fuzz sound, and turn on the ladder filter when needed through the right footswitch.
The fuzz by itself can produce a wide range of tones from every fuzz era thanks to the Tone knob and a Mid toggle that pushes the mid frequencies for a more punchy tone. The high octave can be activated manually via the Up toggle switch, which engages a pair of diodes that recreate the octave doubling effect reminiscent of the vintage octave-up fuzzes like the Octavia or Super-Fuzz.
The cool feature of the left footswitch is that it allows you to switch between an octave down and octave up fuzz sounds if the Up toggle is engaged (if it’s not, you’ll just get the regular fuzz. The octave down effect can get really cavernous with two Sub knobs, respectively one and two octaves below the signal. A Dry knob helps you dial in the clean signal to taste.
The filter circuit can be controlled by Cutoff and Resonance knobs. with the first one also linkable via an expression pedal (or CV) using the dedicated rear jack. The filter works combined with the Fuzz when the filter toggle switch is positioned downwards.
Check out the vidoes of the Mastro Valvola OFF1!
Mastro Valvola OFF1 Builder’s Notes
The OFF1 pedal features 3 analog stand alone circuits in series: Octave (sub1 & sub2) + Fuzz (with switchable octave up effect) + Ladder Filter.
Octave and Fuzz can be used individually for a more canonical approach of the two effects, while from their combination more experimental results can be obtained. The first effect in the internal signal chain is the Octave and then in series come the Fuzz and the ladder Filter. By applying the Fuzz’s high octave effect and Filter on the low octaves you get out of the ordinary sounds and are projected towards moods close to the world of synths.
Octave:
The Octave circuit belongs to the family of the old monophonic octaves and can add the two octaves below the original note.
Each octave has a separate volume control and plays back with outstanding clarity, thanks to the very precise and fast-tracking circuit, which allows even bridge pickups to be used without difficulty.Fuzz:
Fuzz has an edgy and grumpy character; it doesn’t like being compared to other Fuzz tones.
It’s capable of producing a wide range of tones from every fuzz era with careful tweaking of Gain, Tone and Mid frequencies controls. From thin and harmonic, to thick and growling. A pair of diodes is also used in the circuit to achieve the octave doubling effect reminiscent of the old octave up tones of the late 60’s and early 70’s. The high octave can be activated manually via the toggle switch or via the left footswitch when the pedal is in Mode 2.Filter:
The filter circuit belongs to the family of the legendary synths ladder filters and comes with the inevitable Cutoff and Resonance controls. You can crank the resonance and sweep the cutoff to hear those characteristic and wonderful harmonic peaks.
The Cutoff control can also be controlled via an expression pedal (or CV) using the dedicated rear jack. The filter works combined with the Fuzz when the filter toggle switch is positioned downwards.Main features:
– 3 Analog circuits
– synths style ladder filter
– 2 footswitches configuration modes
– both buttons can be used in latching or momentary mode
– expression pedal input
