JAM Pedals finally releases Standard and NOS Editions of its superb Octaurus Octafuzz

I was one of the relatively lucky few that picked one of these up the first time around. Actually the third batch of the 200 or so that were made - mine was number OC188 - so toward the end of that run. Many thanks to my friend Steve Dennis at FX Pedal Planet who helped me out with that one!

That one came with rare 60’s NOS Silicon Transistors - 4 Metal Can Editions are used for the Octaurus - and JAM Pedals selected the Transitron / General Instrument ones for the task namely the 2N335 and 2N336 types - typically 4 from the same brand, I forget which ones are in mine - but they sound amazing - and those who bought the original Suede Edition got a beautiful turret-style circuit.

There was a lot of demand for these - and they sold out incredibly quickly. For that overall round Jam Pedals had only managed to find around 1000 of those transistors - which 4-a-piece made circa 200 units.

I believe JAM Pedals always wanted to make more - and were lucky enough to find some more of those rare NOS Silicon Transistors - so the decision was made to make up some Ltd NOS varieties containing the same transistors as the first run. There would also be a Standard Edition - which used a number of more readily available transistors that shared the same values as the ones in the Ltd Editions. JAM have not specified which transistor types / brands are used in the Standard Model - while they have a wide variety to draw from!.

Controls - Voice : Scooped / Full, Tone, Clipping : Asymmetrical / Symmetrical, Level, Gain.
 
Preferred Settings - Full Voice, Tone @ Noon, Asymmetrical Clipping, Level @ 3 o’c, Gain @ 4 o’c.

As is the case with most JAM Pedals devices Jannis likes them to be very full flavoured and these sound amazing with Full Voice on Asymmetrical Clipping - where I tend to live mostly!

The original Suede version is long since gone - so you have the choice of he same NOS Transistors in the slightly dearer NOS version, or the incredibly near sounding and more affordable Standard edition. You will need to make do without the Suede covering, and elegant Turret-style circuit - while all the key parts are the same.

Weirdly I much prefer the look of the green standard edition - that’s the best looking one really - the NOS Edition obviously has that Mojo - but it’s exterior looks aren’t quite as appealing - we loose a colour in the transition - where the NOS is simply gold onto black, and the standard is black and white onto green!

The price of the NOS Edition is €339 / $339 / £289.

The Standard Edition is €259 / $259 / £219.

These are widely available now - including on the JAM Pedals Webstore - and imminent at leading International Dealers!