ALL IN MY BRAIN
An equal mix of the Bluebird Fuzz and Purple Octopus Octave, the Purple Haze comes in a more standard Hammond type housing. With True Bypass switching, the pedal has controls for Octave Blend, Fuzz Tone, Fuzz Volume, a switch changing the effect order from Octave into Fuzz to Fuzz into Octave and then individual foot switches for both Fuzz and Octave. There’s then one further control as an internal trimmer pot that adjusts the Octave volume.
BLEND
Octave Fuzz can be a tricky beast. Its dependant on many factors and reacts differently according to your picking, attack, volume, amp, guitar, pickup and other effects in the chain. Winding the fuzz down gives you that dying battery type of clang, and the tone control goes from round and honky to brighter and more piercing. The Octave Blend does just that allowing for some blippy splurts or more of a soaring screech. It’s worth experimenting with the entire range of your instrument too, as the Purple Haze can hammer out chuggy low end but then really sting when you get up to the 12th fret and beyond.
MANIAC
Henretta Engineering are pumping out some cool effects. Their initial small box range really started to get people thinking “do I need all those tweaking options?” And whilst they won’t please everyone they offer good sounding effects that you can slip into a small space on your pedalboard or chuck in your gig bag. This pairing with Maniac Music Factory then sees them combining some established pedals into a more in depth version resulting in some tasty fuzz octave sounds.
It’s a solid stomp box that can take you from subtle effect type tones through to twisted noise making. Classic rock, 70s psychedelic, ambient, punk and even alternative atmospheric vibes are possible. But like the classic noise maker Hendrix himself, remember there are no real rules with this stuff – just use it however you think sounds good!
For more info on Henretta Engineering products, visit www.maniacmusicfactory.com.
