M267 Octavio Fuzz

116
GUITARIST MAY 2020
MXR & Cry Baby pedals
Three fresh-from-NAMM pedals from the Jim Dunlop stable
PEDALBOARD
Words Trevor Curwen Photography Phil Barker
M
XR and Cry Baby are both brands that come under
the Jim Dunlop umbrella and are represented here
effectively as three MXR pedals. Okay, the Q Zone
might be branded as Cry Baby, but it’s housed in a classic MXR
enclosure with MXR stamped on the baseplate, so that’ll do for
us. That MXR pedal shape – seen here in the Octavio and the Q
Zone – has been around since the early 70s days of the Phase 90
et al and it hasn’t changed much. You get the necessary modern
inclusions of a bypass LED and a nine-volt input, but you still have
to take the four-screw baseplate off to get at the battery. By contrast,
the MXR Custom Shop Timmy makes space-saving concessions
to the modern pedalboard as a micro pedal with offset jacks and
a nine-volt adaptor connection at the top end. One characteristic
that these three pedals share (other than all debuting at January’s
NAMM Show) is that they are new iterations of older pedals that
have been around for some time. Let’s take a closer look…
ROUND-UP
M267 Octavio Fuzz £139 Cry Baby QZ1 Q Zone £159
T
his is not the only Octavio pedal
in Jim Dunlop’s roster – there’s
currently a mini-sized Jimi
Hendrix Octavio fuzz with selectable
octave – but it is the only one available as
a standard two-knob MXR pedal without
any artist connection. And while there are
no Hendrix graphics as seen in a previous
same-sized MXR version, the lineage can
be traced back to the vintage pedal used by
Jimi to full effect on Purple Haze.
This is silicon fuzz with a gritty edge
and that upper octave harmonic bedded
into it. If you turn up the fuzz and try
playing standard chords it can sound
messy, but doublestops come out sounding
really powerful and single-note playing
can really take advantage of the singing
quality of that upper harmonic overtone,
especially in the upper reaches of the
neck. This is pretty much a pedal you can
‘play’ and there’s plenty there (sitar-like
sounds, for example) that will reward
experimentation with technique.
VERDICT Classic Octavio noises in standard
MXR pedal form – you now have a choice if
you opt for Dunlop
T
he Timmy pedal, feted as a great
transparent overdrive, has been
around for quite a few years,
but this iteration sees it transition from
the boutique world to mainstream
manufacturer, with original designer
Paul Cochrane still involved. The knobs
and toggle switch on this mini version
are tightly packed together but still easily
adjustable. It offers overdrive with three
clipping options and, besides standard
Volume and Gain knobs, there are two
cut-only EQ knobs: Bass is pre-OD, useful
for tightening up the bottom-end before it
hits the drive section, while the post-OD
Treble can tailor the top-end to your amp.
The clipping options are sufficiently
different, offering increasing amounts of
saturation that can get full-on raunchy, but
we particularly like the middle position’s
symmetrical clipping and high headroom
for dialling in a clean boost or a touch of
break-up as a very natural extension of our
amp’s core tone.
VERDICT So much variety in so little
pedalboard space makes the tiny Timmy
a bit special
Custom Shop CSP027 Timmy £139
B
ack in original three-knob guise
after the four-knob CSP030
Custom Shop version, the Q Zone
mimics a ‘cocked wah’ – the sound of
a wah pedal held in a fixed position, a
favoured technique of many players to
give a tonal shift to their sound, typically
a resonant treble boost for enhanced
harmonic content. The volume knob has
plenty extra to drive your amp if you want
to incorporate a boost, while the Peak
control has the same function as the rocker
pot of a wah pedal, setting the centre
frequency and essentially mimicking the
treadle position. The Q Zone knob sets the
bandpass shape (broad or narrow) and
effectively dials in the intensity for more
throatiness or quack.
Here’s an extra dimension to your sound
that you wouldn’t get with basic EQ, and
while it’s perhaps not as versatile as having
a full wah pedal on your ’board, it takes up
much less space and lets you instantly hit
that sweet spot every time.
VERDICT A niche pedal maybe, but one that
does its job perfectly with no worries about
treadle positioning
MANUFACTURER
MXR
MODEL
OCTAVIO, CRY BABY Q ZONE & TIMMY
CONTACT
WESTSIDE DISTRIBUTION 0844 326 2000 / WWW.JIMDUNLOP.COM
PRICE
£139 TO £159
MXR MXRJIM DUNLOP
VIDEO DEMO http://bit.ly/guitaristextra
GIT458.peds_mxr_roundup.indd 116 19/03/2020 17:38