I'm interested in getting an octavia pedal and was wondering if any of you have any experience with the currently available models(Fulltone OctaFuzz, VL Proctavia, Roger Mayer etc.). Thnks for your help!

I have an MJM Roctavios, this is not on his website but he does make one and it is great. Sounds like someone stuck a fork in my speaker, in a good way!!
MH http://w4.ca/v03v/mysitebyname.asp?username=mjmguitarfx

Sounds like he needs to update his website. The Rocktavios,the Ulysses & the Brit Bender are not listed,but exist in real time. Maybe he's too busy putting out cool new pedals to update the website.

I've owned the Octafuzz (OF). You could get every Hendrix (Octavia) sound out of it, but reproducing the same sound later was tricky. It's very sensitive to settings, guitar settings, where you play on the neck, pick attack. It seemed to sound somewhat different sometimes too - as I understand it, germanium is weather (temp, humidity) sensitive. The underlying fuzz sounded awesome - I wished it could have been accessed seperately. The extreme dynamics of its output got smoothed out by using some delay, but I just didn't end up using it.

I traded it (the UF) in a few weeks ago on the Fulltone Ultimate Octave (UO). The UO has a very thick, cheesy '60's sounding fuzz that I love - INCREDIBLE sustain, too. My only knock would be that it's only got one flavor, pretty much regardless of settings - thick! Actually, there is a scooped-mids switch that gives one other option. The octave sounds can be kicked in with another switch. The Octave sound is quite straightforward. Sounds good (or you can generate horrible noises by playing intervals!), tracks well, not overly sensitive to guitar and pedal settings, or where you are on the fretboard or pick attack.

In short, the Ultimate Octave works best for me. Step on the button and go, plus a cheesy fuzz that I actually use much more than the Octave part. The Octafuzz can generate the whole variety of Octavia sounds, but it takes some skill - like learning to play another instrument. Seperate fuzz plus ease of use - UO. The real deal - OF.

i'm a big fan of the fulltone octafuzz. i picked one up after hearing ian moore play with one, and i love it- not that i'm going to use it for every song i do, but it's nice to have. cheers...

I've owned the Ultimate Octave and Octafuzz, which I had to sell last year. Currently, I own a Voodoo Lab Proctavia. Here's my take on these pedals:

Octafuzz: Great octave fuzz, built like a tank, can nail Hendrix. You can get some really strange sounds out of it depending on how you play it, where on the fretboard you're playing and the pickups. To me, it kind of has ring modulator characteristics.

Proctavia: Like the Octafuzz, a sonic clone of the Octavia. I have been able to get most of the same sounds out of this as I did the Octafuzz. They are both sonic clones of the Octavia so how different can they really be? It's a hell of a lot cheaper than the Octafuzz also.

Ultimate Octave: The most versatile of the three because you can choose to either run the fuzz by itself or with the Octave. Both effects sounds great. The octave-fuzz is a bit more controllable but great tone nonetheless. The fuzz sounds great too. For some people, it's the only fuzz they would ever need.

I agree with DMT's opinion that the Ultimate Octave would probably work best in that you'll get more use out of it than the others, but they're all good.

The Ultimate Octave pretty much dominates any other pedal placed ahead of it in my board. I like the fuzz, although some folks don't. The octave is nice but makes the guitar a little thin and transparent. Very hard to use live.

The Roger Mayer Octavia doesn't track as well as the UO. It requires something to square off/overdrive its inputs. It needs to live in something more size efficient than the rocket case. That being said, it interacts well with other devices and cuts the mix much better then the UO. Invariably, this is the one I use live.