BYOC Scrambled Octave Effects Pedal Review

This review was submitted by Guitar Jar contributor: Samuel

I bought the BYOC (Build Your Own Clone) Scrambled Octave to obtain a somewhat Hendrix octavio sound without ripping it off. I have been touring with this pedal for a year now.

…With the octave all the way you can have screeching one note brutal octaves…

Features:

It can be purchased pre-built or you can build it yourself.

I prefer to build it myself because I also design pedals.

It has a fuzz blend control and an octave level control. The fuzz blend control goes from clean, to very moderate fuzz face type tones, to full-on gating brutality.

The octave level all the way turned down is completely gone allowing you to use the pedal as a fuzz box or an octave fuzz.

With the octave all the way you can have screeching one note brutal octaves. There is one push switch that is true bypass. The power can be fed via 9v battery or a standard boss style 9v power supply.

Ease of use:

Very easy to find your own tone. The variation of the two controls allow for many different sounds because the fuzz and octave react differently depending on how hard you are pushing that control.

Sound Quality:

Great. True bypass switch so it doesn’t suck tone.

The scrambled octave adds a nice touch while allowing the combination of the fuzz and octave to become more musical.

It does not react so harshly as an octavia when you play multiple strings. Sounds almost identical to the original Ampeg Scrambler that it’s based on.

Reliability:

Really depends on the builder. If you can solder well and follow instructions it will last forever.

The electronics are simple. The enclosure, switch, and pots are all sturdy and quality. My room mate bought the same pedal pre built and it sounded the same and he has had no issues with it.

I would say all around very reliable.