wishlist Roger Mayer Purple Haze Octavia VIDEO DEMO http://bit.ly/guitaristextra

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Roger Mayer Purple Haze Octavia £1,440

CONTACT Guitar Village PHONE 01252 726821 WEB www.guitarvillage.co.uk Words Rod Brakes Photography Olly Curtis

s Jimi Hendrix’s right-hand man in the studio “It’s also the fi rst time since then that I’ve made an 1. Roger designed and during the recording of 1967’s Axis: Bold As Octavia in a wedge-shaped enclosure,” points out Roger. custom-winds these ferrite transformers Love, Roger Mayer knows what it means to “But this one doesn’t just use a battery; it also takes A (bottom left) as per the be at the cutting edge of studio effects. Shortly after nine to 24 volts DC. The higher the voltage, the greater earliest examples used Roger’s 21st birthday, the pair hit it off while discussing the headroom or output capacity – before the signal by Jimi Hendrix. They guitar pedals. “I introduced the Octavia to Jimi back in distorts. So you can get the perfect Octavia sound and are more hum-resistant and offer a superior early 1967,” recalls Roger. “We were both into new and boost it with a higher output, which makes it much high-frequency detailed innovative sounds and I mentioned I’d helped out Jeff more usable in the studio. When I was in the studio with response than standard Beck and Jimmy Page with some of my stuff for their Jimi, we had access to a variable power supply, so we audio transformers hit records. Jimi asked me if I had anything new and could fi ne-tune the sound of the Octavia.” 2. While the Octave knob I told him about this new pedal – the Octavia. Although the Octavia is often lumped into the (right) controls the “He asked me to bring it along to a gig he was category of fuzz pedals, Roger considers this too wave-shaping properties playing at Chislehurst Caves [in Kent] and he tried generic a label. “It’s more about wave shaping,” he of the harmonics, the it out through a practice amp in the dressing room. explains. “The sound of an Octavia is about mirror volume knob amplifi es the selected sound (and turns He said, ‘I know what I can use this for. Come down imaging; you’ve got twice as many [wave] peaks as the power on and off). to the Ricky Tick Club gig next week; we’re going to you would normally have, and that’s what gives the Maximum output level Olympic Studios after the show to record the overdubs frequency doubling effect. It sounds alien, but it also is obtained when using for Purple Haze and Fire.’ Jimi ended up using a sounds human. It was made for making hit records and a 24-volt power supply rail Telecaster to record those solos with, and that’s how it debuted on arguably Jimi Hendrix’s most famous 3. According to Roger, the he discovered the Octavia.” record – Purple Haze. It’s got an impeccable heritage. Purple Haze Octavia is The pedal that Jimi used to record Purple Haze with If you want a genuine Octavia tone, you need to buy not only identical to Jimi’s uniquely featured a hand-wound ferrite transformer, a genuine pedal. Some of my early pedals go for a lot original pedal in terms of sound but it also comes and for the fi rst time this all-important component more money; the original Band Of Gypsys Octavia with a recording studio- has been incorporated into an offi cial Octavia design. just went for $70,400!” quality output stage

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4. With collectors hot on the trail, a mere 100 of these Roger Mayer-signed Purple Haze Octavias have been made available to musicians, engineers and producers worldwide. “They also make a nice gift and they’re a good investment, too,” says Roger

5. “The original Octavia brand is mine,” underscores Roger. “Years ago, Tycobrahe just copied an Octavia I had made for [The Yardbirds’] Keith Relf. However, that pedal wasn’t the same version that was used by Jimi Hendrix to record Purple Haze with”

6. The Roger Mayer Purple Haze Octavia is hand-built in the UK using UK-supplied parts, including gold-plated Cliff jack plug connectors and conductive plastic low-noise potentiometers. Ultimate low-noise performance is obtained by advanced electronics design techniques, 5 including a six-layer printed circuit card

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