*Comments provided by Roger Mayer.

The VISION OCTAVIA is probably our most famous and distinctive creation. This effect was designed in early 1967 and featured on "Purple Haze" and "Fire" by Jimi Hendrix. It's unique tones can also be heard on such tracks as "One Rainy ", "Little Miss Lover", "Little Wing", "Machine Gun" etc. The VISION OCTAVIA produces a sound that is an octave higher than the note you are presently playing. This doubling effect is accomplished through electronic mirror imaging techniques that are program sensitive and also respond to the feed forward inputs of the player. The electronic circuitry is analogue in design and will react faithfully to all the subtleties and harmonic overtones from the guitar. The effect produced is very unique but human in quality. The units that are manufactured today are representative of the latest evolution of Octavia that Jimi used and contains the feed forward and gating effect that my earlier evolutions lacked.

Product Photos

Sound Clips

Listen to examples of this pedal in action.

Description

Electronically the VISION OCTAVIA is an analogue circuit with the propertiesof a frequency doubler, envelope generator and amplitude modulator withaddition frequency shaping filter circuits. The effect produced issubtle to wild depending on the settings used and will respond to theattack of the player. A clean tone from the guitar with the tone rolledcontrol rolled off will produce "ring modulated" overtones thatcharacterise the solo to "Who knows ". The sound is tangibly differentif a fuzz unit is in front of the Octavia: an upper octave double iscreated, clearly demonstrated in the solo to "Purple Haze". The brightharmonics are more controllable if the neck pickup is selected and thetone control set to roll off the treble. The effect really comes intoit's own on the top E and B strings from the 7th fret up. A clean andprecise picking style is essential with particular attention toaccurate fretting techniques.
Jimi placed the Octavia after a fuzz and wah unit in most cases so itwould react to the combined effects of both the wah and one or morefuzz boxes. It is important to experiment with how much signal you aredriving the Octavia with as this has a great influence on the soundproduced.
The Octavia now also comes in the brand new Vision Series enclosuredesign with the same famous sound and many added extras to help themodern musician and bring the famous Octavia sound forward to thefuture. The many players who demand the original sound plus a packagethat is more flexible and pedal board friendly will welcome theadditional features and for the purists the famous Rocket StyledOctavia will still be available.

Vision Octavia Front Panel Controls

DRIVE: This control sets the gain of the stages before the equalizer section and as the gain or drive is increased adds varying harmonics which are then subjected to the Octavia section. It also adds sustain and effects the feedforward action and gating threshold.

TONE: A very effective tone circuit has been added between the drive and octave stages to give control of the signal harmonics. This gives much added flexibility of setting the tone colour required. The original Octavia tone is of course preserved but in the studio with Jimi we used to have various EQ's and drivers to help our Octavia blend and this new feature goes a long way to help you achieve your own perfect blend.

OUTPUT: This controls the final output level desired.

For more complete information please download the manual:
Vision Octavia +

Vision Octavia Features

MULTI-MODE OUTPUTS with HARD WIRE BYPASS or TWO BUFFERED OUTPUTS
The Vision Octavia has three outputs, a true hard wire output plus twobuffered outputs that can drive long cable lengths with no highfrequency loss. These two buffered outputs are identical and aredisconnected when the hard wire output is being used. This means thatyou have a choice for all possible performance or equipment situationswhether you feel a true hard wire output or buffered outputs willperform best. In general the low output impedance of the buffer gives alower noise floor and a more punchy sound but now it's so easy to hearthe difference and make a real decision that is based on fact not hype.

LED :
An LED shows the status of the effect. The LED also shows alow battery condition and will fail to light in either status thusshowing that battery replacement is required.

RAPID BATTERY CHANGE :
No more screws to loose!.. Slide the frontpanel back and there is the battery. It could not be simpler or faster.See picture below.

LONG BATTERY LIFE :
Exceptionally low current consumption: BypassMode=1.18mA. Effect Mode=1.50mA ensures an expected battery life ofmore than 150Hrs with alkaline type batteries.

EXTERNAL POWER ADAPTER / SUPPLY :
An external AC adapter (notsupplied) can be used and access is through a standard DC power jack (2.1mm centre pin ) situated next to the jack sockets. Internal onboardfiltering ensures that optimum low noise performance is maintained anddiode protection provides peace of mind in case of polarity settingmistakes.
Connection protocol:It uses the standard negative centre pin connection protocol used by many leading manufacturers.
Specifications: 9 volt DC. Regulated output is recommended.
Current rating: 50mA or more.

ERGONOMIC DESIGN / PEDAL BOARD FRIENDLY :
The position of the jacksockets and DC power jack are all on the same side of the enclosure andface away from you thus enabling the effect to be optimally positionedin pedal board set-ups.

DIMENSIONS:
Width 170 x Depth 112 x Height 57mm. Weight : 618g with battery.

* batteries not included

Manual

View the Vision Octavia Manual