The Olympia is a fuzz pedal from Caroline Guitar Company, and it was the company's second guitar pedal when it was announced in 20111. It is a classic transistor-based fuzz that, in Premier Guitar's assessment, "traces a line back through the Pacific Northwest of the '90s with filthy grace"2. The pedal sits in a compact, blueberry-colored enclosure and manages its fuzzed-out sound with just two knobs.
The original Olympia is discontinued. Delicious Audio described it as "the company's now discontinued [Olympia fuzz]" in July 20223. Caroline has kept making fuzzes since, including the Crom, which became a regular product after a limited 2021 release.
Controls and construction
The Olympia's control set is deliberately minimal. Two knobs handle everything, and a maker demo video by Fuzz Box Girl highlighted "the array of tones you can get from just two simple knobs"4.
| Control | Marking | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Volume | Speaker symbol | Sets output level2 |
| Gain | A bolt from Zeus | Sets the fuzz amount2 |
Inside the blueberry-colored enclosure, Premier Guitar found "a lesson in compact design," with no space wasted in accommodating the 9V battery, which rests securely below the footswitch2. Shielded jacks protect the 1/4" input and output cables from interference, and the pedal uses a 3DPT true-bypass setup2.
How it sounds next to a Big Muff or Fuzz Face
Premier Guitar's reviewer found that the Olympia "provides both authentic Muff and Fuzz Face tones" with more clarity and broader harmonic content than many Muff and Fuzz Face specimens, at a reasonable price2. The comparison to a Big Muff is the one the review develops most fully.
With gain near full, run through a Fender Twin Reverb, the reviewer reported you can achieve "the opulent, round, and raging sound of a Sovtek-built Big Muff without giving up any clarity"2. Where many Big Muff-based pedals can sound closed-in, the Olympia stood apart:
"It's clearer, more transparent even, than the suffocated, almost synth-like output that Big Muff-based pedals sometimes have."
At lower gain settings, with the gain knob around 2 to 3 o'clock, the reviewer described grungy lead tones with a heap of bass presence, a sweet, sharp high end, and responsiveness to picking intensity2. With a Les Paul, maxing the gain produced aggressive Iommi tones without sacrificing picking dynamics, and backing the gain off increased note-to-note detail with bark and bite2. The reviewer also noted that the Olympia's lower frequencies blend exceptionally well with the brighter tones of a high-headroom open-back amp like a Twin Reverb, especially in loud live settings, and that background noise is virtually nonexistent with both knobs at noon, testing a Strat into a 50-watt Bassman with four Celestion Vintage 30s2.
The review's pros listed a wide range of fuzz tones and great harmonic clarity; its one con was that the pedal "may not have enough hair for fans of extreme muff and Fuzz Face tones"2.
The White Russian limited edition
In April 2012, Caroline announced a limited, exclusive Olympia variant sold through Fat Tone Guitars: the "White Russian," built for guitarist Carter Gravatt5. The maker described it as "an Olympia voiced just a bit differently than the flamethrower we normally make"5.
- Cream finish with powder blue screened graphics exclusive to this run5
- Intentionally mismatched germanium and silicon diodes in the first clipping stage5
- Two-knob simplicity, like the standard Olympia5
- Available from Fat Tone Guitars while supplies lasted; as the maker put it, "When they are gone, they are gone."5
Where it came from
Videos
Pete Thorn
CarolineGuitarCo
Brett Kingman
Sources (5)
- Caroline Guitar Launches Olympia Pedal on Kickstarter, Premier Guitar, 2011-09-02
- Caroline Guitar Company Olympia Fuzz Pedal Review, Premier Guitar, 2012-03-09
- Now Shipping: Caroline Crom Fuzz, Delicious Audio, 2022-07-14
- NICE! FUZZ BOX GIRL OLYMPIA DEMO, Caroline Guitar Company, 2012-04-13
- The Fat Tone Exclusive "White Russian" Carter Gravatt Olympia, Caroline Guitar Company, 2012-04-20
