Dunlop Authentic Hendrix '68 Shrine Series Octavio

The Dunlop Authentic Hendrix '68 Shrine Series Octavio Fuzz (model JHMS2) is a mini octave fuzz pedal with an analog circuit¹. It is a special edition of the Octavio Fuzz paying tribute to Jimi Hendrix, with a custom finish featuring John Van Hamersveld's 1968 Shrine Auditorium concert poster art remixed by Simon Berndt of One Horse Town Illustration¹.

Dunlop now lists the pedal as a legacy product that is no longer in production¹.

What it does: octave fuzz in a mini housing

The pedal updates the circuitry of the original cheese wedge Octavio Fuzz, the unit Hendrix used to make history, for modern players and pedalboards¹. In its default mode, Dunlop describes it as snarling with super aggressive silicon saturation; pushing the Octave switch kicks in the classic octave-up fuzz sound that Hendrix demonstrated on tracks such as "One Rainy Wish"¹. Both modes deliver a range of touch-sensitive fuzz tones, according to Dunlop¹.

Guitar World described the pedal at launch as cramming the MXR Octavio, with its Output and Fuzz knobs, into a smaller housing². For a player, that means the octave-up effect that made the Octavio famous is switchable rather than always on, so the pedal can serve as a straight silicon fuzz or as an octave fuzz depending on the switch position.

The controls

The control set is minimal, in keeping with the MXR mini format:

That is the same control layout Guitar World attributed to the pedal at announcement: Output and Fuzz knobs, with the octave effect on a switch². The earlier '69 Psych Series Octavio Fuzz (JHW2) used the same arrangement, with Level, fuzz and octave on/off controls³⁴.

History and versions

The '68 Shrine Series is a set of MXR mini pedals pairing Hendrix-themed artwork with circuits drawn from the effects associated with Hendrix's tone. Alongside the Octavio Fuzz, the series includes a Fuzz Face Distortion, a special edition of the Fuzz Face Distortion with a Buffer switch that allows for true bypass switching, and a Uni-Vibe that is effectively a downsized MXR M68 Uni-Vibe, complete with the Vibe button, save for Van Hamersveld's art²⁵. The Octavio itself crams the MXR Octavio, with its Output and Fuzz knobs, into a smaller housing². The series covers the same ground as the earlier '69 Psych Series, which also included an Octavio Fuzz (JHW2)³⁴.

The '69 Psych Series came first, in 2019, as a collection of MXR-sized micro pedals with psychedelic Hendrix-themed graphics by UK design crew ILOVEDUST⁶². Guitar World reported that those pedals are now discontinued². The '68 Shrine Series followed in 2023 with different artwork and, in the case of the Octavio, the same basic recipe: an MXR mini housing version of the Octavio circuit with a switchable octave.

The artwork is the main visual difference between the two series. The Shrine Series finish is composed and remixed from John Van Hamersveld's iconic 1968 Shrine Auditorium concert poster, with the remix done by Simon Berndt of One Horse Town Illustration⁵². The '69 Psych Series pedals instead carried custom artwork designed by ILOVEDUST².

Within the '68 Shrine Series itself, the Octavio sits alongside three siblings, all now legacy products: the Shrine Series Fuzz Face Distortion, which captures two Hendrix fuzz flavors (aggressive silicon crunch and warm germanium saturation) selectable by a switch⁷; the Shrine Series Band of Gypsys Fuzz, based on a version of the Octavio circuit without the octave-up effect, inspired by a mysterious Fuzz Face Hendrix used between '69 and '70²⁸; and a Shrine Series Uni-Vibe, effectively a downsized MXR M68 Uni-Vibe².

Power and placement on a board

The JHMS2 runs on 9V DC with a center negative plug and draws 5mA⁵. Its circuit is analog⁵. At 5mA it is a light load for any pedalboard power supply, and the MXR mini housing keeps its footprint small. The mini pedals in Dunlop's Hendrix lines of this era are adapter powered; the Uni-Vibe manual for the same series states that pedal cannot be powered by a battery⁹, so players should assume a power jack, not a battery clip, on the Octavio as well.

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