The Hello Sailor Effects Voodoo Sailor Octave Fuzz is an octave fuzz pedal from the UK small builder Hello Sailor Effects, the project of Joe Halliday. Guitar Pedal X, listing it among its best new fuzz pedals of 2024, described it as "An amazing evolved Hello Sailor mod on the Joyo Voodoo Octave Fuzz", meaning the circuit starts from the inexpensive Joyo Voodoo Octave Fuzz and is rebuilt and modified by hand. It was priced at £150 / $189 at the time of that review, dated 18 December 20241.
Controls
The pedal carries a compact but full control set, with a clipping switch mounted on top so it can be reached while the pedal is on a board1.
| Control | Settings | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Clipping switch (top) | Silicon [1N4007] / None / Germanium [D9E] | Selects the clipping diodes or lifts them out of the circuit |
| Fuzz | Gain control | Sets the amount of fuzz |
| Tone | Rotary | Shapes the treble |
| EQ Profile | Flat / Mid-Cut | Toggles between a flat voicing and a mid-cut voicing |
| Volume | Rotary | Sets output level |
| Octave Up footswitch | On/off | Engages the octave-up effect |
| Fuzz Engage / Bypass | Footswitch | Engages or bypasses the fuzz1 |
The three-position clipping switch is the practical heart of the pedal: silicon diodes give one clipping character, germanium another, and the None position removes diode clipping altogether, so one pedal covers three fuzz voicings without changing components on a board1.
How it compares
Hello Sailor Effects builds several octave and hybrid fuzzes, and the Voodoo Sailor sits among them as the modded-Joyo take on the format. Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson, who owns one, wrote that "Joe's mods really elevate this fuzz - my edition is sheer perfection", and judged it "more searing and more aggressive than the Monmouth overall", referring to the maker's Monmouth Octave Fuzz1.
"Joe's mods really elevate this fuzz - my edition is sheer perfection"
Other fuzzes in the maker's range that Guitar Pedal X has covered include the Abbey Road Hybrid Fuzz, the Leia Rebel-Rebel, the Spirit in the Sky Fuzz and the ShipWreck Fuzzstortion. For the wider field, see the site's Fuzz Pedals and Octave & Pitch Pedals pages.
Sources (1)
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2024-12-18
