The Shin-ei Screaming Sister 8ctave Boost is an octave boost pedal from Shin-ei. The maker describes it as "a tribute to the vintage clean octave boost pedal," and says the Screaming Sister "delivers a very musical octave boost effect"1. It is not a pure octave or a pure boost: as reviewers found, the three controls interact so the pedal can move from a clean lift into fuzz territory, which puts it in the same family as the vintage octave fuzzes Shin-ei is known for, such as the Shin-ei Honey V8 8ctavarius.
Pedal of the Day reviewed the pedal in June 2018 and identified its lineage more precisely, calling it "an octave boost based on the Prescription Electronics' Clean Octave Boost (COB)"2. That original circuit is the vintage pedal the Screaming Sister honors.
The vintage octave boost it pays tribute to
Shin-ei frames the Screaming Sister as a tribute to the vintage clean octave boost pedal, and names the players associated with the original: the maker's page describes it as "a tribute to the vintage clean octave boost pedal used by many iconic guitarists including Doyle Bramhall II, Johnny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd"1. For a player coming to the pedal today, that lineage matters because the original was prized as a clean octave lift rather than a full-on fuzz, and the Screaming Sister is built to cover that ground while still being able to push into dirt when the controls are opened up.
Pedal of the Day's review adds the circuit connection: the vintage pedal it traces back to is the Prescription Electronics Clean Octave Boost, usually shortened to COB2.
Controls and how it sounds
There are three controls on the left side of the unit: BOOST, 8CTAVE and MOOD1. An LED in the lower right corner shows whether the effect is on or off1. Pedal of the Day found the three knobs interact rather than working as three independent settings, and calculated six distinct settings across the three controls for its demo2.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| BOOST | A volume knob of sorts; turned higher it leans into fuzz driver territory, giving dirty tones2 |
| 8CTAVE | Adds in octave sounds, and gets into fuzz zones when pushed, accentuated with more power from the Boost2 |
| MOOD | Acts as a blend of the octave, adding in as much or as little as needed2 |
The practical picture from the review is that Boost sets the overall level and how hard the circuit is driven, 8ctave brings in the octave-up content and thickens toward fuzz as it is pushed, and Mood sets how much of the octave voice sits in the final sound. Run low, the pedal behaves closer to a clean boost in the boost pedal sense; run hard, it crosses into fuzz territory with the octave riding on top2.
Build and power
The pedal is housed in a tough steel vintage style enclosure, made from high quality cold rolled steel and powder coated, in Vintage Black1. Shin-ei says it now uses the "Demont" foot switch on its products, describing it as the highest quality switch available in the industry and known for quiet, easy actuation1.
Power is flexible. The unit runs on a nine volt battery and also features a nine volt socket for those looking to use an external power source; Shin-ei specifies that a nine volt 100mA external source is required to power the unit1.
The 100mA draw means the Screaming Sister can share a typical isolated pedalboard output, but players running it on a battery should expect the fuzz-into-octave circuit to drain it faster than a simple clean boost would.
What reviewers said
Pedal of Day's 2018 review came away positive about the pedal's character, if hard to file under one heading2:
"this hard-to-categorize effect will put a huge smile on your face the minute you plug it in"
That verdict matches the pedal's own design brief: it sits between an octave, a boost and a fuzz, and the reviewer found the fun of it in that ambiguity rather than treating it as a flaw2.
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Questions
Can the Shin-ei Screaming Sister run on a battery?
Yes. The unit runs on a nine volt battery, and it also has a nine volt socket for an external power source. Shin-ei specifies a nine volt 100mA external source to power the unit, so a standard pedalboard supply works alongside the battery option.
What do the Boost, 8ctave and Mood knobs do?
Boost works as a volume control of sorts, and turning it higher leans into fuzz driver territory for dirtier tones. The 8ctave knob adds in octave sounds and also gets into fuzz zones when pushed, accentuated by more power from the Boost. Mood acts as a blend of the octave, letting you add as much or as little as you need.
Who used the vintage octave boost the Screaming Sister is based on?
Shin-ei describes the Screaming Sister as a tribute to the vintage clean octave boost pedal used by many iconic guitarists, naming Doyle Bramhall II, Johnny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd as players of the original.
Sources (6)
- Screaming Sister 8ctave Boost pedal, Shin-ei
- Shin-ei Screaming Sister 8ctaveBoost, Pedal of the Day, 2018-06-08
- Shin-ei Honey V8 8ctavarius, shin-ei.com
- Shin-ei Companion FY-2 Fuzz Box, Shin-ei
- Shin-ei Vibe-2 chorus/vibrato effects pedal, shin-ei.com
- Astron FY-6 Super Fuzz, Shin-ei (shin-ei.com)
