Solid Gold FX 76 Plus Octa-Fuzz

The Solid Gold FX 76 Plus Octa-Fuzz is a fuzz pedal with an octave-up effect and its own wah-like filter, handmade in Montreal by the Canadian builder Solid Gold FX and announced in October 2019¹. It pairs a powerful, cutting fuzz with a baked-in octave up that becomes especially apparent the higher you play up the fretboard, and adds a filter section that can sweep on its own or follow your expression pedal².

The pedal is an evolution of Solid Gold FX's earlier 76 Octave Fuzz, itself inspired by the legendary Japanese fuzzes of the 1970s³. Where the original 76 gave you an octave fuzz with a few shaping controls, the 76 Plus bolts on what Delicious Audio's Griffin Jennings called "basically another whole pedal": a wah-like filter with a speed knob, expression pedal control, selectable waveshapes and a step sequencer⁴.

An octave-up fuzz with its own wah-like filter

The 76 Plus takes its inspiration from the lauded Univox Super Fuzz, Shin-Ei Companion and Ibanez Standard Fuzz, the highly coveted Japanese octa-fuzz pedals of the past²¹. Like those circuits, it produces a fuzz with an octave-up component stacked on top, an effect that, according to Solid Gold FX, becomes more apparent the further you move up the fretboard¹.

The filter is what separates the 76 Plus from a straight Super Fuzz clone. It is an independent wah-like filter that can be controlled manually via an expression pedal, or set to run on its own using internal LFOs¹. Several modes with different shapes are available, from gentle LFO movement to what Gearnews described as "trippy and synth like step sequences"¹. Anyone who knows the builder, Gearnews notes, knows they "always like to give their creations movement and life"¹.

The fuzz side carries its own shaping: a midrange control, a high-end roll-off switch, and three flavors of clipping⁴.

The controls

The 76 Plus carries five potentiometers, Volume, Speed, Fuzz, Texture and Volume, along with toggle switches¹⁷. Gearnews lists the two volume knobs by position: Volume 1 on the right controls the volume of the fuzz effect, while Volume 2 on the left controls the filter output¹.

The Color switch on the 76 Plus works on the top end rather than the midrange. On the original 76 Octave Fuzz, the three-way Color switch instead offers two mid scoop options, with the center position bypassed for full-frequency fuzz³.

How it differs from the 76 Octave Fuzz

The 76 Plus grew out of the 76 Octave Fuzz, which Solid Gold FX released earlier and which delivers what Delicious Audio called "punishing buzzsaw grind and unbridled harmonics," with hints of octave-up snarl, while addressing the drawbacks of the vintage Standard Fuzz circuit such as a quiet signal or fragile wiring³. The original 76 keeps things simpler: standard volume and fuzz controls, the midrange-sweeping Texture knob, and the mid-scoop Color switch³.

The Plus was first shown as a new prototype at the Montreal Pedal Expo, also known as Sonic Circuits, alongside another prototype called Communication Breakdown, before launching in October 2019 with demo videos appearing on YouTube²⁷. As a fuzz with a filter, it sits alongside other filter pedals and wah-wah pedals, but with the fuzz and filter baked into one box; players after just the fuzz side might compare it with other fuzz pedals or octave and pitch pedals.

What reviewers said

Gearnews came away positive at launch:

Guitar World covered the launch alongside MusicRadar, both noting the dual fuzz and filter design, the expression input, and the $250 price¹. MusicRadar also reported that the pedal, handmade in Montreal, would now be available in the UK via Audio Distribution Group⁵.

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