Richard Fortus

Richard Fortus is an American guitarist best known as a member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, which he joined in 2002¹. Besides lead singer Axl Rose and keyboardist Dizzy Reed, he is the longest tenured member of the band, having been with it continuously since 2002¹. Before and alongside that run he was a member of Love Spit Love, Thin Lizzy and The Dead Daisies¹, and he plays BluGuitar amplification gear².

For pedal builders, Fortus is one of the more visible endorsing players. He is a featured artist on the JAM Pedals artist pages, where he is quoted on the company's pedals³, and Origin Effects has described him as one of their artists for years⁴.

The JAM Pedals Octaurus octave fuzz

The pedal Fortus has spoken about most enthusiastically is the JAM Pedals Octaurus, an octave fuzz pedal⁵¹¹. JAM Pedals describes it as "a vintage-voiced octave fuzz built for raw riffs, harmonically rich leads and touch-responsive sonic impact"⁵. MusicRadar's Jonathan Horsley has called it "a bona-fide modern classic of octave fuzz"¹².

Quoted by JAM Pedals, Fortus calls the Octaurus the greatest octave fuzz he has ever heard and says he has got to figure out a way to use it in his live rig, adding that the company has created a monster he will use for the rest of his career⁵. So while Fortus says he intends to use the Octaurus in his live rig³, his own words frame it as a pedal he is still working out how to place on his board rather than one already there.

What the Octaurus is

Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson describes the Octaurus as a silicon upper octave fuzz with Voice, Tone, Clipping, Level and Gain controls¹¹. It is a four-transistor, turret point-to-point octave fuzz, wrapped in olive drab suede in the Custom Shop version, in a similar style to JAM Pedals' Fuzz Phrase and Rooster¹³. The circuit is not based on any specific vintage octave fuzz circuit, but takes its inspiration from the accumulated experience of the very best vintage octafuzzes¹³. A tropical fish capacitor is part of the build¹³.

There is also a limited-run version, the Octaurus ltd, which gearnews.com describes as a limited-run octave fuzz pedal¹⁴.

What reviewers said

Stefan Karlsson at Guitar Pedal X called it "a really cool take on an octave fuzz - every which way - and since its JAM Pedals - you already know its going to sound great - even before you listen to the demos!"¹³. In a later review he wrote that "If you want a full-flavoured Upper Octave Fuzz then this is surely one of the very best ones out there"¹¹.

Delay and the rest of his known pedals

Fortus's longest-running pedal relationship on record is with the JAM Pedals Delay Llama, the company's analog delay. JAM Pedals quotes him on the pedal's product pages⁶¹⁵¹⁶. In his own words, he has always been a fan of analog delays, and he says the Delay Llama has all the warmth he loves from vintage analog units while giving him more flexibility and longer delay times. He says it does the magic thing vintage analog delays do, sitting around your tone without getting in the way, and calls it a beautiful, warm and lush delay¹⁵.

Beyond JAM Pedals, several makers name Fortus among their users:

• DryBell Unit67: Fortus uses this compressor/boost pedal in his Guns N' Roses A rig, and DryBell says he is very enthusiastic about it¹.
• Analog Man BicompROSSor: Analog Man says Fortus uses a BicompROSSor in his rack, after using one a lot to record a Guns N' Roses album⁷.
• Lovepedal Eternity: Lovepedal's history article names Fortus among the overdrive's current players⁸.
• Mojo Hand FX Sacred Cow: Mojo Hand FX says Fortus has been using the Sacred Cow for quite some time⁹.
• Origin Effects Cali76 Compact Deluxe: Origin Effects says Fortus uses one on stage¹⁰.
• SynapticGroove Snapperhead Overdrive: Pedal of the Day's 2014 review noted the pedal had been endorsed by Fortus and Nick Perri¹⁷.

Rig rundowns and interviews

Players who want to see Fortus's full setup rather than single pedals have a few places to look. Mojo Hand FX links to a Premier Guitar rig rundown of Guns N' Roses featuring Fortus's gear⁹. BOSS interviewed him after a soundcheck ahead of the band's Wembley Arena show on the Summer 2025 tour⁴. Origin Effects has also described him as one of their artists for years, alongside producer John Shanks of Bon Jovi⁴.

Questions