Octavia Prototype Effects Pedal Formerly Owned by Jimi Hendrix

This Octavia prototype (written here as “Octavio”), ca. 1968, was created by British electrical engineer Roger Mayer (b. 1946) for guitarist Jimi Hendrix. The Octavia added a distorted harmonic to Hendrix’s guitar, recognizably on his songs “Purple Haze” and “Fire”. 

When a guitar is played loud enough through a powerful amplifier, the interaction can create a continuous sound loop. This “feedback” has been a challenge since the dawn of amplification, but over time guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix learned to control it. On January 11, 1967, Hendrix met Roger Mayer, who had been building early distortion pedals, or “fuzz boxes,” for guitarists such as Jimmy Page, Big Jim Sullivan, and Jeff Beck. Knowing that feedback often produces a note an octave higher than the note actually played, Mayer designed a fuzz box for Hendrix, called the Octavia, that not only produced a heavily distorted sound, but also contained a filter that emphasized this octave harmonic.  

This new pedal was first heard on the solo for Hendrix’s early hit, “Purple Haze,” and throughout “Fire,” both recorded in February 1967. Mayer continued to experiment with the Octavia circuit, rapidly iterating and producing over a dozen for Hendrix from 1967-1969. The Octavia prototype here features a wedge-shaped enclosure which did not appear until April 1968.  

Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970) was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter who gained mainstream prominence in the late 1960s with hits such as “Hey Joe,” “Purple Haze,” “All Along the Watchtower,” and “Fire,” and is now celebrated as one of the most influential electric guitarists of all time.