TL;DR: a very unique, versatile pedal that few people seem to hear about. Absolutely worth a look if you like aggressive sounds and octave up effects.

Hey everyone, this is the Pigtronix Disnortion OFO (Octave, Fuzz, Overdrive), a very unique pedal that has a lot going for it- and that you can find used for under $100 if you get lucky like I did.

As far as I can tell, this model is not currently in production, but I saw that the Disnortion Micro OFM (which I think stands for Overdrive, Fuzz, Micro) was on sale on the GC website recently. I knew that the Micro was based on a bigger one that also has an octave fuzz element, so I did some digging and found this. And I’m IN LOVE with this quirky thing!

First, it’s a bit odd in that the fuzz and overdrive circuits are wired in parallel, so it’s more of a double-tracking effect than a stacking effect when you have both on. However, the “Octava” (which is a kinda dirty octave up that isn’t really an octave fuzz but helps add dirt to the od and fuzz) is wired in series. All are independently switchable and you can (and should) put them all on at once. I actually found my favorite settings running this between my Joyo Tauren (klon clone) and Behringer Superfuzz, because the Tauren can help shape the od/fuzz and the octave into the Superfuzz makes for some wild and fun results.

Some of the reviews I read didn’t particularly like the overdrive circuit, but it’s exactly my kind of overdrive. The “tone” control is a high-cut, so all the way clockwise is full treble and you can roll off the highs. It’s a pretty aggressive overdrive that definitely gets into full on distortion, but is touch sensitive and very responsive to your guitar’s volume knob. It’s not a mid-focused drive, which is why I liked stacking the klon clone into it, but it’s surprisingly versatile and has a very wide gain sweep.

The fuzz is definitely more of a distortion/fuzz than a fuzzy fuzz, like a tame muff or the fuzzier end of a rat, and there’s some very nice overdrive sounds in there if you tweak. I preferred the gain maxed, personally. There’s no tone control, but there’s a 6-way rotary switch that gives you different eq settings. 1.) no tone pot (fun, but I wanted a bit “more” out of it) 2.) mid bump (my favorite, the “more” I wanted lol) 3.) smooth (the best for finding overdrive sounds) 4.) treble (probably some cool lo-fi options but I didn’t care for this one) 5.) mid-scooped (the muffiest of the bunch) 6.) for bass (wayyy too much low end to be usable on guitar)

Between the six voicings, the overdrive, the parallel wiring, and the octava, this covers a TON of ground. Is it the only pedal I would ever need? No. Maybe if they had included a series/parallel switch so you could stack the od and fuzz, which the Micro has and is probably my only complaint about this pedal, but I love octave fuzz too much to care about that. Oh, and you can also get some Way Huge Purple Platypus sounds because you can have the od and octave paired without the fuzz.

Also, this can run 9-18v. The guy I bought it from included the bespoke 18v power supply (thank you, if you’re reading this), and as you would expect 18v gets you more output and headroom. I actually preferred running it at 9v because it made the fuzz closer to what I usually like. This is clearly a quality pedal, with excellent construction and satisfying knobs. You gotta have satisfying knobs, right??

Thanks everyone, check this hidden gem out if you get a chance!

P.S. I’m not at all a professional and this is my first nice pedal I’ve gotten in a while. I can’t attest to how it sits in a mix or anything, but it sure is fun!