The Orange Fur Coat nails that classic ’70s octave fuzz sound in a modern, roadworthy package. Based on the legendary Foxx Tone Machine, it gives you four knobs (Volume, EQ, Octave, and Fuzz) plus dual footswitches for instant octave engagement without bending over mid-solo.
Controls
What makes this special is the adjustable octave blend. Instead of just switching octaves on/off, you can dial in how much octave sits on top of the fuzz. The effect is strongest around the 12th fret with your neck pickup, creating that unmistakable piercing octave scream that cuts through any mix. The fuzz itself is warm and thick, with the EQ control taming the natural brightness without losing punch.
The dual footswitch setup is brilliant: fuzz on the right, octave on the left, each with its own status LED. You can run straight fuzz, then kick in the octave for leads, or stack them both for maximum chaos. The EQ is an active tone control rather than a passive treble bleed, so it reshapes the voice instead of just darkening it. In the demo above I’ve set up sweeps for the Fuzz, EQ and Octave knobs, and every preset lets you flick the octave circuit on and off, so you can hear the blend do its thing at any setting.
How It Sounds
The three main presets map the pedal’s personality. Smooth Fuzz shows how much sustain is on tap even with the Fuzz knob rolled all the way down and the octave doing the singing. Cutting Velcro maxes the fuzz with a bright EQ for that torn-speaker rasp the name promises. Gated Ripper sits in between, spitty and aggressive, with the octave waiting on the left footswitch. Through all of it the core voice stays warm and midful rather than scooped, which is exactly the Tone Machine inheritance.
Fur Coat vs Big Muff
The Big Muff is the default big-box fuzz, so it’s the natural cross-shop. The Muff is a smooth sustain machine: one classic scooped sound that you adjust to your rig and then let rip. The Fur Coat keeps more midrange and more rasp, tips into gated velcro territory when you push it, and above all has the octave, which the Muff simply doesn’t do. Its two footswitches effectively give you three sounds (straight fuzz, octave fuzz, and an octave-forward voice with the Fuzz knob rolled down) where the Muff gives you one. If you want singing, violin-like sustain for walls of sound, the Muff still owns that lane. If you want a fuzz that rips, sputters and screams harmonics, this is the one.
Who It’s For
It’s perfect for classic rock, psych, stoner and glam, or anywhere you need that distinctive ’70s fuzz character; Orange also voices it to work with bass. If your fuzz ideal is smooth and creamy rather than torn and harmonically wild, look at the Muff family first. For everyone else, the Fur Coat delivers vintage octave fuzz tones without hunting down an original Tone Machine at collector prices.
Specs
Circuit: loosely based on the Foxx Tone Machine octave fuzz
Controls: Volume, EQ (active), Octave blend, Fuzz
Footswitches: fuzz and octave switchable independently, each with its own LED
True bypass
Power: 9 to 12 V DC (3 mA at 9 V, 5 mA at 12 V); higher voltage opens up more headroom and grunt
Size and weight: 9.5 x 6.5 x 13 cm, 524 g
Works with guitar and bass
Signal Chain
Fidelity Guitars Stellarosa Lite II with Lollar Firebird pickups (bridge pickup)
