I always love to test out new pedals, so I was pleased to hear about Orange’s new line- the Fur Coat and the Getaway Driver. I am familiar with their other pedals- the Two Stroke Boost and Kongpressor compression pedal, so I was excited to give their new Fur Coat Octave Fuzz Pedal a try.
Orange Amplification has always made good quality rock sounding amps; I myself own a Tiny Terror, so I was interested to see if this quality would translate to their line of pedals.
As you might have guessed from the name, the Fur Coat is an octave fuzz pedal. Orange says that it is “loosely based on the vintage Foxx Tone Machine” creating a sound reminiscent of the fuzz pedals of the ‘70s and is their only true bypass pedal. Weighing in at a little over a pound and measuring approximately 3 ½” x 2 ½” x 5” (exact specs below), the pedal features two foot switches (one for octave and one for fuzz) and four control knobs: Volume, EQ, Octave and Fuzz.
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Fur Coat and Getaway Driver Pedals
After giving this pedal a try, one of the great features I like about it is that the octave can be switched on and off with a foot switch, while the fuzz is activated, creating just a fuzz or an octave fuzz sound. With other octave fuzz pedals, the sound cannot usually be switched on and off, so this was a huge bonus and it allowed me to create some different tones. The actual octave is adjustable, too, as it adds octave up as you increase the octave control.
The pedal can be used with a clean amp or a more over driven amp for more of the “Fur Coat” sound, and the higher up in the chain you use the pedal, the more distorted the sound you get.
My only disappointment with this pedal is that the octave cannot be used alone- it can only be added to the fuzz; however, for me, this was the only downside. This is actually the fuzz pedal of my dreams, and I have been searching for a long time! I have always had a love-hate relationship with fuzz pedals. I love the sounds and dirty boost they create, but have had a difficult time finding one that is easy to control in multiple settings and can create the exact tone I’ve been looking for. I can get that super ‘60s gnarly bee fuzz sound I have been trying to find from numerous other pedals. Some have come close, but I’ve found them difficult to control with screeching feedback if they were slightly off setting. This was not the case with the Fur Coat. There are a lot of positions that you can use by tweaking the EQ or tone knob to create different but controllable fuzz sounds. It still retains your guitar tone whilst adding fuzz rather than layering fuzz, so that the original sound doesn’t get lost as can happen with a lot of fuzz pedals.
Aesthetically, it is very pleasing with vintage colors, a cute little skeleton girl, a nice little handle bar, and blue light which changes depending on whether you activate the octave function or just the fuzz function by itself. It is a little on the large and heavy side, but not much more than most boutique pedals and is smaller than a full sized Electro-Harmonix Big Muff or other larger-sized pedals.
The Orange Fur Coat will make a great addition to my already “over-populated” pedal board and I definitely intend to add one to my collection. I will still keep some of my other fuzz pedals I already own for different sounding fuzz tones, but the Fur Coat will definitely become a big part of my fuzz sounds, more so than the other pedals I own. I highly recommend this pedal if you’re looking for to experiment with fuzz/octave tones.
I am stoked that I finally found the sound I have been looking for and I look forward to seeing what Orange’s Getaway Driver pedal has to offer!
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Orange Fur Coat
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Controls (Left To Right): Volume, EQ, Octave, Fuzz
– Current Draw: 9V: 3MA | 12V: 5MA
– Stomp Functions: Activate Octave, Activate Fuzz
– Dimensions (W X L X H): 3.7″ x 2.6″ X 5.1″
– Weight: 1.15 lbs
- Weight, Dimensions, and Manufacturer Part Numbers
- Shipping Weight: 2 lbs
- Shipping Dimensions: 6 x 5 x 3 in
- Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): Fur-Coat