Taddy Porter guitarist, Joe Selby, uses a Voodoo Lab Proctavia with his Rivera Amp and his Les Paul. The first thing we asked was if he used the pedal because he wanted to sound like Jimi Hendrix.

“I think that is part of it. I mean listen to the Purple Haze solo,” says Selby. “Who doesn't want to sound like that? But really it's another tool to look for different tones.”

This octave fuzz pedal is one that Selby says is a little easier to get a handle on than some others that he has tried. But that doesn’t mean it is always a total breeze.

“Its still tricky for me to use it but if you hold everything just right you can get some great sounds out of it,” he says. “You can get an octave above or below what you're playing and with the fuzz and a little bend you can make it sound like your guitar is breaking in two.”

But how easy is it to use. Do you actually need to read the manual or can you use it to make sure the card table doesn’t wobble?

“Mine was used so it didn't come with a manual. I'm not a big manual guy anyway, it's like reading a book on how to ride a bike,” he says. “The best way to get the most from any gear is to just play with it a lot.”

Since he hasn’t played the vintage version Selby isn’t sure of the difference. He says some folks say there is a different but everyone’s ear is different.

If you are not interested in being Hendrix of Jeff Beck you can still find uses for this pedal.

“Any gear has as many applications as the user wants. It's really how creative you want to get,” says Selby. “We've used guitar pedals through guitar amps for vocals before. It's all just what sounds good anyway.”

How can you hear the best of this pedal? Selby has a simple suggestion.

“If you really want to hear the pedal try it with a Strat through a Fender amp. The effect can get lost in a lot of gain.” he says.

If there is a downside it is one common to many pedals.

“Like all fuzz pedals if a knob gets turned slightly it can completely change the sound you get out of it and that can be frustrating in a live setting.”