The Aguilar Octamizer
This is my overview. All photos were taken with my iPhone, some were enhanced to better show what I was trying to illustrate.
What is it, daddy?
The Aguilar Octamizer is an all-analogue octave divider, available now for $159.
What does it look like?
About like this right here:
How big is it?
2-5/8" x 5-1/2". Here it is next to my EBS BassIQ:
How is the construction?
Solid metal chassis, no rattles, jacks and 9v DC negative tip jack all top-mounted. The knobs are rubber, and the pots turn with about medium resistance--enough to turn freely by hand without bumping settings out of whack when you move the pedal. The battery drawer is held in place by a thumb screw on the back of the unit, and slides out from the bottom of the case when loosened, like so:
The design of the case, which is made up of a bent-frame top that fits over and is bolted to the bottom plate, has a couple of side-effects:
1. The lip created by the frame makes L-plug cables with heavy barrels unable to complete a connection unless fired away from the lip.
2. The lip created along the back of the case eliminates a flat surface, and this, combined with the thumb screw for the battery compartment, requires additional effort to attach the Octamizer to a velcro-surfaced pedal board.
Update: The Octamizer will be shipping with fitted adhesive rubber spacers to facilitate easier pedalboard attatchment. If you have an early unit that did not include these, email Dave at Aguilar and he'll take care of you.
Further Update: I just received my pedalboard care package, which included two adhesive foam rubber strips, along with a regular screw to replace the thumb screw for the battery compartment--everything you need to prep the Octamizer for a pedalboard.
What are the controls?
Both the dry signal and the octave down have separate volume controls, with 12:00 being unity on the dry (yes, there is quite a bit of boost available). The octave down has a low pass filter, which varies the tone of the octave down, and the dry signal has a tilt EQ.
That's all well and good...what does it sound like?
This red box can make a wide variety of octave dividing sounds. Between the filter on the octave down and the tilt EQ on the dry, you can get a lot of variations of tone. Instead of trying to describe sound, I'll just let you listen.
The tracking is very good, much better than the MXR Bass Octave Deluxe that I have owned (I have never owned nor used an OC-2, so I cannot make the comparison). Even playing on a Stingray, with no tricks (no neck pickup, treble roll-off, compression, et cetera), it will track cleanly down to F# on the E string.
All clips were played on my HS Stingray, strung with DR nickel Lo Riders, with a bit of a bass boost, and with the bridge humbucker solo. The signal passed into the Octamizer, then into the EBS BassIQ (only on in one clip), then to my tuner, into a fire wire interface, then into Garage Band, and then to your ears. No compression or other effects have been added, pre- or post-.
Tracking and sustaining The octave is solo and set to 12:00 on the volume, with the filter at 12:00. I played an open G, open D, open A, then a G on the E string, then an F# on the E string.
Octave filter This clip show the range of tones the octave down can produce via the filter. The octave is solo and set to 12:00 on the volume. The clip starts with the filter at 7:00, then goes to 10:00, 12:00, 2:00, and finally 5:00.
Filter at its deepest, with and without additional low pass filtering This clip is for anyone who would want to put the Octamizer through another low-pass filter. The octave is solo and set to 12:00 on the volume. I play the line first with the Octamizer's filter at 7:00, then I play it again with the addition of the EBS BassIQ after the Octamizer, set to minimum sensitivity.
With the dry signal added This clip shows some of the variety available by combining the filter and the tilt EQ. I first play with the octave solo and set to 12:00 on the volume, and the filter at 7:00, then I play with the dry at unity, with the tilt at 7:00, then 12:00, then 5:00. Then, I solo the octave again with the filter at 2:00, then I bring the dry back in at unity with the tilt EQ at 5:00. 12:00, then finally 7:00, for probably my favorite combination.
Any final words?
I like it. A lot. Enough that the odd design choices (and resulting logistic issues) don't sour my pleasure. It sounds and tracks great, and can bend in a variety of tonal directions, so, for me, it's a keeper.
