Boss OC-2 with active basses?

emjazz · #1 06-01-2008, 04:23 PM

I've had a Boss OC-2 for quite some time now. I've come to notice that it works great with my passive Fender but doesn't track as well with my active Ristola 6 string. Anyone have the same issue? Is there an octave pedal that sounds like the OC-2 but can work better with active basses? I need an octave pedal with the option of only getting the one octave below signal without the direct level. I believe MI audio is coming out with their own octave pedal that I'm keeping my eyes peeled for. Any suggestions? Thanks.

niftydog · #2 06-01-2008, 06:20 PM

I've found that octave pedals are more sensitive to the 'sound' coming from the bass than anything else. My OC-2 works best on the neck pickup of my passive bass, works ok when the blend control is centred, but works terribly on the bridge pickup.

Likewise, if I boost too much treble on my active bass the OC-2 starts getting upset. A mild midrange boost makes it track better.

And then there's the whole issue that no two octave pedals are alike. You could plug in five different Boss OC-2's once each over five days and you'd get twenty five different results. They are fickle and highly variable. It's just how they are.

tomvelsor · #3 06-01-2008, 07:19 PM

the oc-2 is the best sounding suboctave out there. i use active basses, too..but you need to be carefull. with a hot signal, its just not friendly. you can lower your volume or just play softly. i prefer the sound of just playing softly..tracks just fine.

emjazz · #4 06-01-2008, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomvelsor

the oc-2 is the best sounding suboctave out there. i use active basses, too..but you need to be carefull. with a hot signal, its just not friendly. you can lower your volume or just play softly. i prefer the sound of just playing softly..tracks just fine.

I do find it to work best with a lighter touch for sure.

Jared Lash · #5 06-01-2008, 10:57 PM

I don't have an OC-2, but an EBS Octabass and I find it actually tracks better with an active bass than a passive one. That said, it's tracking is nothing to write home about. I have yet to find an octaver that has great tracking and sounds good. Every one I've tried is a compromise of some sort.

I get the best results when I use the same plucking technique that I employ for reggae or dub stuff - mainly getting big round notes near (or above) the end of the fretboard with the neck pickup primarily.

emjazz · #6 06-01-2008, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBigO

I get the best results when I use the same plucking technique that I employ for reggae or dub stuff - mainly getting big round notes near (or above) the end of the fretboard...

I find this to be true with my active bass, but with the passive J I can dig in and it still tracks well. I mainly have an issue with the lower octave trailing off early with the active bass.

Jluckie3 · #7 06-01-2008, 11:09 PM

if money is no object then go for the electro harmonix POG, the polyphonic octave generator, it tracks well with any type of bass and has enough different options to make your bass sound like a pipe organ.

emjazz · #8 06-01-2008, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jluckie3

if money is no object then go for the electro harmonix POG, the polyphonic octave generator, it tracks well with any type of bass and has enough different options to make your bass sound like a pipe organ.

I don't need anything near that involved...and it's way too big for my board....but thanks.

Jared Lash · #9 06-01-2008, 11:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emjazz

I don't need anything near that involved...and it's way too big for my board....but thanks.

Even the micro?

My problem with both POGs (micro and big mamma jamma) were that I just didn't care for the sound. On the compromise side though, they do track pretty flawlessly.

emjazz · #10 06-01-2008, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBigO

Even the micro?

My problem with both POGs (micro and big mamma jamma) were that I just didn't care for the sound. On the compromise side though, they do track pretty flawlessly.

Interesting....I'll have to check that one out. If it sounds much different than the OC-2 than I'm not really that interested though.

OhThePeacock · #11 06-01-2008, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emjazz

Interesting....I'll have to check that one out. If it sounds much different than the OC-2 than I'm not really that interested though.

The sub-octave on the POG seems a little bit brighter than the OC-2. The only other real difference is that the m. POG has an organ like octave up and the OC-2 has a double octave down. IMO octave up is quite a bit more usfull than a double octave down.

emjazz · #12 06-02-2008, 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OhThePeacock

The sub-octave on the POG seems a little bit brighter than the OC-2. The only other real difference is that the m. POG has an organ like octave up and the OC-2 has a double octave down. IMO octave up is quite a bit more usfull than a double octave down.

Yeah, I kind of like the gritty, darker tone of the OC-2 as opposed to the cleaner, brighter sound of others...but I assume that's the difference between analog and digital. There's a compromise either way I guess.

OhThePeacock · #13 06-02-2008, 12:10 AM

The Foxrox Octron has the same controlls as the Micro POG and is gritty, however it may be to gritty for your needs. It's an octave down fuzz and I don't know If you want a completely clean octave or not so I figured I'd throw that out there.

GabeN · #14 06-02-2008, 01:49 AM

I run my EMG loaded jazz into an OC-2 with all controls cranked on the bass and the OC-2 controls all 12o'clock and it tracks better with the active EMGs than with my passive Warwick. I can get it to track pretty well down to the low G.

emjazz · #15 06-02-2008, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OhThePeacock

The Foxrox Octron has the same controlls as the Micro POG and is gritty, however it may be to gritty for your needs. It's an octave down fuzz and I don't know If you want a completely clean octave or not so I figured I'd throw that out there.

Just looking for a clean (no fuzz) octave, but thanks.

emjazz · #16 06-02-2008, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GabeN

I run my EMG loaded jazz into an OC-2 with all controls cranked on the bass and the OC-2 controls all 12o'clock and it tracks better with the active EMGs than with my passive Warwick. I can get it to track pretty well down to the low G.

Interesting, I've also been wondering if it prefers single coil pickups to humbuckers....maybe that's silly but I've certainly been curious about that.

TaySte_2000 · #17 06-02-2008, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emjazz

Just looking for a clean (no fuzz) octave, but thanks.

Its not an octave down fuzz at all, its a standard octaver sound very similar to that of the analog units in the 80's tone wise such as the OC-2 and the Octoplus I even heard a rumour that there some similarities in designs, the octave down is clean but sort of gritty, not distorted or fuzzy or even what some might consider overdriven just not as clean as say the micro pog which to me sounds very flat and boring even though it tracks better and can handle chords.

If you check out clips of the octron in the wiki I think you'll be very impressed it's what sold me on mine and I use it loads

Commreman · #18 06-02-2008, 08:30 AM

I've been using my OC-2 for damn near 20 years with a wide variety of basses, both active and passive, single coil and humbucker, etc., and have had no issues whatsoever. Concerning tracking, I will agree that it breaks up on the lowest notes, but big deal - that's not really what I'm using it for. You must use the right "touch" to get the most out of it. Different basses require different settings, so just experiment with each bass. I also use compression in the signal following the pedal, and this helps as well.

Concerning the Micro POG, it's a completely different animal - think of the outro of "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam for a good representation of what this unit sounds like (even though that track was done on a 12 string bass, it's what the POG sounds like). For the OC-2, listen to "Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel.

emjazz · #19 06-02-2008, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Commreman

I've been using my OC-2 for damn near 20 years with a wide variety of basses, both active and passive, single coil and humbucker, etc., and have had no issues whatsoever. Concerning tracking, I will agree that it breaks up on the lowest notes, but big deal - that's not really what I'm using it for. You must use the right "touch" to get the most out of it. Different basses require different settings, so just experiment with each bass. I also use compression in the signal following the pedal, and this helps as well.

Concerning the Micro POG, it's a completely different animal - think of the outro of "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam for a good representation of what this unit sounds like (even though that track was done on a 12 string bass, it's what the POG sounds like). For the OC-2, listen to "Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel.

Thanks for this....it most certainly could be that I expect to play my active 6 the same way as my J bass and get the same results from the pedal. The J definately works better with the OC-2 as far as tracking and playing with different touches, but I may need to play in a specific way to get the 6 to work best with it. I'll experiment more.....as far as compression, that's not something that I'll ever use for myself.

emjazz · #20 06-02-2008, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TaySte_2000

Its not an octave down fuzz at all, its a standard octaver sound very similar to that of the analog units in the 80's tone wise such as the OC-2 and the Octoplus I even heard a rumour that there some similarities in designs, the octave down is clean but sort of gritty, not distorted or fuzzy or even what some might consider overdriven just not as clean as say the micro pog which to me sounds very flat and boring even though it tracks better and can handle chords.

If you check out clips of the octron in the wiki I think you'll be very impressed it's what sold me on mine and I use it loads

Gotcha, I'll go check those clips out. Any idea when the MI Audio Octave is coming out?