BOSS Pedals: CEB-3 VS. OC-3 ???

[game_freak24]

The CEB-3 is bass specific, where as the OC-3 has both bass and guitar inputs.

My question is, why would I buy the CEB-3, when the OC-3, goes not just one octave lower, but two octaves lower, AND has the added distortion?

Am i missing something about the two?

Edit: I think i may be misunderstanding the difference between a Chorus and a Octaver.

I'm looking to buy my own fx pedal board and I'm focusing mainly on BOSS pedals as I have a family friend who can get very good discounts.

It would include:
Flanger BF-3
Phase Shifter PH-3
Dynamic Wah AW-3
Bass Overdrive ODB-3
Bass Synthesizer SYB-5
Bass Chorus CEB-3
OR/OR BOTH?
Super Octave OC-3

Any advice would be much appreciated

game_freak24

[Max Roberts]

I don't understand your question. They're two completely different pedals.

[casio]

well...theres a slight difference between what a chosur does to your sound and what an octaver does!
tho I havent had many great experiences with the CEB. i dont find it to make enough of a difference!i would prefer the super chorus or something along those lines!

[game_freak24]

An octaver and a chorus are different things?

Sorry if its confusing, i'm relatively new to all the effects and what not.

I was under the impression a Chorus pedal played the note one octave lower than the note being played, and the Octaver did the same thing, but also a second octave lower aswell as one octave lower, with the added benefit of distortion?

[Happynoj]

A chorus doubles your signal, and slightly pitch shifts one of them, to create a nice modulated sound, featured in a lot of Guns N Roses songs.

An octave pedal doubles your sound an octave lower. The OC3 also happens to do 2 octaves lower and has a distortion as well.

[game_freak24]

ohhh ok, now i get it. I'm listening to demo's now and i can hear what you mean. I was under the impression they did the same thing. Clearly not

[Happynoj]

Oh yeah, you can listen to most of the Boss pedals on their website.

Also, if you are new to effects and stuff, are you sure that you want to get all of those effects, and do you need them/will you use them?

If you are just getting into the effects game, start with a multi-effects pedal, like one of the Zoom or cheaper Boss ones (ME-20B/ME-50B) - that way you can work out what effects you actually want/need, rather than buying a load of effects without really knowing what they do or what you want them for.

You may have already done this and know what you want, but one of the mistakes that I made early on in my effects quest was that I got a load of pedals without trying them or knowing what I wanted - I then realised that I had wasted my money, because I either didn't use the effects, or they didn't make the sound I wanted from them - distortion/fuzz especially. Recently I have started to sort out my effects situation, and have got rid of a load of old pedals that I wasn't using, and am looking around for better ones that I actually like the sound of.

For example, without really knowing what I was doing, I bought:

Overdrive
Distortion
Fuzz
Chorus
Tremolo
Phaser
Envelope Filter/Synth

I have now got rid of all of them except the distortion and the envelope filter/synth pedal. I may still get rid of the distortion, but by next week I should hopefully have another envelope filter and a decent compressor. Then I can turn my attention to a phaser and the never ending quest for the perfect fuzz. I realised that I didn't like or need overdrive (and maybe distortion), chorus or tremolo, and I didn't like the sound of my fuzz or my phaser.

So I figured that what I actually wanted was:

Envelope Filter
Synth
Fuzz
Phaser
Compressor

Sorry about the long post, but I just wanted to warn you what can happen - I wasted a lot of money and time getting it wrong...

[game_freak24]

Hmm... you've given me alot to think about Happynoj.

I've been playing around a bit with my step-dads multi-fx pedal, its a BOSS ME-50 i think... I may go back to it and look at what sounds are grabbing my attention, (e.g. flanger, wah etc) and then look into those in effects pedals, rather than buying every effect because it'd look nice all lined up together.

I havent bought any of the pedals yet, I'm just brainstorming ideas at the moment. A family friend said he can get BOSS pedals cheap, so that was my initial reason to side with BOSS. However, I've been doing a little research and am looking into all the different brands and finding out where I can play them locally. Electro Harmonix have caught my eye from demo's i've watched on the net.

Maybe i should hold off for a while and do a bit more research?

[Swimming Bird]

Once you figure out what types of effects you're looking for, see if you can find the specific product names of different brands. Then search TB and you'll find discussion, if not a full review.

Also, it's kind of weird to just stick with one brand. Like, bad weird. I mean, it's alright if you really like Boss pedals, but they're not the best and they're not the cheapest, just industry standard. Anyway, don't just go "hey, I want a flanger" and run to the same company, really try to get a taste of what's out there.

[Oreomeister365]

Also, if you do get a chorus pedal, I'd recommend the CE-whatever and not the CEB-whatever as the bass version sounds flat and much less bright than the "guitar" version.

just my 2c.

[Happynoj]

Originally Posted by game_freak24

Hmm... you've given me alot to think about Happynoj.

I've been playing around a bit with my step-dads multi-fx pedal, its a BOSS ME-50 i think... I may go back to it and look at what sounds are grabbing my attention, (e.g. flanger, wah etc) and then look into those in effects pedals, rather than buying every effect because it'd look nice all lined up together.

I havent bought any of the pedals yet, I'm just brainstorming ideas at the moment. A family friend said he can get BOSS pedals cheap, so that was my initial reason to side with BOSS. However, I've been doing a little research and am looking into all the different brands and finding out where I can play them locally. Electro Harmonix have caught my eye from demo's i've watched on the net.

Maybe i should hold off for a while and do a bit more research?

Yeah. I would formulate stronger opinions on what I want from a certain effect. For example, I havn't yet found the perfect fuzz pedal, and I am looking for phasers as well. I have tried a couple of phasers, but they were all too subtle for me - I want something really strong and digital sounding (which is why I need to try the Boss phaser), rather than something more subtle and analogue sounding (like the EHX Small Stone).

Also note - digital sounding pedals are not worse than analogue sounding pedals - it is all about personal taste, and I don't like subtle, analogue phasers.

[JanusZarate]

It doesn't look like it's been mentioned yet, but... bear in mind that there are a wide range of guitar pedals that work perfectly fine on bass. Don't limit yourself to bass-specific pedals or pedals with bass inputs!

With that being said... there are plenty that don't work well with bass, too. Usually, you have to be mindful of this when trying out overdrive / distortion / fuzz pedals, but there are a few "troublemakers" of other effects types that cut out your bottom end...

And a +1 to the digital part, too - my favorite flanger is a digital pedal, and my delay pedal will be digital, too (when I can afford to buy it...).

[Asa Samuel]

An octaver doubles up your sound, it adds whatever note you play an octave down (or two octaves down as in that pedal)

A chorus takes your signal, splits it in two and puts one of the signals slightly out of tune, and therefore ceates a vibrato effect.

[Happynoj]

I take it you didn't read the thread before you posted...?