MXR M-288 Bass Octave Deluxe: does it work with chords?

sickranium · #1 01-30-2011, 01:25 AM

Hi there guys,

well the title says it all:
I was wondering wether the BOD can be used when playing more than one string at the time (I know the EBS Octabass can).
Somehow I could not find ANY information on that topic on the net, so I'm just assuming it can't. Otherwise MXR would probably be te first to brag about it being polyphonic

Thanks for your

guys!

Kwesi · #2 01-30-2011, 01:30 AM

Nope, it's monophonic. I have no need for octaved chords so I love mine to pieces.

sickranium · #3 01-30-2011, 01:34 AM

Wow, that was quick! Thanks a bunch, dude!
I'll have to keep looking, then. I need an octave pedal on two songs, and in both of them I keep playing 2+ notes at the same time. If only that EBS thing wasn't so damn ugly

Kwesi · #4 01-30-2011, 01:40 AM

Haha, glad I could help. The Octabass ain't the purtiest thang around but it sure sounds good. Been thinking of grabbing one just to A/B it with my MXR288.

sickranium · #5 01-30-2011, 01:46 AM

Yeah, you're probably right... Basically, every time people ask for a good octave pedal, someone goes "OCTABAAAAAAAASS!", so it oughta be good. And it's cheaper than the MXR, too.

HalfManHalfBass · #6 01-30-2011, 03:13 AM

Hi just for information, I had an EBS Octabass and in my experience it didn't track more than one note at a time. Even some double stops were glitchy.

I bought it having heard the samples and from their site and thought that it would be the be it and end all of octavers (as it was tracking some very short slapped notes on the site's sound samples), but in reality I found it tracked no better than any other analog and therefore monophonic octave pedal.

Jazz Ad · #7 01-30-2011, 03:27 AM

The Octabass will pick the lowest note of the chord you play, most of the time. Sometimes it fails.

wdinc01 · #8 01-30-2011, 09:13 AM

The EHX Micropog will track chords, but its digital.

chi-town_mike · #9 01-30-2011, 09:28 AM

ALL the analog octaver circuits, Aguilar, EBS, MXR, Boss, EH, Nobels, Ampeg, etc will not track chords cleanly or even remotely.

Your dealing with a simple circuit that really can only produce the the squared wave below a clean sine wave. The chip used in all of these, CD4013 , and the circuit around it is not that complex.

If you want chords you have to go digital. Especially if you want a true clean lower and upper octave.

Eric Scholz · #10 01-30-2011, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wdinc01

The EHX Micropog will track chords, but its digital.

+1 on the Micro POG,

I just got mine after gassing for it for a year, and it's awesome. I used it on my BEAD bass, and I couldn't make it glitch no matter how hard I tried. It tracks flawlessly.

This is the only octave pedal even worth trying. (IMHO of course)

sickranium · #11 01-30-2011, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jazz Ad

The Octabass will pick the lowest note of the chord you play, most of the time. Sometimes it fails.

That would be exactly what I'm looking for!

//Anyone know any other octave pedals that can do exactly THAT?

Smurf-o-Deth · #12 01-30-2011, 01:15 PM

As it has already been stated, analogue octavers are simply monophonic. If you want reliable polyphonic tracking, you have to go digital. Have to. Period. There is no middle-ground to be found.

Jared Lash · #13 01-30-2011, 01:27 PM

Jazz Ad is right. The EBS attempts to avoid glitching by attempting to only replicate the lower of two simultaneous notes. But this only makes it a slight bit better than other octavers when playing chords or double stops. It will still glitch out regularly.

If you want a polyphonic octaver you really have to go digital

mikkejohansson · #14 01-30-2011, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sickranium

That would be exactly what I'm looking for!

//Anyone know any other octave pedals that can do exactly THAT?

The Boss OC3 has a mode that picks up the lowest note and octaves it down, I've heard it used with (acoustic) guitar and was actually very surprised at how well it worked.

the low one · #15 02-17-2011, 03:52 AM

According to this demo you can play chords with it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM1Y-UHg8I4

Smurf-o-Deth · #16 02-17-2011, 05:25 AM

Listen to the pedal, not the dude with no clue. It's reproducing one note at a time, and that one note is all over the place. If the dry signal were removed, it would sound like utter chaos. An actual polyphonic octave divider would simply reproduce all notes simultaneously; that's what polyphony is. There are no polyphonic analogue octave dividers. None.

rratajski · #17 02-17-2011, 05:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the low one

According to this demo you can play chords with it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM1Y-UHg8I4

The tracking isn't perfect. Darn close. It would sound crappy w/ the dry off. I can attest to this, as chording gets glitchy/messy when I tried it.

rratajski · #18 02-17-2011, 05:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smurf-o-Deth

Listen to the pedal, not the dude with no clue. It's reproducing one note at a time, and that one note is all over the place. If the dry signal were removed, it would sound like utter chaos. An actual polyphonic octave divider would simply reproduce all notes simultaneously; that's what polyphony is. There are no polyphonic analogue octave dividers. None.

Haha we were typing polyphonously.
Demo guy is a tool.

Smurf-o-Deth · #19 02-17-2011, 05:42 AM

I'm still pretty glitchy.

RNV · #20 02-17-2011, 05:59 AM

I have one and it does not produce more than one note at a time. Although, I can get mine to track low D on my E string which is tuned to C.