octave expectations

[kreider204]

Other than compression, distortion, and chorus, I haven't really used much in the way of effects over the years. A few months ago, I bought the Boss ME-20B so I could experiment with some other effects; in particular, I was curious about the octave.

It seems to track well and sound good when I play with a pick, and the higher notes the better - below about the C on the third fret of the A string, it gets a little muddy. However, when I play with my fingers, I find it quite a bit worse - tracking is iffy, and the octave notes are indistinct and sound sorta choppy, especially below about the A at the second fret of the G string and below.

Not having used octave pedals before, I'm not sure what to expect. Is that about par for the course, at least until you buy really high quality dedicated octave pedals? Or does that sound significantly worse than the norm?

Thanks in advance.

[St Drogo]

Strange, I usually find the opposite (at least with regards to the tracking): When playing with fingers my OC-2 tracks better. I thought this was due to more fundamental in the note, but I'm not sure.

Tonewise I don't really hear a difference in the suboctave, wheter I play with pick or fingers. THB, I usually use mine with lots and lots of dirt, which does not help the clarity :P

Just to put this in context: I would not categorise the OC-2 as a "really high quality" octave pedal, more of a run of the mill, nutt'n fancy, non-boutique tool. Which is fine (I prefer that, actually). On the other hand, I have no idea what pedal would qualify for that label.

[kreider204]

Thanks for the feedback. The OC-2 is analog, yes? Maybe that explains some of the differences.

[takfar]

I suppose the Aguilar Octamizer and the Pitchfactor would be fancier octaves than the Boss OC2 (and the pitchfactor packs in a whole lot more stuff, too). Different tones, tho. If you like the sound of the OC-2, you should use the OC-2. If you're worried about tracking, get a POG2 or microPOG, and worry no more -again, the tone is totally different from the other octavers.

[cybersnyder]

The OC-3 tracks very well IME. Tone is close to that of the OC-2, but the OC-2 still rules as the tone king.

[fivestringgecko]

I think you touched on a good point, I think it's a little unfair to compare multi-fx units to single pedals. In general, single effects will usually be better than the same effect in a multi pedal because singles do one thing.

/soapbox lol

What you're talking about seems to be somewhat par for the course for multi pedals I think. I've had a Zoom 506, Korg Toneworks AX1B and a Digitech BP-8 before moving to single pedals, and I think they were all close to the range you're talking about in terms of tracking. It's been quite a while since I've fired them up though, so I'd have to go back and check them out to be sure.

Like you also mentioned, I've found single pedals to be significantly better... I've never done tracking tests on my OC-2, but my Octabass tracked well down to the 4th fret on the E-string and the MXR Bass Octave Deluxe kept its tracking all the way down to the 1st fret on the E string before it started had trouble. Also, I very rarely use a pick and have never had issues with tracking.

Sidenote: I "inherited" my OC-2 from the guitar player of my last band (band broke up, he just left it at the practice space over a year ago and never called). It seems like the OC-2 gets more love around Talkbass than the OC-3 for some reason. I tried it once or twice and just didn't dig the sound.

5sg.

[St Drogo]

Originally Posted by cybersnyder

The OC-3 tracks very well IME. Tone is close to that of the OC-2, but the OC-2 still rules as the tone king.

Originally Posted by fivestringgecko

It seems like the OC-2 gets more love around Talkbass than the OC-3 for some reason. I tried it once or twice and just didn't dig the sound.

I have to disagree with you gents here. I had an OC-3 for a while, but sold it because I like the OC-2 better. Not that the 3 was bad, and not even because the sound was very far off from the OC-2, it just didn't have that je ne sais quoi .

Well, at the time I was quite new to music in general and I couldn't define what was better about the OC-2, it just sounded a bit more evil to me. Which is a good thing.

Anyhoo, folks and strokes, whatwhat? Ey ey? Hmyes. Quite.

To the OP:
The muddiness of your octaver is probably more due to the general tone of you unit, I'm not familiar with multifx, maybe you can tweak it a bit? You might want to bump the mids some. This is particularly why I like the OC-2, it's tone is kinda synthy and harsh. Cuts like a chainsaw through zombiebrains. There's a lot of octavers out there that sound very different, more deep, warm and round. You might like them more.

I've heard good things about the MXR deluxe bass octave, in that it is built to do both those sounds well (Harsh cutting vs. warm and round). No personal xp with that one though.

As for tracking problems: Have you tried turning your bass's tonepot all the way down, and using the pu that's closest to the neck? Most of the time your notes will be tracked better that way, but of course, your entire sound might change. So it's up to you if that's worth it.

[kreider204]

Originally Posted by St Drogo

To the OP:
The muddiness of your octaver is probably more due to the general tone of you unit, I'm not familiar with multifx, maybe you can tweak it a bit? You might want to bump the mids some.

As for tracking problems: Have you tried turning your bass's tonepot all the way down, and using the pu that's closest to the neck? Most of the time your notes will be tracked better that way, but of course, your entire sound might change. So it's up to you if that's worth it.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll try them out.

(BTW, I appreciate the patient answers - I'm pretty naive when it comes to most effects.)

[St Drogo]

Originally Posted by kreider204

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll try them out.

(BTW, I appreciate the patient answers - I'm pretty naive when it comes to most effects.)

NP. I'm naive when it comes to women. We've all got out shortcomings

[kreider204]

Originally Posted by St Drogo

NP. I'm naive when it comes to women. We've all got out shortcomings

Just do what I did - get married and do whatever she tells you to.