Octave not good with tube amps???

[jimmyjames77]

Hey all. Can anyone tell me if Octave pedals don't work well with tube amps? Do they track better with Solid State amps?
I played with my guitarists EBS octabass and it couldn't even track my D string half way up.
I'm looking into getting the MXR m-288.

[groooooove]

the tracking happens at the input of the pedal. not in your amp.

if its not tracking well, either one of two things is happening-

A. the pedal stinks
B. your basses neck has dead spots.

the amp you plug into never effects tracking of any pedal. as far as i know the EBS tracks just fine, so i'm leaning towards choice B, if i had to guess.

[jimmyjames77]

Well maybe. It is a Lakland 4-94 with graphite reinforcement though.

[SpamBot]

...............Or the amp has a high-pass filter around 30hz to protect the attatched speakers from unloading.

[mrkreuzschlitz]

try straight through a pa with the subs and crossovers and whatnot to see, like straight in through a no frills d.i.

There'd be your answer.

[groooooove]

Originally Posted by SpamBot

...............Or the amp has a high-pass filter around 30hz to protect the attatched speakers from unloading.

he said it couldent track his D string half way up. even an open D would track fine with even the worst octave pedal, and that frequency, though i dont know it off hand, is higher than 30hz ... and even if it was, you would still hear if the octave was working.

[SpamBot]

An e, a whole step above that, is 84 hz or thereabouts. That makes the 70 hz or so. Half of that, the octave below, is 35hz. It's not unreasonable to suspect an old amp to roll that off.

[markjazzbassist]

false. doesn't matter what kind of amp you have. i have tube amps and have used many octavers without issue.

[Mudfuzz]

Originally Posted by markjazzbassist

false. doesn't matter what kind of amp you have. i have tube amps and have used many octavers without issue.

+1
Same here, I have 4 tube amps and 6 octavers, no issues.

[groooooove]

Originally Posted by SpamBot

An e, a whole step above that, is 84 hz or thereabouts. That makes the 70 hz or so. Half of that, the octave below, is 35hz. It's not unreasonable to suspect an old amp to roll that off.

even without the fundamental- wich i still think would be there in most cases- you will still hear the note. you can set a highpass filter to 200hz, and play a low B- youll still hear the note. it just wont have the fundamental, or any girth to it.

[SpamBot]

Hmm. I though he meant "not tracking the octave" as in the lower note not sounding. At any rate, sounds like this isn't the case. Personally, I've never tried octavers on bass, probably should whip out the old AX300G now.....

[jimmyjames77]

Thanks for the info gents. It helped alot.

[funkydanbass]

I find pedals track differently depending on what bass you use. Some effects like active basses, some don't...

[fightthepower]

Octavers, analog in particular, don't like picks either. If you play with a pick you will have trouble with the tracking of all analog octavers, and might want to consider something digital like the microPOG.

[Jazz Ad]

Originally Posted by groooooove

the tracking happens at the input of the pedal. not in your amp.

if its not tracking well, either one of two things is happening-

A. the pedal stinks
B. your basses neck has dead spots.

C. the playing isn't clean enough and gives the tracking module a hard time.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by fightthepower

Octavers, analog in particular, don't like picks either. If you play with a pick you will have trouble with the tracking of all analog octavers, and might want to consider something digital like the microPOG.

Why would that be? As long as you're not scraping the string and adding odd harmonics to it, I would think there'd be no difference in tracking. Then again, I don't own any analog octavers, but I know they all work fine on guitar with a pick, so why not bass?

[The Lurker]

Originally Posted by SpamBot

...............Or the amp has a high-pass filter around 30hz to protect the attatched speakers from unloading.

+1.

Some amps just don't handle subs well, and the problems you hear created by that can sometimes be mistaken for tracking glitches. It's not really a tube/SS issue, just more of a design-specific thing with how the amp is voiced, the speakers are fitted, and so on.

[mrkreuzschlitz]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Why would that be? As long as you're not scraping the string and adding odd harmonics to it, I would think there'd be no difference in tracking. Then again, I don't own any analog octavers, but I know they all work fine on guitar with a pick, so why not bass?

In my inexperienced opinion, it could be because the pick adds a bit of overtone to the strings that confuses the octaver. At the same time, I really have no idea why, that's just my best guess.

[amroach]

I've got an analoeg one the Foxrox octron and the tracking on it is horrible which is really annoying because i bought it with my birthday money had to have sent from America to England had to pay customs charges and now i have to sell it to my guitarist because it doesn't like working with my bass so im guessing im going digital i was thinking microPog but if thats got bad tracking as well i might cry anyone got bad tracking experience with a microPog?

[ehque]

The micropog has perfect tracking. In fact, it might be TOO perfect - sometimes it sounds too clean.