Octave up pedal, to replace a guitarist

[Jake of Bass]

My band recently lost a guitarist, he decided not to pursue music anymore and focus on his career in IT. So now we're going to try to play as a four piece and see how that goes.

Our lineup now is:

Guitar/vox
Synth/keys/vox
Bass
Drums


I'm thinking about getting an octave pedal to basically fill out where the second guitar would play along with me on certain riffs, allowing our guitarist to play more of the lead stuff and harmonies etc.

I currently own a MBSS, but the octave on that is frankly quite rubbish IMHO. I'm not looking to octave down, only octave up (I play a SR5 so octave down would be a bit much for my 4x10 cab).

So yeah, any suggestions? I basically want a clean pedal that tracks very well, and add other effects after it (overdrive, fuzz etc).

[smo]

I've been through a few octave pedals - and the truth is I sold every one, and I'm in a very similar situation to you.

A good groove during the verse, and when the lead guitar comes up - step up with your technique first, as octave up pedals do tend to take away from both the bass and the guitar, as you're trying to cover a lot of sonic territory.
The soundman will always turn you down if you're stepping over the lead during a solo, which is never good when you click off the octaver, and disappear in the next verse/chorus etc.
I'd rather just use a nice fuzz or maybe even a subtle booster for that purpose.

That out the way - the Octron or MicroPOG are pretty useful for up octave, very different tones - both track superbly for up octave.

[Jake of Bass]

Cool. Thanks for that

We're searching synth tones to replace guitar chords on a few songs and it's working somewhat. I feel an octave pedal could help some more. I already have pretty big overdrive and fuzz sounds, I can't get them much bigger tbh.

[crapusername]

The akai unibass would fit the bill perfectly in this situation

[bigchiefbc]

The Akai Unibass is exactly what you're looking for, but its kinda unobtanium right now. The next best way to do it is to get an EHX POG or HOG, and pair it with a distortion pedal.

Here is a clip of me playing through an EHX POG with both +1 and +2 octaves turned up, with a Proco Turbo Rat for distortion:

http://bassfxpedals.com/clips/pog-rhythm-guitar.mp3

The HOG is even better, because it has that 5th between the 1 and 2 octaves, but the HOG is pretty darned expensive.

[cheapbasslovin]

Originally Posted by bigchiefbc

The Akai Unibass is exactly what you're looking for, but its kinda unobtanium right now. The next best way to do it is to get an EHX POG or HOG, and pair it with a distortion pedal.

Here is a clip of me playing through an EHX POG with both +1 and +2 octaves turned up, with a Proco Turbo Rat for distortion:

http://bassfxpedals.com/clips/pog-rhythm-guitar.mp3

The HOG is even better, because it has that 5th between the 1 and 2 octaves, but the HOG is pretty darned expensive.

+1

I made some clips of the HOG that can be found in the wiki, as well.

[insomniac2295]

Originally Posted by crapusername

The akai unibass would fit the bill perfectly in this situation

+1

I just saw one on ebay. It might still be there if you're lucky. Go! Quick!

[Swimming Bird]

What's the budget on this? And are you thinking of splitting the hi and low signals or is everything going to the 4x10?

[4Mal]

Having spent a long time playing in guitar, bass & drum's rock trio's - My advice is step up your playing under the guitar solo. You and the synth guy should be able to fill in more than adequately. Crafting a line for each of you that supports the solo and each other, might be another approach...

Pulling the other guitar out of the mix will drop the volume a bit as well so the lead guitard won't have to come up as much to get over the top volume wise. Overall - you probably end up with a better mix.

.. and time to start working on Bass & vox ... perfect opportunity.

[musicman7722]

I have the Eharmonix Pog, picked it up 3 weeks ago for my duo. I wanted a nice upper octave to fill in when my guitar player goes into a solo. I really works well, we both like it. In this setting it is just the two of us and a drum machine. We discovered that using it on his 6 string makes it sound like a rick 12 string so he is getting one as well. I also use it in my 5 peice band. I have 2 guitars in that band but find at certain places it really is nice. We do a couple of songs that are very 7 string guitar ish so I turn the low up a bit more and it seems to fake it a little bit. I use it on my 4 string in the duo and 5 string in the band. I recommend this one highly. I read some guys run the high signal into a guiatar amp.

[faceinbass]

OCTRON2 all the way.

[Unrepresented]

Have you tried just using an overdrive or fuzz? Both of those (depending on the design) will likely include a decent amount of higher register harmonics, and sound much more "natural" than a plain octave up signal mixed with yours.

[Jake of Bass]

Originally Posted by Swimming Bird

What's the budget on this? And are you thinking of splitting the hi and low signals or is everything going to the 4x10?

Not really sure on the budget. I'm just trying to discover my options first. I won't be splitting the signal, it'll all go through my 4x10 and/or DI.

[Jake of Bass]

Originally Posted by insomniac2295

+1

I just saw one on ebay. It might still be there if you're lucky. Go! Quick!

With $120 international postage, ***?!?!?!

[OrionManMatt]

Originally Posted by 4Mal

Having spent a long time playing in guitar, bass & drum's rock trio's - My advice is step up your playing under the guitar solo. You and the synth guy should be able to fill in more than adequately. Crafting a line for each of you that supports the solo and each other, might be another approach...

Pulling the other guitar out of the mix will drop the volume a bit as well so the lead guitard won't have to come up as much to get over the top volume wise. Overall - you probably end up with a better mix.

.. and time to start working on Bass & vox ... perfect opportunity.

+1

[RFord04]

This might not be the most practical solution, but for octave up, I've always liked my Whammy IV octave harmony effect, especially when paired with some dirt or fuzz, sounded great for my application, which was similar to your situation. They go for pretty cheap if you find a good deal in the classifieds. The down side is that they are kind of big, the bypass isn't the cleanest, and their power demands require their own specific wall wart.

[rasthedoctor]

Pitchfactor. The smart harmonies are pretty great, and you can delay them to hit on the 2 and 4 while your bass plays on the 1 and 3 if you're so inclined...

[Step]

why not use an octave down and play the octave up yourself? this, coupled with some drive, has always worked for me

I know this isn't exactly the answer you want

if you really want to got octave up, buy a micro POG

[cheapbasslovin]

I should add that while I support the idea of filling in a guitar role with your effects, the sounds I achieved with a HOG are not going to be the kind of tones you'll want to use on every song. Only when you really want to make the biggest impact on a big song. The advice about altering your playing is generally the first thing that I try before looking to pitch shifters, but sometimes big, wide tones are the only way to go.

[SteveC]

I would think that the keyboards would be able to fill a lot of space during guitar stuff. I play in the same group - acoustic/electric guitar/vox, keys and vox, bass and vox, drums. We cover all kinds of stuff and are plenty full. I use no effects. I leave all that stuff up to the keys and guitar.