I would love to get the latest 3LeafAudio Octabvre, but they are out of stock everywhere and I doubt they will be in the store for a while since it has been radio silence from him. Might have to order an Aguilar Octamizer.
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Best Octaver Pedal?
- Thread starter Bassiclees
- Start date
Source Audio C4 Synth-does the classic (Boss OC2) and just about anything else
Boss OC2 - if you can get one- git it on!
Digitech Bass Synth Wah - octaver, envelope octaver or synth octaver
TC Electronics Sub N Up mini - tone prints
TRex Quint Machine - clean octaves, great tracking up + down
Zoom MS60B, B2, B3, B2.1u -octaver plus pitch shifter = powerful
EHX Bass Micro Synth = most of are after synth sounds with an octaver anyway
EHX Octave MultiPlexer = nasty
MXR Blue Box = nasty mystery box, never mild
Rated from my collection for pure octave down ooey synthy girthy goodness
Boss OC2 - if you can get one- git it on!
Digitech Bass Synth Wah - octaver, envelope octaver or synth octaver
TC Electronics Sub N Up mini - tone prints
TRex Quint Machine - clean octaves, great tracking up + down
Zoom MS60B, B2, B3, B2.1u -octaver plus pitch shifter = powerful
EHX Bass Micro Synth = most of are after synth sounds with an octaver anyway
EHX Octave MultiPlexer = nasty
MXR Blue Box = nasty mystery box, never mild
Rated from my collection for pure octave down ooey synthy girthy goodness
I’ve had a good number of the suggestions here. None of them are perfect, but the one that comes closest (play like you normally do, and it adds an octave down) is the Boss OC-5. I like it better on the guitar setting - it gracefully transitions out of the way, so I can play low on a 5 string, and not have it try to make notes an octave below that.
skyline_01
Endorsing artist: Nordstrand Audio, Tsunami Cables
Same. Tried a Sub N Up for a while before the Octabass, but IMO tracking wasn't great and the Toneprint switching worked intermittently at best. Loving the EBS though!
The prices on the page, (viewed from Sweden) show as $7-10 per piece for the switches... That includes swedish VAT, which is dedictible if part is sold to countries outside EU, reducing shown prices 20%.
Well known since it was early in the market. "Tried and true" it might be, but not triggering reliably like more modern competition.
As for the sound, it is the opposite of what you write! OC-2 has a very characteristic, synthy sound, and tonal differences between basses are NOT reflected in the drop octave sound from the pedal...
As a small company, EBS have used many off the shelf components in their designs, especially for their pedals. They show and describe the parts, and I guess you could fairly easy find these off the shelf parts in your local electronics shop? I have owned my OctaBass since -97 (I think), and the Multi drive I bought used 10 years ago, or so. They still work as they should. Not an "evidence", just saying I have not encountered a brocen switch, myself.
I had an OctaBass die on me. It worked fine and then suddenly one day, nothing. When that happened, EBS did not have the replacement switch in stock and I just gave away the pedal. If something fails twice one me, that's my fault.
I really dig the Markbass synth pedal with the octaver with true bypass, and combine. It also has a dry knob I love you get just a hint of effect without over doing it. kind of gives the sound of some low end rasp.
Boss OC-5. my favorite. Perfect tracking, beautifull sound; including in the lower range. And you can also use it on guitar, by adjusting the range in which you want the pedal to work. I've tried it on my gretch resonator guitar and that sounds fantastic: set up to just add a lower octave on the two first strings.
A must.
A must.
As of recent I like the bass whammy. It has a pretty good octave down and normal together patch that sounds good. Its such a fun pedal. I really got inspired with it from Mononeon. He uses it amazingly. He keeps it on and foot active pretty much throughout the gig (Ghostnotes is a great band). Tracking is pretty good and you can harmonize as well as play with it octave up down or in between. I liked it so much that I bought two... One used. If I only bring one pedal it will be the Whammy.
I like the Boss OC-5.
The MXR288 Bass Octave Pedal I don’t care for as much.
The MXR288 Bass Octave Pedal I don’t care for as much.
I originally wanted analogue and was waiting and waiting for a reissue of Broughton Synth Voice (Deluxe).
Then Iron Ether FMeron was in stock and I nabbed one. What a pedal! 3 octave choice, typical octaver sound if you wish and gnarly FM synthesis as a bonus (or to be fair, as a main feature).
Then Iron Ether FMeron was in stock and I nabbed one. What a pedal! 3 octave choice, typical octaver sound if you wish and gnarly FM synthesis as a bonus (or to be fair, as a main feature).
So I see the OP has made a decision (OC-5), but hey, why let that put a damper on things?
I currently own, uhh, four of the pedals that have been mentioned here (no, really, I can stop at any time):
* OC-5
* MicroPOG
* DOD Meatbox
* C4
Someone asked about the Meatbox. It's a great pedal, but it's not just an octave pedal—it adds (on purpose) a very heavy synth-y growl to the low end. Most octave pedals sound kind of synth-y but this goes way beyond that. Think dance club bass synth. Someday I will own a really killer rig with oodles of power and I will use this pedal and a 5-string to damage a building's foundation. It sounds terrific if that's what you're looking for, but if you just want a straight-up octaver, it doesn't quite fit the bill. Also does not track quite as well as the others. (It's not bad, really, it's just not as good.)
I bought the C4 because I thought it would be fun to mess with and can also serve as an octave pedal. More or less correct but it's... not exactly user-friendly. (And let's be clear: I have a graduate degree in computer science, so it's not that I'm not capable—it just feels too much like work and the software UI is... interesting.) If you want to do octave and 8 bazillion other things and like to get really down in the weeds with synth stuff, this is your pedal—the C4 has a devoted following for a reason. If you want a simple octave pedal that just does octave work without a lot of fussing about, this is not for you. Killer tracking, though.
The OC-5 does a highly credible impersonation of the old OC-2 when you put it in "vintage" mode. When not in that mode, it sounds more like the digital pedal it is, very much like the OC-3. Basically, it's an (almost) OC-2 and and OC-3 in the same box, but with better tracking, so not a bad deal at all. Like pretty much all Boss pedals, small fiddly knobs that are hard to read if you're standing up. (And yet, I own more Boss pedals than anything else, so it's not that big a deal.) I like the octave down much better than the octave up, as the up sounds really thin to me. If you just want to nicely thicken your tone with a little extra low end, this is the one I'd get. And it's the cheapest of the four. Oh, and that's what OP went for. Nicely done.
Enter the MicroPOG. Best property is that it is dead simple: three nice big easy-to-read knobs: dry, octave up, octave down. I think this one sounds much better on octave up than the OC-5, but the OC-5 sounds better for octave down, so it depends on what you're using it for. Also costs 160% of the OC-5 and it's not true bypass, for the folks that care about that.
I currently own, uhh, four of the pedals that have been mentioned here (no, really, I can stop at any time):
* OC-5
* MicroPOG
* DOD Meatbox
* C4
Someone asked about the Meatbox. It's a great pedal, but it's not just an octave pedal—it adds (on purpose) a very heavy synth-y growl to the low end. Most octave pedals sound kind of synth-y but this goes way beyond that. Think dance club bass synth. Someday I will own a really killer rig with oodles of power and I will use this pedal and a 5-string to damage a building's foundation. It sounds terrific if that's what you're looking for, but if you just want a straight-up octaver, it doesn't quite fit the bill. Also does not track quite as well as the others. (It's not bad, really, it's just not as good.)
I bought the C4 because I thought it would be fun to mess with and can also serve as an octave pedal. More or less correct but it's... not exactly user-friendly. (And let's be clear: I have a graduate degree in computer science, so it's not that I'm not capable—it just feels too much like work and the software UI is... interesting.) If you want to do octave and 8 bazillion other things and like to get really down in the weeds with synth stuff, this is your pedal—the C4 has a devoted following for a reason. If you want a simple octave pedal that just does octave work without a lot of fussing about, this is not for you. Killer tracking, though.
The OC-5 does a highly credible impersonation of the old OC-2 when you put it in "vintage" mode. When not in that mode, it sounds more like the digital pedal it is, very much like the OC-3. Basically, it's an (almost) OC-2 and and OC-3 in the same box, but with better tracking, so not a bad deal at all. Like pretty much all Boss pedals, small fiddly knobs that are hard to read if you're standing up. (And yet, I own more Boss pedals than anything else, so it's not that big a deal.) I like the octave down much better than the octave up, as the up sounds really thin to me. If you just want to nicely thicken your tone with a little extra low end, this is the one I'd get. And it's the cheapest of the four. Oh, and that's what OP went for. Nicely done.
Enter the MicroPOG. Best property is that it is dead simple: three nice big easy-to-read knobs: dry, octave up, octave down. I think this one sounds much better on octave up than the OC-5, but the OC-5 sounds better for octave down, so it depends on what you're using it for. Also costs 160% of the OC-5 and it's not true bypass, for the folks that care about that.
Benjamin Earl
Commercial User
- Dec 31, 2008
- 281
- 469
- Disclosures
- Fretboard Visualization Author
I did a comparison a few months back. IMO, they are all really close. The OC-2 sounds a little nicer, but the OC-5 tracks better in the lower register.
