• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join freeLog in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Effects Virgin has a question about Octave Pedal

Yes. EHX micro pog or pitch fork, among others.

It won't sound exactly like you playing an octave up, but they do the job.

This.

There are plenty of octaves out there today. It all depends on the flavor you want. Theres analogue and digital octaves, and in most cases they sound very different but do the same things. The Boss OC2 is very popular here and is a great, warm and synthy sounding octave but tracking is weak the lower in notes you go. Which to some, like me, is cool because its starts glitching out on certain notes. It has an OCT1 up and an OCT2 down and a clean blend on it.

The POG and its derivatives are all very good at tracking almost all notes on the fretboard, but it does sound pretty digital. I have the POG2 and OC2, I like having the "best" of both worlds.

Other ones that will be brought up, the Aguilar Octamizer, the MXR Bass Octave Deluxe and probably the Boss OC3 and most like the EBS OctaBass or even the DigiTech Bass Whammy. Those seem to be the more popular ones amongst bassists IME. There are more out there, and they all seem to offer something a little different.

So yes, there are quite a few that do the octave up thing. But what are you after? Budget? Analogue or digital? What would you be using it for, like what type of music?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Helix
This.

There are plenty of octaves out there today. It all depends on the flavor you want. Theres analogue and digital octaves, and in most cases they sound very different but do the same things. The Boss OC2 is very popular here and is a great, warm and synthy sounding octave but tracking is weak the lower in notes you go. Which to some, like me, is cool because its starts glitching out on certain notes. It has an OCT1 up and an OCT2 down and a clean blend on it.

The POG and its derivatives are all very good at tracking almost all notes on the fretboard, but it does sound pretty digital. I have the POG2 and OC2, I like having the "best" of both worlds.

Other ones that will be brought up, the Aguilar Octamizer, the MXR Bass Octave Deluxe and probably the Boss OC3 and most like the EBS OctaBass or even the DigiTech Bass Whammy. Those seem to be the more popular ones amongst bassists IME. There are more out there, and they all seem to offer something a little different.

So yes, there are quite a few that do the octave up thing. But what are you after? Budget? Analogue or digital? What would you be using it for, like what type of music?

The OC2 does one and two octaves down, along with a clean signal. No octave up. Same with the Aguilar, EBS, and MXR octaves... All shift the octave down, not up like the OP wants.

EHX POG, HOG, and Pitch Fork all can shift the notes one octave up, or a bunch of other intervals, but in general your tone becomes a bit like a synthesizer, since these effects modulate your sound digitally. The Bass Whammy is why I use for all kinds of pitch bending, and if you don't mind sounding a bit like an organ or synth, then it's perfect.

There are no pitch shifters I'm aware of that maintain the fundamental tone of your bass and make your playing at the 3rd fret sound instead like you're playing at the 15th fret; but, it works really well for solos where you want to emulate guitar, organ, or synth especially if you run it through other effects too.
 
  • Like
Reactions: willbassyeah
The OC2 does one and two octaves down, along with a clean signal. No octave up. Same with the Aguilar, EBS, and MXR octaves... All shift the octave down, not up like the OP wants.

EHX POG, HOG, and Pitch Fork all can shift the notes one octave up, or a bunch of other intervals, but in general your tone becomes a bit like a synthesizer, since these effects modulate your sound digitally. The Bass Whammy is why I use for all kinds of pitch bending, and if you don't mind sounding a bit like an organ or synth, then it's perfect.

There are no pitch shifters I'm aware of that maintain the fundamental tone of your bass and make your playing at the 3rd fret sound instead like you're playing at the 15th fret; but, it works really well for solos where you want to emulate guitar, organ, or synth especially if you run it through other effects too.

Thanks for clarifying that, I wast thinking. Kinda makes almost everything I said moot haha. SOrry OP.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Moosehead1966
Let me clarify. I want to play the 3rd fret, and coming out of my amp is the 15th note that sounds like I played the 15th clean as possible. NOT the 3rd and 15th together, or the 15th sounding like a organ.

I assume when you mention tracking, you are referring to octave intervals, is this correct?

o As far as Budget
-- I'm retired so I don't want to brake open the bank to pay for it.
o Analogue or digital?
-- Don't matter to me but probably would prefer analogue.
o What would you be using it for, like what type of music?
-- R&B, Classic Rock, and anything else that blows my skirt up.

Of these mentioned above, do any of them play an octave above/below what you are fingering, or are they producing octave intervals?

057912
 
Analog octavers only do an octave below. Some have a circuit built in to do an "octave up" sound but it's really more of an Octavia style distortion that achieves overtones via clipping and doesn't sound natural at all.

Digital pitch shifters can do octave up and while some are better than others they all sound synthetic and "chime like" to some degree.

The Unibass is nice but like most (Whammy, H9 /Pitchfactor, PS-3, Pitchfork etc) it doesn't sound close to a real bass an octave up. And that's why it has a built in distortion to sound a bit more natural. Many players (Justin Chancellor immediately comes to mind) use the same trick with a separate dirt box.

So in answer to the OP, yes, lots of pedals can shift everything up an octave. Whether you'll be happy with the sound is another question.
 
Pretty much all octave pedals allow you to set your preferred mix of clean and effected, so you can get just the octave sound if you want.

For the least fuzzy or synthy octave up, I'm sure digital is the way to go. Check out the ehx pedals on YouTube, or in a shop if you can.

Good luck with your pedal adventure :-)
 
Let me clarify. I want to play the 3rd fret, and coming out of my amp is the 15th note that sounds like I played the 15th clean as possible. NOT the 3rd and 15th together, or the 15th sounding like a organ.

I assume when you mention tracking, you are referring to octave intervals, is this correct?

o As far as Budget
-- I'm retired so I don't want to brake open the bank to pay for it.
o Analogue or digital?
-- Don't matter to me but probably would prefer analogue.
o What would you be using it for, like what type of music?
-- R&B, Classic Rock, and anything else that blows my skirt up.

Of these mentioned above, do any of them play an octave above/below what you are fingering, or are they producing octave intervals?

057912

All octave pedals let you choose your mix of original signal and octave signal, but the bottom line is that neither tones shifted up or down are going to come out sounding just like your original tone as if you were playing on those higher frets.

Best to search for the various pedals mentioned on YouTube and hear them for yourself.
 
Not trying to hijack this thread, but I have a similar question and would rather this than start a new thread.

Is there a pedal that will allow you to have both sounds? Is there a pedal that will let me have my bass sound as well as an octave up like a guitars range? I'm in a 3 piece, and we are thinking of adding a kind of counterpoint in the music and a "second guitar" playing with me would round it out better I think.
 
MrBKerth:

Most (if not all) of the pedals listed can either do a straight pitch shift (i.e., produce a single output tone that is a different pitch, e.g. an octave higher) or generate a harmony (i.e., produce an output tone that is a combination of your dry tone and the pitch shifted tones). Different pedals deal with this in different ways; some have separate dry and effected output jacks, some have a dry/wet mix, and some have separate level controls for the dry and the effected signal. So the answer is, yes, there are several pedals that do what you are asking. For what you want, it seems like any of the EHX pedals (POG, Pitch Fork) or the Bass Whammy would work.

Concerning the OP's question... in my experience the new Bass Whammy reissue does a pretty good job of producing an upper octave signal that is close to a natural sounding tone. It's definitely not perfect - still a little thin and synthy - but with the right eq and into the right amp I think you can get something pretty good. It also has a lot of other options. I believe the price for new is still around $!50-160 US.

-Y
 
Just about any octave pedal will do this as long as it has:
  • Octave-up
  • Blend knob
For OP, you would have the blend knob totally wet (no original signal in the mix).

For @MrBKerth, you would have the blend knob somewhere in the middle (1/2 original signal, 1/2 octave-up).

In either case, the octave-up signal will not sound exactly like you played the same note 1 octave up on your bass. Check out YouTube videos to hear what it will sound like before you buy.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MrBKerth
Just about any octave pedal will do this as long as it has:
  • Octave-up
  • Blend knob
For OP, you would have the blend knob totally wet (no original signal in the mix).

For @MrBKerth, you would have the blend knob somewhere in the middle (1/2 original signal, 1/2 octave-up).

In either case, the octave-up signal will not sound exactly like you played the same note 1 octave up on your bass. Check out YouTube videos to hear what it will sound like before you buy.
Thanks Grizzly! I'll keep an eye out :D
 
  • Like
Reactions: dgrizzly
I abandoned digital tones two days ago, but I always used my Boss ME-50B to do what these cats are talking about. With it, you can choose octave up or down to play with your original note, or you can use the expression pedal for octave up or down without the original note present. I thought it sounded good until TB helped me choose an analog pedal (octave down only as far as I know/ care). IME, no effects generated octave up or down is going to sound like a tone that naturally comes out of your instrument.