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Favorite octave pedal for octave up and down?

#21
Grapevine921 said:
I don't believe in a natural sounding octave up. Bass pitched up an octave sounds much different from a guitar, end of story. That said, I was a die-hard fan of the oc2/octavbre for the octave down sound but ultimately get the most mileage out of the digitech bass whammy for all my pitch shifting needs nowadays. Ymmv
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I agree. I have never found a clean octave up that sounded natural. They've all sounded artificial and whammy like to me. That being said, I love the Pearl Octaver, which is similar to the Boss OC-2 but with a distorted octave up. It can really add to your sound. It was my gateway to synth bass tones. The TWA Great Divide (I'm an endorser) is based around the Pearl but the octave up is dirtier and has an envelope. it also has a sub octave and a synth, both of which have their own individual clocks. That one may be a little more than you need or want to pay. My two cents...have some fun hunting for the sound you're looking for.
 
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#23
Jgasser27 said:
Hello everybody, long time lurker I think it's my first time posting. Sorry if this topic has been posted a bit, but with all the new pedals constantly dropping and being near Christmas, I figure it can't hurt to have a current thread on it.

I play bass in a 3 piece band, and I absolutely love. Only having 2 other musicians around me a lot of room to get creative and improvise and such, and it perfectly fits into my own unique way of playing the bass. Often times we want to play songs that have 2 guitar parts, and usually when the guitar player goes in for his leads, I'll use an overdrive pedal or a light fuzz, or sometimes even chorus, to sort of try and make up for the lack of rhythm guitar. Some.songs I'll even grab my bass vi and play triads, just catching the bass root, to cover for the lack of a second guitar. It works, but Its far from perfect, and I much much prefer playing my jazz bass than the bass vi.

That said, I'm thinking octave pedal is what I've needed all along. I had a POG for awhile, but once I started using it on bass and going for octave up, I realized that pedal sounded absolutely atrocious and just so synthetic. Sold it pretty quick after that. I also am pretty sure I really don't like the sound of the sub n up, the reviews I watched sounded worse than the POG.

My needs are basic, I need to do a natural sounding octave up. That's literally it.
But, I'd still like the options of octave down, I see the boss OC5 has octave down, and even 2 octaves down which is pretty nuts. I saw many others mention the C4 synth pedal, but based on what I've seen that can do wayyyyy more than I actually need.
The boss OC5 is what I'm leaning towards as of now, but I really wanted to hear fellow bass players opinions on this.
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I’m always on the look out for a good octave up pedal so I’ve tried a bunch. My favorite thus far is Digitech’s Ricochet. Octave down is not bad but octave up is good. Very polyphonic, responds fast, and clear. I’ve heard great thing about the Trex as well but I haven’t tried it.

If you don’t like the synthy sound, definitely don’t go for the C4 unless you’re okay with that synthy sound. I also hate the TC Sub as you, dnb (do not bother). OC5’s octave up also sounds a bit synthy but in a good way, especially with some delay. With anything octave up, I don’t think you’ll find anything that’ll actually sound natural.

I also do some unique playing as a bassist at live gigs and church so I make use of lots of guitar-like sounds. Currently, I use the HX Stomp for practical reasons. Octave up sounds good, it has a good polyphonic option, you can momentary holds, small-ish footprint.
 
#26
If you need a 'natural' sounding pitch shifter, it doesn't exist. You'll need one with a good dry/wet mix to get close to natural sounding, and for that the old Pitchfork works great.

I used a Meris Hedra for a bit which in itself has a more natural sounding pitch shift tone, but still went back to the Pitchfork after a while.
 
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#27
In my (former) power trio, I have tried a bunch of octave up pedals for the same purpose. Digitech Ricochet sounded the most natural to me. However; you can't set the octave level, so you'll need a Boss LS-2 or something for that purpose.

Bonus opinion (which was not asked but still): If an octave up is needed in a power trio, the problem might be something else. There are many great renown power trios out there, and I yet have to hear an octave up from the bass.
  • Picking or arranging appropriate songs for power trio is the first big step.
  • The guitarist may be leaving the rhythm completely for solo parts.
  • Musicians in the band may have a sound / style which is suitable for a bigger band, but not a power trio.
  • etc...
I recommend checking "Trigger Finger" if you haven't already. They make unexpected songs sound huge and great without an octave up. There are many others as well. Templating their sound and arrangements might be useful.

In my current power trio, I only have a light overdrive (mostly on) + an occasional phaser / delay for the thicker parts. No octave business involved, and the band as a whole sounds huge & full.
 
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#28
Jgasser27 said:
Hello everybody, long time lurker I think it's my first time posting. Sorry if this topic has been posted a bit, but with all the new pedals constantly dropping and being near Christmas, I figure it can't hurt to have a current thread on it.

I play bass in a 3 piece band, and I absolutely love. Only having 2 other musicians around me a lot of room to get creative and improvise and such, and it perfectly fits into my own unique way of playing the bass. Often times we want to play songs that have 2 guitar parts, and usually when the guitar player goes in for his leads, I'll use an overdrive pedal or a light fuzz, or sometimes even chorus, to sort of try and make up for the lack of rhythm guitar. Some.songs I'll even grab my bass vi and play triads, just catching the bass root, to cover for the lack of a second guitar. It works, but Its far from perfect, and I much much prefer playing my jazz bass than the bass vi.

That said, I'm thinking octave pedal is what I've needed all along. I had a POG for awhile, but once I started using it on bass and going for octave up, I realized that pedal sounded absolutely atrocious and just so synthetic. Sold it pretty quick after that. I also am pretty sure I really don't like the sound of the sub n up, the reviews I watched sounded worse than the POG.

My needs are basic, I need to do a natural sounding octave up. That's literally it.
But, I'd still like the options of octave down, I see the boss OC5 has octave down, and even 2 octaves down which is pretty nuts. I saw many others mention the C4 synth pedal, but based on what I've seen that can do wayyyyy more than I actually need.
The boss OC5 is what I'm leaning towards as of now, but I really wanted to hear fellow bass players opinions on this.
Click to expand...
Sub n up
 
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#31
Live, I use a MicroPog for octave down. The octave up is nice on occasion as long as you don’t dial too much of it in, as it can overtake the clean and octave down really quickly if you aren’t careful.

For recording I would A/B the EHX with my Bass Whammy and see which I liked best for the track when it comes to simply octave down harmony. They may be doing the same thing, but the way it comes out is definitely different, in a very hard to describe way!

For live use my Bass Whammy is generally on the Oct^/10th^ setting for some tuneful tweak-ability with the treadle, but sometimes switched to 1up/1down when I want to be able to sweep from one to the other, which the EHX obviously can’t do.
 
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#32
I have both the C4 and the OC-5. For the application, you can go with either one.

If finances are an issue, take the OC-5, it's only about half of the C4. However, if you can see yourself branching into synth sounds, the C4 is the way to go, and definitely has its place in a power trio. (Saw tooth bass rules) So, if you just want the octaves, OC-5 for simplicity.
 
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#33
Here another vote for the Octron2. I love mine. I run it at 30V for some extra headroom. There is a trimpot inside to 'clean up' the octave up but that also means you can make the octave up dirtier and guitar-sounding.
A good alternative (although discontinued) is the Akai Unibass. This is a bit more synthy-sounding but with the noise-gate, distortion and choice of upper 5th/lower 4th it has enough options to make you happy.
 
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#35
For live play I absolutely loved my Micro Pog. Will agree with others who posted that the +1 should not overpower your dry signal. I would mix my +1 and -1 with a reverb+delay for my swells, organ fills, etc.

May not be your issue but I still cant find a octave pedal that plays nice with a fuzz
 
#36
+1 for the FoxRox Octron3
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#37
The octave up is always going to sound whammy-ish, but adding a drive after will really help it out. I always put some kind of crunch after my Pitchfork Plus.

I use the Xotic blender to mix dry bass and my fake “guitar” tone, but you can do that on the pedal too if you don’t mind the bass running through the distortion as well.
 

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