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Help me find a good & cheap octave pedal

M

MacBradley

Dec 10, 2013
17
1
#1
So I have a signal split signal chain right now that goes like this:


Fender MIM Jazz Bass with Dimarzio Model J's, running on the neck pickup only, into...

Before Split: EHX Superego
Split 1: Wooly Mammoth Clone -> Digitech Whammy V -> DAW track
Split 2: No pedals, just strait into another DAW track

The Whammy V works really well on dropping the Wooly Mammoth sound an octave until the last few notes on the low E string. Other than working around that, I have a pretty rad synth bass type of sound. My problem is that my clean signal that I want to blend in doesn't have an octave down effect on it as well, which makes it blend with the mammoth signal in a way that doesn't have enough power to it.

I could be used for the clean signal, or I could use the Whammy V on the clean signal and use the new octave pedal on the mammoth signal. A blend control would be nice, but isn't necessary.

What octave down pedals could I get that have quality sound and tracking? I'm hoping to spend less than $100 used, and will not spend too much over $100 period.
 
#2
I bought my OC-2 used for $50. It tracks down to a G without any issue or glitching. YMMV as I know that for some reason not everyone experiences this. I haven't heard a simple octave down pedal that sounds better in my opinion, although the my digitech bass whammy sounds pretty good and tracks a little bit better, a little bit lower.

tl;dr Boss OC-2 used.
 
#9
I'll take a look. They were open bids. I've never bid on a pedal that didn't skyrocket in price by bidders in the last 10 seconds. Almost every time I bid or watch a non-buy it now pedal on ebay watch people bid war to almost double the guitar center used price. I'll keep an eye on the ebay bids, but I doubt those stay under $80.
 
#12
Octamizer by Aguilar is good, I never use/have it, I only see it's demos, and I think it's good, I'd like to try/have it someday - I even was gonna recommend it to you at first...but...isn't it not 'that cheap' ?
 
#14
Also...I didn't realize there were analog octave pedals until recently! I've been playing guitar for about 15 years and all the pitch shifter's I've bought have been digital. I wasn't aware pitch shifting could be done analog...slowing the signal down by 1/2 I suppose?
 
#16
How about the Digitech BSW? Apparently one of the settings gives an octave down. It look like I couldn't mix a dry signal in with it though.

bluesdogblues said:
I know a little about electronic diagram etc but I'm not expert in tech side of things. But I think OC-2 is fully analog, how does it works, I don't have the knowledge.

http://www.hobby-hour.com/electronics/s/oc2-octave.php
Click to expand...

Yeah I don't understand that either. I can program software, but I'm fairly clueless when it comes to low level circuits and analog hardware.
 
#18
I actually put the OC-2 first in my chain as I feel like it tracks best with a strong signal. I think most octavers sound better this way. As far as the OC-2 tracking goes, I think the general consensus is that it will go down to an A with no problems. After that, it really depends on the input signal and the individual unit. As I previously stated, mine tracks a G perfectly every time and if I use a the right attack it will catch the F# and F as well. E and beyond almost always glitch, but that is also one of the cool things about the pedal.


MacBradley said:
How low will the OC-2 track on a 4 string bass? I have a MXR M87 compressor I can use in front of it if need be for tracking...I'll be compressing at some point anyway on the recordings.
Click to expand...
 
#19
Analog octavers work by making a square wave the frequency of the fundamental of your bass note. Then they divide that square wave by 2 using a chip called a flip flop. Then they apply that to your original signal, for the positive part of the square wave, normal, for the negative part, upside down. The result is something that still has the characteristics of your original bass tone, but with a strong octave down element.

The issue with tracking is in making the first square wave - sometimes the square wave locks on to the 2nd harmonic of your note (an octave higher), or a different harmonic altogether.

Tracking is improved by: turning the treble down; using the neck pickup; plucking near the end of the fingerboard; playing higher on the fingerboard.

My OC-2 tracks pretty well down to G or G# on my E string. But it will sometimes track notes lower including my low B - it just gets a bit unreliable. To be honest, an octaver gets pretty muddy down there. It sounds better when I play an octave higher, so that the octave down is where the 'normal' bass line would be.
 
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