Lost.. Not sure what else to do with octave pedals..

[silky smoove]

Analog octave pedals hate active basses, in my experience

I keep hearing this, but the two MXR BODs I've owned and the 3Leaf Octabvre that I currently own have had zero issues with active basses. I owned a NanoPOG briefly, and it worked just as well outside of the obvious digital circuit versus analog circuits differences.

 

[Rayjay]

I personally can't get below an E reliably on my active basses with an OC-2. Passive basses gets me down to an A and sometimes more, although I don't find anything lower to be of much use. Depends on the basses, too. G&L passive basses run hot, some active basses have a quieter signal....

Since I've gotten into effects more, the passive basses tend to get the most play time these days.

 

[Josh Kneisel]

First, I don't use the active switch on my bass much if ever because I prefer my passive tone. That being said I use my MXR bass octave all the time with EBG and UB and it works great on either. I do run it after my compression. I also don't try and play any lower than an A or G#...

 

[tyjacks]

Thanks everyone for such great and informative information. I have a Glockenklang Blue Soul amp, and I've used both inputs for both pedals, same results. I'll try these suggestions and post the results. My signal chain is bass ->octave ->amp, bypassed other pedals on my board.

 

[tyjacks]

Success... dumb user error.. I turned the bass eq frequency down (almost off) and now there's no distortion. Backed the treble down a little with the mids scooped, thanks everyone for the help...

 

[drewonedge]

I'd recommend the Micro Pog or the Bass Whammy, I have both pedals and use extremely hot active 5 string basses and have no issue using either pedal distorting or tracking on low notes.
The Pog has a more synthy sort of sound so I like using that one.

It makes sense that the digital octave pedals work well with active Basses. Maybe the analog pedals are overly sensitive to active signals?

 

[Bassheart365]

You need to learn how to use the sensitivity knob. Turn it down for hotter signals.

 

[DDXdesign]

You need to learn how to use the sensitivity knob. Turn it down for hotter signals.

Sensitivity knob? on an octaver?

 

[Bassheart365]

Sensitivity knob? on an octaver?

My bad. Synapse misfire. Sensitivity knob comment applies to envelope followers.

 

[Swimming Bird]

My bad. Synapse misfire. Sensitivity knob comment applies to envelope followers.

I think almost every pedal could use an input gain attenuator - a little more input tailoring still (passive eq?) could allow a more extremely set active bass to work well here.