MXR 288 octave pedal

[LouderPleeze]

Mine tracks well, even with pretty fast playing, I only play fingerstyle and am used to muting a lot though.

MXR support indicated that the tracking is related to harmonics. Muting kills the harmonics so that makes sense.

 

[sunbeast]

I will start by saying that I personally am NOT interested in creating clean/natural bass octave sounds...

I have both the MXR and a Boss OC-2. The Boss definitely tracks more cleanly and without the same "ghost note" tracking of the MXR between notes, but I find they both do a decent job as long as I keep to the 7th/8th fret and above. I find that putting some bass/signal boost before my OC-2 seems to help it track more cleanly, but I've had mixed results doing the same with the MXR- it seems to get along best with just a straight signal from my bass. I love the tone of the OC-2 octave 1 by itself, but REALLY dig the tone of the MXR with a hefty amount of its mid-boost engaged, especially into a fuzz + filter. Another great combo is to send the OC-2 1 Octave down into the MXR Octave with some mid boost into a fuzz/filter. This combo won't track very low down the fretboard, but you won't need to go very low to get some pretty gnarly and gut-wrenching low end! The MXR Octave tracks the octave signal from the Boss really well...

 

[BioDriver]

Mine tracks fine except from C to Eb on the G string. Like others have said, no problems on the D or A strings. If it gets worse I might swap it for an OC2/3 or an Aguilar Octamizer.

 

[Plays_For_Dog]

Had one. Sold it because I thought it sucked. WHEN it would octave the note, it was beautiful. However, it quickly fell off into glitching and I lost faith. I gave it about 6 months before I gave up on it.

You should of got the ESB Octave. It kicks ass

I have one now. Not too impressed with this one either. It is no where as bad at glitching as the MXR, but it still glitches rather unpredictably. I'm still working with it and giving it time, but my faith is waning a bit with it.


Once I throw in the towel on the EBS, I'm going to try the OC-2.

 

[Waterpilot]

Jeeze! I just bought one of these... Should be here in about a week. I thought I did enough research but this thread tells me I may not have. I guess I'll find out for sure soon... I knew about the OC-2 but saw a video that steered me toward the MXR.

 

[alec]

I've got an OC-2 and MXR. The OC-2 grabs the notes faster, but doesn't hold them as long as the MXR. I forget whether it's the Growl or Girth that sounds like the OC-2, but the one that doesn't has less of a pause before grabbing the note.

And I get that 5-9 fret G string dead note stuff with both pedals on all my basses that I've tried.

 

[sunbeast]

And I get that 5-9 fret G string dead note stuff with both pedals on all my basses that I've tried.

The same for me- really the best way to play octave pedals in my experience is to keep farther up the neck where the fundamental note is more accentuated by the pickups. Even on the other strings, it is much easier to play bad notes that don't track well if I play too close to the headstock. The same note on the next string up almost always tracks better IME. The difference between the way the two track is that somehow the Boss sounds a little less jarring when the tracking is shifty, but it isn't much of a problem if I make sure to play further up the neck with either pedal...

 

[ItsMichaelYeah]

I've been using mine for about 3 weeks and haven't had issues with glitches and tracking. and I use a few diffrent tunings. I have heard of it not doing well with the low B on 5 stringers and some active basses.

 

[sk8]

Found my M288 tracked better than my Digitech BSW and sound much better. Not had any issues using it with my Passive P. Got it third in my chain after me Tuner and Compressor

 

[chaosmic]

I've had the MXR for about 3 weeks now and it tracks really well down to G on my E string. The only problem area is the 6-8 frets on the G string (like others have stated). I assume this is a problem area for analog octavers in general. Overall I'm very happy with the MXR.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

I've got an OC-2 and MXR. The OC-2 grabs the notes faster, but doesn't hold them as long as the MXR. I forget whether it's the Growl or Girth that sounds like the OC-2, but the one that doesn't has less of a pause before grabbing the note.

And I get that 5-9 fret G string dead note stuff with both pedals on all my basses that I've tried.

I had the opposite experience with mine. It'd grab onto a note fairly quick, but it'd start glitching after 2-3 seconds.