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MXR M288 Bass Octave Deluxe

R

rebel1222

Jun 13, 2012
42
0
#1
I just bought this pedal. Our guitarist really spoke highly of it and it had some really great reviews, and demos on youtube... I got it yesterday, took it to rehearsal and it seemed to muddy up by tone really bad on the E string.. I had to cut the girth and growl knobs to about 7 or 8 oclock to use it and still be able to pumch thru the mix...

Messing with it here at home the same thing.. bottom three strings sound great but the E string is really muddled.. I turn the lows way back on the amp and the guitar but still, it just doesn't sound all that great... Is this pedal only good for using during certain instances?

Have any of you got one of these? if so, please tell me how you use it to help your sound.. cause i'm about ready to send it back...

Your thoughts, advice or suggestions will be greatly appreciated..
 
#2
In my experience, no octave pedal sounds good at the lowest register (read: anything below the A string). There are pedals which may track better than others (the MXR Bass Octave Deluxe is the best tracking analog octaver I know by the way), but most likely it won't sound good if you play, let's say, E string 3rd fret. Have you ever downtuned a B string to G? It sounds almost the same. It's just unpleasant to our ears.

I do own this pedal and, as you could imagine, I will most likely have it turned off if I plan to let those lower notes ring longer, because their octaves below them just don't sound good.

By the way, octavers tend to highlight the flaws of your bass (i.e. dead spots, unbalanced string-to-string output volume etc) because what they aim to affect is the loudest frequency of the notes you play, I mean, the note itself, not its harmonics. So if you're playing a dead spot or if your E string sounds more dead than the rest, it will become more clear when you turn the octaver on and it will sound glitchy in no time.

My MXR BOD is definately a keeper IMO. No offense, but it's probably you who has little experience with octavers. You learn with time what are the most proper moments to use them (it's definately not meant to be an always-on kind of pedal).
 
#3
Thanks Rafescow.. your right, I am very inexperienced with the use of this pedal.. so, I would glean from your response that it is not a pedal that can be used for every song... say for example, would by AIC.. it just doesn't sound good on this tune at all..
 
#5
Yeah, it definately wouldn't in that case... that song is heavy enough :p. You would, however, notice significant improvement on how it sounds if you played that song one octave higher with the pedal turned on (though I still think it wouldn't fit the song's purpose... unless you want to play it with your own approach).
A great octave-pedals user IMO is Christopher Wolstenholme, Muse's bassist. He uses them in conjunction with some other effects (mostly a fuzz and an envelope filter) in order to get some juicy synth sounds.
If you take a quick listen at Invalid Link Removed, you may even think at first that he's playing a low open D, but actually he has a standard tuning of EADG and is playing G string 10th fret, which sounds great with an octave below!

mmbongo said:
Aguilar Octamizer is just a tad better at tracking.
Click to expand...

I haven't listened a lot from this pedal yet, but yeah, you may be right (that's why I said "that I know" haha :hiding:). Still, the MXR BOD tracks more than enough for me and I like its tones better.
 
#8
rebel1222 said:
I guess im going to sell it.. I don't thinki will have a need for it. I play in two rock cover bands. It is a great pedal, and the tones are kliller, but the low strings just don;t sound well.
Click to expand...

What kind of music do you play?

I was thinking about getting an MXR, too, but have concerns if low notes don't sound good. We play heavy rock, and I'm wondering if an octave pedal would really work with those kind of songs. Or is it going to be a pedal I just play around with by myself at home?
 
#9
rebel1222 said:
I guess im going to sell it.. I don't thinki will have a need for it. I play in two rock cover bands. It is a great pedal, and the tones are kliller, but the low strings just don;t sound well.
Click to expand...

AaronVonRock said:
What kind of music do you play?

I was thinking about getting an MXR, too, but have concerns if low notes don't sound good. We play heavy rock, and I'm wondering if an octave pedal would really work with those kind of songs. Or is it going to be a pedal I just play around with by myself at home?
Click to expand...

If you don't like how the MXR sounds on the lowest register, you very likely won't like or need any octaver pedal if that's how you are willing to use it. Octavers are mainly used to give extra depth and weight to higher notes. It could be used in a rock band situation (and many people actually do so), but you'll notice they are most of the time not playing notes below A, because it really begins to sound undefined and muddy.

IMO, this song at 5:25 is a great example of how an octaver can be used in a heavy song. Combine an octaver with some overdrive/distortion/fuzz and your tone might grow some balls.
 
#12
Analog octavers, like the MXR, are not meant to be played that low. really, anything below the low A string is too low to track. It's not the pedal, but rather, your expectations that are off. Use the octave effect in the higher registers, and you get a great doubling effect, with a beefy bottom.
 
#13
Rafescow said:
If you don't like how the MXR sounds on the lowest register, you very likely won't like or need any octaver pedal if that's how you are willing to use it. Octavers are mainly used to give extra depth and weight to higher notes. It could be used in a rock band situation (and many people actually do so), but you'll notice they are most of the time not playing notes below A, because it really begins to sound undefined and muddy.
Click to expand...

Amen - one of the more difficult pedals to love and master. I will say from the ones I've owned the MXR BOD is one of the best.
 
#14
Did anybody out there do a direct comparison between the aguilar and the mxr octaver? Some people say that the mxr has the best tracking, other people say the aguilar has the best tracking...
 
#15
ok2007 said:
Did anybody out there do a direct comparison between the aguilar and the mxr octaver? Some people say that the mxr has the best tracking, other people say the aguilar has the best tracking...
Click to expand...

All analog Octavers track about the same. Which is to say that they can track down an A on the E string before flubbing out. With good technique you can play a G without glitches but you won't be hearing much of the suboctave out of your cab at that point anyway.

For what it's worth, the Aguilar seemed to track a bit better on lower notes and the MXR tracked better when playing stacatto lines, which is to say fewer artifacts. The Boss OC-2 is actually slightly better than the MXR in this regard.

But honestly I think the differences in tracking are subtle enough that I'd base my decision on which octaver's sound I liked more because they are quite different in tone.
 
#16
ok2007 said:
Did anybody out there do a direct comparison between the aguilar and the mxr octaver? Some people say that the mxr has the best tracking, other people say the aguilar has the best tracking...
Click to expand...

If you do a search, you will find many threads on this topic, in particular one that has scotch and kwesi doing some in depth reviews and discussions around this particular comparison.
 
#18
Rafescow said:
If you don't like how the MXR sounds on the lowest register, you very likely won't like or need any octaver pedal if that's how you are willing to use it. Octavers are mainly used to give extra depth and weight to higher notes. It could be used in a rock band situation (and many people actually do so), but you'll notice they are most of the time not playing notes below A, because it really begins to sound undefined and muddy.

IMO, this song at 5:25 is a great example of how an octaver can be used in a heavy song. Combine an octaver with some overdrive/distortion/fuzz and your tone might grow some balls.
Click to expand...


+1. I use mine quite a bit. I use it on songs that I am playing the higher register on. It does what it supposed to which is make the higher notes sound bigger.
 

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