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New Boss OC-5 Octave
- Thread starter amper
- Start date
I'm interested in trying the OC5 out, the octave up function is intriguing.
I'm in the OC3 > OC2 camp. The OC3 is just more useful (for me) with the built in drive. Saves some foot piano as I'd rather have a gnarly octave effect than just plain octave. It lacks the vibe of "the" OC2 sound though, so I can see why some dislike it.
I'm in the OC3 > OC2 camp. The OC3 is just more useful (for me) with the built in drive. Saves some foot piano as I'd rather have a gnarly octave effect than just plain octave. It lacks the vibe of "the" OC2 sound though, so I can see why some dislike it.
I got the OC-5 partially for the lowest note capability with guitar. I am working on doing a solo act with electric guitar and drum machine. The bass player backed out on doing a duo.
It seems to be working out real good. I noticed the Italian Dig Deep Pedal says it doesn't work with acoustic guitars. The OC-5 works on open chords but sounds better and is more noticeable on barre chords. I do a slow song that I do a full downstroke strum getting the low root note on the E string and then just naturally miss the E (or mute it) on the upstroke to catch the upper 5th on the A string. Also, if I am doing a chord intro and doing down strokes it's easy to just start the second down stroke on the A string, so you are getting a root and five bass part. It seems to sound really well around the 5th and 7th frets on my squier strat. Even on some glitches it sounds good. On some chords I think some strings ring longer than others or I fret some strings more cleanly and it changes notes as I am strumming making it sound like a little bass run.
So if your playing is fairly clean you can strum away without thinking about it much or make a conscious effort to get creative with it.
I run the direct out at 12 o'clock and the sub note at 9 o'clock and that seems to be the best blend for me going through my Rumble 100. Of course if you change the bass EQ on the amp it will change the apparent volume of the bass note.
It seems to be working out real good. I noticed the Italian Dig Deep Pedal says it doesn't work with acoustic guitars. The OC-5 works on open chords but sounds better and is more noticeable on barre chords. I do a slow song that I do a full downstroke strum getting the low root note on the E string and then just naturally miss the E (or mute it) on the upstroke to catch the upper 5th on the A string. Also, if I am doing a chord intro and doing down strokes it's easy to just start the second down stroke on the A string, so you are getting a root and five bass part. It seems to sound really well around the 5th and 7th frets on my squier strat. Even on some glitches it sounds good. On some chords I think some strings ring longer than others or I fret some strings more cleanly and it changes notes as I am strumming making it sound like a little bass run.
So if your playing is fairly clean you can strum away without thinking about it much or make a conscious effort to get creative with it.
I run the direct out at 12 o'clock and the sub note at 9 o'clock and that seems to be the best blend for me going through my Rumble 100. Of course if you change the bass EQ on the amp it will change the apparent volume of the bass note.
Bass the World dude's more like a chicken, his head is almost always cocked to one side or the other, rarely holds his head still for very long — especially if he does happen to turn straight towards the camera. 
Good vid. I like it and if I did get one, I might use barely half of its functionality for my needs; some of the polyphonic stuff didn't sound as good to me as my POG-clone (Tender Octaver by Mooer)... but that's subjective. OC-5 is impressive.
Good vid. I like it and if I did get one, I might use barely half of its functionality for my needs; some of the polyphonic stuff didn't sound as good to me as my POG-clone (Tender Octaver by Mooer)... but that's subjective. OC-5 is impressive.
Someone posted this a few pages back. It is a nice comprehensive review!
ok, a bit annoyed that he raves about the oc5 having the oc2 and oc3 in it. Has he ever played an oc3? Because except for the +1 oct, the oc3 does the exact same things, and sounds exactly the same.
Well... except it doesn’t.
Funny that you ask- he directly compares all three at the end of the video using looped basslines
The OC-3 had poor, glitchy, tracking and was one of my least favourite pedals of all time, and I've had a few!
Rumour has it that the OC-5 has made use of the fabulous tracking on the SY-1. And I've not found a pedal that can track better than the SY-1 yet.
Rumour has it that the OC-5 has made use of the fabulous tracking on the SY-1. And I've not found a pedal that can track better than the SY-1 yet.
I don't know anything about the SY-1, but the tracking on the OC-5 is really good. Very few glitches.
i’ve not had any problem with tracking on the oc3(not worse than any other analog octaver i’ve had), and in recordings i couldn’t tell it apart from the oc2. But i’ve not tried the oc5 yet, and if it has better tracking it sure is a good thing.
I got my oc5 today. This pedal seriously exceeded expectations. The tracking is amazing, even on my low b. I mainly use the analog setting, but when I switched to poly, playing chords with the range function worked flawlessly and is a really cool effect. One of my favorite settings has been setting the range all the way low, and turning up the +1 and -1 and having the dry barely on. The lowest note in a chord octaves down, and all the higher notes octave up. It’s really unique but extremely musical. I’m in love!
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I have yet to find a bad setting. Some are better than others but there aren't any unusable settings. This is a sign of clear improvement on the past (OC 2&3).
LOL I just realized I had it set in guitar mode. So if it was tracking that good already, bass mode is going to be perfect
Update: I actually find guitar mode tracks the chord effect in poly mode better than bass. Analog mode doesn’t seem to have a difference
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Now that was a cool vid. Enjoyed pedal A slightly more. So I guess thats it - an OC-5 must be mine.
I do agree with some people here though - a Waza OC-2 with more gain, maybe with a kill dry "special" mode would have been killer.
