New Boss OC-5 Octave

[DDXdesign]

Speaking of analog frequency-doubling octave pitch pedals has anyone tried out the Pigtronix Octava Micro on bass?

It's an analog frequency doubler with diode clipping fuzz and with lpf to roll off any grating toppy-treble.

It seems to be very much aimed at guitarists but I reckon it might be interesting on bass, although I've not found anyone who's reviewed it on bass yet. Apparently it's poor at handling minor chords but deals with major chords well!

From the YT clips I've seen, the blend seems to either swamp the dry signal or have no wet signal at all. But paired with an LS2 this thing might just be freakin' brilliant!

Love the compact form factor and the fact it's got an excellent built in fuzz. New prices can be a little bit punchy for this little pedal, which would definitely put me off makes trying one out on spec if I had to buy new, but I think I may have managed to snag one used on Reverb...

That's the thing - the frequency doubling IS the source of the fuzz, it's not a separate thing. I've had the full sized Pigtronix Disnortion a few times and that has the Octava as one of its effects. I love it, personally, and it was even better when I got Pigtronix to add a dry blend pot for me. I've been thinking of adding that exact pedal/circuit (the micro octava that is) to the bass I'm working on, actually.

 

[Al Krow]

That's the thing - the frequency doubling IS the source of the fuzz, it's not a separate thing. I've had the full sized Pigtronix Disnortion a few times and that has the Octava as one of its effects. I love it, personally, and it was even better when I got Pigtronix to add a dry blend pot for me. I've been thinking of adding that exact pedal/circuit (the micro octava that is) to the bass I'm working on, actually.

Interesting and helpful thanks. The Octava is an expanded octave up from the Disnortion and does have "blend" on it but I'm not sure that it is blending clean and octave i.e. I can't hear the dry signal very much on the guitar clips that I've come across simultaneously with the wet - hence thinking that combining it with a LS2 might be the way forward.

 

[DDXdesign]

Interesting and helpful thanks. The Octava is an expanded octave up from the Disnortion and does have "blend" on it but I'm not sure that it is blending clean and octave i.e. I can't hear the dry signal very much on the guitar clips that I've come across simultaneously with the wet - hence thinking that combining it with a LS2 might be the way forward.

Yeah not having tried the octava micro as yet, I don't know how its blend sounds personally, but if you just put the blend all the way up and turn the effect down you should get dry, no?

 

[Al Krow]

Yeah not having tried the octava micro as yet, I don't know how its blend sounds personally, but if you just put the blend all the way up and turn the effect down you should get dry, no?

I'll find out in a few days when it arrives Blend seems to work the other way around from the clips i.e. all the way off for dry - but what I'm actually really after is dry + octave up together.

 

[JimmyM]

Which is the OC-2 that everyone seems to love? There are some on ebay ranging from £50-550!

The MXR Vintage Bass Octave Some may argue with me, but I love it. Sounds just like my old OC-2, but it's smaller, has the same sound, and more available gain on tap.

But as far as OC-2's, I think it's all good. Frankly, I've seen vids of people comparing the earlier Japanese ones to the Taiwanese versions, and danged if I could tell a difference.

 

[DDXdesign]

I'll find out in a few days when it arrives Blend seems to work the other way around from the clips i.e. all the way off for dry - but what I'm actually really after is dry + octave up together.

Oh of course; I always check the dry by itself first to see if it's at least at unity gain with "off" - but if it's just one blend knob then it will probably decrease the dry volume as the octave rolls up, making you increase the overall level to compensate - which is less useful than 2 separate volumes.

 

[BurningSkies]

The MXR Vintage Bass Octave Some may argue with me, but I love it. Sounds just like my old OC-2, but it's smaller, has the same sound, and more available gain on tap.

But as far as OC-2's, I think it's all good. Frankly, I've seen vids of people comparing the earlier Japanese ones to the Taiwanese versions, and danged if I could tell a difference.

The really 'high ask' is for the original ones that are 'Octaver' rather than just "Octave" of the Japanese builds. The non-Japan made ones go for a bit less.

That said, I couldn't really hear much of a difference between the Octaver and the Octave and certainly not 10x the asking price of the Octave. I've never made a comparison of the Taiwanese made one, but I'm guessing I'd mostly shrug too.

 

[sunbeast]

The really 'high ask' is for the original ones that are 'Octaver' rather than just "Octave" of the Japanese builds. The non-Japan made ones go for a bit less.

That said, I couldn't really hear much of a difference between the Octaver and the Octave and certainly not 10x the asking price of the Octave. I've never made a comparison of the Taiwanese made one, but I'm guessing I'd mostly shrug too.

Agreed- also there are likely lots of people running the older ones at 9V instead of 12V as they were designed for, and also tons of them that have been modded over the years to run at 9V but still with 12V labels. The later ones sound basically identical in my experience, at least as close as you can expect taking into account parts tolerance differences in any analog design (although I never tried any of the much later versions).

 

[BurningSkies]

Agreed- also there are likely lots of people running the older ones at 9V instead of 12V as they were designed for, and also tons of them that have been modded over the years to run at 9V but still with 12V labels. The later ones sound basically identical in my experience, at least as close as you can expect taking into account parts tolerance differences in any analog design (although I never tried any of the much later versions).

Mine is the standard Japanese built one. Not by design, just because that's what I bought when I bought it and it was probably before there were any other places of manufacture.

It's a lovely sounding pedal, but there are some negatives associated with the positives, especially with how bass players like to run them. Its sort of why dudes wax poetic about them and then chase down all these non OC-2 octave pedals. Everyone would jump ship if there was one that nailed the sound without the bad stuff.

 

[sunbeast]

Mine is the standard Japanese built one. Not by design, just because that's what I bought when I bought it and it was probably before there were any other places of manufacture.

It's a lovely sounding pedal, but there are some negatives associated with the positives, especially with how bass players like to run them. Its sort of why dudes wax poetic about them and then chase down all these non OC-2 octave pedals. Everyone would jump ship if there was one that nailed the sound without the bad stuff.

Agreed! My current one is an early Taiwan model, though I had a Japanese one previously. I’m definitely with you on the bypass tone-suck issue. I’ve found the output in mine to be fine for me after internally disconnecting the -2 Octave, which raises the output of the -1 voice just enough for me. I still haven’t found another octave that I like as much finally/tracking-wise, though I also haven’t tried many of the more boutique options (I had an IE Sub-T and Copilot Cubic, but none of the Cog or 3 Leaf options). The MXR Vintage is on my radar, but I found the Deluxe Bass Octave I owned to have really finicky tracking and it lacked the tight gating that is inherent in the OC-2 (so it tried to track every scratch on my strings)- a shame because the tone and mid-switch feature were fantastic IMO. I am definitely intrigued by the OC-5, but the Boss buffered bypass always makes me wary!

 

[BurningSkies]

Agreed! My current one is an early Taiwan model, though I had a Japanese one previously. I’m definitely with you on the bypass tone-suck issue. I’ve found the output in mine to be fine for me after internally disconnecting the -2 Octave, which raises the output of the -1 voice just enough for me. I still haven’t found another octave that I like as much finally/tracking-wise, though I also haven’t tried many of the more boutique options (I had an IE Sub-T and Copilot Cubic, but none of the Cog or 3 Leaf options). The MXR Vintage is on my radar, but I found the Deluxe Bass Octave I owned to have really finicky tracking and it lacked the tight gating that is inherent in the OC-2 (so it tried to track every scratch on my strings)- a shame because the tone and mid-switch feature were fantastic IMO. I am definitely intrigued by the OC-5, but the Boss buffered bypass always makes me wary!

I have a T16 which works great and is close enough and small, given it's not a thing I need frequently (save space for bigger pedals I use more!). When I last had my OC-2 on my board, I had SaturnWorks build me a bass-centric bypass pedal with a level boost. Leave the OC-2 on, use the bypass. Worked well, but again takes up a lot of space. I do have a C4 on my board as well as a Future Impact, both of which I could task with it if I wanted.

...and I also have one of the new IE Dubterranea's sitting waiting to be played with. That more or less because I'll see how Taylor sifts most concepts and it also has two different synth voices as well as the octave.

 

[sunbeast]

I have a T16 which works great and is close enough and small, given it's not a thing I need frequently (save space for bigger pedals I use more!). When I last had my OC-2 on my board, I had SaturnWorks build me a bass-centric bypass pedal with a level boost. Leave the OC-2 on, use the bypass. Worked well, but again takes up a lot of space. I do have a C4 on my board as well as a Future Impact, both of which I could task with it if I wanted.

...and I also have one of the new IE Dubterranea's sitting waiting to be played with. That more or less because I'll see how Taylor sifts most concepts and it also has two different synth voices as well as the octave.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention the C4! It is a great sub-octave option. Seems kinda crazy to only use it that way, but I do at times because it does that thing exceptionally well IMO. It is the reason I haven’t used my OC-2 for awhile.

 

[BurningSkies]

Oh yeah I forgot to mention the C4! It is a great sub-octave option. Seems kinda crazy to only use it that way, but I do at times because it does that thing exceptionally well IMO. It is the reason I haven’t used my OC-2 for awhile.

I feel like if you have a C4 you'll find at least 6 sounds you can use regularly and probably more if you're MIDI friendly.

...and it costs the same or less as many of the fancy options out there.

 

[sunbeast]

I feel like if you have a C4 you'll find at least 6 sounds you can use regularly and probably more if you're MIDI friendly.

...and it costs the same or less as many of the fancy options out there.

Yeah it is an amazing value for sure!

 

[henryjurstin13]

I feel like I've watched all the OC5 videos so far... but, don't remember seeing anyone trying to emulate a 12 string guitar or 8 string bass... wonder how the OC5 will fair on this front?

 

[ReeV0]

Any thoughts on the MXR Bass Octave Deluxe? I've got someone offering me one for £70

 

[Al Krow]

Any thoughts on the MXR Bass Octave Deluxe? I've got someone offering me one for £70

About half the folk I know who have had one (including me!) found them to be quite noisy.

 

[sunbeast]

Any thoughts on the MXR Bass Octave Deluxe? I've got someone offering me one for £70

I liked the tone and options a lot, but the tracking was not great in my opinion (especially compared to an OC-2)

 

[Nephilymbass]

Octavers are a funny thing for me. I have to play through them myself to know if I like them. But I do tend to prefer analog octave down, meh tracking and all, though I recently sold my OC-2 and switched to the MXR Vintage Bass Octave. It tracks better, has more gain on tap, and sounds like an OC-2 to me. That said, while I do like the OC-2 better than the OC-3, it's not as far off the mark as I would have liked to believe at one time. But with all due respect to Boss, who did create the one by which most others are judged, I'm not in the market for octavers anymore. Once I find something I like, I tend to stick with it unless something better comes along.

Kind of feel the same way. They should have released a waza craft version of the oc-2 like 2 years ago and I would have been all over it. Digging my mxr bass octave deluxe now. It may not sound exactly like an oc-2 but then why would I want to sound like everyone else...

 

[CB3000]

I’m excited to try the OC5. I use and enjoy a micro pog and love it but the latency is noticeable. It’s not so bad for the oct up but for the octave down the latency makes it drag a bit much. I’m hoping the oc5 has a much tighter latency.

The really 'high ask' is for the original ones that are 'Octaver' rather than just "Octave" of the Japanese builds. The non-Japan made ones go for a bit less.

That said, I couldn't really hear much of a difference between the Octaver and the Octave and certainly not 10x the asking price of the Octave. I've never made a comparison of the Taiwanese made one, but I'm guessing I'd mostly shrug too.

I had a Taiwanese oc2 and a Japan version and did a serious A/B and the Japan version was my favourite. The clean sound was more pleasant to me and so the pedal sounded better when the octave was blended in. But the difference is not massive and the Taiwan oc2 still has “that sound” and I’d gladly just have that version. I just got lucky and found a great deal on the Japanese version.