• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Non synth sounding low octave pedal?

#22
I use a digitech bass whammy for a clean one octave down. It has a blended mode (harmony) or keep the pitch shift mode toe down for a 100% full octave. Or you can use that with a blender and get whatever ratio you want. I'm sure the digitech drop pedal would accomplish similar results.
 
#23
The [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] sounds pretty natural. I use it to go down a whole step for the first song my ska/reggae band plays and get back to natural tuning for the rest of my set without having to stop the music. You can check it out in action at 10:20 tomorrow at the Wick in Brooklyn.

If you can find one, the MInvalid Link Removed might meet your needs. I used their Invalid Link Removed and it was the best sounding pitch shifter on a bass I ever used. I only stopped using it because I went all in on Eventide pedals back when I thought Eventide pedals didn't pop incredibly loudly every time you change the effect making them completely useless for live playing (enormous waste of time and money, never buying any of their gear again).
 
Last edited:
#24
If I understand you correctly, you are looking for an octave pedal that faithfully reproduces a picking/plucking tone of the note you're playing, only an octave lower. As if you had a low string that you were hitting simultaneously.

I don't believe you're going to find anything like that that can fit in a pedal enclosure, much less run off a 9v/12v supply. Octave pedals processes your signal and attempt to cut the wavelength in half, and to do this in a pedal enclosure and make sure that it tracks well, they have to cut corners on the output. This results in a synthy, or characterless sub-octave signal that relies on the original signal to cover up the imperfections. Even if it could replicate the pluck/pick and tone, it might not be a desirable result because of the processing involved.

That being said, this is even difficult to do on a recording studio speced computer in real-time without some kind of lag or noticeable syntheness due to the nature of real-time signal processing.

So to keep this post from reaching the tl/dr point, the only real way to achieve this is to buy a 8-string+ Conklin and get proficient at playing octaves.
 
#25
You need a five string or a synth. Octave pedals aren't going to sound exactly like a real bass an octave down. The two that come the closest are the EBS Octabass in Low mode and the Bass Octave in the Line 6 M series, also with the tone turned down. But even these are not going to have the same attack and tone as if you had an actual bass string playing those notes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Eric_Allard
#26
chris merrill said:
I think the Aguilar octamizer is capable of a very clean and dry octave down. Pretty much the opposite of the 3 leaf octabvre and boss oc2, which are both dirty and synthy.
Click to expand...

Agreed. The Octamizer can do very clean and dry or synthy depending on how you have it set. It's the best octave pedal I've used personally, it knocked my OC-2 off of my board (which was there for years), and it's gone head-to-head on the gig with some of the newer "totally awesome" offerings and beaten them.

But I don't think it's going to get what you're looking for. That's what keyboards are for ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: rmars, chris merrill and blindrabbit
#27
OilcanRacer said:
all octave, pitch shifters and subharmonic pedals that i have heard have that OC2/EHX micro synth keyboard sound. the sound i would like is like playing the B note on the A string at the same time playing the open B string on a 5 string bass.
Click to expand...

That's right, if you set the dry signal off on the EBS and play a B on the A or E string, you get a very convincing low B. I sold it cause I needed a synthy octaver and got an OC2, but I'll buy one again some day.
There's a video on YouTube by Scott Devine where he shows how he uses it on a parallel path through a Boss LS2 to get the lost low frequencies back.
I'll post it later
 
#29
Have you tried the EBS? In my opinion it is much less synthy than the Aguilar pedal, which I like a lot, and is pretty synthy. The EBS has 3 different settings, if you select the bassiest, lowest one you get a very bland octave down signal. Soloed it would never fool someone, but in the mix it definitely sounds like bass.
 
#32
JohnPativens said:
That's right, if you set the dry signal off on the EBS and play a B on the A or E string, you get a very convincing low B. I sold it cause I needed a synthy octaver and got an OC2, but I'll buy one again some day.
There's a video on YouTube by Scott Devine where he shows how he uses it on a parallel path through a Boss LS2 to get the lost low frequencies back.
I'll post it later
Click to expand...

Here it is

 
#34
basslayer said:
The [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] sounds pretty natural. I use it to go down a whole step for the first song my ska/reggae band plays and get back to natural tuning for the rest of my set without having to stop the music. You can check it out in action at 10:20 tomorrow at the Wick in Brooklyn.

If you can find one, the MInvalid Link Removed might meet your needs. I used their Invalid Link Removed and it was the best sounding pitch shifter on a bass I ever used. I only stopped using it because I went all in on Eventide pedals back when I thought Eventide pedals didn't pop incredibly loudly every time you change the effect making them completely useless for live playing (enormous waste of time and money, never buying any of their gear again).
Click to expand...

I have the Drop and found it very "unnatural" sounding, especially as you go lower and lower each 1/2 step, its great for quick transposing but it really killed my tone, so I bit the bullet and started playing a 5er...:(
 
#35
OilcanRacer said:
i have been relying on splitting off my original sound using a low pass (mf-101)filter/eq boost then adding back into my line to get a fake clean low octave sound.

using this mainly to re-add lost bass from certain effects or just low end impact in a club. and yes i run a separate subwoofer cab to recreate the subharmonics.

in the past i have tried pitch shifters, octavers(pedal and rack mount), fancy left/right cable routing. but never found a natural sounding low bottom sound.


everything i have used was 5 years ago. i have not even touched my bass or pedals in that time. just getting back into it. so i am hoping that something new has been invented....
Click to expand...

Best I've had if you want a more natural sound is the new bass whammy it doesn't have that oc2 synthy character at all. Tracks very well. Downside is you can't just dial in how much you want so you'd have to use something else as a blend and set the bass whammy to one octave down whammy (not harmony) and blend that with your signal.
 
#37
willbassyeah said:
and check this demo out and see whether this is what you want for your so called low octave signal, if you have a blender ready the rest of the chain will be much easier to determine

Click to expand...




thank you all so far with your advice and ideas. other than the above youtube i have not heard a reproduction of a lower note that was even close to the original. a few were closer, but only worked if you played notes really high on the neck. playing a high E and having the pedal reproduce a low E. i can do that without a pedal. as soon as you play a lower note the pedal does not work properly.

i am only using a side chain approach right now because its the closest to getting the sound i want, but i am not happy as it is only boosting lows. i am looking for a pedal.


the video above:
i had a meatbox. it sounded more synthy than that one. in fact all those pedals in the viddy sound kinda muted. maybe the way they set up the recording? i will research the ashdown more. i had all sorts of rackmounts that were no better.


i was really hoping that tech would have fixed a lot of our so called limitation of our past(glitchy, dropped notes, non-adjustabilty) pedals. my phone is a quad core processor computer that can make calls too. just as smart as my computer. have pedals not caught up yet? still using low tech FET and CAP's?



i am hopeful that there is an answer out there. please continue with opinions and ideas. i went down to the local keyboard shop and they have a midi keyboard that can play a realistic bass guitar sound and all the way down to very low notes. their version of a low octave patch playing the midi bass guitar was really great. almost beyond our hearing.

i had 3 midi basses. bad tracking and non capability at the time made it a dead end. i have seen a few midi controllers recently that had a pad bass instead of strings. didn't wet my fancy. after all i am a bass player.....
 
#38



this viddy pretty much represent all of the pedal sounds i have heard. they are barley noticeable blended at a low volume. the more you turn them up the more un natural they sound...:)

they go through a wide range of low/medium/high in adjusting the knobs. you can really tell what sound the pedal has as you turn them up.
 
#40
mc900ftj said:
The Octave effect on my GT-10B does a nice job.
Click to expand...


yes played one and you need to play high notes. anything in a normal bass guitar rage was wisp thin and problematic. from A string down bad recognition with either active or passive basses. this was just my short time with it. maybe i didn't fiddle with it enough.
what do you think? you own it.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back