Problems with octavers

[fourstringdrums]

Different octavers will behave differently too. I too have a 9th fret G "dead spot" on my Armitage and the MXR VBO would fade quickly and sound sputtery/glitchy on the way out. The Boss OC-5 fades smoothly so it's almost not noticeable.

 

[groooooove]

anything with tracking is a world of trade-offs.

i used to use a digitech whammy a lot, and that had a good -1 setting as far as tracking went. it never sounded "the best," but it certainly worked and tracked well.

the oc-2 on the other hand, can have some tracking issues but the sound is just fantastic. I never found the oc-2 to be too problematic to use, but it is true you must play how the circuit reacts best. it's a circuit board, not magic, so working with it to get a good result is a reasonable approach.

i know there are a lot of other options these days but it seems the market is still oc-2 vs not oc-2.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Also keep in mind, most octave pedals are mono, no chords allowed.
You will certainly have issues if you are using a guitar octave pedal on bass.

This is one of the few times a bass only version makes sense.

 

[Polfuste]

Perhaps you can try the OC-5. This pedal has the best tracking i've experienced and seems to be very more efficient with dynamics variations. With the poly mode you can even play double stops without trouble.

 

[Zbysek]

Got it, thanks y'all!
Makes sense to me with the technique. I might give a compressor a go (planed on getting one anyway) to see if that helps.

You might find useful tips how to make octavers works on the Broughton Audio web page:

https://www.broughtonaudio.com/product-page/synth-voice-deluxe

...under the heading "A Note on Analog Octavers"

Good luck!

 

[Franco1]

Thanks for the tips everyone!
Unrelated to the problem in hand, I purchased a used bass edition cali 76 (which is absolutely incredible and worth every penny, but that's besides the point) and put it in front of the aguilar octaver which has pretty much resolved the issue. I guess the input was too spiky (due to my ridiculous technique, not because of the unit). Unless I get bad feedback from foh guys regarding the compressor, I'm super happy with the outcome!

 

[Franco1]

Perhaps you can try the OC-5. This pedal has the best tracking i've experienced and seems to be very more efficient with dynamics variations. With the poly mode you can even play double stops without trouble.

I'll give it a shot, thanks!

 

[sloppy_phil]

Thanks for the tips everyone!
Unrelated to the problem in hand, I purchased a used bass edition cali 76 (which is absolutely incredible and worth every penny, but that's besides the point) and put it in front of the aguilar octaver which has pretty much resolved the issue. I guess the input was too spiky (due to my ridiculous technique, not because of the unit). Unless I get bad feedback from foh guys regarding the compressor, I'm super happy with the outcome!

Compression will definitely help smooth out a signal, and octavers will for sure appreciate that.

Most FOH folks will be putting compression on you anyways, so unless you've got some insane extreme settings, I can't imagine they'd be displeased to see you using some already.

 

[Nephilymbass]

Hey all
I'm fairly new to octave pedals and have been experiencing some weird problems with them -
I use a passive g&l p bass with seymour duncan quarter pounders and old rounwounds, nothing else. When playing through the Octavers, there are 3 repeated issues that make the octavers choke or jump:
1) when I dig in / slap
2) when playing open strings
3) when playing the g and d strings around the 9th fret (+- 2 frets)
Craziest thing is - when I lower the volume knob it gets WAY better. I've had this happen with an OC-2 (which also created a lot of distortion), aguilar octimizer and an mxr deluxe, all having roughly the same issues, so I guess that can't be the units themselves.
Could it be that the SD quarterpounders are simply too hot, even with a passive signal path? Should I opt in for a mellower pick up or is this an inherent thing all octavers have and I should adapt my technique?
Cheers

Yeah the only analog octave pedal I know of that handles slapping really well is the newer ebs octabass. Analog octaves are monophonic. So the less information you give it the better it works. For example muting better helps because strings ringing sympathetically throws them off, playing more than one note at a time throws them off, playing outside of the sweet spot of the range they work well in throws them off, with the oc-2 in particular voltage actually makes a difference. And no matter what you do it won’t track as low as a lot of other octave pedals. Even what kind of strings the bass has makes a noticeable difference. For example the oc-2 works better with flats than rounds from my experience. If you’re playing more modern basses and styles I’d recommend the source audio c4. What I like about it is you get the better tracking of digit octaves like the POG and whammy but the c4 can mimic the sound of analog octaves like the oc-2 surprisingly well. If you can’t get the c4 to track well then it’s probably a technique thing. Or you’re using the specific sound outside of the range it’s dialed in to be played in.