Sub bass options (Meatbox/Hulk/OC-2/Octamizer content)

I don't use any of these these days (have both OC-2 and T-16)...but if you're using an amp, I'd suggest you also look into having a HPF so you don't kill your speakers dead...

...and a vote for the Mantic. I have a Mantic Flex Pro which is a brutally awesome pedal and they were excellent to work with when I bought it (actually I bought two).

 

The only way to make sub pedals work is sending the feed to a full frequency PA with a really good subwoofer setup. Through an amp they are just mediocre octave pedals.

 

+1 Mantic Hulk

 

The Octamizer does the sub thing pretty ok... specially considering that it's not a dedicated sub-octave generator. You can check the demo I did (around 2:50 for the sub sound):

 

Also, it's easy to get a sub sound with most octavers plus a resonant filter. The OC-2 normally doesn't activate the subs but going into a filter (I user XD, FX25 or SA BEF Pro) brings the rumble.

 

I can only comment on the Meatbox and various other Octave Pedals, not on the Hulk.
IMO, when you want a big (say: Huge) strong, meaty sub bass, that won't happen in a natural way. It's going to get synthy or muddy, your choice.

To push this much bass through a rig, you need speakers. Lots of them. And capable ones.
PA subs are more or less built for that purpose. A regular bass rig will drop off in volume drastically before you reach the 20Hz region. The Meatbox can push those frequencies, and hard, but watch out for your speakers.
If the results are not to your satisfaction, double both the output of the amp and the total speaker surface used.
Repeat until the rig goes low enough.

Watch out for built in HPFs, see that they are disabled.

 

I have a Meatbox and a Mantic Hulk. The Mantic is cleaner, less synth-y than the Meatbox.

It's important to keep the signals (wet/dry) separate, whether you're sending the sub to a dedicated rig/cab or a PA.
Live, it's better to send the "wet" to a decent PA. Everything will vibrate.

I also have an Octamizer and it can do the sub thing pretty good.

I guess Hulk+DI might be the best for your needs. Although, Hulk into Octamizer is pretty epic, just saying.

Have fun!

 

You’ll want the mantic hulk and send the sub to the PA. That’s the best way to do what you’re trying to do.

 

Any octave pedal is going to sound synthy, because that's literally what it is. It's a synth that tracks the pitch of your bass and plays an octave below. Usually with some variation on a square wave. I suppose what you might mean though is something with fewer overtones, ie more in the sine wave zone.

But I will say in a live band mix, you likely want some of those overtones to be able to hear what's going on. And most of the time, if you have the bass signal blended in, you don't get a "synthy" vibe, you just get a sort of growly sound from the combination of the low octave and the overtones of the bass, string noise, etc...

From that video above, the octamizer seems to do what you seem to be looking for. I have an Octabvre, and it has similar functionality of being able to change the sound of the octave, but that one goes more from a square sounding OC-2 vibe, to a more fuzzy sounding Mutron/Pearl vibe (I have the Pearl too, but it's semi-retired). It's also got the "Tim" switch, which I think is some kind of tone contour or something, not sure. The plus of the Octabvre is the sub switch, which let's you go to just the octave sound without having to change your knobs.

But yeah, that octamizer sounds pretty cool. I may have to pick up one of those too.

 

I have an Octamizer and use it at times for some big sub hits to get FOH shaking.

I find it’s all about touch sensitivity and it works great! ​

 

With a Hulk+DI setup, what’s the dry signal do when the Hulk is engaged? Does it sound ok/good/great to have both the higher octave from your amp plus the massive subs? I am assuming it’s like an analog octave pedal and doesn’t track well above Open A string.... is it right to consider these octave pedals with added sub beefy-ness?

 

The dry signal stays the same when engaged.

The Hulk is not really "just" an octave pedal, I'd say. First of all, it's a low frequency booster as it boosts certain frequencies (30/60 Hz) and also adds a sub voice, that can be dialed out or put in the background.
It's like a 3 voice mixer: 30HZ, 60HZ, Sub.

I did the "sub to DI/PA" thing while going into an amp on stage with the dry. Sounded great!
Add a beefy fuzz on the dry and rattle some windows.