Best Octaver?

[Lysdexia]

It's long been one of my favourite 'must-have' fx for my style of playing, but I'm tiring of the lower frequency artefacts from my Line 6 lowdown. I enjoy the random nature of the additional wobbles from time to time, but it's a head-done-in feature when tight control is required.

For some time now I've wanted something close to a hybrid tone of that 'Sledgehammer' sound from the Gabriel track and the timeless chorusy brilliance of Barry Adamson in his magazine days - but how best to get close.

Suggestions/tips/advice most welcome guys!

Edited December 4, 2011 by Lysdexia

[woodyratm]

The Boss OC-2 is amazing. look into one

[Lysdexia]

Would that device be well replicated in a good Boss bass multi FX unit?

[Higgie]

The OC-2 can be had pretty cheaply second hand, and is in fact what Tony Levin used on Sledgehammer I believe. I'd go for the actual pedal over a Multi-FX any day.

[thisnameistaken]

The OC-2 sounds great (pretty sure it's what Tony Levin used on that track, it's also the pedal Pino used on the Paul Young stuff) but they're not so cheap used any more because everybody wants one. :/

Tracking is about as good as any analogue octaver.

[bartelby]

I can't tell you what the best one is, but I can tell you the Behringer one is very poor.

[phil.i.stein]

the OC-2 is great, but quite synth-like (square wave). if that's what you're after, look no further.

if it's a more natural sound you're after, i like the Aguilar Octamizer.

[RichF]

if you can pick up a decent condition OC2 for £50 on eBay then dont think twice. There are usually lots up for auction and some go for up to £75. After that I liked my MXR Bass Octave Deluxe, which I picked up on eBay for £70. You can then head up the scale with various features including octave up/down, mix but sky's the limit. OC2's the classic.

Edited December 5, 2011 by RichF

[paul_5]

OC2 is the daddy of octavers.

I've moved to an aguilar as it plays better with my active bass, but the sound of the OC2 is sublime (pun intended)

[craigcapener]

What's the general opinion of the newer oc-3? I havn't tried one out yet but they look like they do about the same and a bit more.

MXR do a wicked one too, worth checking out.

[thisnameistaken]

The OC-3 is a digital octaver with an OC-2 'mode' - so presumably it's just imitating the sound of the OC-2 rather than also containing and using the guts of an OC-2, and people are really fond of the OC-2 sound so probably not that keen on an emulation of it when they can have the real thing.

The polyphonic stuff the OC-3 does is a completely different type of effect (digital resampling) and tends to sound a bit thin, not really very useful for bass, so again the OC-2 remains more popular amongst bassists.

[ras52]

A quick eBay search for BOSS OC in completed listings shows both OC-2s and OC-3s going for around £45-£55 + P&P. (And there's one optimistic listing for an OC-2 with a starting bid of $295! [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Boss-OC-2-Octaver-Original-80s-Made-Japan-Vintage-Guitar-Pedal-/180736617631?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a14bdec9f#ht_544wt_732"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Boss-OC-2-Octaver-Original-80s-Made-Japan-Vintage-Guitar-Pedal-/180736617631?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a14bdec9f#ht_544wt_732[/url])

Quite fancy one meself now...

[Sibob]

All about the OC-2, I find it incredibly musical.
I have two, a Korean one and a Japanese one , because I have one on each of my two pedal-boards lol

Si

[theotherphiljones]

Used to have an OC-3. As it was my first octave pedal I got on with it quite well. Then I tried the OC-2 and it made a VAST difference. Then I tried the MXR BOD and found it far superior for my sound/taste. The OC-2 is undeniably a class act but definitely worth trying before you buy

[xgsjx]

I've got an OC-3 (off Shep last month) & mainly use it in "OC-2" mode, hough occasionally I'll put it into "Drive" mode which adds some drive (weird that).
I tried an OC-2 a few years ago, but it was gone when I went back for it. Can't compare how they sound as I've never tried side by side
I am happy with the OC-3 though & once it's gone hrought the Moogs, it's pretty Phat synth sounding

[ezbass]

The Boss has many devotees and you can't argue with the various recordings done with one. I'd just like to give the EBS Octabass a mention as an alternative.

[bottomfeed]

+1 for the EBS Octabass..... very stable, I loves it!

[krysh]

I'm happy with my aguilar octamizer, too.

[SebCarr]

I really like the Electro Harmonix POG (Polyphonic Octave Generator) but I don't own one so don't know what it's like to live with.

Or for massive overkill try the Eventide Pitch Factor - but that's much more than just an octaver.

[Lysdexia]

Thanks guys - none of the octaver's in multi unit's worth the bother? I'm one of those players who doesn't enjoy foot-pedals - and I absolutely hate the distraction of several pedals.

[AttitudeCastle]

Pardon my ignorance, but can anyone recommend an Octave which offers both clean octave up and down? Does one exist? I am that clueless! (Not necessarily at the same time but that would be a bonus!)

[LiamPodmore]

[quote name='AttitudeCastle' timestamp='1323614662' post='1465026']
Pardon my ignorance, but can anyone recommend an Octave which offers both clean octave up and down? Does one exist? I am that clueless! (Not necessarily at the same time but that would be a bonus!)
[/quote]

First one that springs to mind is in the Line 6 M5/M9/M13 but i'm sure there's more around.

Liam

[bartelby]

[quote name='AttitudeCastle' timestamp='1323614662' post='1465026']
Pardon my ignorance, but can anyone recommend an Octave which offers both clean octave up and down? Does one exist? I am that clueless! (Not necessarily at the same time but that would be a bonus!)
[/quote]

Electro Harmonix Micro Pog does this.

[SebCarr]

As for multi units with decent ocatvers - again, look at Eventide's offerings.

[theotherphiljones]

[quote name='bartelby' timestamp='1323686096' post='1465663']
Electro Harmonix Micro Pog does this.
[/quote]

as luck would have it....

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/162438-fs-ehx-micro-pog-l90/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/162438-fs-ehx-micro-pog-l90/[/url]