gilmour Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 (edited) Looking for suggestions... I really like the combination of Octave (EBS Octabass) and Overdrive (Mad prof blueberry) however I find when I engage both at once I loose a bit of the punch when playing in the lower register. I'm sure this a "have my cake and eat it" but is there anyway I can retain it? I'm not against getting extra bits of kit in the quest of tonal nirvana Edited November 10, 2014 by gilmour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceBass3901 Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Maybe the classic ''blending with clean tone'' would be a fix? Are you feeding the Octave into the Overdrive? Or the other way around? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marsy Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 'Xotic - x blender' did it for me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 It's difficult to tell from just words, but the first thing I noticed is that you're happy when playing higher up the neck, but not lower down, and this is probably because the octaver either can't track those notes, or can't produce the notes an octave below. A clean blend could be very useful (I always use one) but it's not necessarily what you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilmour Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 Thanks for the replies guys. I'll have a look at a clean blender and see if there's anyone I can borrow one form to play with. I think you're probably right about it not tracking the lower notes as in the higher register it sounds great, but lower a little messy. I used to use the Octave a lot on it's own and wasn't entirely unhappy with the tracking on the lower notes but once it got overdrive on it as well it loses too much of the punchy low end. I have it set to play up an Octave as opposed to down. I'm given to understand that the EBS is one of the pedals that tracks the best? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Try overdrive into octave if you're doing it the other way around. Otherwise all that extra low end and volume going into the Blueberry is just creating more distortion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xgsjx Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 2 Qs. How is the octave set? Is it -1 (or -2) octave only or is there the original note with it? How far down is the "lower register"? Is it below Bb? Can your rig produce these lower notes an octave (or two) down? Other thing. The overdrive could be cutting out low end below a given note (many dirt pedals do). If so, you can split the signal after the octave, keep 1 clean & put the other through the dirt & then sum them back together, that will fix that scenario. A Boss LS2 would do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0175westwood29 Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 I'd try all of the above, but as a thought if you have an overdrive or dirt pedal that cuts lows the octave probs wnt add a lot of lows to the sound at all, maybe grab a ls-2 and try them in parallel so there both getting a nice clean sound to work with. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilmour Posted November 11, 2014 Author Share Posted November 11, 2014 hmmm loads to think about and try here. Thank you all. I have tried them in a different order, I didn't care for the sound as much. FWIW my signal chain is: Compressor > Octave > Overdrive > Noise gate My Octave is set with the 'normal' up 100% the octave at about 40% and then range switch to high. There's sometimes some other stuff in there after the O/D but not at the moment and tends not to be run with other effects. I tried them around the other way before - I just didn't care for the sound so much. I need to play around some more but my instinct is that it's a tracking issue as it's not so much that it looses all low end, more that it just sounds 'sloppy' loosing any tight punchy sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xgsjx Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 When you get down to the lower notes (as in E string 5th fret) the octave down note is going to sound more like a large rubber band & the chances of your cab dealing with the note & holding the bottom end are most likely very little. Though you do say that the octave on its own sounds fine, which makes me think the LS2 or similar would be a solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Badderer Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 2nd suggestion for the Xotic X blender too. it is now my most important pedal on bass. look no further.... but i'm sure you will.... the quest for tone and G.A.S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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