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Octaver and how to get the best from one.


Stub Mandrel
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I've been trying out a Joyo Voodoo Octave.

It certainly gives me the great thick fuzzy sound I want for Space Truckin' - mainr eason for getting one.

I don't seem to be able to get the 'chorus-like/Royal Blood' sort of sound the sub control on an Ashdown head gives.

Any advice of getting that sort of sound?

Also, where in the effects chain is the best place for one of these?*

 

* and why do bass players need more effects than guitarists? 🙂

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If that’s an octave up fuzz like the old Octavia that Hendrix used to use, it’s not really an octaver. Octave up fuzz is a different beast entirely, and they usually chop off a lot of low end too.

Best thing for a Royal Blood type sound is to split your signal and run a digital octave up into a distortion or amp sim.

The Ashdown octave effect is more like a traditional octaver that synthesises a note an octave lower than what you are playing. It can still work for a fake guitar & bass sound if you play high up on the neck!

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55 minutes ago, dannybuoy said:

If that’s an octave up fuzz like the old Octavia that Hendrix used to use, it’s not really an octaver. Octave up fuzz is a different beast entirely, and they usually chop off a lot of low end too.

Ah. I didn't understand it properly. It's a aggressive fuzz with the option to add in the octave up. I thought it switched between up and down.

55 minutes ago, dannybuoy said:

Best thing for a Royal Blood type sound is to split your signal and run a digital octave up into a distortion or amp sim.

The Ashdown octave effect is more like a traditional octaver that synthesises a note an octave lower than what you are playing. It can still work for a fake guitar & bass sound if you play high up on the neck!

I thought the Ashdown sounded 'Royal Bloody' when played around the 15th fret.

 

So... I can't get deep subharmonics with this, shame but it DOES get the Roger Glover crunchy sound I was looking for.

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4 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 and why do bass players need more effects than guitarists? 🙂

They don’t. I’m not one of the ‘bass/lead/amp’ brigade (of which there are many), but I’ve never had more pedals than any guitarist I’ve worked with. However, to be fair, when I last played guitar seriously, I was quite minimalist with my pedal board. Maybe my lack of bass fx (pre-amp, octaver, chorus) is a hangover from then.

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I've been in 3 bands, guitarists had 2, 2 and 0 pedals each, whilst I had a board with several!

It's not normal though! More down to the fact I was geekier and had more to spend. However I see a lot more bassists using pedals now than ten years ago. Back then it was a rarity, if you ever saw a bassist with a board you could pretty much guarantee they were a BassChatter!

Edited by dannybuoy
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I've always had a selection of pedals, but they seem to have bred recently. It's probably just GAS - anyway my board is full now.

The one thing I might do is upgrade the nasty cheap wah I've got, although it works fine as a 'tone control'

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