Octave Pedal recommendations

[mattbass6]

Hey gang, looking for advice on the best octave pedal for live use. Never used one live before, and not really sure the difference between models. I’m not looking for the cheapest option as I want something that will last the test of time, not overly complicated with too many options, plus of course, tracks well. All experiences appreciated. Cheers ☺️

 

Edited August 28, 2021 by mattbass6

[Bunion]

Haven’t tried the MkIII but this model is fantastic 

[DiMarco]

If you're looking for one that is polyphonic, have a look at the EHX Pitchfork. It replaced my MXR and Digitech bass whammy.

It tracks like a beast and can handle octave up, down and some harmonics which I will never use.

 

[bassist_lewis]

41 minutes ago, Bunion said:

Haven’t tried the MkIII but this model is fantastic 

All versions of the Octabvre are amazing IMHO, but they almost never come up second hand, and the mk3 is currently unavailable as Spencer Doran (mr 3leaf) was having some mental health issues and not building. He's starting to build again but there's no indication as to when anything will be available.

The EHX POG is great as well, plus you get an octave up. Heard good things about the MXR bass octave deluxe too.

[Al Krow]

Boss OC-5. 

 

IMO the best value octaver on the market today, it has excellent tracking and nails the OC-2 sound. 

 

And you get a very decent octave-up thrown in on top! 

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, DiMarco said:

If you're looking for one that is polyphonic, have a look at the EHX Pitchfork. It replaced my MXR and Digitech bass whammy.

It tracks like a beast and can handle octave up, down and some harmonics which I will never use.

 

 

I really didn't like how "tinny" / artificial my Pitchfork sounded. 

 

But it did have a bunch of interesting options. 

[Stub Mandrel]

 

Polyphonic, tracks very well, no noticeable latency, very simple to use. Sub, upper and dry do what you would expect.

 

The 'mod' knob gives a range of increasingly organ-like whirly sounds as you turn it clockwise, the downside being that there isn't much adjustment of these, but t does add the potential for  hamnond-like effects.

 

Main use - just turn 'upper' to max, turn down the others and annoy guitarists by widdling above the 12th fret 😉

[lee650]

I may have posted this elsewhere, but I've had a few octavers and this is what I've found,I've included some rough guides to the used prices 😁

 

 Purely my opinion of course,I'm sure others may disagree.

 

BOSS Oc2/ 3/
Very synthy and warm sound,the benchmark for octavers. Doesn't track well but has that sound,which is great for synth tones or even the classic 80s "Pino tone" with the clean up full. - approx £80-£200 depending on condition or year.
OC3 is a digital version and tracks very well, has an OK tone (not like the OC2) poly mode is useless on bass and the distortion is awful - approx £60-80 used.
I haven't tried the OC5 but I think it's still digital even in vintage mode. Sounds close to the OC2 in the demos to me,enough to make me want to try one. The octave up is a nice touch,once again poly is useless- approx £120 ish

 

Valeton - OC10

inexpensive and very small clone of the OC2. Even the colour and design is the same, only very small (not far away😂) for me gets 90% of the tone, it's just not  quite as plummy or deep. Tracking as per the OC2 as well as overall low volume from the unit. Sadly discontinued, these used to be cheap, maybe not anymore. Approx £35+ 

 

EBS Octabass- one of my faves! Tracks really well and has a smooth,deep,natural tone and 3 modes for Tonal variation (I've had 4 😂)approx £70-120 depending on condition and version (there are now 5)

 

MXR bass octave Deluxe
Nice small size and tracks very well. Has two voices meant to replicate the OC2 and EBS these can be mixed,however  found thst one tone always dominates the other,so really only  two viable tones. Has a very cool mid boost to add punch. This model has a well documented issue (which I can confirm mine suffered from) in that it has a constant subsonic warbling noise when switched on,not noticeable when playing though. Reason given by the company was that it was so sensitive it picks up noise. I got rid as it annoyed and it's a massive shame as it's tracking and tone are excellent. - £75-95 (amendment- I got another of these, and no noise issue, so try not to get an early one, fantastic clean octave)

 

MXR vintage - small size and based on a vintage OC2 earlier units still have the noise problem, I believe this has been sorted. - £100-120

 

COG T16/65/70
The T16 is a tiny enclosure and features a filter on the octave so it can sound synthy and aggressive or deep and clean.tracks fairly well about as well as an oc2 I'd say (this can cop an OC2 tone very well with the filter) V1 has a volume issue on the filter,this was sorted on V2.
T65 is the same only has an additional octave up. Thus isn't the same as a POG as the octave up is analogue whereas it highlights the 1st order harmonics and adds some dirt really. Very dirty sound and fantastic for synth,however even with the octave up dialled down it still sounds dirty,and the tracking is not the best (strangely I found the T16 tracks better) It also has a very useful parallel loop,so it can run in parallel with other effects. It means your octave sound is clean underneath fuzz/filter etc
T70  is basically 2x switchable T65S with a third sub only channel (to get the classic OC2 sub trick)I do feel the T65/70 is more of a synth engine than an octave.
T16- approx £80-100
T65- approx £100- £130
T7O-£180-200 
Cog is currently not building,so you don't see these so often, prices are likely to go up.

 

Aguilar OCTAMIZER
The one octave thst is all things to all men. It can do synthy or super fat and deep with the filter switch. It also has a useful tilt EQ (this can be used as an effect in itself  with the octave turned down)built like a tank and sounds fantastic. Unfortunately IMO it's the worst tracking octaver I've ever used (I know this will open a can of worms)approx £80-120

 

Digitech Bass Synth Wah
On top of it's various synth and filter modes, it has a synth octave. The synthy tone can be dialled out,leaving it as a digital octave. Tracks very well and sounds great,although not as fat or organic as Analog octaves. Approx £35-75 depending on whose selling😂

 

EHX POG
A digital pedal with a very unique voice,it's very "organ" like. It tracks well but has a very synthetic sound,which can sound cool in certain situations. Approx £80-120 depending on model/condition etc

 

Emma - Okto Nojs

A dual pedal with seperate octave and fuzz, just referring to the octave. Has the usual modern octave feature  of a filter on the octave signal, can can get deep and clean to dirty and edgy. It reminds me a bit of the Cog T16, tracks fairly welk if you play up high (which I always do) decent octaver with nothing out of the ordinary, but missing it with the dynamic fuzz, yields very synthy results a great fun pedal. Used approx £100- 130  (amendment- the octave does not track well at all with active basses, unless played right up in the dusty end,No issue with passives)

 

 

Iron Ether -Subterranea

Not  pedal you see everyday, however I'm now on my second one of these, and for completeness, I'll mention it.

A boutique Octave/synth, no two look the same and the enclosures are a work of art. At its heart it has an Analog Octave with the filter as others have, so the octave signal can go from smooth and deep, to dirty and edgy. Once again this can be set to sound OC2 ish (Very close I think). It has two additional synth voices, one in unison with your signal and one an Octave down. It has two three way switches so you can set these voices to square/pulse/triangle wave making for some very interesting tones, for some reason the uni synth doesn't track well at all, but used sparingly it adds a great edge on certain waveforms, the octave synth tracks fine. I've found the tracking on the octaver isn't great (No worse than the OC2),however as the sound has a glitchy lofi kind of vibe with the clean signal off, it just sounds incredibly cool and I've a lot of love for it. Used (If you can find one) £150- 200 

 

There is a modern digital version called the Dubterreanea which i haven't tried, but seems to have improved on some aspects (2nd footswitch for the synth voices, very handy) 

 

Sorry for the novel,Just thought I'd share my thoughts on my favourite effect.

Apparently the 3 leaf Octavbre is fantastic,but I haven't owned it, and it's £££££

Edited March 24, 2022 by lee650
Adding more that is forgotten

[mattbass6]

25 minutes ago, lee650 said:

I may have posted this elsewhere, but I've had a few octavers and this is what I've found 😁

 

 Purely my opinion of course,I'm sure others may disagree.

 

BOSS Oc2/ 3/
Very synthy and warm sound,the benchmark for octavers. Doesn't track well but has that sound,which is great for synth tones or even the classic 80s "Pino tone" with the clean up full. - approx £80-£200 depending on condition or year.
OC3 is a digital version and tracks very well, has an OK tone (not like the OC2) poly mode is useless on bass and the distortion is awful - approx £60-80 used.
I haven't tried the OC5 but I think it's still digital even in vintage mode. Sounds close to the OC2 in the demos to me,enough to make me want to try one. The octave up is a nice touch,once again poly is useless- approx £120 ish

 

EBS Octabass- one of my faves! Tracks really well and has a smooth,deep,natural tone and 3 modes for Tonal variation (I've had 4 😂)approx £70-120 depending on condition and version (there are now 5)

 

MXR bass octave Deluxe
Nice small size and tracks very well. Has two voices meant to replicate the OC2 and EBS these can be mixed,however  found thst one tone always dominates the other,so really only  two viable tones. Has a very cool mid boost to add punch. This model has a well documented issue (which I can confirm mine suffered from) in that it has a constant subsonic warbling noise when switched on,not noticeable when playing though. Reason given by the company was that it was so sensitive it picks up noise. I got rid as it annoyed and it's a massive shame as it's tracking and tone are excellent.

 

MXR vintage - small size and based on a vintage OC2 earlier units still have the noise problem, I believe this has been sorted.

 

COG T16/65/70
The T16 is a tiny enclosure and features a filter on the octave so it can sound synthy and aggressive or deep and clean.tracks fairly well about as well as an oc2 I'd say (this can cop an OC2 tone very well with the filter) V1 has a volume issue on the filter,this was sorted on V2.
T65 is the same only has an additional octave up. Thus isn't the same as a POG as the octave up is analogue whereas it highlights the 1st order harmonics and adds some dirt really. Very dirty sound and fantastic for synth,however even with the octave up dialled down it still sounds dirty,and the tracking is not the best (strangely I found the T16 tracks better) It also has a very useful parallel loop,so it can run in parallel with other effects. It means your octave sound is clean underneath fuzz/filter etc
T70  is basically 2x switchable T65S with a third sub only channel (to get the classic OC2 sub trick)I do feel the T65/70 is more of a synth engine than an octave.
T16- approx £80-100
T65- approx £100- £130
T7O-£180-200 
Cog is currently not building,so you don't see these so often.

 

Aguilar OCTAMIZER
The one octave thst is all things to all men. It can do synthy or super fat and deep with the filter switch. It also has a useful tilt EQ (this can be used as an effect in itself  with the octave turned down)built like a tank and sounds fantastic. Unfortunately IMO it's the worst tracking octaver I've ever used (I know this will open a can of worms)approx £80-120

 

Digitech Bass Synth Wah
On top of it's various synth and filter modes, it has a synth octave. The synthy tone can be dialled out,leaving it as a digital octave. Tracks very well and sounds great,although not as fat or organic as Analog octaves. Approx £35-75 depending on whose selling😂

 

EHX POG
A digital pedal with a very unique voice,it's very "organ" like. It tracks well but has a very synthetic sound,which can sound cool in certain situations. Approx £80-120 depending on model/condition etc

Sorry for the novel,Just thought I'd share my thoughts on my favourite effect.

Apparently the 3 leaf Octavbre is fantastic,but I haven't owned it, and it's £££££

Brilliant, very useful. Thank you so much. Thanks to everyone who has replied. Means a lot ☺️

[dannybuoy]

First question to answer is analog or digital.

 

Digital = flawless tracking but a slight latency/delay, and octave up possibilities. Tone is just the incoming signal pitched up or down.

 

Analog = no latency delay, but wobbly tracking on low notes (but the idea is to use it when playing higher up). Tone is generated so can sound like a phat synthesiser.

 

Then when it comes to analog, you have the classic Boss OC-2 that sounds awesome soloed, and the OC-5 / Octabvre / MXR Vintage Octave that copy it. Then there are analog ones like the EBS and Aguilar that sound more natural but blend in with the dry signal better. If you’re looking to shake the foundations, go for the Aguilar or a DOD Meatbox!

[Al Krow]

@lee650you've also had a Valeton OC-10 (my old one) which is a compact OC2 and perhaps the best value of all the clones? Sadly discontinued - I'm guessing because Boss probably threatened to sue as it was such a close copy of the sound! 

 

Another one to add to your summary

 

The best all rounder, including value for money, is still the Boss OC-5 😁

 

Edited August 30, 2021 by Al Krow

[Gareth Hughes]

Danbowskill is selling an MXR Bass Octave Deluxe in the classifieds, if that tickles your fancy.

 

[lee650]

2 hours ago, Al Krow said:

@lee650you've also had a Valeton OC-10 (my old one) which is a compact OC2 and perhaps the best value of all the clones?Sadly discontinued - I'm guessing probably because Boss probably threatened to sue because it was such a close copy! 

 

Another one to add to your summary

 

The best all rounder, including value for money, is still the Boss OC-5 😁

Cheers @Al Krow

Id completely forgotten about that! And I've just recommend it to Mr Travis 😂

I'll add it to the list, itll probably be worth adding the Okto Nojs too.

[NJE]

I am no pedal expert (I have two threads already asking for advice) but when you read a lot of reviews for various pedals, they all seem to reference the OC-2 and use it as a benchmark.

 

As the 3Leaf pedals are like unicorn tears, I just went back to the beginning and bought an OC-2 and it’s great fun. It is the original octave sound you have heard on so many records. My octave journey may continue, but the OC-2 seemed the best place to start.

[Hellzero]

Check the OC-5 thread, no need for anything else. Plenty of sound files and comparisons with a lot of the contenders and the original Japanese (and Taiwanese too) OC-2, of course.

 

 

 

[Doddy]

Personally, I'd hold out for a used OC2 or an Octabvre.  The OC2 is the classic octave sound, and the Octabvre adds the versatility of having a seperate footswitch to solo the sub. The MXR vintage should come close, as it was cloned from one of Janek Gwizdala's old OC2s.

 

I like the EBS Octabass too. It's got a smoother tone than the OC2, but it's not quite as cool.

 

I'm not a big fan of digital octave pedals. I find them too clean and they don't have the glitches that are part of the charm of an analog pedal. 

[SumOne]

I seem to be pretty much in agreement with what others have said. My list of favourite to least favourite that I've used:

 

1. Aguilar Octamizer: This is my favourite for adding a natural/subby tone, and the 'tone' control on clean is useful. It doesn't hold sustained notes very well though so you need to play accordingly. 
2. MXR M288: My current Octaver, I have owned two at different times without noticing any low-end warbling when not playing so perhaps they fixed that or it's dependant on your setup (or my ears aren't good enough!). It sounds nearly as good as the Octamizer for the subby side of things and probably tracks slightly better but still needs to be played a bit differently to normal playing, I like the way it can also do quite a decent version of that OC-2 more synthy type sound, and the mid boost is useful when feeding into an envelope filter or distortion/fuzz. Relatively small, well built/reliable and reasonably priced. 
3. Helix: Tracks really well and you can select how much for it to pitch both up and down.  
4. C4/Spectrum do an excellent job of tracking and decent tones but somehow didn't feel quite as good character of the tones as the Aguilar or MXR and not as easy to make changes as the Helix without phone/laptop plugged in.
5. POG or Sub n Up: Track well but I didn't like the tones of these, but that can be masked if you are using other pedals after them.

 

I'll be giving an OC-5 a try once they're available again (or an Octabvre if they ever become available) so perhaps it will replace the MXR. The only ones I wouldn't really recommend are the POG and Sub n Up as I don't like their Organ type sounds, I guess some people like that though and it's all subjective. 

 

 

Edited August 31, 2021 by SumOne

[Al Krow]

On 30/08/2021 at 12:25, Doddy said:

...I'm not a big fan of digital octave pedals. I find them too clean and they don't have the glitches that are part of the charm of an analog pedal. 

 

I guess glitchiness in pedals is like marmite - you either love it or hate it.

Personally, I can't stand marmite! 😁

 

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

An Octave pedal has been the most consistent effect I've had over my not inconsiderable years of playing. I foolishly sold my old OC-2 when I had Cog build me a multi effect box including their octaver, but that has recently gone a bit weird. It now sounds more like a distortion pedal than an octave pedal. I've now removed the whole unit from my board as there seems no chance of getting COG to look at it.

 

Guess what? Now I actually need an octaver for some new material I have to learn. I fancy a punt at the Octabvre, but now looks like March 2022.

 

What to do in the meantime 🤷‍♂️

[Boodang]

I bought an Aguilar Octamizer a few months ago and have been using it constantly. Has an organic tone which I love, the tilt eq is great and you can change the filter tone from smooth to something with a bit more edge. 

I also have a Cog T65 for full on synth style subs and use the built in in effects loop with a fuzz to dial it up a bit. A big sound but not very subtle!

[Quatschmacher]

Snagged the last B-stock Octabvre III! I tried ordering new last December from BD and the order never got fulfilled. 

[bassist_lewis]

2 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

Snagged the last B-stock Octabvre III! I tried ordering new last December from BD and the order never got fulfilled. 

Congrats!!! where did you get it??

[42Hz]

I use a toneprint in my tc amp. Works quite well.

[Quatschmacher]

1 hour ago, bassist_lewis said:

Congrats!!! where did you get it??

From 3Leaf direct. It was literally the last one. 

Edited December 16, 2021 by Quatschmacher

[Stub Mandrel]

On saturday I used my Joyo XVI as a straight sub-octaver as an alternative to using my fiver for one song. Worked really well.