ped

13 hours ago, pantherairsoft said:

I was reminded of this thread and thought I'd do an experiment over the last few days. A side by side of the OC2 and OC5, focusing on the -1 octave solo'd (does anyone use any other part of this pedal!), both at home via a small combo, and in the rehearsal room with a powerful rig, and both solo'd and in a mix.

To start, I should point out that my OC2 has the -2 octave disconnected, which boosts the output volume to the pedal. Side by side with an unmodded version, there is zero tonal shift to my ear, but importantly this makes the -1 octave volume absolutely identical to the OC5, overcoming the usual volume dip these pedals suffer. Having them at the same volume really helped this experiment. I should also note that this is a made in Taiwan OC2, that needs the ACA adapter (12v, which is then knocked down to 9v in the pedal) - Note on this at the end.

Also note that the OC5 was set to Bass and Vintage modes (which replicates the OC2). I'd like to give special mention to the fact that in poly mode, with the -1 octave solo'd and the Range knob set to 'lowest', the OC5 is a useful tool for some sub frequencies if you play it as though it was a mono octave pedal still, for those who don't want to destroy the building with a Dod Meatbox. The rest of poly mode is, IMO, very meh, but that one trick is a nice addition.

So, the comparison...

Here is what I did.
1. Side by side solo'd at home via Markbass MicroMark combo - focused on tone and noticeable latency.

2. As above, but into multi effects - OD, fuzz, envelope filter etc. to test how they played with other pedals.

3. Both of the above steps in the studio via a Markbass SD800 and Schroeder 1212L (LOUD). First without the tweeter, then with the tweeter dialled up - solo'd with three other musicians forced to close their eyes, listen and give me feedback. One of them was a drummer, so you can disregard their thoughts

4. As per the previous step, but in the context of a track with drums and keys/synths.

5. Absolutely everything above, in both active and passive mode on my bass.

 

Here are my/our findings....
Latency - Absolutely no difference at all. In fact, I sat and played a few lines with my eyes closed and had others change the pedals so I didn't know which was which... and feeling wise I couldn't tell them apart (again, remembering that I am talking only about vintage mode on the OC2... in poly mode, yes, I can feel the latency).

Tracking - Identical. I've seen lots of folk say the OC5 tracks better, but under a microscope and with clean playing, there is no difference at all. If the OC5 does track better, then my playing style doesn't allow me to highlight it. Both track down to an A on the E string without too much issue, and can track lower if you're very careful and don't mind the additional artefacts in the sound.

 

Tone - When solo'd and studying the sounds very closely, the OC2 has a 'tiny' bit more breakup on the lower notes/E string when you dig in. It's so minor that I had to check over and over to be sure I was hearing it. Aside that, neither I, nor the other folk could tell a difference between the two, with a focus on my playing style, I was able to circumvent that extra breakup. Also note that without the tweeter on the cab, this difference was inaudible. I should note that it's not a pretty overdrive, it's just digital clipping and not something I'd ever 'want' to replicate. Now we're talking ears, not a frequency analyser - and that's what matters - what we all hear. I like to think I have decent ears (former mastering engineer), but I am in no way an authority. To me, however, it was impossible to tell them apart aside that very close study Literally identical on the A-C strings (I play a 5, strung E-C). 

 

Active vs Passive - compared to each other, the OC2 and OC5 sound and respond identically to the passive setting. In active mode, the very slight breakup we mentioned about the OC2 on the low E kicks in with a slightly softer playing. I play soft any way, so I had to force it to make this happen. I usually use the bass in active mode and nothing about this test would make me want to change it. In fact, I'd say the active output form the bass actually helps the tracking of both pedals a bit.

With other pedals - The response and combining of them with other pedals was identical, it even made noticing the OC2 tiny low end breakup impossible when it was run into any kind of drive, filter etc.

 

The feedback above was unanimous from all (only I can comment on latency), no one could hear a difference at all and in fact, I'm the only person claiming there was a touch more breakup in the sound on the E string.

After a few hours of this questionably pointless experiment, here are my pros for both...

OC5

• Easy to find at a reasonable price.
• Nails the OC2 sound with zero latency.
• Has other options, even though you'll likely never use them, but maybe for that one song.
• Still under warranty if you have an issue.

 

OC2

• People think you're cool because you use an OC2.

 

Extra bonus test - I also tried running the OC2 at 9v, even though it needs 12 via a power supply (these ACA ones still use a 9v battery or can run on a 9v if you daisy chain it from another pedal, which is odd). I did this because I know many people out there do this without realising that the ACA version needed 12v and have come to voltage starve their pedal for many years. Aside the dimmer LED and drop in volume, which many folk thought was just the way the OC2 was, this introduces much more noise and breakup into the tone. Being honest, it's still totally usable, and for anyone that accidentally got used to using an ACA OC2 this way, the difference in tone between that and an OC5 is quite notable (and wouldn’t surprise me if this was the cause of some claims of the two being audibly different!).

 

While the voltage starved OC2 doesn't sound great to me, it does 'add something' which is very artificial, which I can see people liking it in its own right. That is, of course, not the point of this comparison though.

So, which one stays on my board? The OC5, but only because it's easier to replace if someone spills beer on it. I could happy pop either on there and no one would know the difference.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

 

Call that a TED talk? What did you learn about B2B sales and SEO from your test? 
 

(Actually, I love TED, I’m thinking more about LinkedIn - dare you to post it there)

8 hours ago, Jack said:

Googled this to find out a little bit more about it as I often do with marketplace listings and I was pleased to see @pedhas started offering 14 day returns. AI at its finest. 

 

 

You’re welcome to return it to me, particularly when it wasn’t supplied by me 😂

I've always loved these since I learned that Trevor Dunn used one with Mr. Bungle. Got any sounds? Curious to hear how it compares to my Elan

3 hours ago, ikay said:

This is curious. Here's a flux pic of the Benedetti SCs in my Excess and the mag field (blue) shows through the centreline of the pickup where the poles are. On the pic above the flux seems to be showing as a halo rather than through the centreline. Having said that, I don't know why mine are showing a white halo!

 

 

It's because I used to own it, so it's become holy

The worst thing about eBay is having to find a suitable box and packaging up stuff. Almost every time I sell something it'll be shortly after clearing out loads of empty boxes in the garage that I think I'll never need! Invariably I end up hacking up a box that's too big making me feel like I'm running a custom cardboard box atelier boutique from my garage.

Maybe one day they'll do what Amazon do for returns - take the item to a shop, print the return sticker with a QR code and they do the rest.

On 16/10/2025 at 19:10, Dood said:

 

Came to say the same. On smaller tuners the full outer winding of the string is likely to break as it won't want to curl around such a small post - thats why strings have their inner windings exposed at the tuners. Rotosound used to (and I am suspect they still do) specify in their warranty that string breakages caused by fitting the wrong type of string are not covered.

I’ve got long scale Elixirs on my Mustang and Musicmaster and both cope fine with the full width string around the tuners, even the smaller diameter Musicmaster ones. Unfortunately Elixir don’t make short or medium scale sets so it’s the only option but works fine, as long as they are installed correctly. Flats might snap though. 

33 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

Before @Hellzero disappears - 

any recommendations for roundwounds strings for my Capone?

 

Ive got Sadowsky blue steels on my Sadowsky that I love, Sadowsky blue nickels on a Lakland which are ok ish, infeld nickle rounds on a p which were good till they died.

DR fatbeams are the pricy favourite I had a few years ago …

 

I think originally Lefay might hsve used Ernie ball steel rounds? 

Butting in here but try Elixirs on fretless. Not only do they last ages but I think they’re a little more forgiving on the neck and the nickels in particular have a warm even sound. 

48 minutes ago, pantherairsoft said:

No one is putting a tattoo gun anywhere near my Basingstoke!

Someone didn't read the T&Cs

1 hour ago, Dood said:

I do that when I am quoting a quote. 

I just did it here, quoting a quote about quotes 

23 minutes ago, Dood said:

I do that too. Space space!

I always add a line under a quote (apart from here) 

You guys seen this? Fender Japan are doing a signature Mustang with JJ configuration pickups

https://www.soundhouse.co.jp/en/products/detail/item/370161/

On 10/10/2025 at 20:50, SpondonBassed said:

Watch out Pino!

 

That's as nice a rendition of that bassline as I have ever heard.  ...And I'm not just creeping because you are, well, Ped.

Arise, Sir Spond 👑 

5 hours ago, Hellzero said:

I took the decision after the weekend...

 

So after playing mainly fretless bass and double bass during 40+ years, I've come to the decision to quit.

 

Why?

 

Because my bass duet is officially over and at 60 years old, I really don't want to join a band or other musicians again and start toying with people ego...

 

From now on, I'll focus on piano only, which seems to be my instrument and only took me 40+ years to figure that. 🤦🏻

 

At least, I can play anything on my own without having to manage some badly placed susceptibility.

 

I'll be selling some gear too, watch the ads.

 

Farewell bass world. 👋🏼

Is it because you saw my fretless playing and thought 'can't compete with that' 🤣

Glad you're sticking around. My bands have come and gone but I derive just as much pleasure from playing along with stuff and noodling at home as I do with the faff and organisational nightmare of being in a band.

8 minutes ago, pantherairsoft said:

Oh man, chronologically followed by colour coded… this thread is getting serious!

Nobody at work was as impressed

Here's my list - colour coded to show filters, phasers, chorus, drive/dist/fuzz and 'other' (comp, EQ, etc)

I may have forgotten one or two - I keep getting distracted by work!

3Leaf Wonderlove

3Leaf Proton

Aguilar Grape

Aguilar Agro

Aguilar Fuzzistor

Aguilar Filter Twin

Boss CEB-3

*Boss TU-2

*Boss OC-2

*Boss OC-2 Square wave

Boss LMB-3

Chunk Systems Octavius Squeezer

Crowther Audio Prunes and Custard

*Danelectro Cool Cat

Digitech Bass Synth Wah

DOD FX25 v1

DOD FX25 v2 (sparkle)

*DOD FX59 Thrashmaster

*DOD FX58 Metal Maniac

EHX Mini Q-Tron

EHX Q-tron

EHX Q-tron +

EHX Hot Tubes Nano

EHX Big Muff Deluxe Sovtek

EHX Big Muff (Green) tall font

EHX Big Muff (Green) reissue

EHX Small Stone (Green)

*EHX Bassballs (Green)

*EHX Bassballs Sovtek V1

*EHX Bassballs USA

*EWS BMC2

EWS Stormy Bass Drive

FEA Opti-Comp

Fulltone Choralflange

Haz-Labs Mutron III+

Hotone Stomp Mini

*Lovetone Meatball

Maxon AF-9

Meridian Funk-U-Lator

Mr. Black Fwonkbeta

Musitronics Mutron III

MXR Comp

MXR Env

MXR Pre

*MXR Phase 90

MXR Phase 100

Origin Electronics Cali76 Big Box

Panda Audio Future Impact

Source Audio C4

SolidGold Supa-Funk

T-Rex Bass Juice

*TC Electronic Spectracomp

TC Electronic June-90 v1

TC Electronic June-90 v2

*Valeton OC-10

*Valco KGB Dist

*Valco KGB Fuzz

*Valco KGB Loop

Warm Audio Phasor

Xotic Robo-talk 2

Too steep? Not really sure how to price this but it would be nice for it to be used. Make me an offer!

It’s a pretty ‘rickenbacker’ way to do a short scale. Wrong. 

I go in cycles too. The temptation and ‘gadget factor’ of having a small box that does everything and more is cool. But I always end up using a couple of things regularly and not using the rest, then finding the ones I do use are not worth having a whole system for. I also like desperate pedals because they are quite addictive to collect and compare. Right now my board hasn’t changed for ages and I’m totally happy with it, but I have some other pedals at home for fun and mucking about. 
 

Also to add - it’s worth having staple classics like an OC2 and Big Muff, for example, as most multis will model them. Of course it doesn’t matter how close they are if you like the sound, but it’s just interesting to have the original thing to benchmark against. 

Absolutely ridiculous. I want one. 

On 08/10/2025 at 11:12, LukeFRC said:

Jacomaster ?

What about Musicfaster (frets slow you down!)

Apologies but I had to try (I'll keep practicing)

Sorry for spamming this pair of late but here you go anyway

18 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said:

 

Is it signed by your good self?  Y'know... for added value.

I could do. Years from now, vintage experts won’t understand why the mythical ‘ped’ only worked at fender long enough to make one neck

On 12/08/2025 at 17:27, Stub Mandrel said:

I don't know why I'm asking as I need to save, but will you be selling the musicmaster neck?

 

 

Hi mate just FYI the replacement ebony neck is for sale now if you’re interested. It’s in accessories and misc. 

6 minutes ago, BassApprentice said:

I appreciate this may be a phase, but I look forward to the day that I find *my* bass, like you seem to with Mustangs/Musicmasters.

 

It's always fun to buy and sell gear - but having a bass style you just enjoy playing is really the end goal for most us.

 

They look great!

I've found 'the one' a few times, but realistically I feel that these offer a great balance between P, J and fretless sounds in a comfortable, vintage yet personalised package. My only advice would be to try as much as you can because I never thought I'd like a Mustang and hadn't even considered them before (you couldn't get much further from a Vigier Passion if you tried). These are the 30th and 32nd basses I've had - small numbers by some standards!