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Is everyone out of love with octave pedals?


WalMan
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I was looking for an EBS Octabass before Christmas and at the second attempt picked one up in the Pedals For Sale section.

I was flicking through that section last night and there look to be four or five octave pedals, mostly EBS but a couple of Boss as well, in the first couple of pages.

You wait for a bus, then a load come along all at once :)

I have to say that I am loving the EBS version set to Low and have to be careful not to leave it on all the time - perhaps that is the joy of a new toy :) I had a Boss OC2 years ago and it was OK but never seemed to stay solid on the effect as I recall (mind it was quite a few years back now). The EBS by contraxt seems to hang on much better and not go to "warble" mode until the note has decaed much further. Possibly that is because it is a bass specific pedal, or perhaps because I am now using active basses and the signal is stronger. I was using the Wal before with the OC2 but cannot remember whether it was when it was still passive, or after Pete installed the custom actives.

Edited by WalMan
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More a case of there being a lot more variety in the effects market these days, if you ask me. There are new players releasing quality pedals, and being human, we always think there's something better out there (the grass is greener syndrome). That, and it's fun to try out new things - and I think I've eventually got around to trying every octave pedal out there (but still find myself coming back to the OC2, the first octave pedal I owned, and the one that's coloured my expectations of what an octave pedal should do).

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I have an EBS octabass, for ages I've loved it, but then tried an old OC-2 which is a little less growly and tracks a little for the way I play; BUT I just got an Aguilar Octamiser and have TOTALLY fallen in love with it. It tracks happily down to a B flat and with most basses down to an A with no problems at all. Highly recommended.

Jimmy Sims

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[quote name='ahpook' post='1090338' date='Jan 15 2011, 12:40 PM']octavers have their place, but taste is needed.



so i've heard :)[/quote]
Indeed. I have to learn to use the off switch more :)

Loving getting back into the EBS I acquired before Christmas, just seemed looking in for sale that everyone is getting rid at the mo. P'raps not

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[quote name='WalMan' post='1090624' date='Jan 15 2011, 04:52 PM']Indeed. I have to learn to use the off switch more :)

Loving getting back into the EBS I acquired before Christmas, just seemed looking in for sale that everyone is getting rid at the mo. P'raps not[/quote]

Must agree with the less is more bit, it is tempting to leave it on all the time.
I'm using a MXR Bass octave deluxe & love it. Sure it (like the competitors) doesn't track well below an A, but can cope with a short note duration down to an F sharp but sounds horrible when it starts to warble. Makes up for it with its great sub growl & a pinging slap sound. My basic sound is always gained-up dirty & it add a further texture of dirt, a skim of extra filth if you like. Awesome too when in conjunction with distortion. The mid boost button rev's it up too. I use it on 2 songs only at the moment, one was written totally around that octave sound.
Cheers,
Norm.

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Had an Aguilar last year, for around three months, but was too clean sounding for my tastes. The OC3 has an OC2 mode, but it's a too clinical (although I've kept an OC3 to use for certain situations). The joy of the OC2 is that it's musical, and you can get it to do quirky things if you really push it hard. For sure, there are better octave pedals out there, but the OC2 just has the colourful character that makes it an essential to have.

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