If you could only choose one octave pedal

[iamtheelvy 43]

Looks like Dave Swift may be a holder of insider information...

[Al Krow 5,009]

Oooh that is exciting news! 

[fretmeister 2,464]

Probably a Waza Craft version for £250.

 

I'd just like to say the existence of 28 pages on the subject of octave pedals is disturbing.

Envelope filters I'd understand. But Octaves? That's just wrong.

[Quatschmacher 1,136]

3 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

Probably a Waza Craft version for £250.

 

I'd just like to say the existence of 28 pages on the subject of octave pedals is disturbing.

Envelope filters I'd understand. But Octaves? That's just wrong.

A mere 28 pages would be way too little for filter discussion. 

[Stub Mandrel 9,665]

26 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

Probably a Waza Craft version for £250.

 

I'd just like to say the existence of 28 pages on the subject of octave pedals is disturbing.

Envelope filters I'd understand. But Octaves? That's just wrong.

It started with one comment, but they just kept doubling.

[fretmeister 2,464]

24 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

It started with one comment, but they just kept doubling.

And the quality got lower with every one.

[bottomfeed 33]

I get it about the Boss OC2... but it was not always easy to control in a live situation... bad acoustics, etc... 

I used the EBS Octabass for years... & loved it.... but more recently needed something with a smaller footprint... for a tiny, live work board... & to cram as much as needed on it, I looked for a smaller alternative... The Markbass Raw series octaver... got my attention from this video: 

MarkBass Raw Octaver

He's a bit of an android... but get to the sound demos & they are interesting!

 

I bought one... & I'm pretty happy with it on my board... It's always subjective when it comes to sound.... but

Worth a look.....

 

 

 

[radiophonic 164]

On 07/07/2020 at 11:18, fretmeister said:

Probably a Waza Craft version for £250.

 

I'd just like to say the existence of 28 pages on the subject of octave pedals is disturbing.

Envelope filters I'd understand. But Octaves? That's just wrong.

In terms of nerding out, envelope filters for bass players are like drive pedals for guitarists. Win for us, I'd say. Boss really got something right about the OC2 though.

[radiophonic 164]

Returning to octavers, I recently picked up a mint DOD Meatbox reissue at a non-insane price. Oh boy, this is the first time I've worried about my speakers. It doesn't have the hollow resonance of an OC2 but it goes really - insanely - low. Thanks to the TRS out, I've been using it mostly for recording, bypassing the amp and just sticking a layer underneath via DI - the same way the original DBX 120 was used back in the day. Soloing the tracks, reveals a really synthy, subby analog thing going on under higher notes and rock solid tracking with no detectable latency. It won't be my only octave down, but it's a usable beast I'd recommend one if you can get one for a reasonable price.

[Al Krow 5,009]

5 minutes ago, radiophonic said:

Returning to octavers, I recently picked up a mint DOD Meatbox reissue at a non-insane price. Oh boy, this is the first time I've worried about my speakers. It doesn't have the hollow resonance of an OC2 but it goes really - insanely - low. Thanks to the TRS out, I've been using it mostly for recording, bypassing the amp and just sticking a layer underneath via DI - the same way the original DBX 120 was used back in the day. Soloing the tracks, reveals a really synthy, subby analog thing going on under higher notes and rock solid tracking with no detectable latency. It won't be my only octave down, but it's a usable beast I'd recommend one if you can get one for a reasonable price.

NIce. Fancy sharing some of your recordings?

[radiophonic 164]

14 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

NIce. Fancy sharing some of your recordings?

Album demos, so a bit sensitive. Not the material, just my sloppy playing. I'll have a dig around though - do you have one? It's an odd pedal. It almost sounds like a digital octaver on 50/50 blend,  but with no latency. Plus the whole 30 Hz thing.

Edited July 12, 2020 by radiophonic

[Al Krow 5,009]

8 minutes ago, radiophonic said:

Album demos, so a bit sensitive. Not the material, just my sloppy playing. I'll have a dig around though - do you have one? It's an odd pedal.

I did, for a short while, but I kinda felt it needed a BF Dubster 2 and a whole bunch of wattage to be properly usable (or the LF1400). I very briefly toyed with the idea of heading down that route, but fortunately for the street where I live Alex ceased production of the said monster machines!

Edited July 12, 2020 by Al Krow

[radiophonic 164]

1 minute ago, Al Krow said:

I did, for a short while, but I kinda felt it needed a BF Dubster 2 and a whole bunch of wattage to be properly usable (or the LF1400). I very briefly toyed with the idea of heading down that route, but fortunately for the street where I live Alex ceased production of the said monster machines!

You either need a rig with massive headroom or the opportunity to route it through FOH (which would kind of take the fun out of it). I understand that Juan Alderete ran it into his old Ampeg night after night and never blew anything, but it has that rep as a cone toaster. I've been playing around running it into a Manta in place of an OC2 and it does some really terrifying things with the filter sweep.

[bottomfeed 33]

Goes to show.... It matters and it's very personal! ... What works for you with your personal gear.... 🙂

I've always been quite passionate about octave sounds... Prolly ebs octabass does it the most for me... In a live situation, you sometimes have to compromise!... maybe always!? play with it musically whatever you have!  

 

 

 

[Doddy 190]

On 12/07/2020 at 22:35, radiophonic said:

Returning to octavers, I recently picked up a mint DOD Meatbox reissue at a non-insane price. Oh boy, this is the first time I've worried about my speakers. It doesn't have the hollow resonance of an OC2 but it goes really - insanely - low. Thanks to the TRS out, I've been using it mostly for recording, bypassing the amp and just sticking a layer underneath via DI - the same way the original DBX 120 was used back in the day. Soloing the tracks, reveals a really synthy, subby analog thing going on under higher notes and rock solid tracking with no detectable latency. It won't be my only octave down, but it's a usable beast I'd recommend one if you can get one for a reasonable price.

I love the Meatbox, but I never look at it as being an octaver because it doesn't do the traditional octave thing like the OC2 or the the EBS (for example) does. I look at it more as a dedicated sub, that sits under everything and sounds massive through the PA.  I nearly always take both out ( normally the 3 Leaf Octabvre and a Mantic Beefbag) and they both do completely different jobs.

[radiophonic 164]

11 hours ago, Doddy said:

I love the Meatbox, but I never look at it as being an octaver because it doesn't do the traditional octave thing like the OC2 or the the EBS (for example) does. I look at it more as a dedicated sub, that sits under everything and sounds massive through the PA.  I nearly always take both out ( normally the 3 Leaf Octabvre and a Mantic Beefbag) and they both do completely different jobs.

It's definitely its own thing, but on some apps I can use it like a regular octave and in some I can't. I need to dig out my MF101 and see what it makes of it. The TRS output is definitely a win and that's how I'm using it for recording. What I do like about it is the 50/50 blend sound into an amp though. It sounds quite like a digital octave down, except with no latency. You have to wind back the resonant filters a bit and watch your volume, and it's totally unlike an OC2 but I could definitely see that being a usable sound. I've not heard the Beefbag. I've heard conflicting descriptions with some saying it's more or less a Meatbox and some saying that he made a Meatbox clone but this was a bit different. Can you comment?

[Doddy 190]

On 18/07/2020 at 11:56, radiophonic said:

It's definitely its own thing, but on some apps I can use it like a regular octave and in some I can't. I need to dig out my MF101 and see what it makes of it. The TRS output is definitely a win and that's how I'm using it for recording. What I do like about it is the 50/50 blend sound into an amp though. It sounds quite like a digital octave down, except with no latency. You have to wind back the resonant filters a bit and watch your volume, and it's totally unlike an OC2 but I could definitely see that being a usable sound. I've not heard the Beefbag. I've heard conflicting descriptions with some saying it's more or less a Meatbox and some saying that he made a Meatbox clone but this was a bit different. Can you comment?

As far as I'm aware, the Beef bag is a straight up clone of the original Meatbox, which Mantic stopped making when DOD brought out the reissue. To me it sounds just like the Meatbox, but with much better build quality. Mantic still make the Density Hulk which is their version of a sub pedal. That sounds great too-it's more clean than the Beef bag.

I put it last in the chain, run the dry out to my amp, the effected signal to a DI, and crank all the knobs. You need a decent PA really, but it sounds massive.

[Quatschmacher 1,136]

For anyone who might be interested here are two octave pedal demos. 

First is the sub only of the Okto Nøjs. There are 8 bars of each of the following tone knob clock positions: 7, 9, 11, 12, 1, 3, 4 and 5.

Okto demo.wav

 

Second is the MXR Vintage Bass Octave which is a clone of Janek Gwizdala's Japanese OC-2.

VBO demo.wav

Edited August 23, 2020 by Quatschmacher

[GisserD 865]

Anybody played the mutron octave devider?

[radiophonic 164]

No OC2 Waza but now there's an OC5 then. The OC2 full wet sounded close to me. Definitely has that hollowed out sine wave thing going on.

 

[iamtheelvy 43]

I'm intrigued by the OC-5, but there's a whole lot of features I don't really want/need. A more faithful reproduction of the OC-2 would have been nice (may go for the MXR VBO)...