Lower Octave Bass Effects Pedal Information Wanted Please

[Blues Rock Dawn]

Hello there Everybody, I hope you are all well. I'm trying to find an effects pedal that makes my bass sound at least an octave lower, but without otherwise distorting the sound of my bass too much. The lower the octave, the better as far as I'm concerned. Has anyone got any suggestions for me please? Are there any pedals where you have the option of lowering the octaves by more than one octave please? Thank you very much 🙂

[Judo Chop]

The Boss OC-3 lets you lower the sound by one or two octaves, I'm sure the new OC-5 does as well.

I've got an OC-3 and it stays relatively clean sounding on both the one and two octave settings but it does lose a lot of definition below the E string's fifth fret though, no idea about other brands because I've got no experience with them!

[Quatschmacher]

Boss OC-2, OC-3, OC-5, MXR Vintage Bass Octave, Valeton OC-10, Source Audio Spectrum or C4, KMA Audio Machines Moai Maea, TWA Great Divide,  TC Electronic Sub ‘n’ Up (normal and mini versions). These all have -1 and -2 octaves. 

Edited January 18, 2021 by Quatschmacher

[MoJoKe]

...also take a look at the Markbass Raw Octaver...  tiny, simple and works like the older Boss OC-2 but with better tracking.

You could also checkout @knicknacks latest review video on Octave pedals...

 

 

[Downunderwonder]

They all lower by one octave.

How well they track down past a low A is variable.

An octave below your A string will generally cause problems for your cab if you play it loud.

Ideally you should put a highpass filter after the octaver to keep it clean.

[Bunion]

Try a digitech bass synth wah

Set to: min, noon, min, setting 7

Tracking is really good + you get all the funky stinky poo you’ll never use but is fun and they can be picked up reasonably cheap compared to OC’s 

 

 

Edited January 17, 2021 by Bunion

[itu]

5 hours ago, Blues Rock Dawn said:

...an effects pedal that makes my bass sound at least an octave lower, but without otherwise distorting the sound of my bass too much. The lower the octave, the better as far as I'm concerned.

Could you please clarify your need with this? Usually very low frequencies equal uncontrollable sound and the need for lots of power.

[Quatschmacher]

1 hour ago, Downunderwonder said:

They all lower by one octave.

How well they track down past a low A is variable.

An octave below your A string will generally cause problems for your cab if you play it loud.

Ideally you should put a highpass filter after the octaver to keep it clean.

All the ones I mentioned have a -2 octave in addition to the -1 octave. 

Edited January 17, 2021 by Quatschmacher

[Downunderwonder]

6 hours ago, Blues Rock Dawn said:

at least an octave lower,

 

59 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

All the ones I mentioned have a -2 octave in addition to the -1 octave. 

They wouldn't be called octavers if they didn't lower at least one octave, was the point I was trying to make more gently.

[Blues Rock Dawn]

Thank you everyone. All new to me, and most things I found (before asking you all for help) were for increasing and decreasing a regular guitar (as opposed to a bass) by one octave. Will read up on the ones I've been told about, and check the frequency range that my amp combo will tolerate before damage is done. Not sure if I have to consider impedence too. Take care - can't wait until the bass shows can start again! 

[Geek99]

You may want to read up on the zoom b2.1u multi fx which is cheap as chips and has an octaver 

and it runs on AA batteries or mains and it has drum patterns and a volume pedal and it’s built strongly enough to survive nuclear attack 

Edited January 17, 2021 by Geek99

[Doddy]

I guess it depends what kind of octave sound you are after. If you want that classic sound that's used in songs like 'Earth Song' or Sledgehammer', you'll want something based on a Boss OC2. Depending on your budget, I'd look at pedals like the Valeton OC10, Boss OC5 (or a used OC2), MXR Vintage Bass Octave,or the 3 Leaf Audio Octabvre. The EBS Octabass is really nice, but has a smoother sound (i think). If you want something that will just drop your signal an octave a bit more cleanly, then maybe look at a digital octave like the TC Electronic Sub n Up, or the EHX Pog or even the Digitech Whammy Ricochet.

Be aware that a lot of octave pedals will start to glitch at around a low A, so you may end up having to play an octave higher to compensate.

Your amp will probably be fine. Any decent quality amp should be able to handle an octave pedal.

 

[Quatschmacher]

49 minutes ago, Doddy said:

Be aware that a lot of octave pedals will start to glitch at around a low A, so you may end up having to play an octave higher to compensate.

The MXR ones don’t; the digital ones are also solid really low down. 

[Quatschmacher]

4 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

 

They wouldn't be called octavers if they didn't lower at least one octave, was the point I was trying to make more gently.

I see your point. Sorry, was extremely tired all day and detail passed me by. 

[Downunderwonder]

4 hours ago, Blues Rock Dawn said:

check the frequency range that my amp combo will tolerate before damage is done

Rare is the combo that even puts out the fundamental of a low E. Our brains fill it in from all the harmonics.

Even most bigboy bass rigs go to hell over anything as low as 40hz.

[Downunderwonder]

44 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

I see your point. Sorry, was extremely tired all day and detail passed me by. 

No worries. I could have been more specific myself.

[Doddy]

8 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

The MXR ones don’t; the digital ones are also solid really low down. 

Whenever I've played the MXR ones they've always started to glitch in the lower register, like most analogue octaves do.

I agree that digital ones are solid low down, which is why I suggested them for a cleaner sound.  I, personally, don't like the sound of them as much.

[Quatschmacher]

14 minutes ago, Doddy said:

Whenever I've played the MXR ones they've always started to glitch in the lower register, like most analogue octaves do.

I agree that digital ones are solid low down, which is why I suggested them for a cleaner sound.  I, personally, don't like the sound of them as much.

Both the MXR vintage bass octave and bass octave deluxe have been rock solid for me on passive P and J basses right down to low F on a four string. I’ve not tried them on five string as I don’t play one.

I agree, the digital one are reliable but I’ve yet to find one whose sound I prefer over my favourite analogue ones. 

[GisserD]

I have not much to add to tge above except... 

imho the aguilar does better at retaining the tone of the instrument, but kind of halves the pitch. 

All other octavers I've tried add a sub "synthlike" note under the note your playing.

The aggie is my main octave of choice for this reason. 

 

[dodge_bass]

5 minutes ago, GisserD said:

I have not much to add to tge above except... 

imho the aguilar does better at retaining the tone of the instrument, but kind of halves the pitch. 

All other octavers I've tried add a sub "synthlike" note under the note your playing.

The aggie is my main octave of choice for this reason. 

 

The EHX POG is very clean and tracks very well too but still introduces a bit of a synth like sound. 

[dudewheresmybass]

As already mentioned the tone of the octave is the key thing here. 
all of the pedals named will do the octave down, but I found that the oc2 was very synthy, and didn’t fit the context, the ebs octabass was too polite, and the mxr bod was ‘just right’ for Goldilocks lol

With all of these, I’ve had no issues until getting down to a low f on the e string.
my favourite single octave down is the older dod octoplus- great pedal, but it’s size is the handicap. If only there was a clone of it  

[Downunderwonder]

3 hours ago, dudewheresmybass said:

ebs octabass was too polite

What means this?

[itu]

On 17/01/2021 at 23:35, Blues Rock Dawn said:

..most things I found (before asking you all for help) were for increasing and decreasing a regular guitar (as opposed to a bass) by one octave.

A note at a time? Most of the units are not able to transpose chords. Just to make sure your expectations are in line with the suggestions.

[dudewheresmybass]

11 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

What means this?

I found the octave down to be too ‘nice’ 

I preferred the tone of the mxr bod with the growl switch engaged. 
the ebs is kept for situations where I want something not quite as aggressive. 

[PJC]

Very happy  with my EBS  octabass ... dry signal blend is important for me ... 🤞🏼 good luck