Members LaTruchaLoca Posted March 12, 2015 Members Share Posted March 12, 2015 New to the forum but a guitar player for 30 years. I play a Jackson Soloist (bought before Fender owned them) through a Mesa Boogie F-30. I am looking for both an octave up and an octave down pedal to accent my playing through my distorted amp - mainly when I solo. Don't care about using them with chords or using them clean. I want a nice octave up pedal that I can kick in when I'm playing a full-on metal solo that will scream and cut through the mix, with a volume boost to boot. I don't care to blend the original note with the octave up or down, either. And yes, I'd like the ability to hit an octave up pedal when I hit a high note and a separate octave down pedal when I hit a low note. For logical purposes, I know that for an octave down pedal, probably only one octave down works somewhat reasonably well with a guitar amplifier. For an octave up pedal, I'm interested in one that boosts my signal one to three octaves up. And one more thing. I hate the "glissando" effect that some of these octave pedals have that sound like your using a whammy bar to bring a note up or down one or more octaves. I want to hit the pedal's button and kick it in, and then hit it again and turn it off. No cutesy whammy type stuff. I don't think there's a pedal reasonably priced that does both, so I'm looking for recommendations for both an octave up pedal and a separate octave down pedal that sound great, cut through the mix, don't loose volume (preferably boosts it) when activated, and don't have that whammy glissando thing going on. Please advise my fellow shredders! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bmoncbus Posted March 12, 2015 Members Share Posted March 12, 2015 You don't want a Digitech Whammy pedal (that's the gliss effect you're speaking of), just a simple shifter. The least expensive pedals out there right now seem to be the Mooer pedal line, and I know they have a shifter like you want. You could buy 2 and have each set differently. They have a small footprint and a small price. Quality seems to vary from effect to effect on them, but it's probably the cheapest and easiest way to achieve what you want. If you want to spend some more and go analog, a Foxrox Octron 2 would fit the bill nicely. I'd spend the extra money and go for it if it were me. It should provide the boost you're looking for as well, as I believe it has internal trim pots for boost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted March 12, 2015 Members Share Posted March 12, 2015 I have a bunch of different types dating back quite a bit. Many of the older ones have a ring to the notes because the octave is linked to a sine waves which is what actually locks the note in place. I do own a few rack units that produce the best results. They are the only ones I've used that will give me more then one voice at a time. If you buy two single voiced pedals and want to set each for a different pitch, say and octave down and a 3rd, 5th or 7th up (octave up usually starts sounding micky mouse unless you're looking for that 12 string sound) The problem with two pedals is you will have to split your signal to feed both, then you'll have to use a mixer to combine them back into a single mono signal to feed your amps. (or use a stereo amp) For a small box, I bought a Digitec RP150 recently for $25 used. http://digitech.com/en-US/products/rp150 Its octavers are very good quality in comparison to many I've used. Its only a single voice which can be adjusted up or down in semitones up to an octave in either direction. What I like best is its full fidelity similar to a quality rack unit and its ability to maintain pitch without warbling. Cheap versions can be very erratic in locking and maintaining pitch especially when you have other effects going. If you can do with a single voice you may want to snag one used. If you want really fast switching you could run the pedal through an effects loop pedal and just bypass it with a single stomp. The pedal can be bypassed but its a double switch bypass which can be tricky. Coming out of bypass mode just requires a single tap either switch. The pedal actually has quite a few modeling amps and a full range of other effects that are pretty good so it may be more useful then just an octave pedals too. The other key item here is, to get a good harmony sustain on octave pedals, you usually have to use some kind of compression to keep the note sustained without huge dynamic spikes. If you go for a straight octave pedal, the pedals before them often have to be finely tweaked to get the best results. Drive and compression before and Chorus/reverb/echo after. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LaTruchaLoca Posted March 13, 2015 Author Members Share Posted March 13, 2015 Thanks so far, guys. You're right - I definitely don't want a Digitech Whammy. I was even a bit disappointed to hear the same "glissando" effect on the EHX Pitchfork. If I were being honest and had to choose one pedal, it would be an octave up pedal. The ZVex Johnny Octave seemed to sound great, and has both a 1 and 2 octave up setting, but the price is outrageous. That said, I'd also prefer to lean analog as my whole setup is that way. So, with a focus on analog octave up pedals (I will look into the Foxtron) and adding compression to it, I'd welcome any further or refined suggestions. Thanks again, guys - what a great place to visit and talk gear from folks that have knowledge and experience with it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stevemcb Posted March 13, 2015 Members Share Posted March 13, 2015 The Mooer pitch pedals are digital not analog but I'll put in my 2 cents worth about them - avoid the Pitch Box for octave up. The octave down setting is fine but the up sounds just slightly out of tune - I don't think it's exactly an octave! The Mooer Pure Octave may do better (I see that Richard Thompson had one on his board but haven't heard him using it). But with the pitchy pitch box and the shimverb which shifts a 5th rather than an octave, I'd be very wary of Mooer pitch effects Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members arcadesonfire Posted March 19, 2015 Members Share Posted March 19, 2015 Have you listened to an EHX Micro POG? It doesn't have any bells and whistles like their other pitch effects, just 3 knobs--octave down, dry, and octave up. And the Micro POG octaves sound better than when I use my POG2 for plain octaves w/o the synthy effects. It kicks the crap out of the Boss OC-3 I used to use. I shred with it for a classic metal sound through a Marshall plexi clone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 I just saw something about a new T-Rex pedal called the Quint Machine. I'm not sure if it's exactly what you're looking for, but it probably won't hurt to click the link and read more about it. http://www.t-rex-effects.com/quint-machine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mbengs1 Posted March 24, 2015 Members Share Posted March 24, 2015 The Boss ps-6 harmonist is a good choice i think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members americansinner Posted March 28, 2015 Members Share Posted March 28, 2015 Thanks so far' date=' guys. You're right - I definitely don't want a Digitech Whammy. I was even a bit disappointed to hear the same "glissando" effect on the EHX Pitchfork.[/quote'] The Pitchfork only does the glissando in momentary mode or when you attach an expression pedal. It definitely can be set just to add an octave up, or down (or both) when you hit the switch. I have to warn you I had real tracking issues with the Mooer when I tested it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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