question about a BOSS octave pedal OC-2

[nero1985]

i have this Boss octave pedal its not the new one but the one with the 2 octave knobs and the direct knob, i dont know how to set this thing to give me the octave sound without giving me this annoying noises, if u sustain the notes it makes this "STEP" type of sounds so it s annoying me, if u have an octave pedal how u set it up?

[cd]

That's just how it is.  Play single notes with the neck pickup and your guitar's tone turned all the way down for the best tracking, and/or use a compressor before the OC-2.

[niftydog]

it helps if you don't use the 2nd octave and play in higher positions on your guitar. Also, make sure it's a fresh battery and that you plug directly from your guitar into the octave before ANYTHING else. Also, as cd said, different pickups work differently with octave effects.

[DDD]

Also try picking notes just over neck pickup or even closer to the nut. Pick the notes gently and softly.

[Sam]

I've got an OC-2 and it tracks notes perfectly. The idea of turning down tone and playing above 12th fret generally aplies to octavia-type octave-up pedals. The Boss OC-2 is an "clean" octave down and works great with any guitar setting, even with distortion effects before it. Being an analog circuit it handles chords very poorly (or great, if you're into "oldskool" videogame sounds). A clean and defined picking style works best. I usually put a fuzz before and an overdrive after the OC-2. Sound like a more focused MXR Blue Box.

[doug deeper]

naw the same "rules" apply to this as they do to octave up...
just for different reasons...

[Sam]

doug deeper wrote: "naw the same "rules" apply to this as they do to octave up...
just for different reasons..."

I must disagree. I've owned two (non-DIY) "octavias" and know very well how these octave-ups respond to playing style. The OC-2 is a completely different animal, not only being the opposite - octave-down - but how it responds to the playing. DDD wrote: "Also try picking notes just over neck pickup or even closer to the nut. Pick the notes gently and softly." This is the correct way to get the most "clean" octave effect from an octavia but not the OC-2 octave down since it resopns much better to destinct and strong playing (especially the second lower octave). The tracking gets worse as the playing softens. If you pick the strings really softly you can hear the down-octave jumping like mad for a brief moment and then abruptly dying.

[DDD]

Hi Sam,
it seems you have a very special combination of guitar\suboctaver\setup\etc... Or maybe there are some other subtleties. Looks strange...
I have some experience with an octave-down circuts because I've done five DIY ones with guite different filtering sections,  frequency response and pre-gain. I've tried the gadgets with three VERY different guitars.  Today I have to confirm that all of the combinations I've tried work best with soft picking just over the middle of the oscillating part of the string.
In other words, the less obertones on the input jack, the better tracking. Absolutely no alternatives.

[doug deeper]

yeah man...
any analog octave pedal...(up or down) will "track" better with fewer harmonics...using your neck pu is one thing that does this...using a low pass filter (rolling of the tone on your guitar) is a second.
playing past the 12th fret also produces fewer harmonics (smaller vibrations create higher harmonics.
i dont see how anything ive said is even close to being wrong? (not that im always right)
maybe you have great technique (another way to improve tracking).
but i have not said anything untrue?

[Sam]

I'd like to apologize if I came off a bit rude. That was never my intention. We seem to have very different perceptions in this matter and I never intented to accuse someone of being "altogether wrong". :oops:

Well, My OC-2 isn't that picky about playing style as long as my playing is distinct and clear.

Cheers!