Boss Octave OC-2

You won't believe the thickness of the sounds. The OC-2 reproduces 3 separate tones: the original tone, one octave below, and 2 octaves below. Each of these parts has its own volume control, so they can be mixed as desired.

Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price: $154.50

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User Reviews of the Boss Octave OC-2

Submitted by gordon from Asheville, NC (38 points) on Feb 11, 2009
the best pedal i have ever owned. Period. i got it for 20 dollars at a seedy pawn shop, the two big knobs were missing, and the metal had a few chunks taken out of it. but i have never gotten so many unique and twisted sounds out of any pedal like i have this one. the tracking works perfectly if you use a synthesizer with predictable waveforms. and putting noise through it, is... well, try it. i tried putting it on a LFO, hoping it would generate a wave at half that freqency.. it didn't. it just changed the shape a little bit. still cool, though. the bottom line, though, is you already know if you're going to love it or hate it.
Good Points: 2 octaves down shitty tracking boss
Bad Points: didn't do the LFO thing
Price Paid: US$20.00
Purchased At: finkelstein's pawn and gun
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Submitted by jonathan from sydney (26 points) on Aug 10, 2008
Just set up a feedback loop with this and was very impressed. oc2 into rat( distortion pedal), then split the signal you could use a y cable or a mixer or a stereo pedal to achieve this), one went back into the oc2 (making feedback) and the other I ran into my ibanez analog delay, then into the amp. tried some phaser and delay in the loop too but i think that the 2 pedals feeding back and self oscillating were the best. got some excellent drones, some very clear theremin type sounds, and some truly scary doomy noises too. go ahead and experiment. just don't blame me if something blows up though, okay?
Good Points: cool placed in a feedback loop. wonder what an electronics whiz could do with those oscillators?? boss tough!
Bad Points: well i suppose the tracking is not the best, it cant handle chords or polyphonic sounds too well, but that is a limitation for any octave pedal really.
Price Paid: US$0.00
Purchased At: nice friend gave it away!
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Submitted by Nic from Monterey, CA (90 points) on Feb 6, 2008
I like it. I fattens up a lower guitar signal and puts a little funk in a signal chain. Adding it before a fuzz creates a "Blue Box" sound that is controllable.
Good Points: Small, light and has a Boss adapter jack.
Bad Points: Nothing really.
Price Paid: US$60.00
Purchased At: ebay
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Submitted by Belial from Chicago, IL (106 points) on Oct 31, 2006
This is a nifty little pedal. Rumbling madness with 'direct level' knob all the way down. Turn the Octave 1 and 2 knobs all the way up and, you can achieve buzzing, modulating, unpredicatable synth-like tones, or tweak them slightly for more control. Adds excellent low-end to a chain and is great to run distorted samples through. Its also versatile. The more you experiment with plugging different sources into it, the cooler sounds you can achieve.
Good Points: Great Low End Tonal Rumbling Adds Depth and Dimension to Chains Synth-Like Madness The 'Direct Level' Knob Isn't Very Expensive
Bad Points: Takes some tweaking to achieve a sound that isnt overbearing. Other than that, there are no bad points.
Price Paid: US$25.00
Purchased At: Through a friend
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Submitted by sclr from Portland, OR (220 points) on Jun 29, 2005
put after a chain of distortion pedals and listen to the earth open. this thing can get very low, so watch yourself. it can really add bass if your noise is missing the low end. they cost too much if you buy them at a guitar shop but if you find one cheap it makes a great addition to any pedal setup. grrrrgrgrrgrgrrggrrrooooorrorrorooowwww
Good Points: low low low. kind of like a mini mixer with destructo bass.
Bad Points: cost too much new or in a guitar/music store.
Price Paid: US$10.00
Purchased At: friend
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Submitted by Marco from Brescia (138 points) on Apr 23, 2005
Not a perfect tracking octave, but a great sub woofer noise maker. It's a bone shaker... I use this after my envelope: unpredictable low noise, less harmonic than a Blue Box. Very unstable sound
Good Points: -chaotic low madness -synthy sound
Bad Points: -none...
Price Paid: US$40.00
Purchased At: a friend
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Submitted by tapesss from Brooksville, FL (344 points) on Feb 17, 2005
great pedal. controls for one octave down, two octaves down, and original dry signal level. and boy, does it sound great. the octaves don't have perfect tracking, but this only adds to the fun of the pedal. random octave jumps happen quite often, which i enjoyed thoroughly. i used it for a lot of instant deep pitch-back to regular pitch type stuff, and it works like a charm. they are generally pretty cheap, i reccomend picking one up, definitely an asset to any noisician's setup.
Good Points: 2 seperate octaves down, fun glitchy octave jumps, great sound, pretty cheap, sturdy
Bad Points: nothing at all.
Price Paid: US$0.00
Purchased At: borrowed from a friend
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Submitted by Justin from Sewickley, PA (2 points) on Feb 13, 2004
This has totally changed up my whole life, this being the first pedal that I actually purchased. Creating such a low bellowing sound with a guitar is lots of fun. It also puts low rolling thumps into your feedback get up.
Good Points: low bassy sound the way it degrades feedback
Bad Points: none really... sometimes a little uncontrollable depending on what you're tryin to do.
Price Paid: US$48.00
Purchased At: hollowood
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Submitted by tommy from Las Vegas, NV (48 points) on Jan 30, 2004
this pedals interesting i got it for extremely cheap so basically i cant complain, the tracking is bad sometimes but if you put it near the front there doesnt seem to be all that much problem, the oct 2. doesnt work to well if you play low notes, but that notes are actually lower then a bass guitar, when making noise this think can get you some really nice rumbling low noises and when put to a lot of feedback it'll create a big wall of noise, the separate octave controls are nice too, putting your original tone with the lower ones does get a cheesy synth sound that you may be looking for. if you combine this with a wah pedal and leave the oct 1 up and the direct level in the middle the low end of the wah should filter out most the direct level but leave the oct one , pushing up the wah should throw in the direct, its a nice effect.
Good Points: -synth sound -sloppy tracking bleeps -sparkly brown color
Bad Points: -sloppy tracking bleeps -looks old, feels old, sounds old -doesnt work well with mics
Price Paid: US$15.00
Purchased At: thrift store
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Submitted by luke from Iowa City, IA (32 points) on Nov 7, 2003
not a bad octave pedal for what i paid for it. it is pretty much what you are going to get when you buy boss. this is not the fanciest pedal on the market but if you find one used, you will be happy.
Good Points:
Bad Points:
Price Paid: US$40.00
Purchased At: used guitar shop
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Submitted by D/A A/D from Halifax (410 points) on Sep 4, 2003
I just got this thing, and I am in LOVE!.. I set oct1 all the way up, oct2 all the way off, and direct all the way up... Adds an entire leve of bass funbdamentals to the sound, white keeping all your screaching highs... I have my PH-3 after it and it becomes synth-a-lisious... And it tracks quite well actualy... If you use an adapter, batteries are no match for the juce sucking circuit this thing has....
Good Points: Just fabuloso!.. Boss all the way baby... Tracks quite well, anyway the subtle lack of tracking is kinda why everyone likes this so much...
Bad Points: None...
Price Paid: US$35.00
Purchased At: Cash Converters
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Submitted by K. from Sealy, TX (532 points) on Nov 19, 2002
Almost forgot I had one of these a few years ago. Three knobs for mixing in various amounts of dry signal, the signal dropped one octave, and the signal dropped two octaves. More often than not will get cheesy sound synth-sounding noise as it's designed to affect single notes properly fretted and clearly played on either gEEEtar or bass, extremely poor tracking when running fuzzed-out, distorted noise through it. Occasionally it'll cooperate and give you that deep rumbling sound you're most likely searching for, but not often enough. Better for the same purposes are the Boss PS-3 Pitch Shifter or DOD's Meat Box.
Good Points: Boss reliabilty / construction, simple, straight-forward operation
Bad Points: Poor tracking can cause that anticipated low rumbling to come off as cheesy squealing synth noise
Price Paid: US$65.00
Purchased At: Texas Music Emporium
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Submitted by Rob from London (362 points) on Mar 22, 2002
Doesn't track very well. It needs a strong signal to track well, so if you use dynamics or volume swells then don't use this. My MXR blue box tracks better... It can sound good to beef up the sound but you have to work with the pedal. It won't work for you. VERY artificial sound - it sounds like a bad synth. Some people love that though. You can get REALLY heavy deep sounds if you get it working. Sounds good on bass - it makes the room rumble.
Good Points: Adds low notes. Can sound like a synth.
Bad Points: Poor tracking and muddy sound. Hard work to use.
Price Paid: US$60.00
Purchased At: shop
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Submitted by Jonathan from Marine City, MI (120 points) on Oct 27, 2001
Produces one octave and/or two octaves below a pitch. Octave #1 is one octave below and Octave #2 is 2 octaves below. The direct level is supposed to control the mix of dry signal with the effect signal but seems more like a tone knob to me. When the direct level is turned fully clock-wise it sounds muffled and bassy. When the its turned fully counter-clock-wise the sound is clear and fuller. The OC-2 is great for producing low rumbles. I find it works well before a distortion pedal. When using this pedal high pitched sounds are effected better than low pitch sounds.
Good Points: The OC-2 has an inconsistency in following the changing of the input sound. But, in my opinion this works out well for noise.
Bad Points: This pedal can be expensive. It's inconsistency in following the changing of the input sound may bother some people.
Price Paid: US$85.00
Purchased At: a pawn shop
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