Best octave up pedal for soloing

DamienMTL

DamienMTL

Mar 27, 2015
16
12
4,951
Montreal QC
#1
Hi everybody,

I really want to buy an octave up pedal but I'm a little bit lost with all the offer.
A lot of pedals have 1 octave down and a 2nd octave lower which is to me almost useless. I'm hesitating with the TC electronic Sub N Up, or the EHX Mini Pog, maybe I'm in the wrong way, and a cheap boss clone would do the job?

I really like the sound that Michael League has in this old video "Continuum" @ about 6min:



Do you know which pedal he uses for the octave up sound?
It's clean and the tracking is excellent and really put the bass in the guitar register while soloing. That's all I want!

Thanks a lot for your advices ;)
 
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#2
DamienMTL said:
Hi everybody,

I really want to buy an octave up pedal but I'm a little bit lost with all the offer.
A lot of pedals have 1 octave down and a 2nd octave lower which is to me almost useless. I'm hesitating with the TC electronic Sub N Up, or the EHX Mini Pog, maybe I'm in the wrong way, and a cheap boss clone would do the job?

I really like the sound that Michael League has in this old video "Continuum" @ about 6min:



Do you know which pedal he uses for the octave up sound?
It's clean and the tracking is excellent.

Thanks a lot for your advices ;)
Click to expand...

I was in the same boat. I ended up with the TV Brainwaves (which seems to me like an enhanced version of the sub and up) and the T Rex quint. I'm very happy with both!
 
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#5
I've been using an Akai UniBass for ages as well as the pitch shifter in my Zoom pedals, TC Sub n Up mini, and a TRex Quint Machine. I recently bought a Donner Harmonic Square to try out and liked it so much now have several. I'm using one set Oct up the other 2 Oct up. The Oct down and other pitches are useful too.


https://www.donnerdeal.com/products...-square-7-modes-1?_pos=1&_sid=f1a51713f&_ss=r

IMG_20211029_193036457.jpg
 
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#6
There's lots of ways in doing this. The Eventide H9 is an obvious choice, it's harmoniser and pitch factor algorithms are legendary for good reason. The EXH catalogue is filled with great options too, every thing from a POG through to a Hog2 (the granddaddy of octave panels). Then we get into the smaller enclosure pedals, and my first call out is the Source Audio C4. It's small and very compact and offers a lot in terms of octave tones (plus trems and a lot more). The Source Audio Spectrum covers a slightly smaller subset of the C4, but for this use, I would advise a C4 over a Spectrum. Then we get into the smaller pedals like the TCe Subnup. Which have a far smaller function set but might be all you need. Analogue octave ups are a bit hit or miss as they tend to use a lot of distortion to create the octave up. These might become "your sound" or you might find them really irritating and odd sounding.
 
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#13
Wow thank you so much for all your tips!
There's so many I've never heard about that some of you mentionned here, I really need to check them all on youtube.
The Micro POG seems to be the easiest of them all with a good tracking and a nice pitched up sound.
The Ricochet sounds awesome and steady in tune. The processed sound is pretty thick.
The Audio Source C4 is a crazy pedal that can push your your Moog Synth to retirement.
The Donner Octave Square is a bit chipmunky but for this price it's a great introduction to the octave world.
The Orange Fur Coat octave Fuzz is rad, it's definitely going into another territory and has a unique sound.
And I really liked the TC Brainwaves, very good price and way better than their Sub n'Up Pedal, it's really close to the ricochet, ready to make those whammy slides à la RATM. I need to check this one as well if it's available in stores around me.
Thank you so much for your advices ;)
Damien
 
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#14
DamienMTL said:
Wow thank you so much for all your tips!
There's so many I've never heard about that some of you mentionned here, I really need to check them all on youtube.
The Micro POG seems to be the easiest of them all with a good tracking and a nice pitched up sound.
The Ricochet sounds awesome and steady in tune. The processed sound is pretty thick.
The Audio Source C4 is a crazy pedal that can push your your Moog Synth to retirement.
The Donner Octave Square is a bit chipmunky but for this price it's a great introduction to the octave world.
The Orange Fur Coat octave Fuzz is rad, it's definitely going into another territory and has a unique sound.
And I really liked the TC Brainwaves, very good price and way better than their Sub n'Up Pedal, it's really close to the ricochet, ready to make those whammy slides à la RATM. I need to check this one as well if it's available in stores around me.
Thank you so much for your advices ;)
Damien
Click to expand...

ML admitted to being a POG user back around that time frame (jump to the "rundown of your gear" interview question:
From the Ground Up: An Interview with Michael League
 
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#15
I like the micro pog because you can blend exactly how much of the octave you want to hear. I find it makes it more useful in some situations compared to something like a whammy which is just on or off.
 
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#17
I haven't tried a lot of them, but I am very happy with my EHX Octave Multiplexer. The blend knob is pure gold. I don't use it for soloing, but in two distinct cases.
- Mimic a bass synth like in Head Like a Hole, and Everybody Wants to Rule the World.
- Fill in where a second guitar would be playing, but we are only a three-piece ala Her Strut and Blue on Black.

Good luck on your hunting!
 
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#20
I have: Bass whammy, Micro POG, Pitchfork.
Had: Harmonic square, Sub’n’Up, Ricochet.
The TC didn’t convinced me, at least not for my use; the Ricochet was not as tight as the Bass version; the Harmonic square was really natural and inexpensive, but somewhat slow.
The POG adds a lot of synthy granular artifacts but is the quickest. The Bass whammy is maybe more natural, a tad slower and doesn’t track as good as EHX.
For straight octave up, the Pitchfork is the best compromise.
I never tried the BrainWaves from TC.
 
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