Boss OC-3 SUPER Octave

I am a bass player so I am only using this pedal with bass guitar.
First I have to say it tracks really well. The octave sounds are very clean and it doesn't glitch as much as with other pedals.
You can create a range of different sounds from clean synth sounds to heavy distorted sounds.
The second octave is only useable in the last frets of the neck on a four strings bass as it's probably too low to track properly.
You can use it as a distortion pedal if you select the drive mode and turn the octace generator to zero.
I couldn't really find a use for the polyphonic mode, maybe it is more suitable for guitar players.

See the video below for a demo I made of this pedal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJqxo9pORuY

This is the Boss OC-3 Super Octave pedal. It was designed to be used for bass and guitar. It features one or two octaves down with additional Drive and Polyphonic modes.

This pedal followed the OC-2 with a few upgrades. There are a few people out there that still prefer the OC-2, but not me, I think the OC-3 is a positive upgrade.

I was building a bass effecs pedal board and tried out a few octave pedals. The reason I went with the OC-3 is; I can get your standard octave effect, a funky distortion or get a real subtle octave effect to blend with my dry signal. Really helps to thicken up my live sound.

I paid $100 from American Musical Supply. No tax and free shipping makes them a pretty nice option for online buying.

I have 3 usable effects in one pedal: loud octave, sub-low distortion and a very subtle octave to thicken up my sound.

I dind't need to read a book to get this pedal going. I plugged it in and instantly was able to get some cool sounds.

The tracking is reasonable. It helps if you use your neck pickup and pluck right over the pickup. It will take some getting used to, but if you finesse your technique with this pedal you can get a super low low range without it farting out.

None that I can think of. If the distortion had more options that'd be great, but it is sort of a bonus to the octave effect, so I can't hold that against Boss.

Built tough! This thing will last for years. Boss makes great pedals in strong metal boxes. It can handle whatever you throw at it.

All your guitar and bass octave needs in one pedal. Don't be fooled into buying a fancier boutique octave pedal until you've played through the Boss OC-3 Super Octave.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Boss has a newer octave pedal called the Boss Oc-3. This is the newest in the line of Boos octave pedals. This one is the replacement for the Boss OC-2. This one can take an input for bass and guitar which is a nice feature since the bass generally uses an octave pedal more frequently. It also has three modes consisting of drive, poly, and oct2. The drive adds distortion to the mix. The poly is great for octaves using chords. and the oct2 is the same as the Boss OC-2 which has two octaves at the same time.

UTILIZATION

Features:

* 3 modes: Drive, Oct2 and Poly
* Separate Bass guitar input
* Direct out for stereo effects

Specifications

* Controls: Direct Level, Octave 1 Level, range/Oct 2/Drive, 3 mode switch
* Connectors: Guitar In, Bass In, Output (Mono), Direct Output, AC Adaptor
* Current Draw: 45 mA (DC 9V)
* Weight: 440 g (16 oz.)
* Nominal Input Level: -20dBu
* Input Impedance: 1MOhm
* Nominal Output Level: -20dBu
* Output Impedance: 1kOhm
* Residual Noise Level: -96 dBu (IHF-A, Typ.)
* Recommended Load Impedance: 10kOhm or greater
* Recommended AC Adaptor: PSA Series


SOUND QUALITY

I like the drive feature to this pedal. It gets a little more dirty in the mix and gives it the right amount of extra push to take the octave effect to the next level. The octave two is nice if you already know what the sound of the Boss OC-2 and which incorporates the two octaves sounds and is very great for certain sounds in songs. The poly is nice for chords and great for someone who plays a lot of power chords and strumming type settings. This will give you a great sound for a strumming type player.

The two options for having a bass guitar input and also a regular guitar input is a nice one. This will be a pedal that ca transcend not only one type of instrument but two types. It makes it effective for some bands that would like to use the pedal and doesn't know where to fit it in the mix.

OVERALL OPINION

At new these pedals come in right at around $85, which is a great price for a very cool pedal. This pedal ca produce some very cool sounds and effects when used in sparing. I would recommend this pedal to someone who loves effects and could use an octave pedals sound. This is pretty cheap unit and does the job right.

This is primarily an octave shifter pedal, with a few extra unique features such as the Polyphonic Effect and a drive mode which features distortion. These effects cannot be edited through a computer, and the device is not rackable. The pedal uses digital technology. There are two quarter-inch inputs, one for guitar and one for bass, as well as two outputs, a direct out and a mono out. The direct out would take the signal directly to a DI box, and the mono would be run through an amplifier.

UTILIZATION

The pedal isn't too difficult to use. The effects are easy enough to handle. The pedal in its original mode (the same mode as the similar OC-2) is capable of blending up to three signals, the direct signal, a signal an octave lower, and a signal two octaves lower. The other option is the drive mode, which is basically adding a distortion to the signal you dial in in the original mode. The third mode, the polytonal mode, is interesting in that it will allow you to play chords and double-stops while still achieving the octave effect. This is a bit trickier, as it requires you to adjust for the range that you will be playing in.

SOUND QUALITY

I have used this primarily with my Fender Strat, which is my go-to for trying most pedals. The sound quality of this effect, in my opinion, differs between different settings. I personally have never had much use for the second octave below the signal, so I rarely if ever use that setting. I usually just leave that signal at 0. The one octave drop certainly sounds better. It drastically colors the sound of the guitar, and with the drive mode especially it can be an abrasive signal. However, sometimes it's very, very cool. I do wish that there was an octave up feature. The first octave shifter that I tried was the Digitech Whammy pedal, which colors the sound far more than this one does, but also offers you the option of shifting the signal two octaves up. I can't help but compare this pedal to that one in terms of functions, and I usually can't help but be disappointed. As far as sound quality goes though, it is a bit less unnatural-sounding than the Whammy, so if realistic-sounding octave drops are your thing, this is definitely a good pedal to get.

OVERALL OPINION

I think I liked the flexibility of signal the most about this pedal. The fact that I could blend three different octaves together into one signal is pretty cool. It greatly expands the range of your instrument, albeit in a limited way. The price isn't really that bad, it usually lists at about $120. I do think that you could get a cheaper octave pedal and be satisfied, but not to the extent that this pedal would bring. The sound quality is one of the more natural-sounding octave pedals I've played. I have played a few other models, and compared to this one, the sound quality was inferior, even if the functionality was greater. I would ultimately recommend this pedal to anyone looking for a more conventional octave pedal.