Boss OC-2

bought this off ebay also so have no manual with it,you just have to noodle with it i guess.

Havn't really spent too much time with it cos it just wasn't what i was hoping for after hearing it.I was hoping to get an octave up on the notes i was playing in some of the melodic solo's i play (eg. snow patrol,foo fighters) but it was all too "deep".

boss tuff

no idea

some will love it for their purpose but it isn't for me.

Very simple to use. Three knobs, Octave 1 (controls the level of a not one octave down), Octave 2 (2 octaves down) and direct (the clean signal).

BE WARNED THIS IS A SYNTH. The notes generated by the pedal sound like a synth, not a bass guitar. If you're using the "standard" setting for bass (even balance between direct and octave 1 and no octave 2) the synthy nature of the octave sound won't be as obvious. The tuning isn't perfect all the time and occasionally the sound may wobble a little.

For an example listen to any Paul Young tune from the 80's/early 90's. Chances are it has Pino Palladino playing fretless with an OC2.

If you want something more like a bass guitar, buy an EBS Octabass, the tracking is better as well, but personally I want the synthesizer sound. Also the OC2 is much less sensitive to dead spots in your bass. Nothing I do can get the synth note to fail. (I had major problems with this when demoing the Octabass.)

I play mostly drum'n'bass and the octave 1 sound on its own is perfect for me. It sounds like a big fat synth which is just what I want. For my requirements the sound is perfect, 10/10. I've given it an 8 because my needs are a little non-standard and I think an 8 is a more fair reflection of how it will sound for most other people.

Bomb proof, just like all Boss pedals. I know loads of people who own Boss pedals and I've never known one to go wrong.

Never had to deal with Boss. I bought my pedal second hand from the Bass Gallery in Camden, London who are fantastic.

As I said I play mostly drum'n'bass and modern dance/club music. This pedal is perfect for me. The "standard" setting for doubling up a line sounds pretty good. The pure synth settings (ie no direct signal) are amazing.

The only reason I haven't given it a 10 is because it has a few faults (the synthy sound and the occasional wobble on the tracking) which mean that it won't be perfect for everyone.

For me, this pedal has become an essential piece of gear in the space of a couple of months. If you want to start experimenting with synthesizers this is an excellent place to start.

extremely easy to use..so simple. normal sound volume, lower octave 1 volume, lower octave 2 volume. could it be any easier? mine had no manual..but i couldent see it being of any use considering how rediculously simple this thing is.

i'm more of a bassist than guitarist, so i use it more for bass obviously..for bass its exactly perfect for me. for big chunky funky sounds. although, i DO play guitar, and i use this for guitar as well, just as high quality for both instruments. for you bassists out there, keep in mind, there are no rules- ANY pedal can be used with a bass! (gennerally the best effects for bass are meant for guitar, but are just high quality..)

anyway, yeah, great sound.

as with every boss pedal. no neuclear bomb or anything else can hurt this pedal. always works.

never dealt with them..never had too..

i play funk, latin, jazz, rock, whatever else comes along..sometimes i get tired of classifying it all..lets just say music in genneral. now, i would say this thing works for ALL types of music..but..sometimes an octave pedal just isint the right sound. you get the idea, any time you COULD use an octave pedal, this thing does the trick. really a winner.

I bought this off Ebay so no instruction manual came with the pedal.
So in reading postings of guitarists on-line no one explained it clearly. Go to www.bossus.com look up the unit you want and read the owners manual for any Boss unit.

30 seconds scanning it over the OC-2 has three knobs Octave 1 (1 octave lower than input) and Octave 2 (2 octaves lower than input), there are two recommended settings in the owner's manual one for bass and one for guitar. Pretty easy to use the OCT 1/OCT 2 knobs are volume controls for the levels of those tones.

The third knob is Direct Level to control the amount of straight input sound to balance against the manipulated Octave sound.

I'm checked this out with a vintage Fender twin, then a Mesa 60Watt SOB for distortion. Everyone on line stated to use with distortion before the Octave pedal, it didn't sound great. Clean is OK not great. But you have to tweak it to get sound you want.

It can sound a little funky or odd with both knobs turned up.
I thought it would add a straight sound rather than vibrate so much.

What I'm trying to do is split my signal between two amps and have one chorusy/lower amp and one clean. In stereo and this didn't really do that. It's the first day or so playing around with it. But you'll hit a string then wah, wah, wah a lot of vibration which I can turn down but then lose the effect. It sounded great paired up with a MXR chorus. But this is something I'll keep but not use much I'm sure unless I crack the vibration sound perhaps with distortion it'll work better. It also doesn't sound great with chords. Single string notes give it the best effect.

You can depend on this thing typical Boss pedal.

First week having it. Almost chopped off the 9V cord slamming the
battery compartment shut.

In summation this pedal ended up not being what I thought it was. It's more of a synthesized effect sound. Which sounds cool, but I wanted a lower version of the sound from the guitar, it adds a tremelo reverberation to the natural sound. I may have to learn more about it, but with many of these pedals you can play with them
then sell later. This definately won't be a permanent addition.

But, it's fun to toy around with.