Boss OC-3 Super Octave

Just putted the OC3 in front of my chain in POLY-mode. Turned the knobs for about thirty seconds, and got the sound of my dreams.
The manual is well written, with even suggestions for certain settings.
I will not use them especially, because I know what I want, and as I said, I've got my setting (30 sec.) already. But very handy for those who don't want to invent the wheel again.

My setup Am. Fender Stratocaster, BOSS OC3, VOX wah, two IBANEZ TS9 Tube Screamers, LINE6 DL4, LINE6 MM4, MARSHALL 4140 COMBO 100W.
The POLY-MODE sounds really great! When you play cords, all the tones come extra one octave below with no extra weird noises. All sounds just perfect!
There is also a OCR2-MODE (like the excisting OC2) with sounds also great - here the exception that you can play one note at the time.
The same with the DRIVE-MODE, also this sounds ... great. You could sound like the late John Enthwisle or like Bill Wyman in the Rollings Stones-hit 1966? 'Have you seen your mother baby standing in the shadow?'.
Personally I won't use the DRIVE- and OCR2-MODE, because of the cord-possibility of the POLY-MODE. That's where I bought the OC3 for.
But I could imagine that other persons like to use the other settings as well.

BOSS-equipment? Build like a tank!

Never dealt with BOSS.
But their site www.bossus.com is great. You can even here excamples of the most FX-units.

I play melodic rock with influences of jazz, blues, fusion and funk for about 37 years.
If it were stolen or lost, I've got me another one YESTERDAY!
I tried an EBS-BASS-OCTAVER (a very good tool originaly for bass), but there was only the 'one note at a time-possibity' and it sounded not really good.
Then I tried the OC3, and it was heaven!
If you're looking for a CHORD-OCTAVER don't hesitate - just buy the )C3 - you won't regret it!

Pretty easy to get to grips with - most controls/settings are fairly self-explanatory.

Sound quality is not bad. I tried the OC-2 about 6 months before buying this pedal and to be honest, for the sounds I want to get, which are 1 & 2 octave below, when playing on the top 3 strings to fatten up riffs, the OC-2 would have been just as good (at almost half the price!!!). Poly mode is useful for blending the effect into a specific range, but the drive mode sounds a bit harsh and fizzy to me. Overall the pitch shifted sounds are a little bit 'lo-fi' which is probably great for certain styles, but dosn't encourage me to use it that much.

Owned loads of Boss stuff - only ever had one die on me.

Never tried them

Overall it gets a 'not bad'. It's not as versatile as it could be and the sounds aren't as transparent as I'd like. An octave up might help in the overall usefulness stakes.

I didn't buy this pedal. I tried it in the store for about 30 minutes, so my opinions are limited. I knew exactly which settings I was looking for and they took me a minute to find: polyphonic - octave 1 up - dry down, so as to play a guitar in the bass register. There was some variation with the drive but the pedal's limits were easy to discern within a few riffs.

I use small crappy amps as a matter of policy. Lots of them at once! I use an Epiphone semi-hollow body and I tried the same guitar in the store. It's loud and bassy. Even with the pickups at five I was driving it into indistinguishable warble at unpredictable moments below the A string and above high E. Five is my lucky number and I think if I were ever in a synth band that needed an 80's space bass sound this pedal would be fantastic. I tried the other settings for a few minutes. All three channels have unique and potentially diverse tones that I could see being a lot of fun for certain styles. It just didn't suit my needs.

What do they say about Boss pedals? I've got a DD-3 and a GU-7 in my junkpile... both sounded wonderful until I managed to crank a knob with my foot and snap off a piece of the circuit board underneath. Heavy feet I guess. One TU-2 chromatic tuner has been saving my life for 4 years though... no knobs!

N/A

I've played every style on guitar and bass for way too long. My bass got stolen and I needed to cover a few gigs very soon... and I'm poor. I did some research (this site is fantastic!) and thought this pedal might be able to give me live bass lines. If you stay cautious of it's tracking limits and you're not particular about tone (or you like hypercompressed tone in particular) this pedal is very versatile. If you want to push your sound somewhere spacy this pedal has alot of options. If you want to cover bass lines on a guitar it's very limited, too much so for me. So they showed me a Cort Steinberger license headless bodiless that was the same colour and played and sounded the same as my baby. For cheap. Woo hoo! Bass is more fun than guitar anyways. :-P

Easy as pie. poly mode, oc2 mode, oc-2 plus distortion. Getting the best sound out of the pedal does take a couple day of experimentation.

Something I now realise is strongly importaint is a humbucker. A high output pickup really makes the difference in poly mode. This thing absolutely thumps, and that is the best applicable word. I use a crappy squier thru the oc3 and a zoom606 into a sterio w/ a subwoofer. The subwoofer also makes a difference. Using a local h style low string pickup, power chords are a cinch.

A tank. No doubt i could repeatedly drop it, and it would prevail.

Although a litte warbly, it can take my low a to b string tuning full scale. I dont know of any other octave that can track a low A without rumbling white noise. Way better that oc-2, because its 10-20 dollars more with every thing the oc2 has plus poly and distortion. Un - freaking-paralelled sound for the $.

It's easy cause the sample settings are better than the ones you useally get wich are garbage...
And it took me les than an hour too get cool sounds.

I ask for christmas a oc-2 octaver but my mom mixed up and got the oc-3 and i defenitly do not regret!!
I would think the distortion mode would be crappy but it come i quit usefull.
the oc-2 mode is exactly like the boss oc-2.
and polyphonic mode is simply innovating.
the dist.mode sounds like audioslave:ratm or even CKY and black sabbath's paranoid solo wich everybody thout it was a ring modulator.( it was just distortion a lot of bass and octaver...)
the oc-2 mode is anithing that haves an boss oc-2 in it ( deftones...)
and the polyphonic mode is like joe satriani and shred...
it's good for blues ( my father's guitar player loved it check out www.elliottmurphy.com
and my bass player loved it so much he bauth one

Yes,
I can depend on it but it is not as "bullet proof as an mxr pedal" but though if you dont' use it has a bottle oppener it may last forever!!

never dealt with them

I play rosk music going from audioslave style too metallica or pantera killing spead metal.
but it doesent mean anything caus a bass player our a blues-man will love it just trie it before it is your tast and not mine that goaes first.

keep roching in a free world.

Three different modes. 'Drive' good for playing Audioslave/CKY style riffs. 'OC-2' mode for the two octave effect, takes some tweaking to get a good sound. 'Poly' mode, very good for playing arpeggios and using the E and A strings on your guitar for bass notes. I set the range knob to around 12 o clock for this.

Sounds great overall, sounds even better ran through a bass amp. If you split the output signal using two cables, the sounds don't really work seperately, best to keep them blended in my opinion. But it's good that you can seperate them in case you get the levels wrong. Sometimes the tracking gets confused (if you play the low e-string through the bridge pickup for example). I've played my basses through this as well, it can get muddy, so i try to restrict the range of the poly mode so that anything below the d-string doesnt get octaved.

Boss. Nuff said.

Boss. Nuff Said

I've had my eye on this pedal for ages, and I got mis-sold it for #55, when it should have been #90 (I think the guy in the shop confused it with the OC-2). That works out at around 82 bucks. You've got to know what you want, and what youre doing to get the most out of this pedal.

Well it's typical boss stomp box stuff: plug it in; fiddle with the knobs; find a sound you dig and play away to your heart's content.

First let me say, I'm coming at this one from the bass fraternity's point of view.

This is a major improvement on the old OC-2 and is certainly the best octave I've found for bass in the sensible end of the price scale. By a long way.

Like it's predecessor, this does exactly what it says on the tin for the most part. The dedicated bass input has helped with the tracking in OC-2 mode somewhat, though the lower register is still a little warbled when trying to play long sustained notes. For short snappy lines however, the tracking is much improved even down to the low B on my 5 string, assuming you're fingering and damping is accurate enough to stop multiple notes ringing at the same time.

The 2nd octave is pretty useless for us low-enders except perhaps when pissing off your guitarist by playing a better widdly solo than he can. Even then though, I'm not sure it's the most usable sound out there.

The drive function is a nice addition, but as a bass player you'll likely never use it, here's why.

Polyphonic mode. Turn it on, turn it up. Like I just did about two weeks into ownership.

Incredibly stable tracking and no warbling is the result. Play chords? Fatter than a tub of lard.

Read the manual, as I did after about two weeks, and it turns out that I'd have known this from the start! Also, roll off the top end and if you're blessed with more than one pick-up, favour the neck pick-up and things get even better.

Rock solid sub-octave funk. It loves finger style and slapping sounds awesome. It handles hammer-ons and pull-offs with ease and you can slide around without a hitch. I imagine a fretless would sound unbelievably creamy.

Pick players and anyone who's into that really hard attacking bass sound perhaps won't get as much out of it as others without some serious EQ-ing post effect, but then again they probably wouldn't be all that interested in added low end to begin with.

It's BOSS, what more need be said? Built like a tank (though my fish didn't get on so well in there).

No opinion here other than to say they're well known for excellent customer service, though I've never had the need to speak to them.

Been playing for an age and have finally found a keeper octave effect (tried 'em all in the sub-#200 bracket). It's solid and dependable and, once I actually read how to get the best out of it instead of just fannying about on my own, it produces a fabulously stable octave effect.

I play mainly pop, funk, R&B stuff, so this is a welcome addition to allow me to duplicate some of those synth lines in a live setting. It would work well in the rock world too, but perhaps not as vital an effect.

The only thing which would make it better, would be the ability to produce a different tone, but for what it is, and what I intend to use it for, it's perfect

The OC-3 is, like most BOSS pedals, quite easy to use. With 4 knobs: Direct Level, Octive Level, Range and Mode, it's quite easy to get around. Changing modes will sometimes change with a knob does, but anyone with half a memory left can remember the changes with no problem.

Yeah, it's polyphonic... but sensitive. In the low end it warbles... in the high end, it's almost non-existant. Any more then 3 notes, and you risk going out, noticably. Add verb or delay, and everyone will hear it, including the drunks not even listening.

Speaking of the high end being non-existant, that's my biggest beef with this pedal. Try playing on the high E string and at about the 8th - 10th fret, you lose your octive, and the sound becomes direct only. The OC-2 did not do this, and continued to give you the effect up until the 22nd (or 24th) fret. For a lead, this sounds aweful as you are moving down the neck from a higher position. This pedal simply can't handle high end.

I called Roland to check to see if this was "normal" since the OC-2 does not respond this way. The tech support guy did, in fact, say his model there acted the same way and gave no high end effect. I could almost hear him wanting to say "This pedal doesn't do the job as well as it should" but working for the company, I am sure he couldn't do it. But I could hear it in his voice.

With that aside, the distortion effect it gives IS kind of neat, harking back to the 80's with old fashioned analog proccessors. I almost feel like I should be playing some new wave song when I have the OC-3 working on it's distortion mode. I enjoyed it quite a bit! But only for something to play with... it would never fit my style of classic rock and blues.

The saving grace of this pedal is it's OC-2 mode. It's much smoother then the OC-2, and not as picky. It's holds tighter and longer then the OC-2. But, as with the limitations of the OC-2, when in OC-2 mode, it's not polyphonic.

As with most Boss pedals, there is no need to even comment.

The tech support guy was very helpful and friendly when I called to check if the high end was SUPPOSED to be dry.

More then likely, this pedal is going back. I bought it for the polyphonic effect, and well, since it will not function when playing on the higher end, it fails to complete it's job.

Staying in mid range, it's fine... low end, warble, high end non-existant. Save your money and wait for better polyphonic technology to come out.

If you want a Boss octive pedal, stick with the OC-2!

If you are familiar with how an octave pedal works, and have the proper setup to make the most of it, getting a good sound is as easy as any stompbox I've used. Controls and jacks are clearly marked on the face of the pedal. All my previous Boss pedals have been used or demo units, so this is the first time I've seen a Boss manual. The documentation is quite good, never getting overly technical but also never skipping the essentials. There's really not much more you could ask for.

My band does not have a bassist, so I have handled the recording of bass parts, but wanted the capability to double bass lines on my guitar when playing live. I run my guitar (Jackson or Hamer with humbuckers) into a Morley ABY footswitch, which then splits to an OC-3 Super Octave on one channel and my other effects on the other channel, thus sending a clean signal through the OC-3 to a bass amp. I own both a Peavey TNT 80 and a Randall RB-60, plus a number of guitar amps.

Having already used a DOD Octoplus and the pitch shifter on my ART Xtreme, I knew the weaknesses of most octave pedals: poor note tracking with high output pickups, additional tracking problems with fast picking or string bends, and inability to play chords. The Boss OC-2 suffered from these problems, but the OC-3's polyphonic mode seemed worth checking out. For the most part, the Super Octave lives up to the hype. Adjusting the range in polyphonic mode provides nearly flawless tracking, equally capable of string bends, chugging death metal palm mutes on the low E string, and fast lead runs higher up the fretboard. Although chords are muddy, they are possible. Anything lost in the translation is about what you would expect from a bass amp attempting to mimic parts normally left to the higher frequencies of a guitar amp. The manual recommends using low output pickups, namely single coils, but that isn't practical for me, so I'm willing to compromise tone somewhat in the interest of convenience. An experienced bassist (which I am) will know the difference between an octave effect and an actual bass, but my primary concern is to get the most prominent bass lines of our recorded material duplicated live. So far, I've only tested the OC-3 at practice, but it projects the low end the way I want.

As such, the OC-3 fits my needs perfectly, but its shortcomings will be obvious for someone using it without an A/B switch or in another mode. As the manual warns, the Octave 2 and Drive modes are monophonic, and will not tolerate chords. I tested the double-octave effect, and found that low E tracking was no better than the OC-2 and other pedals. Without using my ABY pedal, I experienced a split-second delay when kicking in the OC-3, followed by an audible pop, definitely a problem if you were running your entire signal through the Super Octave. I did not experiment with Drive mode.

For doubling bass lines in conjunction with a bass amp and switching pedal, the OC-3 is a major improvement over other octave stompboxes, thanks to the Polyphonic mode. For the simple thickening of guitar tones, there are probably better alternatives. I'll rate the pedal highly according to my needs, but it may not be right for everyone.

I bought a used Boss DD-2 in 1992, and am still using it with no problems, with several other Boss purchases between then and now, so I have high expectations for the OC-3. I can't rate it fairly now without "real world" use, but I have high hopes.

I've never dealt directly with Boss. I've never needed to.

I play lead guitar in a thrash/death metal band, along the lines of The Haunted and Darkane, and played bass in the studio when recording our demo. Previously, I have played guitar and bass in numerous other bands, for 14 years or so. I have a custom pedalboard with all sorts of effects, plus a number of amps and instruments, and am very picky when it comes to getting exactly the features I want in any piece of equipment. I waited eagerly for the OC-3 Super Octave to hit the shelves, because there really was no good alternative in the same price range. Needless to say, it buries the DOD Octoplus that I was using to "get by". The polyphonic capabilities make all the difference in the world, and had that function been any less than what Boss promised, I would have returned this pedal the very next day.

For anyone who needs to double bass lines on a guitar, I highly recommend the OC-3, as you aren't going to find another product in this price range that comes close. As a guitar-only octave effect, it shares the same flaws as the competition.

It requires a bit of playing around, but you can get some very usable sounds pretty quickly. There are four knobs (three change parameters and one selects the mode).

The manual is very good and explains how one can split the direct output (e.g. to feed a guitar amp) and the octave output (to feed to a bass amp).

I'm using a Mex Strat with Texas specials on the neck and middle positions and a Seymour Duncan lil '59er on the bridge. I usually play in the neck position. I'm using a blackfaced '68 Fender Bassman (thank you, Mike Kropotkin) for the direct sound and a early '70s Kustom 100 watt bass amp and cabinet (in red tuck and roll).

The direct sound is pretty good and the octave sound is pretty good as long as you play single strings. It doesn't sound like my Jazz Bass, but it's still usable. Jack White (of The White Stripes) uses a similar sort of rig (a Digitech Whammy) to get his bass guitar sound while still getting a good guitar sound.

The manual (I'm an INTP and HATE manuals, but I'm still glad I read it) gives some good tips to avoid excessive noise.

So far, so good. It's a Boss, I don't expect problems.

Never had to deal with them. Never want to.

For what it is, it's great. No one in their right mind who understands sound will expect this to make you sound like you're playing a bass guitar, but it gives you a lot of bottom and lets you make some pretty interesting sounds.