EBS OctaBass

Simple, couldn't botch this up unless ya tried! Pretty simple manual, easy to follow and give a few tips... Suggests that the Octabass should be used at begining of chain preferably closest to instrument to avoid damage, Though.....

.... my set up begins with my cheap, old and faithful Daien bass down tuned to B>>Bass Big Muff PI>>Morely Wah(think it's a POW) and last but not least, against EBS advice, the octabass plugged into whatever crap amp or rig i happen to be using!

I mainly play stoner rock/classic heavy metal/sludge/psychedelic. Much better than it's predecessor octabass the 08(??) model gets a sound I really like but no matter how much I've played with it, it sounds terrible everywhere except at the end of my set up. As mentioned in probably all of these reviews the tracking can be pretty lousy at points, funnily enough the manual implicates this being and issue of string manufactures and promises their Northern Lights EBS strings are they way to go but I'm not sold.

I think this sounds awesome with wah and distortion if that's your buzz, if not well...

Yep, when it isn't on a dead noteand isn't getting down towards G or E it you can get some awesome big rumbles! Or less so if you wanna keep it a bit more melow.

Tracking is pretty miserable and unreliable, that aside I've had this a couple months and unlike the older model seems much more reliable. I spoke to the local Australian distributor who said that they've seen only one or two returns and was very impressed, wasn't a sales pitch as I called him for advice on my old octabass that had broken.

Oh yeah, as mentioned, solid unit. could knock someone out with this sucker. dependable and would use it with no back up.

As above the local australian distributor was very helpful, i think i sent an email to EBS and they responded within a day or two so no issues for me.

Originally had the old one but it was second hand and faulty when knobs were turned lower than full. Even so this sounds and tracks better/lower.

If i'm going for something clean and heavy i like to play my usual riffs up the octave and things get pretty doomed out from there! I'm a fan and if it went walk abouts I'd probably get another.

see ya in hell!!!

Very logical unit. Quite user friendly.
This is the new 2008 modell with true bypass and better electronics.

Using This on my bass. Running a EBS Drome-15 witch also sound great.
Low noise and True Bypass. Can get a deep octaver sound from this. Really good unit. Makes a cool sond when used on a fretless too.
Good tracking down to low G but can track to lowE if you boost the bass a bit on your guitar.

This is build like a tank. robust and precise. Very good knobs, witch feels smooth.

I think this octaver is very good. You can get a lot of sounds from it, and the soundquality is nice. This is the new 2008 modell with true bypass and that workes well. Also like the phantom power option of the pedal. That you can run it on power from your amp.
This pedal track wery well down to low G, but if you boost tha bass a bit on your bassguitar it track down to low E witch is quite good.
Makes a cool sond when used on a fretless too.

Basically, it's ordinary.
My Boss GT6B does a better job, by Boss Octaver does a better job.

It's not a great sound.
It is an ordinary octave effect which doesn't track like the manual says.
I remember getting a better sound out of my Boss SY5

Oh, I gig without it all the time.
I take the Boss Octaver if I want a definite sound.

I wouldn't use Lamberti Bros in Australia for anything. They hold the record for being the worst customer support ever. Unfortunately, they are the distributor for EBS... poor EBS, not a great pedal and crappy backup.

rate this very low because, even after all those Bass magazines' reviews this is not an outstanding pedal. The main trouble is it's too expensive. It's in my pedal board because I dread cleaning off the velcro residue for resale.

It is really very easy to use.
1 switch and 2 knobs. That??s??it.

The Sound Quality was amazing, when it was working.

And here we are.
I don??t know, why everybody loves it so much. It has the same problem than most of the other octavers. The different is just the price of it. It is expensive.
There is no way to get a good tone out of it, when you play open strings. It never stopped to trigger between the orginal tone and the Octaved one.

Never needed.

Most i play sounds like The Melvins style. A bit Funk and Jazz as well with my other Band.
The Basswhammy can do all better than this thing.

Very easy to use. Lay-out on the pedal is easy to read. The manual is very basic, but that's no problem at all.

It's a very modern sounding unit. Not synthy like the Boss OC-2, but that's been said many times before. I tested it playing through headphones, studio monitors and 2x10 and 4x10 cabinets with both active, passive en fretless basses and the tracking is very fast, although not as good as the samples on their website. 2-note chords are sometimes not good and you won't want to slap too much... Also it's not true bypass and when the pedal is in your chain, it'll boost your overall volume when compared to a chain without the pedal. The pedal has also difficulties with some long notes, especially when there are weaker/dead spots on your bass's neck. Some speakers can't handle the low notes, but that's nothing to worry about. On a 4-string bass, the low E is around 32 Hz. Most speakers can't even go that low. Just something to consider if you want to use the effect with a 1x8 or 1x10 speaker.
My unit was very noise when bypassed, but I guess it's just a bad unit, however, I think that EBS should avoid this!
Overal, I'm a bit dissapointed.

As stated above, my unit was noisy as hell in bypass mode, which made me sell it, but it's built like a tank.

/

I play everything and I think this pedal sounds good in every setup and genre, if it works properly! I was a bit dissapointed after reading all those good comments. Although the tracking is very fast and it goes with ease down to a low A and sometimes even lower, my unit was noisy when in bypass mode, and the chord- en slapresults were ... well, not that great.
A nice thing was the range-switch. It changes the tonal character and so the pedal can be very versatile.
If it was a good unit, I'd definately keep it, if it's sound (modern) is your thing. If you want something more synthy, then check out the Boss OC-2 on the used market.

As said below, the OctaBass has good, simple, common-sense controls.

I'm using this pedal with a 4-string Fender American Deluxe Jazz Bass and various amps by Eden. At the moment it's on my pedal board, second in the signal chain behind an Akai SB-1.

The effect itself sounds VERY cool. You get a big, fat, pulsating lower-octave tone. The ability to set the levels for your original note and the octave separately is also cool, not to mention the option of taking out the original note completely!

No problems so far. It gets looked after pretty well.

No need to deal with them.

I play alternative rock, and I use a few effects. I can get a pretty murderous sound with the signal from the OctaBass going into a Fulltone Bass-Drive, and I've used this on a couple of songs. I've also used the OctaBass on its own for bits and pieces of other songs. It sounds wicked if you play the right thing the right way.

All right, here's my beef. This is consistently rated as the best bass octave pedal you can get. Even Bass Player magazine, who I highly respect, raved about it. The hype surrounding this pedal did influence my decision to add it to my collection, but all in all it's been a huge disappointment, mainly because of the shoddy tracking.

Bass Player claimed that it was able to track 2-note chords. On their website, EBS have an audio sample of a high-speed slap lick played through the OctaBass, tracked flawlessly. In my experience, these are both myths, pure and simple.

The OctaBass has difficulty tracking a lot of notes consistently, especially long notes, notes in dead spots on the neck, and anything below C on the A-string. It will NOT, repeat NOT track double-stops, and slapping through it will just generate ugly glitch noise. The tracking on the ocatve effect on my little old Zoom multi-effects unit blows it away, although the sound from the EBS eats the Zoom for breakfast. And as for the Akai SB-1 - now THERE'S good tracking.

Of course I've tried it away from the pedal board on its own. It could be my bass, or even my technique that's the problem. The Fender is not a "boutique" axe, but it's no slouch either. And I've spent years working on clean, consistent slap and fingerstyle playing. I thought it could be a faulty unit, but a friend has one he bought new here in Australia, and he has the same problem.

This pedal is quite simply overrated. I'm currently looking into bog-standard octave units by Boss and others.

EBS Blacklabel Octabass has 3 easy controls. Volume of your original bass signal,Volume of your lower octave signal and a 3 position setting for "tone" of the lower octave... higher (solos), normal, and more boomy bassy. The most difficult use of this pedal is the players technique,and the bass and amp used. You have to play precise or you will get minor glitches, the signal from the bass has to be a relatively strong signal and the amp has to be able to reproduce the lower octave notes. Actually 99% of most rigs could not reproduce below 20 to 25 hertz, so don't complain when your speakers gasp in agony.

If you use the octabass properly it has a pretty natural sounding lower octave sound. Again you have to realize the scientific fact that your amp/speakers won't be able to do the lowest notes justice. I've owned the original "grey" version and the black label seems to track a little easier and has the "tone" toggle for different variations of the octave lower effect. I've also owned the Boss OC2...not a bad unit but it doesn't sound as natural, more synthy and the second octave lower is just ridiculous/useless on the lowest strings of the bass. Of the 3 I've tried the Blacklabel version is the best IMHO. Using a compressor in front of this like the EBS Multicomp can really tighten the sound and help tracking, with a compressor I'll give it a 9 without a compressor an 8. Also a cool pedal to use with this is a Green Ringer effect, you get distorted upper octaves with original and lower. I believe the old Mutron Octave pedal had a switchable Green ringer built in. I use the Ring Dinger from General Guitar Gadgets, move over guitar player I'm coming thru! The original sound doesn't seem to be effected in bypass mode.

I bought mine used from Ebay and it died (i know the seller knew there was problems)Anyways EBS sent me a new circuit board and it's worked great the past 2 years. The "grey" version I had for 3-4 years with no problems. I also own a EBS Multicomp and IQ...both great. The only real concern is the toggle switch it could break if you forced it.

Excellent...best service I've recieved from any musical manufacturer, and I've dealt with a ton....and they are in Sweden. Thanks

The thing I like best about the Octabass is that it has a natural sounding lower octave. EBS builds pedals that really keep and strengthen the bass frequencies....not a guitar pedal company marketing afterthought. EBS is designed for bass players YA! When you go out on a gig it will make you sound better. That being said they are a little on the expensive side brand new...

The Octabass creates a single note one octave below the pitch of the played note.The Controls: "Normal" controls the mix volume for the original sound. "Octave" sets the amount for the octave divided signal. There are three ranges; High, Mid and Low. The manual gives you some suggestion of how to set them. It's very easy to use this pedal.

I use the pedal with different basses such as FenderJB, P and Gibson EB3. The amp is an EBS Fafner or TD650. It's absolute noiseless:)The quality shows in the clean sound of the pedal. A "muddy" sound would just not work with this kind of pedal. The Bypass mode is also really natural and noiseless. When using cheaper pedals the sound tends to "dissapear" in bypass mode.

I dropped it on floor a few times and there's not a single scratch. I'd say it's very compact and reliable!

I sometimes had technichal discussions with EBS and they always helped me out in a friendly way.

I think it's fun using it for solos. Also when playing Reggae it can be useful in the "low" mode. I used to have a Roland Octaver before but it was to noisy and to weak in the bypass mode.

There are two knobs, Knob 1# is for mixing the ammount of the clean/unprocessed signal and Knob 2# is for mixing the processed/octace signal. There is also a three level switch for setting the caracter of the octave signal. Low, normal and high.

When i first tried it i got the hang of the controls instantly.

The sound quality is really good.

In the Low mode you'll get a fat monsteroctave sound.
In the normal mode you'll get a traditional octave sound.
And in the high mode you'll get a somehow synhlike roaring tone. Great for solos.

Apart from other octave pedals i have tried, this one triggs good at the low E-string.

I use my EBS-Octabass with the EBS-AD9 powersupply and so far it have never shut down.

I have no intention of ever get rid of this pedal. If it were stolen i would buy two new ones just in case ha ha.

2 knobs, one switch, very easy

Sounded great! Not completely "Natural" but very musical. Not much below G on the E string, but why would you want lower notes than that, no conventional speaker or human ear could hear it... best for midrage stuff and tracked decently. Very quiet when off, and handled volume spikes very well, a problem I've had with other pedals.

Now here's why I'm writing. My octave pedal recently stopped octaving. I bought it used but in great shape, then used it for about 6 months or so gigging every weekend. This pedal was not abused at all, even kept it in a little camera bag for transportation. One night I hit the button and basically nothing happened. Next night it worked again. Back and forth like this for a while until now I'll try it while setting up and leave it out if it doesn't work, and it's been a while since it worked. It still seems to alter the sound but it's no longer working like it's supposed to, almost as if it's repeating the octave in the same octave as the original note.

I guess I'm about to find out.

I would say this was a great octave pedal if it still worked. I used it on solos plus a few songs to keep things interesting, plus it gave me a chance to play a few basslines up the neck and rest my hands a little. My current band plays a lot of dance music so it worked well in that vein. My gigging setup is a Sadowsky 5 string, SWR Redhead, and my pedal board was narrowed down to the EBS, Lovetone Meatball, and Boss synth pedal. I'm not really a gearhead but I like good equipment and I like it to work, and I do take pretty good care of my tools. That's why I'm so dissapointed in this pedal.

this is just a responce to all you guy whining about "it doesnt work lower then my a string, waaaah..." there are two things you arent taking into acount. 1: your speakers probably cant handle it, even the best 4x10s and 15s cant get much lower then 35hz and your e string's fundamental is 32hz (lets not even talk about a low b). 2:your ears probably cant handle it either, the average person can hear down to about 20hz, but you as a gigging musician have hearing damage and would be lucky to hear yourself scream. an octive lower the your low e and we're talking like 16hz and as low as 11hz on the low b! well out of the human hearing spectrom.

After some minutes experimentig you will be able to generate an interesting range of sounds. Anyway, is a good idea to read the manual.

First of all, I'm using this box with an Ibanez RG guitar. I'm recording at my home studio and I can't buy a bass, so I play and record my bass parts with this pedal. The triggering and tracks is OK, but not perfect. In some instruments, some positions in the neck, will generate armonics that make mistakes in the octave generation. When it works, it can produce a nice and realistic bass sound.

It seems to be a resistent box, I can say anymore...

I have dealt with EBS in two times, the first I have my answer after some days, but not the second time. that's 50% :)

Remember, I'm talking about using it with a guitar. The sound is like a real bass, but the problem is the triggering. But I know the Boss octaver make mistakes too. Them, where's the technology? Today we can do effects for guitar or bass that make the breakfast for you, but we can't track an octave below with no mistakes? I can't understand... but well, after all, I think this is a nice box, but not perfect. I hope someone will release a perfect octave box soon. For now, I keep the Octabass.

Two controls. Thats all there is. Everybody can use this.

Tracking and Sound are very good. Only the E-String isn't tracked down to E but to G. It sound realy natural and warm in contrast to a Digitech Whammy e.g.. I give it a 9 cause there is allways something to ameliorate.

This is the crunchpoint! At first blush it seems to be undestroyable. I'm playing it for over 10 years now. Without it's controls!!! Cause they were the first who left! They have plastic(!) axles. Damn! Furthermore the switch is gone to hell. This pedal is real expensive. How can they integrate such crappy things?

don't know

Sounds great, works bad!

Extremely Easy to get a good sound. I bought it used so no manual. Although I don't think you will need it. very basic master vol and octave vol. Also it has a selector switch to choose from high Mid to low frequencies It has what it needs to have.

IT sounds pretty good to me, my girlfreind nailed it on the head when she called it a fat pedal, that is it makes your sound very fat all the way down to the G on the E String for my Jack Casady but only to the C on my A string on the G&L why????? who knows???
It is very easy to get the Massive Attack bass sound with this pedal.
Very good tracking, minor glitching when you start to get to the low end it begins to sound very mushy if you already use a fat bass sound and then kick this pedal on, I think that it should compensate for it, but it doesn't have AI so I will give it an8, only because it doesn't track all the notes on the bass and lacks AI.

Hmmm, it looks pretty solid but the battery jack didn't work when I bought mine, no big deal but I can see how the adapter jack will get wear&tear issues in the future, regardless of my being careful. We shall see. In the meantime it gets an 8 for the battery jack not working.

Never dealt with them, have no opiions for or against.

I play lots of stuff, rock bass like the Cure, Groove bass like Air, and Zero 7 and Groove Armada, (or at least try to emulate those styles). THis pedal is good for all the latter but not really good for the Cure sound. Didn't compare it to other products, bought it sound unheard, and was pleasantly surprised when I plugged in and started to play. It is limited in that it can not be used on all the time but if you have good imagination you can use this pedal with great effect, pardon the pun. An idea of the sound you can get is....I play Lou Reed's Walk on the Wildside bass intro,and it sounds thick like a stand up.

I would have to say that it is extremely easy to dial in a good octave sound on the OctaBass but until they develop a neural network adapter which can interpret brain activity and automatically make adjustments, this pedal gets an 8. But seriously... it couldn't get any easier. The manual is clear and offers some settings suggestions.

The overall sound quality is phenominal. Deadly quiet when the pedal is deactivated. I use it to to beefen up some upper neck fretless fills on a couple of tunes and it sounds incredible with EBS's unichorus. The tracking is very fast and accurate but I would hesitate to use it on anything more than fills as it wavers a bit on some lower register notes. Fantastic pedal!!!

Never had problems. Heavy/Substantial feeling pedal. Can't imagine it dying.

Never needed it.

i use fender jazz bass with j-retro preamp and yamaha bb-5000 (5-string mij 1986) connected to ebs octabass then ebs multicomp. i have found that compressed octaver is the way i want to go. i can play all the way till g on the 4th string until it freaks out. you just have to have light touch. i play with fingers, octabass isn`t that accurate with pick. when played with j-bass neck pup gives the best result - bridge pup makes it a lottery. octabass is very good octaver but it still misses few lowest notes of my scale. that`s why 9 instead of 10

have played many gigs with it and never let me down. in ebs we trust.

i`ve owned this box for a year and i have been very pleased with it. i suggest to try that compressor after octaver. it helped me.

Simple, 2 knobs, 3-way swicth.

The sub-octave not can be a little shady at times. But it sounds better than the MXR or Boss.

Sturdy, small. But watch that sub-octave note, it does'nt sustain.

Combine it with an overdrive. Wow. Unique sound clean or overdriven. It's cool to solo with, too. It lets you play high on the neck will still maintaning your lew end. That's cool.

I wonder why it was discontinued.

simply and true; nice and dynamic

better than the boss octaver, though can be inconsistent: bouncing out of octive at times.

pretty bad. the efx basically has sizzles and the 9volt wiring to the circuit board is weak and subquently fell apart. got take this to the shop to get it fixed just like the bassIQ.
another one bites the dust.

i don't know ...they weren't helpful with my malfunctioned bassIQ.

You would have to be a drummer (or guitar player) not to understand how these controls work.

I wasn't that impressed. I had a Boss octave for years and this one didn't track or sound much better. If you hold a long note, C on your A string is about as low as you can go for a couple of seconds. It (like most others) will track lower for very short notes. This is one of the early versions so EBS may have improved this. I also had the same problem with the C on the G string that other reviewers have mentioned. I have tried other modulation effects over the years that can track a bass accurately (Digitec "Bass Whammy", DOD "Bass Harmony Machine") even down to low B so I don't understand why that technology can't be aplied to a octave box.

No problems.

Price vs. Performance. If this was in the same price range as other octave boxes I could give a much higher rating.

Come on, boys. Just two knobs and a switch. The manual is a paper sheet with some inverted paragraphs. Pretty funny.

I use a Fender American Standard Jazz Bass V and a Marshall Bass State B65 combo. It rocks. You will never get anything below the 3rd string, 3rd fret C. Used in the high mode with a fuzz distortion and a flanger, you can get a very good "analog synth" sound. Used in the low mode, you can give your mom a heart attack. It works better after a good compressor.

Well, it's metal stuff. It fell on my foot once. Damn it hurts. Nothing to worry about. Use a regulated 9 V DC source, and forget batteries. It drains them. Don't use unregulated sources 'cause it simple won't work.

Ok. I just contact them to ask if it was an analog unit. Here's the answer:

"Yes it is.

ALL THE BASS!
EBS Sweden..."

I must confess I like the fanatical feeling of the answer.

It's the best octaver I've use, analog or digital. Clearest than the Boss OC-2. More natural than the DOD Meat Box. Not so "digital" like the Zoom 506 (Well, it's a digital multi-FX, anyway). I only wish it could reach at least G at the 4th string (Only the Zoom 506 did it, but...).

Operation is very simple and easy. Even if it did not read a manual, I could understand immediately.

Not perfect but best at now.
The change noise when switching effect/bypass is not felt at all as many users feel actually. I think that it is very important.

It is heavy but sense of security is felt for a strong case.

A price is high although it is simple Effector only with one function. However, there is a performance which deserves the price.

Very easy to use. Two knobs that can be adjusted with your foot if the need arises.

Although is is designed as an octave pedal, I found a number of settings that provided a nice distorted sound. It even provided an octave drop on the B string of my acoustic.
One thing I really enjoyed was the clear bypass. Other octave pedals seem to alter the sound even when in the bypass mode.

The pedal worked great for seven months then the problems began. The pedal's bypass stop working and was distorting the sound with the pedal off. When on, the pedal just buzzed.

I don't believe the term customer support exists in the the world of EBS. First, the dealer I purchased the pedal from refused to honor the one year warrantee unless EBS sent me a letter stating that it had a warrantee. In trying to contact EBS, they told me to contact the US distributor but refused to give me their name and address.

After locating the US distributor on my own. They exchanged my pedal for a refurbished pedal, unfortunately this pedal did not work. No effect when switched on regardless of the knob positions. The distributor agreed to exchange the pedal again but I have yet to see and probably will never see the pedal again.

When the pedal worked, it was my main effects pedal. I like to use smaller gauge bass strings and this pedal allowed me to get some deeper tone when I needed it. Unfortunately, the realiablity and customer support has forced me to think only negatively about this pedal. I have since found other ways to create the tone I what. If the distrubutor ever sends my replacement pedal back, I doubt that I will use it.

It's got 2 knobs - ridiculously easy! First knob for clean tone, second for octave.

It's very quiet and clean. Octave effect is clear and the box tracks fairly well - sometimes even down to an A on yer bass. It doesn't gurgle and blub like most other octavers.

In a steel box, it's like a tank. I've had no problems with it.

Since I play funky groove music, it fits in really well, and shakes yer booty. Now I have Ampeg SVP-PRO preamp, EBS 800W power amp and EBS 4X10" cab. It fits in nicely. Of all other boxes, this has the cleanest and most accurate tracking, so this is it.

Two knobs, both controlling volume - couldn't be easier.

I use a fender fretless jazzbass and a daion markII (both 4-stringed), I've also used the effect with a mexico-made fender fat-strat budget guitar. The octabass triggers fast and quiet. The pitched sound is a bit artificial in itself (as always with Octave effects ?) but together with the original sound the result is great. What puzzles me a bit is that the effect works well and triggers on both guitar (much better than my boss OC-2, and the EBS sound is in my opinion more "natural" to) and on the bass ranging down to low E ! (where it "squeieeks") except for C and surrounding notes on the G string on both basses. Maybe it has something to do with the settings of my basses since the same tones triggers OK when played on the other strings, I have not got a clue - anyway this little effect makes me sound bassier, heavier and cooler than I am and as long as You're not into a music genre relying heavily on C played on the G-string it will probably do the same thing for You. Note that the above not considers "thumbfunking" playing styles where the octabass triggers poorly using my basses. It also only works playing/triggering one note at a time (as all pitchshifters I've tested)- no chords here please.

I have just had it for a short period of time but it apperance is respectfully solid - no plastics.

No need yet

Plug and Play
2 knobs, no switches(footswitch only), 1 LED.

Noiseless in operation
No click when using f/switch either.
This unit has a sweet "musicality" the others lack (Boss,Zoom etc).Tracking is better than other pedals but still not 100% perfect
- maybe more down to my bass than the Octabass.
I mostly use it with the normal knob at 3 o'clock and the octave at
12 o'clock using the bridge pick-up to cut through the band's sound. Neck pick-up makes it sound too wooly.
One word of warning - when you stomp on this thing it boosts your signal by a few dB so if your amp is running at full tilt it's going to clip and this sweet octave box will sound really rough.

It's not plastic, it's chunky!
Battery life is long (when it goes your sound goes too) although
the LED doesn't seem to dim to indicate low power.

Never had to deal with EBS or expect to.
I hope I never have to send it back to Sweden!

I've played bass for around18 years and always wanted a decent
octave pedal...it took me nearly 16 years to find one!
Octavers for bass are never perfect, the EBS is probably the best one out there right now.
It isn't cheap, but you'll be happy...it's only money anyway!!!
If the quality of the Octabass is an EBS standard, I can't wait to try out the EBS Bass IQ envelope filter - another thing on my bass wish list.