Boss Octave OC-5 - Before You Buy

[@BudgetPedalChap]

This is 2 better than the OC-3

[@thechronicnoizeco.6675]

Precisely

[@Connor-xu5fg]

The fact that its -2 setting switches to that range setting when in polyphonic mode is so disappointing. Honestly a dealbreaker for me buying this pedal. Is there a technical limitation that prevents polyphonic mode from covering -2? If not this is a huge letdown.

[@PBOD]

I don’t think there’s a technical limitation as other pedals can do -2 in polyphonic mode, a choice I guess they made to offer the range feature. In defence of boss it is pretty aggressively priced compared to some of the competition but if you need -2 polyphonic then yes, you’ll need to look elsewhere. I can recommend the MXR poly blue octave but keep in mind it’s about £100 more than the boss in the UK, not sure about other regions.

[@Connor-xu5fg]

@@PBOD I appreciate the response, especially since it’s so long after this video released. In looking at octave pedals, my top 2 were this and the Poly Blue Octave, but I decided to pass on the PBO because it apparently tracks poorly with guitar in polyphonic mode.

[@carlodelavera9735]

Would have been cool to see the +1 in use at least once

[@PBOD]

Yeah that’s a fair criticism and a bit of a miss on our end, the main aim was to demonstrate how I had been using it but totally get that it would have been helpful to hear that.

[@kjguitarman]

You gave me what I needed to know! I need to lay bass tracks and this seems like a good choice.

[@PBOD]

Awesome! Thanks for watching!

[@sandyturner1911]

Great demo! I got this because i can't really afford a POG, right now. It's not as clear as i want it to be, but I will try your settings. Thanks!

[@PBOD]

Thank you! I think the pog is quite a different pedal, the +1 octave is much less subtle than it is on the OC-5. Both great choices though!

[@ChrisWeinhardt]

My favourite octaver is still the EHX Octave Multiplexer, super gnarly and glitchy, I just love it

[@PBOD]

Sometimes you want the glitchyness for sure!

[@josefayala1974]

the riff @ 5:30 ... reminded me of CKY...

[@PBOD]

Definitely a little inspired by 😉

[@jamesdeininger3759]

It would be great to see the settings on the pedal as you describe them. An idea for future videos. Thanks.

[@PBOD]

Noted, thanks for the feedback!

[@اناشيداسلاميه-ض8ك]

Welcome How are you Does this device descend the musical scale an octave?

[@PBOD]

Welcome to the channel, the OC-5 can do sub 1 and sub 2 octaves.

[@martingregory5955]

Just want a bass sound from a six string and sounded good mate thanks

[@PBOD]

It works best with some dry signal blended in in my opinion, without it the bass can sound quite subby, depends what you are going for bass tone wise though.

[@PBOD]

Great vid Jason, I quite fancy running one of these with the range just on the E & A strings into a separate amp with a delay!

[@jboy8735]

I got this to replace my mxr bass octave delux that thing was garbage would not track well

[@PBOD]

Nice, our experience is that Boss is best when it comes to tracking! 👍

[@vagnerferreira9735]

Can we get only -1 octave at the poly mode? ( lowest mode)

[@PBOD]

Technically two as you can get one octave down and one octave up but there’s no two octaves down in poly mode.

[@Albrecht777]

A shame that the octave up mode wasn't demonstrated. Thanks, though!

[@PBOD]

Yeah a bit of an oversight, I opted to show what I think are the best parts of the pedal, mentioned that the octave up for me isn’t as good as other options on the market. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@Albrecht777]

@@PBOD Many thanks indeed for your kind response. I'd be interested to know which pedal or pedals you think have the best octave-up option. Also, which ones you feel are the best all-rounders as regards both octave-up and down. That would help me a great to deal to continue my own comparsions. Much gratitude in advance!

[@Albrecht777]

Yikes! I see (or rather hear) that you mention the MXR and the POG octave pedals by name. Sorry for that oversight. My brain and / or ears must've tuned out for a moment when you were discussing that.

[@martingregory5955]

Second comment is can you damage your speaker using this pedal as a bass?

[@PBOD]

I shouldn’t think so, guitarists have been using octave pedals for decades without issue.

[@MrMarcburger]

wouldn't think so, my question would be would a guitar speaker put out the bass frequencies as good as a real bass amp speaker?

[@mayzyop2891]

😂😂😂

[@PBOD]

🙃🙃🙃

[@TheCoronaMortis]

I’m just not sure I can transition from my POG. As good as it sounds. Great video though. And you had a ghost shirt on. +10 points.

[@PBOD]

The pog certainly has a sound and a massive following. I’ll await the gatekeepers telling me that Ghost aren’t a real metal band 😂.

[@CC-fi3pp]

Absolutely awful, not swapping my MIJ OC-2 for this dud. No offence, thanks for providing its not as good though.

[@PBOD]

What is it about it you don’t like?

[@CC-fi3pp]

@PBOD Ever so slight latency ‐ it comes across as not as instant or punchy, slight digital artifacting (so I guess it's digital), none of the slight organic glitching on the lower notes that makes the oc-2 sound so amazing. It also looks off, but so do all the newer boss pedals (apart from the Wazas), I think it's the finish because the old OD-3 Overdrive looks great, and the new ones looks awful.

[@PBOD]

Interesting, I found the latency to be much better on the OC-5 than on the MXR. As far as looks go, I don’t get it, the pedal enclosure looks the same to me but I know the colour is slightly different to some of the OC-2’s. At the end of the day you gotta do what’s right for you and go with what you like!

[@CC-fi3pp]

​@PBOD Oh mate it's all about the old boss paint, if your OC2 is MIJ they will of really gobe to town and packed the glitter in the mix, that new paint has a metallic glitter like sparkle but it's just fake glittery paint mate. Come one you have to appreciate the good stuff when you see it. I've got an old MIJ Fender with 5x the glitter then a New MIA paint job.

[@guitarjeff55]

Talking to much. It’s straight forward

[@PBOD]

Can you make an example of how the video should be. Drop the link here and we will gladly watch it 👍

[@MrMarcburger]

using tooo little O's in a 3 letter word.

[@dillardmcpenishold1956]

You should call this video “my personal preferences for the OC-5”. You played around with one low octave setting, and I don’t know if it was the poly or the vintage setting. You didn’t even bother to try the octave up.

[@PBOD]

Thanks for your input