THE DEEPEST BOSS OC-5 REVIEW ON YOUTUBE!

Follow me on IG for more cool stuff: @jonherrera_music
Presented by Bass Magazine, the new online magazine from the former Editors of Bass Player Magazine. bassmagazine.com
Roland's first new octave pedal in almost 15 years definitely looks the part...does it do the job?
I go deep in this one! Stay tuned to the end to hear an A/B/C test between an OC-2, OC-3, and the OC-5.

[@MeteorFright]

This the most Incredibly detailed OC5 review I’ve found!! I’m currently learning Guy Pratt’s “Like a Prayer” video and wanted to find something to match his sound (he mentions originally using a pearl pedal on the track in the 80’s but regrettably selling it then going back to a OC2) Thank you for your time sir !!

[@paulpaul00]

Fantastic review. There are not many reviews that have this quality of information. Thanks!

[@ritmapanglima7924]

A/B/C test timestamps Test 1 OC-2 33:50 OC-3 34:02 OC-5 34:16 Test 2 OC-2 34:31 OC-3 34:43 OC-5 34:58 Test 3 OC-2 35:13 OC-3 35:24 OC-5 35:36

[@sigiriabeysekara8723]

Thanks

[@HondoFelder]

Great Review! Really looking forward to getting mine now. Also, thanks for the heads up on bass magazine! Will check it out for sure.

[@juansalgueiro6517]

So many other reviews of this pedal spend too much time slapping or playing with a pick and not enough exploring the pedal. This is by far the best review of an OC5 I’ve watched. And I’ve watched every one I could find. Now I can buy with confidence thanks. Subbed to your channel.

[@ephraim.1964]

Best explanation in detail I’ve seen regarding this pedal. 👍🏼👍🏼

[@Freebybass]

Great video Jonathan!

[@PeterHenrichsen]

Thanks for a super detailed, honest and pro review! :)

[@angelobiondi7813]

Great review man. So professional. Cheers

[@kenneygouveia2010]

Congrats Man.!!!..This is a best OC-5 (Bass guitar mode) review on U Tube!!! amazing!!! THX for help us!!

[@zacharyhudson1336]

Wow man absolutely incredibly review - i never comment but your detail and honesty is excellent! thank you!!!!!!

[@jkm1962]

Great video, thanks for sharing your knowledge, I just purchased an OC-5 and your video was very helpful...

[@PurpleMusicProductions]

Really good video and very thorough explanation. By far the best I have seen.

[@ozbassplayer8596]

Bought the OC-5 based on this review, and tend to agree that the Range setting is a bit hit and miss. But I love the OC-5 anyway. Would be interested in seeing a follow up on this somewhere. And love your licks that pick out particular features - really interesting way of showing that technique + pedal = unique sound! Keep up the good work! (Long time Bass Magazine subscriber)

[@steven_uk]

This is a great video. I wish someone would do something similar with a guitar.

[@damagecontrol60]

What a deep review... excellent! I am subscribing now!

[@richardwheeler3768]

Good pun!

[@michaelbosch9024]

great review. I really enjoyed your playing.

[@addisonbassist]

Bro, you need more subscribers. I've been a fan (and have wanted to be your best friend) for like 20 years. This is a review of the highest caliber and quality. Might suggest using an active bass in addition to a passive for pedal reviews, but you literally covered everything else. Great job.

[@JonathanHerrera_Bass]

Ha. Man ... thanks for the kindness. It's both flattering and sort of shocking to be reminded I've been at it for 20 years. Appreciate the suggestion about the active bass. If/when I get around to doing another review, I'll take it into account!

[@noelwalsh3733]

Great review as I'm a guitarist and really bought this pedal goe acoustic solo playing this is the best demo I've seen on what it does 👍

[@highlanderdetroit5370]

Great Work !!!

[@clemesis]

Thanks for this deep review !! For the range knob, I think it works like the oc-3 (sort of a filter on the trigger of the synth) but when it's all the way left, it tracks only the lowest note of the chord (the label says "lowest" only for the far left) of any chord... If it make sense

[@carloscibilia6667]

Extremely deep and useful :) thanks!

[@GreenhamGuitar]

Seriously appreciate this! And that @25:00 A/B timbre comparison really helps. I actually want that minimal harmonic content in "Poly" mode, like pure "subbass" to sit under my chords :-) It sounded like it was functioning as intended in the low-note-only range in poly mode? A full bass guitar chord with -1 on the root only is gonna sound pretty muddy either way, I guess.

[@Barry101er]

Great demo! Thanks :)

[@Mrflippyfloop]

Excellent review.

[@chrismorris3897]

I was impressed! I purchased myself an OC-5!

[@jiminnorthdallas1227]

Very well done. Thank you!

[@TonyPuleo1]

I love how you explain it Jon, I appreciate the monologue (serious).

[@JonathanHerrera_Bass]

Thanks Tony!

[@quiggycarboncat4280]

Nice demo = many thanks!

[@planzed463]

Great video, thanks from uk!

[@stuffnuns]

The number 4, in Japan, is considered an unlucky number. You’ll find very few Japanese crafted gear with a model number 4.

[@djaman_xiii]

31:10 Yeah, variables matter, but not as much, it sounded to me as following: when you are in poly mode and set the knob towards the "lowest" you get the lower octave being applied to all your strings with some extra deepness, and as you move above it, further clockwise it gets to control the "range", which allows you to control where (/which range of lower notes) gets the lower octave to be applied.

[@catuab4]

Thanks brother. You have a new follower. ✌️👽

[@erikpeterson778]

After waiting for this pedal to be in stock for 2 years I finally got one today 😂

[@raphaeldukhan]

Outstanding review, very thorough and informative !! Thank you Jonathan. Was half of review and I had it in my shopping cart at my LMS, I pulled the trigger at the end of it :-) Best OC-5 review on KZbin.

[@frankborgaard1959]

Awesome review, thank you, I have the OC5 but still in the box, looking foreward to put it into my upcomming board. The feature, where it keep the brightest notes clean, works better on a guitar.. I've heard that, and sounds cool, however as a bass player, for me it's not the most important feature, again great review👍🎵👏👏👏

[@tomotaka]

Hello,Jonathan. This is Tomo. I was classmate of LAMA. Do you remember me? When I research OC-5 movie, I found you by chance!! I’m glad to see your bass playing. Thanks!

[@JonathanHerrera_Bass]

I do!! Great to hear from you!! I hope you're doing great. Are you in Japan now?

[@tomotaka]

Jonathan Herrera After graduating from Lama, I studied at Berklee collage of music. I'm in Japan now. I sometimes go to America for work, so I'm looking forward to meet you again! Now I also have a band like this. Check this out. kzbin.info/www/bejne/o2bWiKmOgcl7f9E

[@lassebasseish]

They likely just skipped 4 because its pronounciation is similar to the word death in Japanese. They also skipped the DD-4 delay, the RV-4 reverb, the CE-4 chorus etc. The only boss pedal with a 4 in its name was the Parametric Equalizer (PQ-4), which has since been discontinued. But I guess the fact that the OC-5 kind of combines the OC-2 and the OC-3 is a nice coincidence.

[@jamesford1648]

Your playing is inspiring

[@Tomurow]

WOW! Your headphones blend beautifully with your beard!!!😮

[@mjmason75]

When you messed with the range, you should have played a chord to see if it just did the lowest note. Every time you tried it, you were playing all the notes in the chord one at a time, rather than all at once. Maybe that's the trick to getting it to just double the lowest note in the lower octave. I may be wrong, but just a thought. I'd be curious to know. Great in-depth review though other than that. Thanks for a great video on this!

[@maddie_rose]

This is spot on. It plays the root of a chord so you have to play a chord for it to do that. Playing each note one at a time just plays an octave down on each note.

[@jbredow]

Great video. You only missed one pretty basic configuration which is direct + octave up, which the one I use the most.

[@fozterfossworth8276]

Just ordered the Octave 5 as I already have the 3...and the 2 is the best one.

[@geraldfriend256]

Interesting.How does polyphonic mode on OC3 compare to OC5? I am looking at both but want the dirty mode on the OC3...

[@Elwooddudes]

Thought you had some very strong sideburns going on, but it’s your headphones! 😂 thanks for video man, I’m just looking at bass effect pedals to go for… I have the super octave pedal, but it almost seems too much… all I want is a clear octave sound and maybe overdrive/fuzz to get the synthy sound. Hard to get things right some times

[@captainmilk2691]

Guitarist here. Excellent review. Looks like you all can replace us with a pedal now. Anyway, I'll be stuck on the toilet all day now, but some nice low sounds, good job

[@rquance1]

With my Ampeg SVT Pro 4 the Poly mode sounds more analog musically. Weird but great for just adding a taste of the Octave effects and keeping it neat. Playing in Church settings.

[@JRP3music]

I am looking out for a octave pedal that makes a 4 or 5 string bass sound like 12/15 string.

[@JS_bass]

Excelent review...New suscriptor here...

[@capstevepoarch]

The stuff around 18:30 sounds like an original Nintendo played through a really good stereo... But I dig it.

[@LasseHuhtala]

Nice!

[@Thomas_Geist]

To get the range feature to work perfectly you may have to split the output. I just bought one so I’ll play with it as well. I’m a bass player but just started learning slide and hope I can set the range accurately so I can limit the octave down to strings 4-6 and send that to my bass rig but have a clean signal with NO CHANCE of an octave down going to my Fender Blues Jr Jensen 12” speaker. If this pedal does an oops and blows a speaker I’ll be really pissed.

[@revelationsoundstudio]

Nice but it has a sythn sound. So depends if you want that sound or like a MXR analog Bass Octave Deluxe, it to me sounds more like the original signal but just an octave lower.

[@robertcrist3822]

The poly mode sounds a lot like the boss multi-overtone. That chirping sound at the front edge of the note in poly Oct up is the exact same chirp you get from the mo-2 with the balance and tone dimed and palming the bridge on your bass.... the range in poly mode works way better on guitar for fingerpicking and running a bassline without the melody notes getting the octaves mushing up the works.

[@alloallo1977]

30:56 - is the pedal faulty? At at 7 and 12 it played octaves on all strings? BUT at 9 o'clock it plays no octaves on any strings? Really at 7 it should play octaves for 1st string then at 12 an octave for 1st, 2nd string etc Superb indepth demo! Thanks

[@Thomas.harding]

Do you lose bottom end if you go below the 7th fret like with the oc2?

[@corychang3901]

I just pulled out my old OC-2 and was playing around with it, then this video popped up. Google was listening???

[@geraldfriend256]

Don't doubt it.

[@jamesdeininger3759]

29:20 - I had the same issue you were having with all the notes in a chord (guitar) were getting doubled even with the “LOWEST” poly setting. I’m trying to make this pedal only work on my lowest strings so I can arpeggio chords and basically have a bass line being created behind it. I really wish you found out how to fix it lol Does anyone know how to get the octave to only respond to the E and A strings? Does changing from the “GUITAR’ to “BASS” setting change the threshold for the effects?

[@donhall-aquitania1025]

You plucked everything from the bridge. Would you get less glitch plucking closer to the fretboard?

[@daveinnh2292]

Best review of this box. "You can't really trick it..." That alone says everything about its effectiveness with tracking. Only feedback I have is that no one is doing these demos with a fretless. I know the early Pino sound is iconic but that's something folks need to hear. Rock on, Jon and crew.

[@ulis3082]

Hi, you mentioned, that if in vintage mode, there can be driven one okt. up digitally. Does that mean that the pedal does have a all analog signal path in vintage mode (and mixes in the digitaly made octave up) or is it a complete digital pedal.

[@tylersmith7925]

I also wanna know this!

[@mouthmw]

It's completely digital.

[@eyeball226]

You're half right about how the OC-2 worked. You never actually get to hear that square wave - it doesn't get filtered like you suggest. The square wave is actually used to flip the polarity of the incoming bass signal and it's this signal that's flipping polarity every other cycle that gets filtered. Not only does it get you a smoother tone than a square wave would, it actually retains most of the dynamics of your bass playing.

[@jobbo89]

How is the latency in poly mode?

[@uelude]

Excellent review. Pedal is like nails an a blackboard. It's like Boss went downhill a couple decades ago and now it's making digital junk for the tone deaf 128kbps MP3 consuming mass market.

[@courtneynero6886]

Appreciate the history/context on previous iterations of the pedal. So...OC-2 was analog; OC-3 was digital. Does the OC-5 incorporate both analog and digital in the one pedal? In other words, is the "Vintage" functionality analog in the OC-5 and the Poly functionality digital? Or does the OC-5 achieve the "Vintage" functionality (the OC-2 functionality) digitally?

[@antonpaisov]

I was wondering the same. And I can bet it's digital all the way.

[@mouthmw]

It's digital all the way, but the great and fast tracking is supposedly thanks to the same tech they used in SY-1.

[@noisecode5867]

Boss never names anything “4” because the word for 4 in Japanese sounds like the word for death. Hence no dd-4 etc…

[@lucabadan2829]

Hey if anyone is willing to help, i got the OC-5 a few days ago and its really really bad at tracking and keeping the note in place, the signal is wobbling all over the place! if anyone could help with anything that’d be appreciated

[@dwightdawson3578]

My suggestion: buy an OC-2 lol.

[@depotgear]

I have all 3, boss oc5 in "vintage" mode has the worst sound. The difference is very evident, especially when the dry signal is excluded. Boss OC2 has better attack and presence, has no attack latency / glitches when playing fast notes

[@ABOREZGG]

2+3=5

[@markperry7655]

So in vintage mode most of it is analogue while the Oct up is digital?

[@JonathanHerrera_Bass]

That’s my understanding, yes.

[@rkharper]

@@JonathanHerrera_Bass its all digital.

[@JonathanHerrera_Bass]

@@rkharper Do you know that for a fact?

[@rkharper]

@@JonathanHerrera_Bass yes. Just open up the case, and you'll see. Anothee giveaway is, it is impossible to do analog octave up without some kind of distortion, as the only way to do it is rectifying the negative or positive curve, that results on doubling of the frequency = octave up, but rectifying the signal always means a fuzzy, distorted tone. The OC-5 does not have that tone on OCT +1

[@JonathanHerrera_Bass]

@@rkharper I understand the technical limitations of analog octave, and the opportunities afforded by DSP. I talk about this in the review, as a matter of fact, including the analog means of achieving an octave-up sound. I'm still not convinced that the +1/-1 sound is not a hybrid digital/analog, however. The A/D/A conversion is essentially latency-free, and combining it in parallel w/ an analog-derived octave down sound would not be impossibile. It would actually be pretty innovative. I am waiting to hear back from Roland about this.

[@matteomidas638]

Sorry for the question but since the pedal seems to have a bad tracking at least with your bass did you set the switch on the back on "bass"?

[@JonathanHerrera_Bass]

I don’t agree that it tracks poorly. In fact, it tracked as well as any octave I’ve used, particularly in Vintage mode. And yeah, it was in Bass mode.

[@matteomidas638]

@@JonathanHerrera_Bass ok thank you for the kind reply. 👍😊

[@gazzy_burns]

Bad tracking?! It's perfect

[@osielhernandez3070]

Soquete!

[@mainsblanches8793]

Sacrificing the "drive" mode that is on the OC-3 that sounds really cool with a bass!!...just saying!!...

[@craigmoran893]

It sounds like it tracks better than the Oc-3, but it all sounds pretty digital to me. I suppose we all have different ideas of how a good octave pedal should sound and behave. I prefer the MXR Bass octave deluxe.

[@200909will]

Craig Moran sound like we need an A B between the OC5 and MXR BOD

[@geraldfriend256]

Yeah that one is analog right?I like the design..

[@CC-fi3pp]

The OC-5 is absolute trash compared to the OC-2.