An octave stomp can open creative doors in myriad ways—from adding muscle to your sound to unleashing octave-fuzz assaults, simulating a 12-string, and more.
Whether fattening up your clean tone, creating an all-out octave-fuzz assault, simulating a 12-string, or something just completely different, an octave effect can turn your guitar into a whole ’nother animal and inspire your sound crafting. We’ve rounded up a sampling of 10 solid options for you to get your octave on.
Octave OC-5
Features on this updated classic include a vintage mode for the mono sound of the OC-2, a poly mode for chord playing, and a new octave-up effect which can be blended with the octave-down effects.
Purple Platypus Octidrive MkII
Like the original, this stompbox has a frequency doubler to create an octave-up effect, which cleans up nicely for ring-modulator-style sounds to all-out huge octave fuzz.
Sub 'N' Up
This polyphonic octave pedal features an old-school monophonic octaver and individual blend controls for dry, octave-up, and two sub-octaves—to cover everything from complex chords to groovy single-note lines.
Tentacle V2
This analog octave-up pedal features the octave effect from EarthQuaker’s Hoof Reaper, and makes easy work of going high and tearing loose with it’s no-control design.
Pure Octave
Featuring 11 different octave modes and the ability to adjust the lower, upper, and sub sections of a signal, this mini was designed to deliver precise octave effects with no distortion.
Octapussy
This pedal’s preamp section is specially voiced for very dynamic playing response for high-octave lead tones on the neck’s higher registers, but also a big array of fuzz tones anywhere else on the neck.
Luminary
Here’s a quad-octave generator that provides the ability to conjure up any combination of four separate octaves, and features three presets, a filter control, and a tremolo effect.
Quint Machine
Offering octave-up, octave-down, and a 5th up, this pedal boasts ultra-fast polyphonic tracking, individual volume controls, and a master-mix dial.
Nano POG
The smallest member of the POG family, this polyphonic octave generator was designed for stellar tracking, features separate level dials for dry, sub-octave, and octave-up, and houses an extra dry out.
Jonny Octave
This analog octave-up pedal lets you play up either one or two octaves, and features separate volume dials for each channel along with four internal gain trimmers to adjust for playing style.
Convincing 12-string tones, anyone? The compact-stomp vets retreat from less-used OC-3 features while preserving vintage octave vibes and serving up stunning new capabilities.
Recorded using a Squier Tele with Curtis Novak Tele-V and JM-V pickups into a 1976 Fender Vibrolux Reverb miked with a Royer R-121, going into an Audient iD44 then into GarageBand with no EQ-ing, compression, or effects.
Clip 1: Both pickups in poly mode (with direct level at 11:30, +1 octave at 1:30, -1 octave at minimum, and -2 octave range at minimum).
Clip 2: Bridge pickup in vintage mode (with direct level at max, +1 octave at minimum, -1 octave at 10 o’clock, and -2 octave range at minimum), then with fuzz also engaged. SImultaneously routed through a Fender Rumble 200 miked with an Audix D6.
RatingsPros:Capable of yesteryear’s quirkiness and myriad subtle and practical applications. Cons: Not completely immune to digital-sounding artifacts. Careful dialing still crucial to avoiding cheesy vibes. Street: $129 Boss OC-5 Octave boss.info | Tones: Ease of Use: Build/Design: Value: |
A lone octave effect can easily veer toward the land of Cheez Whiz. Part of that boils down to lack of user restraint, of course, but also because note tracking on many octave pedals isn’t conducive to much other than single-note lines. Even then, you have to be either careful with pick attack or okay with the note glitching common to a lot of octave circuits.
Some of us find that old-school glitchiness endearing, but with Boss’ new OC-5 you don’t have to take sides. “Vintage” mode yields a response similar to the original OC-2 from 1982, but flip to “poly” mode (first introduced on the OC-5’s predecessor, the OC-3, but now enhanced with the engine from Boss’ SY-1 synth stomp) and whole new worlds open up. The new Boss jettisons its forerunner’s drive mode and dedicated bass input, but improves on its tracking and ability to handle several notes simultaneously. Pair this with the OC-5’s ability to precisely and independently dial the level of a note one octave down and/or a note two octaves down—plus one up, if you like—and the OC-5 can morph from lovable niche attraction to full-time stealth weapon. Tracking, frequency control, and note separation are so good that you can use the OC-5 for everything from adding a root bass note to chords to subtly thickening 6-string, 4-string, or acoustic tones, or making guitarists in the crowd wonder where that wonderful-sounding 12-string is coming from.
Test Gear: Squier Tele Custom with Curtis Novak JV-M and Tele-V pickups, Gibson Les Paul with 57 Classics, SolidGoldFx Electroman MkII, Anasounds Element, Jordan Fuzztite, 1976 Fender Vibrolux Reverb, Fender Rumble 200 1x15.