BOSS Octave Pedal (OC-5)

Boss is the OG of Octavers. I use this for my looping as a substitute for laying bass tracks with my guitar, because I don’t want to be caught dead with an actual bass guitar. And this is cheaper. Sounds good enough to lay down some bass tracks in the looper.

Get it!! NOW!!! The BEST pedal-sized octave pedal on the market. The OC3 is legend. The OC5 is the new kid intown. Great for acoustic or electronic. Great to just beef you your sound. Cool feature, will play lowest note only in poly mode. Great for fingerpicks. Can switch to OC2 mode. Also Legend. Fast tracking and a dry out. More possibilities with this. A great pedal. Worth the price of admission. Its Boss Baby!

I like this pedal a lot, but I want to clarify my use. I am using it in a pedal chain with a 5-plug daisy chain power source, and I am playing a nylon string guitar. I also am isolating the 6th and 5th strings to get the lower bass octave, and I had to work to figure out the dual Outputs to isolate the bass register strings from the 4th-1st. The instructions are wrong. It tells you that the upper Output jack should go to the rest of the chain and the Direct jack should go directly to a 2nd amp or mixer channel. This is reversed. Output goes to amp, Direct goes to pedal chain. Octave pedal has to be first in chain. Also, there is distortion in mix, if you play higher register chords which are complex - 3 to 4 note harmonies. Probably made for only 6th string bass and simpler chords. It's the state of the Tracking technology. I've learned to deal with it. Seller is impossible to reach and get a clear answer from. Roland did respond, but I figured the instruction mistake on my own.

This pedal is very good. Full rich sound with the polyphonic mode and the classic/vintage mode sounds amazing. Tracks really well with your original tone. The only slight issue is a warble in polyphonic mode when playing full chords. This is pretty common with most polyphonic octave pedals, however. I had a sub N up from TC Electronic and the Boss OC-5 sounds much more organic and full than it. The only thing I would say about the sub n up that is a very slight edge is in playing full chords, but again not a complaint at all. The versatility of the ability to put the polyphonic mode on only certain parts of the chord is a dream for fattening up your tone. Great pedal for under $150

I always use it and have it turned on. Best used when it’s going through my headphones and can definitely feel the bass sounds. Coming out of my amp(a busking amp) it’s not as full sounding but still sounds good and more full. I use it with my acoustic guitars to play finger style percussion.

As a solo guitar (five-finger picking) /vocalist with feet drums, after all these years of hoping, finally BOS has delivered to me the bass player of my dreams, who can follow me without error in the many unusual keys (C#, Eb) I play in. I am now a complete one-person, 5-peice AI band, with no splits in the money made or personality /scheduling conflicts. Absolutely miraculous, is the only word to describe my bass player - the BOS OC-5 in poly-mode ("Bassonizer"). It is almost like the BOS OC-5 becomes more intelligent as time goes on. It plays bass notes to my chords and/or just about anything else I play. Quality of the bass sound is perfect. There are two outputs, which is an option to run a separate bass amp for your bass notes while keeping the precious guitar settings going direct. For my purposes I only use -1 octave because of the limitations of my gigging amp. Bass notes are totally adjustable from the BOS unit or the amp as separate from the guitar (direct). I use a Helicon Harmonizer (Amazon) along with the OC-5, there is no adverse interference or conflict with either of the units. Now looking on Amazon for 3 bobble-head dolls, to become part of my on-stage presentation - two singers and one bass player. Only Negative: There is a delay, but that negative point almost makes the entire presentation more human. I am sure the OC-6 will overcome that.

Polyphonic means you can play chords. No ither pedal does this sound.

I received a malfunctioning pedal. -2 octave did not produce any sound. Couldn't hear some notes on -1 octave.