The King of All Octavers! The Boss OC-2 is one of the most sought after octavers. The original, the Octaver, was produced back in 1982. The name changed to Octave in 1984 and production moved from Japan to Taiwan.
There is actually a difference in quality between the Made In Japan and the Made In Taiwan versions. The Made In Japan is a lighter shade of brown and the quality of the build seems to be better. The OC-2 doesn’t just control 1 octave below the clean signal, it also has control over 2 octave down!
There are a ton of possibilities with this pedal. All three controls can be completely cut. Each knob controls the level of each parameter.
Controls:
Oct 1: Controls 1 octave down. Fully counter-clockwise is completely cut. Really good for mid-range tones and to thicken up the clean signal
Oct 2: Controls 2 octaves down. This is more for feeling the frequency than hearing it. Brings in a lot of low end. Especially good on guitar, but is excellent for bass players.
Direct Level: Fully counter-clockwise is completely cut dry signal. This is amazing for getting synth sounds. Fully clockwise gives just a bit of a boost, and makes the octave controls track a little less efficiently. Backed off to about 3:00 is 100% clean signal.
The Boss OC-2 is used by just about every guitarist and bassist who wants a high-quality, reliable octaver. Boss still produces the OC-3, but it uses a different chip with different controls. In short, it’s just not the same. The OC-2 is the only octaver I use in the studio and live. There’s just no beating it, in my opinion.
Submitted by Joey D, Website, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook
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March 25, 2017
The “Octave” version of the OC-2 was also made in Japan for a while. I had one, shortly after the pedal became available in the UK. The Boss catalogue for that time still showed “Octaver” but the model I bought was marked “Octave”.