MXR M288 Bass Octave Deluxe

Great analogue octaver

First time plugging it in, I was surprised by how punchy the sound is, really natural sounding and responsive!

The two very different sub-octave tones can be finely balanced with the input signal, which provides a huge palette of possible sounds.

The "girth" octave is more of a sub-bass sound.

The "growl" octave is a very synth-like in your face sound.

Some favourite settings:

- you get a super "hi-fi" octave sound using "girth" and original signal only, both at 2 o'clock

- adding just a tiny bit of "girth" to fatten up the high notes on the neck, so more of a tone effect than an octave

- full on "growl" with zero original/"girth" gives you that cool "fake" synth sound, kind of like the famous boss OC2

The octave sound is very responsive to the way that you play, both in volume and tone, really wonderful. If you are dealing with a busy mix, there is a "mid boost" switch that can be engaged, it will affect the input signal only, making it cut through; pretty handy sometimes.

The only complaint that I have is that when using the "growl" octave on full, with nothing else mixed in, the signal level is a bit quieter than the input signal level, so you get a bit of a drop in volume. Would have been perfect if there were a bit more gain to push that octave sound to match the input level. (this is using a passive p-bass by the way).

Overall, an awesome analogue octaver, no surprise it's so popular! If I lost it I would get it again in a second!

My sound is concentrated in the mids, so I love the little mid boost feature. It gives that extra push to your original signal.

Bought this pedal because of the 2 octave voices. In the studio it is pretty cool you can shape the sound of that octave (the 2 voices sound pretty good). While playing live, the difference won't be noticed by the audience, I guess.

The tracking is pretty good, unless you play not clean. If you are looking for an octave that does never sound glitchy you should go for a digital pedal. this one glitches in some occasions which I found cool. but other people will find it irritating.

Overall if find it a great pedal which is worth every penny.

A modern classic

Very versatile , good building quality and it tracks really well, either alone or with other pedals. You can make synth tones, beef up your slapping and everything in between!

All about the girth.

This pedal is really great for providing a lower octave to what you're playing. The tracking is great, anything lower than drop D it starts losing it a bit but it sounds amazing on anything on frequencies higher that that.

I have mine in my chain straight after my compressor to help with the tracking issues and my EQ after it, the sound is massive and that's even before you start dialing in your preferred settings on the pedal.

There's an excellent mid+ switch on it that helps with the definition of the octave on the lower register notes and it definitely adds a brighter sound to mid range register octaves.

I have the dry and the growl dialed in just above 12. It's the girth dial that gives this pedal its wallop.

It fills out the notes so much, really fattens them out. Crank up the girth, play an E on your G string and it pretty much sounds like your playing your lower E.

This is ideal for playing stoner rock groove riffs past the 12th fret on any string, almost sounds like a church organ.

It will not track bass chords though. If you want something that does track bass chords, going digital is the only avenue for that.

If you get this pedal though, there is no need for bass chords. The lower octave delivery is good, every individual note you play will sound like you're mashing the same note on all four strings at once.

Great bass pedal.

The velvety sound of this pedal is superb with a fretless bass. It's very close to the sound Pino Palladino gets with his octaver, and you have plenty of variation control of the tone. You pay a bit more for this pedal but it's worth it.

Worth it? Depends on taste...

I have used this product for a bit less than a year. Quite a fan of the analogue module, while it does sound amazing with some settings (especially on the 2nd lower octave), it doesn't always track well. It has a very dubbed up, synth-like noise, which I bought it for in particular. Loved it on the whole, it has been quite reliable. There is also plenty of sounds you can make from this, 2 of which are the dry mixed with the 1st lower octave for that funk vibe, and the slammed 2nd octave by itself which is very electronic. It expanded my sonic palette quite well, I highly recommand this if you are in a jazz fusion, raggae, hip-hop, electronic and funk styles.

WoW

There is a massive sound from this tiny pedal. This pedal is something every alt-rock player needs because of its growl feature. The mid boost is yet another bonus as it helps me cut through the mix when playing a solo. However, the lower notes become too distorted when activated. Also, like some of the other MXR pedals I purchased, one of the knobs was hard to turn.

Besides that, it is an amazing pedal.

The best bass octave I've tried

I use this pedal through a SansAmp Bass Driver DI using a MusicMan Sub 4. It sounds absolutely incredible and really fattens up the sound during chorus' and solos! (Yes, I know, bass solos.)

When I first got the pedal, it felt really really light without the battery in (does not come with one), I use it with a 9v supply and it creates no noise. Despite this, it fits perfectly on my board and the button is extremely solid.

The tracking on this is great and sustains until the note doesn't play anymore without fluctuating at all! I have found that it stops tracking at around the Bb played on the A string, but if you play it on the 6th fret of the E string, it'll play fine.

The only other note I'd add is to be weary of the girth, there is a lot of girth if you need it.

Wow.

Bought this octaver pedal, having thought about the Boss and the EBS. Couldn't have made a better choice.

First of all the pedal is beautifully built and made, 9V standard. Has three knobs - Dry Signal, Girth, and Growl. Dry controls the dry signal from the bass guitar. Girth gives that sub-synth-bass sound, and Growl gives a more mid-rangey suboctave. You can mix and blend to your liking, from a doubled, rocky dry+growl+a bit of girth sound, to a completely wet girth sound for electronic music.

Also has a mid-range button. Fully customisable frequency, allowing you to cut through the mix a bit easier, making this pedal a must.

Great pedal, amazing. Would buy again in an instant.

Lovely Growling pedal

I originally got this pedal as a replacement for the octave effect on an old Ashdown head that I don't use anymore. It turns out that this pedal delivers a far more aggressive and growling octave sound than the Ashdown's warmer sound.

I love this pedal and there is a great number of sound options that you can get from it. The mid button is a great feature and really helps your sound to cut through the mix when you need it to. You can get a great sound from the pedal by winding down the dry control and you get a really deep moog type bass sound which is great to but in some kinds of dance music.

A good solid case with a pretty purple/blue sparkle finish.

Highly recommended pedal.