Help me with an octave down rig

[casecandy]

Hey dudes, I'm beginning to love octave down so much that I can't live without it.

I have no experience with stereo rigs at all...

But I've been thinking of running my guitar into a stereo rig wherein it feeds through dirt pedals and then into a stereo octave pedal, where the octave down goes to a bass amp, and the main signal goes into a guitar amp, ala The Chariot/Josh Scogin.

Can anyone point me in the direction of some resources on how to do it?

Or share your personal experience?

[D.o.S.]

Aiight, trolling your verbosity + eagerness to respond aside:
What octave down pedals are you using/looking at
Is there a reason you can't use a signal splitter (ABY, Boss LS-2 etc.) to accomplish this?
What is the rig going to look like on the amps + speakers end.

[casecandy]

Aiight, trolling your verbosity + eagerness to respond aside:
What octave down pedals are you using/looking at
Is there a reason you can't use a signal splitter (ABY, Boss LS-2 etc.) to accomplish this?
What is the rig going to look like on the amps + speakers end.

LOL I have no idea. I've only been using effects for two years and have no experience with splitters.

I would imagine a 2x12 combo on one end, say a Twin Reverb or similar, and for the bass amp, I'm not sure. Probably a combo as well. I'll be upgrading soon as I'm growing very tired of the Vox Pathfinder.

I'm using an EQD Organizer right now but would like to sell it and get a Pog or similar. What do you recommend?

[casecandy]

This is a rare moment where I acknowledge you know more about something than me, don't squander it LOL

[PeteeBee]

I'm pretty positive the sound you're looking for will work better if you split out pre-dirt. You can then muddy them both up all you want, but the sub octave will be way more accurate and then you can tailor your two sounds better. I did this with the boss oc3 for a few days. I didn't track how I wanted and I gave up. Still want to revisit some day.

[D.o.S.]

I will try to soldier on appropriately.

Dunno if I can recommend anything since my favorite octave down pedals ( the older Whammy and OC-2) are both monophonic but that doesn't work very well with traditional guitar. But octaves are like fuzz pedals in that they can sound very different while doing the same thing, so it's hard to recommend something in a vacuum anyway. Lots of other people here can give you more comprehensive advice on that end.

I would be small sums of money that you'd have an easier time hunting down an octaver that you like and finding a signal splitter than you will trying to find a stereo octave-down pedal, though.

[casecandy]

I would be small sums of money that you'd have an easier time hunting down an octaver that you like and finding a signal splitter than you will trying to find a stereo octave-down pedal, though.

I'm pretty positive the sound you're looking for will work better if you split out pre-dirt. You can then muddy them both up all you want, but the sub octave will be way more accurate and then you can tailor your two sounds better.

These tips are both helping me to visualize what I want for sure

So you could run guitar > volume pedal, looper, octave pedal > splitter > different pedals for guitar and octave down signals > amps?

My only question is, how do the guitar and bass signals become separated?

[PeteeBee]

Oh yeah I would definitely look into an a/b/y pedal to do the splitting. Then you get tons of options. The many ways your sound can get jumbled in this type of rigake having some sound combination options essential. Like being able to just step on something real quick and have the bass part drop away so you can play a more intricate bit, rather than having your octaver struggle through.

Although sometimes the octaver struggling through is exactly what is so cool sounding...

Edit: I'd run the splitter before the octave, the. The octave full wet. Then that second path is the sub octave path from that point on.

[casecandy]

Could I loop a bass part on the octave down, and play guitar over it, no octave down

[PeteeBee]

Sure. With the a/b/y you can just have the bass part playing, loop that, then click over to the guitar chain and noodle away.

[D.o.S.]

Edit: I'd run the splitter before the octave, then the octave full wet. Then that second path is the sub octave path from that point on.

10/10.

Instrument> Splitter> 'Guitar' Pedals >'Guitar' amp
.........................\Octave pedal 110% wet->"bass chain" (if any) > 'bass' amp.

This should help you visualize it better (just imagine the octave down coming after one half of the ABY:

[casecandy]

Okay, great

Let's get more specific

What pedals do I need for this...

- a guitar
- an octave down pedal
- an a/b/y pedal
- three to five patch cords plus patches for the pedalboard
- pedals for the guitar signal
- pedals for the octave down signal
- a guitar amp
- a bass amp

[casecandy]

Edit: I'd run the splitter before the octave, then the octave full wet. Then that second path is the sub octave path from that point on.

10/10.

Instrument> Splitter> 'Guitar' Pedals >'Guitar' amp
.........................\Octave pedal 110% wet->"bass chain" (if any) > 'bass' amp.

Just saw this, much clearer

[casecandy]

What's a good bass amp in the $1000 range or less

For doom, drone, etc.

[D.o.S.]

There are dozens. Probably hundreds. I have an old Peavey bass head you can have if/when you're in or around Portland next.

This one's even better if you use your imagination* and replace "clean and drive" with "normal" and "octave down"





*