SOUND CHECK
Beyond Bass
BOSS OC-5 OCTAVE
By Paul Riario
CONSIDERING THAT THE Boss OC-2 Octave — with its straightforward sub-octave pitch-shifting — has been the perennial “thickening agent” for so many guitarists and bassists since its introduction in 1982, it’s somewhat surprising that this glittery espresso-colored stompbox doesn’t get more of the love and recognition it deserves. No matter, because Boss followed up much later with the OC-3 Super Octave, which introduced polyphonic octave effects, turning this bottom-end box into a broader innovation. Well, this time around, I believe many players will take notice of Boss’s brand-new OC-5 Octave, which expands upon those legendary predecessors with improved tracking performance and a wider range of polyphonic capability, all while still preserving the classic sound of the original OC-2 pedal.