Main

Ashdown Bass Sub-Octave Plus Pedal

This earth-shattering pedal generates a note one octave below the note being played, at the same volume and based on the waveform of the original signal. By blending the sub-octave note with the original signal, bass players can move from a subtle reinforcement of the sound to truckloads of bone-crushing tone. Learn More...

    • price too low to show!
Write a Review:

Overall User Ratings

Overall:
* * * * * * . . . . 6 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10

Individual User Ratings

Overall:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10

Feature:
True bypass. Not claimed true bypass, real true bypass. Very few if any other octavers have this. I don't use the distortion - it's a waste. As an octaver, it works fine. It's a little big and takes up too much space on your effects board, but it looks great. The lit up VU meter looks cool in the dark. One complaint: the "on" LED is too dim to see in sunlight (like every other effects pedal!)

Quality:
Metal case, looks strong, not crap plastic like Behringer or Danelectro. The battery bangs around inside but a little foam or tape solves that. It tracks as well as anything under $100. Not as good as POG, but what do you expect for $60? Some notes cut out after one second, especially on the G string. Like every octaver, it works better without harmonics (i.e. use the neck pickup and finger pick it up by the neck instead of the bridge). If you use good technique (mute the other strings) and play moving notes (not notes held long) it will track nicely all the way down to the bottom E. Will not track chords or slaps, but none of the cheap octavers do.

Value:
You can't beat it for the price. Sure, you can get a POG for more or a Dano for less, but nothing beats it in the $60 price range.

Desirability:
If I had money to blow, I'd buy an ElectroHarmonix POG, but this is a respectable pedal that competes well against anything in its price range. Sounds better than the Boss OC-3 or DOD Octoplus.

Sound:
This product has gotten an undeserved bad reputation. What do you guys expect from a $60 octaver? The sound is great. It's not synthy like the Boss OC-2, Digitech BSW, and Danelectro Chili Dog. The octave sounds like a bass, not a keyboard. The waveform is based on / sampled from the original. It sounds REAL good. Too bad, the rumor is they've stopped making them. No thanks to idiots like the one who bashed it in the other review.

Ease of Use:
What can I say? It's an octaver. How hard can it be?

Support:
No problem with this pedal but I've had good experiences dealing with Ashdown in the past.

Overall:
I got this because I used to have an Ashdown MAG300 head and loved the sub octaver built in. That's what I miss most since I sold it. Bought this to get that sound back. The pedal is better because I can switch it on and off without walking back to the amp and pushing a button. The sound is just as good as the one built into the head. A bonus is it seems like they've improved the tracking algorithms (still not excellent, but better).

Do You Agree? Was This Review Helpful to You?

yes

no

Overall:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Features:
* * * . . . . . . . 3 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
Value:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
I Want It:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Sound:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10

Feature:
In writing this pedal seems super cool. Awsome features. But in reality it was a big let down.

Quality:
This pedal is actually built very well. Looks solid. Except the on/off switch makes a clinking noise when you step on it.

Value:
The price seemed fair and about average compaired to similar pedals. But once you try it you will realize the pedal is horible and not worth a penny.

Desirability:
Pedal looks cool. Too bad it sounds like total crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sound:
lower notes don't even register. Higher notes do. BUT if your doing tapping or chords it tracks super slow. Even 2 note chords ar slow. And the distortion feature sounds like total cheese. So disapointing.

Ease of Use:
Super easy to use. To bad its horrible.

Overall:
I totally hated this pedal i returned it the same day i got it. Totall waste of money.

Do You Agree? Was This Review Helpful to You?

yes

no