MXR M288 Bass Octave Deluxe

Oergezellig pedaal op feestjes waar je van die jazz rommel moet spelen.
Geluid is vet en de mogenlijkheden tot kleuring zijn eindeloos, lekker aan die knoppen draaien dus. Best zinloos want het klinkt allemaal!
Voor zo'n kleine donder is tie ook nog eens heel stevig inelkander geflanst, een soort van Rambo onder de pedalen. Tijdens een driftbui heb ik er wel eens mee gegooid, alleen de laklaag vindt dat niet zo gaaf, maar verder geen enkel defect.
Iets minder is dat het geluid in de lage regionen wat modderiger en minder strak klinkt en dat kunnen we niet gebruiken hier in rock city. Heel erg is het ook weer niet aangezien ik dat ding toch alleen voor die enkele keren gebruik dat de band mij een solo toestaat. Al met al een fijn pedaal om zo nu en dan aan te schoppen.

I bought this pedal together with the Aguilar Octamizer, because those were the pedals I heard the most rave about. I ended up going for the Octamizer, and will explain why.

The Bass Octave Deluxe (BOD) is very lightweight, and has the in/out connectors and the power inlet on the sides. It is beautifully finished in a sparkly blue color, and despite its weight, feels very solid. It has three knobs; one to control the dry bass sound, and two knobs with their own specific octave sound. Blending these three sounds, you can get a lot different, distinct octave tones. It holds its octave to about the low A/G#, and sounds and tracks great in the lower registries.
The reason I ended up choosing the Octamizer over the BOD is the tracking in the higher registries. I use an octave pedal to keep a base when I play higher notes. In this area, I had some issues with the tracking of the BOD. It either glitched or played the wrong octave, especially with faster runs.
Purely sound wise, I think I prefer the BOD over the Octamizer, but in my case, the high registry tracking is an issue.

Having read a few reviews online before deciding on my purchase, I knew what I was getting myself into with the M288.

Many reviews and videos you can find online mention that the sound starts glitching in the lower registers which it does. Under some specific circumstances that is. Starting from the lower G (fret 3 on the lower E string) and lower, once you start playing longer notes and letting them ring, the pedal's tracking basically doesn't know what to do and just stops after a second or so. It is very clear and very consistent but definitely not a reason not to buy this amazing octaver. I mean, how often are you going to use an octaver to ring those low notes?

A bigger concern is if you're going in the higher registers (fret 14-15+ on the high C-string of a 6-string bass) things get pretty muddy unless you're muting your other strings very well. Any resonance or ringing will also mess up the tracking and create a messy sound all around.
I've also tried the pedal on my guitars and they don't have this problem, even on fret 20+ on the high E-string, everything sounds great. So it's really a "resonance and play properly"-kind of thing.

Having said that: the pedal sounds amazing! The controls couldn't be more straightforward and intuitive. The pedal is very well put together and made of durable materials. The mid-boost is pretty useful if you're lacking any sort of EQ or want to shape your sound somehow.

As long as you're aware of the aforementioned "shortcomings", this pedal is a solid 5/5 for me.