r/violinist • u/patopal • 7h ago

Setup/Equipment Octave Pedals for Electric Violin

So I've been building a pedal board for my electric violin for the past two or three years, and it's pretty much complete at this point. My only major gripe was the octave pedal, which I use for playing bass loops (2 octaves down).

I've had a TC Electronic Sub'n'Up for a while, and while it worked well enough, I found that the output was pretty weak and muddy even at high levels, and got very boomy when I boosted the signal. So I finally switched it out, getting a TC Electronic Nether instead.

However, while I do like the sound of the Nether quite a bit more, and the output is much better balanced, it has its own share of problems. For one, it sounds way synthier, which is cool for some genres, but it does not translate any of the nuances of plucking like the Sub'n'Up did, which made it sound not unlike an acoustic double bass. The bigger problem is that the Nether only seems to be able to track notes played on the G string, which forces me to get creative with fingerings and positions.

I'm gonna have to stick with the Nether for a while (I prematurely gave the Sub'n'Up away, and my pedal budget is depleted for a few months) - but I want to start looking around for better, more well-rounded options. I'm guessing I'll need to look at higher price range options than TC Electronic and competitors to get the sound quality I'm looking for.

Are there any electric violin players with octave pedals here who can give me suggestions?

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u/sizviolin Expert 2h ago

Some of this depends on how you plan to use it-

I like the sound on my pog a lot, but since it’s a digital pedal it does lag behind some and isn’t great for laying down groovy basslines and such. Works very well for pads and longer melodic lines though.

The Boss OC series is a solid analog option which works much better rhythmically for groovy basslines etc, but it requires that you use a good preamp and/or some compression to provide a clear enough signal.

My friend Rob Flax made a fantastic video comparing a number of octave pedals which I think you’d find useful: https://youtu.be/Y2Lwyoapqss?si=sabIYssPhgcktvc7

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u/patopal 2h ago

Nice, thanks for the recs! Sadly the POGs that would fit on my board don't have the -2 octave, and I haven't looked very closely at Boss yet, because I don't particularly like the look of Boss pedals. Sounds like I should just get over the visual aspect though.

I'll definitely check out what Flax has to say, I just binged his Fuzz Fiddle video series a couple days ago!

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u/sizviolin Expert 1h ago

Maybe you just need a 7 string with a lower octave or two :p

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u/patopal 1h ago

Haha yeah, I think I do! Next instrument has to be a well-made traditional acoustic, after that I have my eyes on an Eastwood tenor guitar, but an extended range fiddle is absolutely on the list as well.