MXR M288 Bass Octave Deluxe Pedal Reviews

I have been playing rock and metal for about my whole bass career. So I finally started to branch out to pop and other electronic genres. I had heard octavers in reviews before but never really got the point. That is until I saw Guy Pratt with one. I have always trusted the durability and reliability of MXR and this is no Exception. This pedal tracks fantastic even with active pickups and preamp. It also does a good job getting a heavy buzzsaw synth sound for muse tunes or whatever with my green russian muff after. 'Growl" mode is like a synth while "Girth" is more like just your bass but lower. Overall, an amazing and essential pedal I never thought I would love as much until I got it in my hands.

After looking and and trying multiple other pedals I arrived at this one. This one has the most tonal flexibility, has the true/hard bypass, and the lower octave doesn't "hunt" all the time once you get below the mid of the bass range. (All issues I had with other pedals.) Build quality seems good too. My only wish was that the audio and power connectors were on the top of the pedal but, given everything this pedal brings to the table, I can live with the side-mounted connectors.

It does what it says (octaves) but has other options to manipulate sound.
It sounds fantastic and works perfectly.
Forrest Powell's recommendation was SPOT ON!

I really wanted an octave pedal for my new fretless, and after doing a lot of online research decided on the Bass Octave Deluxe. The pedal has great build quality and looks excellent. That said, once I plugged in the fretless, this little box o' magic really began to shine. I've dialed in some great, vintage Pino tones, and have fun mixing with my fuzz pedals. Also, the mid-boost button is very handy.

My first octave pedal and so far I love it. Great tone and wide range.

I'm not a big effects user, but I was asked to fill in a night with afriends band and they do a bunch a tunes that require an octaver, so I did some research and this is the one I settled on. Very pleased with the purchase to say the least. I can replicate the exact sounds that were required for the songs and I've even discovered I can use it sparingly for other things as well.

I love adding girth to some of my bass lines using this.

Yeah... So, coming from a vintage boss world, I decided to give this a try cause the the rave reviews... And well, YES!!! Blown away!!! What I found amazing about it is that it will track bass notes, and sustain those bass notes for a very long time. Even as the original vibrations from the bass decay. I was able to mimic keyboard bass tones in a sensitive ballad. That was something I was never able to do with my old Oh See Two. It will even track notes when placed AFTER distortion and an Envelope filter...

Best octave I've used in 30 yrs of playing bass. Beets Digitech (pedal & rack effect), Boss, & Ashdown. I've owned octaves by all these companies & was disappointed by all of them, They all had poor tracking & week tone at best. MXR M288 shines through with fast tracking (even low notes) & has great tone. It's actually dual voiced with a nice rock growl tone & a super deep Girth. Even has a mid voice (adjustable pitch switches within) that mixes nicely with ypur dry signal. No flakey or hesitant tracking. Hits true to pitch every note!

Don't let the lightweight of this pedal fool you....this octaver packs a mean punch! After a quick set up by setting all controls to 12 O'Clock and engaging the MId + switch, the power and clarity was such that I had to adjust my amp's EQ on the fly!!! Buy it, you won't regret it! As usual Nick Church had me up and running within 2 days! Thanks Nick and Sweetwater!

THIS PEDAL IS 5 STARS ! WHY ? WELL I'VE OWNED SEVERAL OTHERS IN THE PAST AND THE NEW ONE FROM BOSS AND THIS ONE BLOWS THEM ALL AWAY !!! EVEN THOUGH THERE'S LESS KNOBS TO TWEAK IT HAS FAR BETTER SOUND,CLAIRITY,AND QUIET SWITCHING,BUT BEST OF ALL THE GROWEL, IF THAT'S WHAT YOUR LOOKING FOR THIS IS THE PEDAL FOR YOU.

I tried this at the store with a fender squier jazz bass, and it performed great. I bought one and took it home. I think the one I bought was defective because it wouldnt track right. I tried different cables, different basses. It was the same notes that wouldnt track, On the g string, 3rd, 4th and 5th fretts. Weird, B flat, B natural, and C. On the other strings these notes were fine. Also, it barely works at all when used in an effects loop. Two different preamp pedals and a Mesa WD800 bass head. If I plug it directly in line with my bass first, then it works well except for those notes mentioned earlier.
I emailed Damian at sweetwater, told him the issue. Within a couple hours he emailed me back. They are sending out another one today, tested first, and will use the box to send the other one back. Hopefully this does the trick.

This is my first octave pedal and I think it sounds great. I usually turn it on when I"m playing high on my bass. Overall it"s a really good pedal.

Like all MXR pedals this is well made and made to let. The effect tracks very well and I"ve found some subtle ways to use it more than I thought I would. Definitely part of well rounded bass pedal board.

I really love the bass pedal but not only that but the fact that I can enjoy playing it and pay an amount I can afford every month. I really love this deal being available to finance and still have fun with it. Thank you guys I’ll be checking out more gear !!! For sure !!!

This is the most natural (non robot) sounding octave pedal I've ever used. My bass has an active EQ, and I find it tracks my low B just fine (although I'm not sure why you'd need it to). I love the growl affect, kinda wish I could select to do that without the octave sometimes. I mainly use this to add low end punch to my popping on the upper registers of the fretboard. Throw an envelope filter in front of it and whoa-buddy! An easy access battery door would have made this thing a 5 star item.

Probably the best bass octave pedal out there. Superb tonal flexibilities, fast tracking and built like a tank. Highly recommended!

I owned a Boss OC-3 and sold it on Craigslist within a month. This MXR pedal blows the Boss away. The Boss killed my tone, but this MXR defines tone. In fact it's a little hard to reign in at first, and takes some tweaking to level your volume. The effect can sometimes get washed out in a live band setting, but this baby is still fun as hell and worth the money

This is my first Octave. I've tried a few different ones, and actually have another I want that way more expensive and is more synth like. But I wanted this one as well because it has a very warm and rich sound. The tracking isn't perfect, but it's pretty close. Also, with a little tweaking you can achieve a couple different octave pedal sounds such as the BOSS OC models. This pedal also tracks better than most on low B notes.

Great aggressive sound, incredible synth sounds and as always the services of Alex Morales.

Great low profile design, cool new looks and it is truly built like a tank. My favorite feature on this pedal is the mid switch, very useful to help cut through any mix. My only complaint is the 9volt plug is located just below the input, kind of annoying but it's a very minor. Really fast tracking, a good variety of tones and a pretty low cost made this pedal a permanent part of my live rig.

Works nice with my gear and fits great in pedal board. I suggest using this with an effects loop in you amp to get more of your real bass sound, if that's what you are trying to do. Great for "UP TOWN FUNK" when playing high notes. Not so great with low string on 5 string using a LOW B string.

i bought this octave pedal after watching reviews on youtube. i thought it would b the right one for me. no such thing. they say it tracks well, and fast. it doesent. i sent one back, and the same thing occured on the next. i even tried another bass. no luck. i dont know if i got 2 bad ones in a row, but its unlikely. i bought a pog. does exactly like it should, even more. tracks well and fast. low notes included...