MXR Poly Blue Octave

 

MXR Poly Blue Octave

Okay, I’m just going to rip this band aid right off: this week’s episode was in no way paid for by MXR. I just like talking about pedals, okay? Is that such a crime? Aren’t I allowed to talk about a pedal I like with a few hundred thousand of my closest friends?

Aren’t I? Aren’t I?!   

Whew. I think I needed to get that off my chest. I’m good now. 

This week, I got to help release a brand new MXR pedal into the world: the Poly Blue Octave. I have had the privilege of releasing a lot of really cool pedals for friends and different companies in this industry, but this may be one of my favorites. You can watch this week’s episode for the tasty jams, but I also wanted to lay out the awesome features in this pedal. 

How It Works

This pedal is a major credit to the brilliant design team at MXR (and particularly my good friend Jeorge Tripps, master of DSP). JHS Pedals has thus far stuck with analog design, but that doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate digital signal driven pedals. And this pedal freakin’ delivers. If you like the POG or the Micro POG, you’re going to love the Poly Blue Octave, which takes that same concept to the next level. The Poly Blue Octave also gives you the ability to do one of my favorite sounds ever: Octave within Whammy. This pedal features a fuzz switch, which lets you add in a Blue Box style fuzz. You can adjust the effect up to two octaves down or up, which results in a really incredible sound. 

The Poly Blue Octave features six control knobs. You use each of these knobs like a mixer, adding in as much as you want of each control.  

  • DRY: lets you change the amount of clean, unaffected signal mixed in with the octave effect

  • SUB -1: drops the tone to one octave below the note that is being played

  • SUB -2: drops the tone to two octaves below the note that is being played

  • MOD: functions as a phasor or rotary which you can adjust to your own taste

  • OCT +1: raises the tone to one octave above the note that is being played

  • OCT +2: raises the tone to two octaves above the note that is being played

The pedal also features two buttons: “Fuzz,” which lets you activate the Blue Box sound I mentioned earlier, and “Mono,” which removes the polyphonic ability of the pedal.

How I Use It

For me, the definition of a great pedal is one that you can use a ton of different ways**. If that’s the definition we’re going with, then the Poly Blue Octave wins all the awards. 

**The exception to this rule is the Miku Stomp, which has exactly one function: to make your guitar sound like a character from an anime cartoon. And, heck yes, it’s worth it. 

Here are a few different options you can use to explore the sounds on your Poly Blue Octave fuzz: 

  1. For a truly nutty, out-of-the-box fuzz sound, turn all the octaves up and activate the fuzz switch. This mode pairs especially well with pedals like the MXR Carbon Copy Delay and MXR Sugar Drive.

  2. If you want to emulate a My Iron Lung-esque, full octave up, toe down kind of sound, then turn up the OCT +1 and OCT +2 knobs. Personally, I like to use this setting without a lot of frills and just let the octave speak for itself. It pairs especially well with the MXR Reverb on the plate reverb setting.

  3. You can use the expression pedal jack to plug in a pedal like the Dunlop X8. Alternatively, you can use this same jack to plug in a tap-tempo pedal and use it to turn the fuzz on and off via the footswitch.

  4. George Tripps, the guy who designed this pedal, told me that it was originally designed “to harness the feelings of vampires.” If you want to tap into that kind of sound, turn every octave knob up to 50% and activate the fuzz switch. If you’ve got Gary Oldman or Robert Pattinson on hand to play electric bass, that’s ideal, but this works either way.  

Honestly, debuting brand new pedals made by my friends might be my favorite thing. Companies don’t make pedals, y’all. People do. When I look at this brilliant design, I’m thinking of my friend Jeorge Tripps and how happy I am to live in the same lifetime as him, so I can play his awesome pedals right when they’re released. 

You can snag the incredibly versatile Poly Blue Octave Fuzz for only $199, which may be the actual definition of “more bang for your buck.” Get yours today so you can jam with it tomorrow.

 
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