Description
The Carl Martin Octaswitch, already a legend in the guitar effect switching world, is on it’s third evolution since the original. These all analog units have received rave reviews throughout the guitar world and awards from companies like Premier Guitar. The fourth version, named ‘The Strip’ is the smallest and most advanced, taking all the technology used in the first three and adding some amazing features that make the ‘Octaswitch The Strip’ the most versatile and simplest all-analog switching pedal on the market!
At first glance, the ‘Octaswitch The Strip’ (designed once again and refined by Thomas Guldman), has all the same features as before. There are 8 fx Loops that can be programmed into 8 Banks. The Loops are all True-Bypass, impedance free gold relays so you can run all your pedals (old and new) without issue. The Main Input can be True Bypass, or it can be switched to Buffered for large stages or long cable runs. There are 8 blue LED’s that indicate which of the 8 Loops is being used, and 8 green LED’s that indicate which Bank is being used. This is where the technology changes…..
Features
- Pro-grade looper/switcher with fully analogue signal path
- 4th version of popular, award-winning Octa-Switch series
- Highly respected Vintage Style EchSimplest operation lets you focus on making music – not programming the switch
- 8 true bypass effect loops (7x mono, 1x stereo)
- 8 programmable Banks
- Instant Access “what you see is what you get” live-mode
- 4-cable-method loops (Loop 6 -8) for dedicated Amp / FX loop usage
- 4 external switching jacks assignable to Bank 1-8 (amp channels, amp reverb, etc.)
- MIDI switching through Bank 1-8
- 2 assignable outputs for dual- or stereo-amping
: Carl Martin Octa-Switch
: OCTASWITCH
: 852940000943
steve-8298 (verified owner) –
I have owned several switches and related products, from the Decibel 11 Switch Doctor to the to the Boss MS-3, ES-5, GT-1000. I wanted something that used relays and was easy to both program and change on the fly. And I don’t need MIDI, although this unit has some basic MIDI capability.
This switcher is great. There are 8 patches that can be any combination of the 8 loops. You press the Inst. Access switch, choose your loops and press the Store button. That’s it. When you select a patch you can access individual loops by hitting the Inst. Access button.
If you want to use 4 cable method, with some effects in front of your amp and some in the effects loops, it accommodates that too. There is a send and return that allows you to put loops 6, 7 and 8 in you amp’s effects loop. I have my noise gate and a delay there now and will add a reverb in the future.
It also has four relay switching outputs to control your amp. For each of these there is a 8-position DIP switch. You simply turn it on for whichever of the 8 patches you want it on for.
There are also 2 individual outs which can be enabled/disabled for each of the 8 patches.
That’s it. Simple, powerful and very well built.
The only issue I had was a ground loop using it in 4CM. I simply disconnected the grounds in the two cables going to the effects loop.
I love the power and simplicity. I don’t need dozens of patches, 8 is more than enough. I can fully control my amp and I have instant access to individual loops within patches. It does everything I need perfectly.