3Leaf Audio Octabvre Mini

The 3Leaf Audio Octabvre Mini is a compact octave pedal that generates a note one octave below what you play, a sub-octave effect aimed squarely at bass players who want to fatten and deepen their tone. 3Leaf Audio introduced it as a compact version of the original Octabvre, an octave pedal developed with Tedeschi Trucks Band bassist Timothy Lefebvre¹. Premier Guitar called it "a more streamlined version of the effect" released by 3Leaf, the company run by Spencer Doren².

Where the full-size Octabvre MKII carries a voicing toggle and extra switching, the Mini pares the controls down to Volume, Mix, and Tone knobs¹. Premier Guitar's reviewer found it still "does provide the tone-blending options of the first incarnation for really fattening up your bass sound"².

A compact sub-octave pedal

The Octabvre Mini sits in the 3Leaf Audio lineup as the smaller sibling of the Octabvre, which has existed in both MKI and MKII form³. The Octabvre line is based on the tonal blueprint of older Boss OC-2 octave pedals, according to Bass Musician Magazine reviewer Jake Wolf, and RockBoard's PedalPedia describes the full pedal as combining "the sound of the classic OC-2, gritty 808, and the Mutron Octave all in one pedal"³. Premier Guitar describes the Mini specifically as inspired by the Boss OC-2 and Mu-Tron Octave Divider tone circuits².

The Mini's circuit starts with the popular Tim-tuning mod from the original Octabvre and takes it further with a reworked tone knob that runs from an OC-2-inspired thump to sub fuzz¹. For a player, that means one knob sweeps between a tight, vintage synth-bass character and a looser, fuzzier low end rather than switching between fixed voicings.

The controls and the single voicing

Three controls manipulate the wide spectrum of sub-octave sounds²:

The Mini offers only one voicing, a modified version of the Tim Tuning setting from the larger Octabvre⁴. On the MKII, that Tim Tuning voicing is one of two positions on a toggle switch; Jake Wolf found it "a little deeper and purer sounding, and have less gritty mids than the switches other position"⁴. The Mini builds that character in permanently and drops the toggle.

How it differs from the Octabvre MKII

Bass Musician Magazine describes the Mini as "a more affordable version with less features" than the Octabvre MKII⁴. The practical differences for a player:

• Controls: The Mini has three knobs; the MKII adds a toggle switch for choosing between the original voicing and the Tim Tuning voicing¹³.
• Voicings: One on the Mini, two on the MKII⁴³.
• Footswitches: The MKII's right footswitch engages a vintage "sub-octave only" OC-2 style tone with its own tone control for high and mid frequency presence⁴.

Both pedals share the same power requirements: 9V DC, center negative, drawing 25mA¹³.

What reviewers said

Premier Guitar reviewed the Mini in July 2023 at a street price of $229, and summed it up as²:

Premier Guitar, July 2023²

Tracking, how reliably a pedal follows your playing down an octave, is the make-or-break quality of any octaver, and the reviewer's verdict puts the Mini's tracking among its strengths².

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