frogbass77's Reviews

Cool cheap RAT

A rebranded Caline Head Room Vintage Distortion, very cheap but very efficient clone of the Rat with three different clipping options… Maybe not very solid or quiet but incredibly good ratty tone !!!

Reliable

So far perfect as far as I am concerned! No noise, true isolation, solid and reliable. There is nothing better for the price. And it has been almost a year of daily use…

One of the best

This MXR pedal put an end to my quest for a versatile envelope filter. Sounds fantastic and dry and wet settings are a priceless option!

Almost as good as an xotic

I use it on bass in front of a filter, of my cheap Rat clone or at the end of my signal chain and in every situation it does a marvelous job in boosting the low mids and helps you stand out in the mix in a band situation! Well built and much more useful than you would know.

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Nice one !

DigiTech pedals are becoming vintage these days! It is certainly not as good or versatile than modern delays but you can get so many lovable sounds and noises. It has its own personality, and it is not necessarily for everyone! And indeed the tap tempo and the loop function are almost useless on this one… But I do like it, especially on bass.

Minimalist but OK bass eq

With a cheap pedal like this one, don’t expect too much. The choice of the frequencies is also questionable and it may be a little noisy if pushed too hard. But if you do use it well and don’t want to pay 150 bucks for an eq pedal, it does a good job!

A better TS for bass (update: too many breakdowns)

The Blumes is in my opinion and for my taste one of the best and most versatile overdrive for a bass or a downtuned guitar period. I canot see why it is so underrated. Great sound, right amount of dirt and a lot of gain and power! Really impressive! Addendum: I initially gave it 5 stars because it is a fantastic pedal and despite the fact that it broke down after a few weeks. Indeed, EarthQuaker Devices offer a lifetime warranty, even for second-hand products and has a fantastic and very efficient customer service that responds very well. I sent it to Akron, OH and was able to get it back as new within the shortest delay despite the fact that I live in Europe... But within a few weeks, it broke down again. So maybe I picked a bad batch... But between the shipping cost and the tariffs that are appplied, I would have to pay again about $65 to have it fixed again, knowing it may break down again! What a pity for such a product. P.-P.-S. : EQD finally offered to change it almost completely so I should have it back as new and without any problems !

Reliable sturdy tuner

I was able to buy one second hand for 30 bucks and all I can say is that it is good, precise and quick !

A nice cousin of the Suhr Riot

This is a well defined high gain distortion, attempting to copy a marshall amp-integrated distortion, well pretty close to the Suhr Riot. A bit noisy, probably noisier than the original, and a bit darker, needs isolated power and careful stacking. But very nice. I like it on bass. And I like it stacked with an overdrive, very sharp and nice sounding for punk, indie or metal genres...

Beautiful and vintage sound

The Epiphone Embassy Bass is a well made and well finished instrument. I find it personally very beautiful. I use it with Rotosound Flatwound strings and I really feel like I am playing the sound of the late 60s early 70s. An interesting bass but not that versatile and not made for shredders and slappers…

A nice shot at the Timmy

The Mosky MM Silver is clearly a clone of the famous Timmy Overdrive. It is rather well done in terms of general quality, apart from the loose jack sockets. Like the original Timmy, this drive is transparent and is also well adapted for a bass, with two knobs for bass and treble that are rather cuts and help to adjust the sound. After noon, the drive is a bit noisy but I do like it. You can stack it, it is powerful and really nice. It is also the kind of pedal that is very sensitive to your strings attack, which I really appreciate. For guitar players still looking for a drive for their taste, it is also a good opportunity if you find a cheap one (like 20$) on the used market to test a Timmy clone before actually buying one (because it is obviously worth it).

Excellent compression

This compression pedal designed for bass but probably also very usable on guitar is fantastic for the price, with all the settings you need. It features both output and input settings, which is great. A ratio knob, which makes it very versatile. Classic attack and release settings. As well as a tone knob for the brightness or darkness of the sound. Most important of all, it is rather transparent and produces very low noise. My favourite compression pedal so far !

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Probably the best Squier Bass

I like it, I like its look and its sound. I like its great in your face simplicity. I like the fact that I can play The Undertones best bass riffs as well as a James Jamerson line on it and there is absolutely no problem whatsoever. And my luthier was so impressed when I brought him to settle a few problems… I am not a pro but seeing one showing interest rather than contempt was another good sign about this bass !

A reliable envelope filter

Not a very wide range but does its job and does it good. One thing I can’t understand is that this is probably the exact same circuit as the Mooer Envelope and many other Chinese made pedals but the reviews differ somehow ! Anyway, I like it for a funky vibe or with a drive for that Geezer Butler / Cliff Burton feel… Compact, solid and sturdy and even good with a bass when you can find that sweet spot.

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A matter of taste ?

Seems like everyone loves to hate this pedal. There is even a YouTube video claiming that the delay of the same series, which I happen to have also, is better at doing the job ! Might be a matter of taste though. It is indeed one of my favourite bass choruses. I used to have a Boss CH-1, which I loved, as a fan of new/cold wave bass sounds of the 80s, and this DigiTech is not so noisier by the way, as I read so often. But I also like the DigiTech very much as it is subtle and cold, has a kind of wannabe modern but vintage anyway vibe to it. I can’t explain, I don’t put that much Chorus into my sound, but it is almost always on with this pedal…

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Mixed feelings

Great sound, wonderful at keeping and even boosting your low end. But not very versatile, and, though I like my pedals simple and minimalistic, the fact that the settings for Blend and Tone are hidden inside the pedal is somehow frustrating… this is all the more disappointing than this is more a mini-preamp than a proper drive. In a band situation helps you cut through but don’t expect too much dirt in your sound…

Excellent octaver

A very good octaver, with a marvellously sounding octave down, and with the possibility of adding another interval: a fifth up (hence the name the 85 ?), another octave up or 2 octaves down ! You have a blend setting and a level setting for the classic octave down as well as a level for the other interval. The most precious setting is “focus”, which is useful for putting forward more harmonics or brightness. This pedal is very versatile and very rich in different tones. The interval can sound very natural or very synthetic but that is what I like about it… You can transform your bass in an organ with this thing ! You also have the possibility to plug an expression pedal, which I have not tried yet, in order to get a pitch shifter like effect probably.

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