frogbass77's Pedalboard

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…

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

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 !

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.

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 !!!

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…

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…

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!

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.