Phil O'Keefe Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 This is the second Amptweaker pedal I've reviewed, and I have to say, James Brown (their proprietor) really knows how to engineer a pedal. A lot of thought went into this thing, and if you're looking for dirt that is made with bass in mind as opposed to just another guitar-oriented distortion pedal, you really should check out the Bass TightRock Jr. Here's a link to my review - please let me know if you have any questions about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted September 27, 2016 Members Share Posted September 27, 2016 Phil, I see no pedal review in the link. Something might be wrong. Might want to double check the link. Are these the pedals you reviewed? [video=youtube;ZoPcZjKiU84] [video=youtube;Ig4FSJOu1Ec] I have only of the original Ashdown ABM 500 amps. On my bass amp is a little know called Valve Drive, which allows you to ad a bit of grind to your bass sound. I believe the Valve Drive on my bass amp was to simulate the sound of a pushed Ampeg B15 combo, which wasn't that clean when pushed. This I believe is the import head version of the UK made combo I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted September 27, 2016 Moderators Share Posted September 27, 2016 I'm not a big fan of distortion on bass, though I admit that it has its uses. For instance, on one of my songs, I sometimes take a bass lead. When we recorded it, it sounded like crap. As though the bottom dropped out of the song. As an experiment, we added some distortion - quite a bit, actually - to the lead bass, and it really popped out of the mix. Sounded great. Now I'm probably going to have to get a bass distortion unit at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted September 27, 2016 Members Share Posted September 27, 2016 I'm not a big fan of distortion on bass' date=' though I admit that it has its uses[/b']. For instance, on one of my songs, I sometimes take a bass lead. When we recorded it, it sounded like crap. As though the bottom dropped out of the song. As an experiment, we added some distortion - quite a bit, actually - to the lead bass, and it really popped out of the mix. Sounded great. Now I'm probably going to have to get a bass distortion unit at some point. Me neither. If you listen to old Motown, the bass isn't exactly poppin clean. Then there's the Jack Bruce thing. I'm surprised more bass players don't have a od or a fuzzy bass pedal. [video=youtube;hSkHFc240nY] [video=youtube;MJw0qpqIONQ] [video=youtube;4Gon8_V0wb8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gon8_V0wb8 [video=youtube;LpkOs8xPS_8] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted September 27, 2016 Moderators Share Posted September 27, 2016 Link is to Bridges and Tailpieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted September 27, 2016 Members Share Posted September 27, 2016 For me its a matter of mixing. If you drive the bass, you usually have to keep the guitars clean so you don't wind up with the bass buried below a wash of white noise. you need something there to keep the rhythm alive and when the bass is driven up and say you don't have keys, the music can quickly sound mushy when you have no sharp transients. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted September 28, 2016 Author Share Posted September 28, 2016 Link is to Bridges and Tailpieces. Yeah, that was something I had grabbed for another thread - sorry about that! The link in the OP has been corrected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted September 28, 2016 Author Share Posted September 28, 2016 One of the really cool things about this pedal is the way you can blend in some of your clean, unprocessed signal. But unlike most blend knobs, this one has a bit of a twist... but you'll have to read the review to find out what it is... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted September 28, 2016 Author Share Posted September 28, 2016 I have only of the original Ashdown ABM 500 amps. On my bass amp is a little know called Valve Drive, which allows you to ad a bit of grind to your bass sound. I believe the Valve Drive on my bass amp was to simulate the sound of a pushed Ampeg B15 combo, which wasn't that clean when pushed. This I believe is the import head version of the UK made combo I have. That's cool that they build that into those amps. And you're absolutely right about the B-15, they do grind up in a really cool way. A bit of grit is a crucial element of that old Motown sound... and people often don't realize it. Those bass tracks were far from pristine... but they're glorious! [video=youtube;QLDqlgRK100] [video=youtube;BxHAuiOCFuM] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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