Swell Pedals (the company)

Beav · #1 12-20-2007, 08:04 PM

Has anyone ever used any of the Swell pedals? They're engineered by Mo West (SWR Mo Bass). I'm looking for a Sansamp replacement for a nice warm tubey sound without a crap load of coloration.

I'm specifically looking at the B-Drive. Supposedly it's a clone of the Ampeg B-15 Fliptop. Anyone?

syciprider · #2 12-20-2007, 08:45 PM

Did they design the Swollen Pickle?

opivy3056 · #3 12-20-2007, 08:49 PM

Looks pretty nice, but expensive!

I'd like to hear samples

bongomania · #4 12-20-2007, 08:59 PM

There have been a few posts here asking about Swell, and to the best of my recollection no- nobody here has tried one. The hype on their page looks good, but every time I've bought a 12A_7 based dirt pedal I've hated the buzzy sound. I've decided for me and my tastes that a well-designed 12A_7 unit can be good for "clean but warm", but will never be good for dirt. The only dirt pedals I've liked have been solid state, as IMO/IME the good ones have come closer to the "driven amp" sound than any single preamp tube can do.

Sorry for the rant there- just saying I won't be first in line to buy a Swell. Although I am curious about it.

opivy3056 · #5 12-20-2007, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bongomania

There have been a few posts here asking about Swell, and to the best of my recollection no- nobody here has tried one. The hype on their page looks good, but every time I've bought a 12A_7 based dirt pedal I've hated the buzzy sound. I've decided for me and my tastes that a well-designed 12A_7 unit can be good for "clean but warm", but will never be good for dirt. The only dirt pedals I've liked have been solid state, as IMO/IME the good ones have come closer to the "driven amp" sound than any single preamp tube can do.

Sorry for the rant there- just saying I won't be first in line to buy a Swell. Although I am curious about it.

What are these "good" solid state drive units you speak of?????

bongomania · #6 12-20-2007, 09:16 PM

The Blueberry and Disnortion are excellent (and they each don't do what the other does, so they're complimentary). The Jettergear Gainstage is pretty good too. And although I haven't gotten my Flipster debugged yet, the samples James H. posted of his are excellent sounding.

JanusZarate · #7 12-20-2007, 09:29 PM

So bongo... ever had your hands on an EHX English Muff'n or EBS ValveDrive?

bongomania · #8 12-20-2007, 09:45 PM

Yeah, I had a Muff'n, and I even tried swapping the tubes in it. I liked the "clean but warm" sounds and hated the OD/dirt. Too nasal and buzzy, like every other preamp-tube dirt pedal I've tried. I haven't tried the EBS yet. I also intend to try a DHA unit sometime.

ricknote · #9 12-20-2007, 09:50 PM

I've heard that Mo had some health issues this year which
has slowed the launch of the bass pedals. I was on a gig
this week and the fiddle player showed up with one of the
guitar pedals. It sounded great.
I know these folks and I'll be getting a bass unit to try out
soon.
I'll let you guys know when I get my mitts on one.

All the best,
Rick

CliftonBonney · #10 12-20-2008, 11:06 AM

I just friended Swell Pedals on MySpace. Apparently, the bass pedals will be released in January of 2009. They look interesting - www.swellpedals.com.

Yes, I realize the last post in this thread was one year ago to the date.

scotch · #11 05-13-2009, 04:17 PM

I played the B-TOD and B-PRO today.

The B-TOD was good. It's Swell's higher-gain tube od for bass. Sounded like a cross between a big muff & fulltone bass-drive. Low end retention was very good (no noticeable loss) and the range of overdrive to distortion is easy to control with the gain knobs. Honestly, though, it didn't do anything I haven't heard before.

The B-PRO is the low-gain version. AMAZING! It is very natural sounding w/ no low-end loss and a great range of overdrive from barely clipping to aggressive od (but not quite into "singing distortion" territory). This really is a special pedal! It does pretty much everything my Fulltone Bass-Drive Mosfet does, but with a smoother less-tubescreamer eq profile.

Both pedals had attractive hammer-tone paint & Fulltone style knobs. Almost all of the knobs on both pedals felt inconsistently stiff when turning, however. Part of the rotation felt nice & firm, but would almost feel like it was seizing up at the extreme ends. The led indicators are very small. In full sunlight, I could see this as a minor issue.

Overall, great sounding pedals, with the B-PRO very likely going home with me soon...

ricknote · #12 05-13-2009, 08:13 PM

I've had the B-TOD for a month now. About 12 live gigs and home
recording. I love this thing. Very neutral sounding and quiet. It
doesn't overwhelm my SWR's tone, just crunches it up. Perfect.
My Fulltone Bassdrive and MXR Blowtorch have already sold on
eBay. This pedal took the place of both of them.
I wish it worked with my Pedal Power 2+, but it's AC powered.
I just plugged the wall wort into the PP2's courtesy plug.

I couldn't be happier.
Rick

SnakeAnthony · #13 05-13-2009, 08:16 PM

Am I the only one that wasn't crazy about them? Tried the TOD and thought it was nothing I couldn't get elsewhere for a lot less. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't fantastic, or new, or worth the asking price, IMHO.

MAMMOTHvolume · #14 05-14-2009, 05:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bongomania

There have been a few posts here asking about Swell, and to the best of my recollection no- nobody here has tried one. The hype on their page looks good, but every time I've bought a 12A_7 based dirt pedal I've hated the buzzy sound. I've decided for me and my tastes that a well-designed 12A_7 unit can be good for "clean but warm", but will never be good for dirt. The only dirt pedals I've liked have been solid state, as IMO/IME the good ones have come closer to the "driven amp" sound than any single preamp tube can do.

Sorry for the rant there- just saying I won't be first in line to buy a Swell. Although I am curious about it.

+1 the buzzyness is the sound of valves, i've never really got on with preamp distortion i much prefer the sound of power amp distortion!