Carl Martin Bass Drive?

[BooshBass]

Does anyone have it and want to share their experience? Thinking about buying one to use as a tubey clean boost, eq, and drive as some of the demos online sound pretty good. Your thoughts....

 

[Inconnu]

Well… it’s your lucky day! I posted a similar thread a few days and got no reply… and decided to buy one anyways!

I just bought mine used 2 and a half hours ago. I haven’t played much with it yet. First impression: it gets in overdrive real fast with basses having massive output like my G&L L-2500. Since it’s my main bass, I’ll try swapping the 12ax7 by a 12au7. Otherwise, in terms of overdrive/distortion, it’s quite interesting.

I’ll post back with more info after more experimenting.

 

[Inconnu]

Does anyone have it and want to share their experience? Thinking about buying one to use as a tubey clean boost, eq, and drive as some of the demos online sound pretty good. Your thoughts....

I’m back with more thoughts after experimenting this morning! I’ve tried 2 different tubes in it. I’ve got a bunch of NOS preamp tube here so… I’ve started with a 12au7 (Sylvania) to try and get more room before it overdrives with basses having a higher output level. It worked, but the pedal sounded smoother overall, meaning the highs were mellower and everything was woollier. It might be what some people are after, but I wanted a bit more precision. Switched to a Phillips 12ax7wa and got more highs back in the mix, less cleaner sound margin, but a way better drive then the original tube (which almost sounded like a square wave when it was breaking up - got it used, the tube might have been tired). I’m not sure I’m settled yet, but I can say that the tube you’re using makes a lot of difference, which ads fun to the game!

For your application… I guess it depends on the bass you’re using, but I prefer when the pedal is driving a bit. It’s not a totally clean preamp and won’t give you modern tones. They are quite right when they compare it to an SVT. It’s in that category without wanting to be a copy.

Definitely not modern sounding. Right now, I quite like the overdrive sound, and that was what I was after.

 

[BooshBass]

I’m back with more thoughts after experimenting this morning! I’ve tried 2 different tubes in it. I’ve got a bunch of NOS preamp tube here so… I’ve started with a 12au7 (Sylvania) to try and get more room before it overdrives with basses having a higher output level. It worked, but the pedal sounded smoother overall, meaning the highs were mellower and everything was woollier. It might be what some people are after, but I wanted a bit more precision. Switched to a Phillips 12ax7wa and got more highs back in the mix, less cleaner sound margin, but a way better drive then the original tube (which almost sounded like a square wave when it was breaking up - got it used, the tube might have been tired). I’m not sure I’m settled yet, but I can say that the tube you’re using makes a lot of difference, which ads fun to the game!

For your application… I guess it depends on the bass you’re using, but I prefer when the pedal is driving a bit. It’s not a totally clean preamp and won’t give you modern tones. They are quite right when they compare it to an SVT. It’s in that category without wanting to be a copy.

Definitely not modern sounding. Right now, I quite like the overdrive sound, and that was what I was after.

This is phenomenal, thank you so much. I generally play a p-bass I put together with '63 reissues and a 2014 deluxe j-bass 5-string that has an active/passive switch, so I have decent range of bass powers. I'm always back and forth on pedals, I may end up buying the one I'm eyeballing soon and will report back if I do. Thanks again!