Maybe it's a good thing they redsigned it then (as seen on my board). I still love that pedal.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Earthquaker Devices Westwood
- Thread starter son_of_mogh
- Start date
Maybe it's a good thing they redsigned it then (as seen on my board). I still love that pedal.
My $.02 from another thread -
Just got the Westwood today (see pic
- man I am lucky \m/). Havent tried stacking it yet but to me it is very articulate while able to be old school fuzzy/grindy. I would say it reminds me of a DG VMT but a little clearer when driven. I really like the VMT too as it suits my style and taste (old school Ampegish/SansAmp RPM) and so far fits nicely in the same vein. Level, Drive, and Bass at 12o, Treble at 1ish gives me a Geddy/RPM-like drive even on my P bass. Usually when I try different dirt, I can tell very quickly if they will stay long or not. This one sounds good to my ears right out of the gate, so it should stay for a bit at least to see what other tastiness I can get out of it. Could be a long term one! Dang, EQD makes some really good pedals! Going to have to visit them at NAMM this weekend and sing their praises.
Just got the Westwood today (see pic
- man I am lucky \m/). Havent tried stacking it yet but to me it is very articulate while able to be old school fuzzy/grindy. I would say it reminds me of a DG VMT but a little clearer when driven. I really like the VMT too as it suits my style and taste (old school Ampegish/SansAmp RPM) and so far fits nicely in the same vein. Level, Drive, and Bass at 12o, Treble at 1ish gives me a Geddy/RPM-like drive even on my P bass. Usually when I try different dirt, I can tell very quickly if they will stay long or not. This one sounds good to my ears right out of the gate, so it should stay for a bit at least to see what other tastiness I can get out of it. Could be a long term one! Dang, EQD makes some really good pedals! Going to have to visit them at NAMM this weekend and sing their praises.
Last edited:
Got mine a couple weeks ago. I love it. It does a great light overdrive and the eq is awesome. I'm surprised that more people aren't talking about it, but then again the OD market is beyond saturated.
anyone have any fingerstyle demos? pretty much impossible to make an OD sound bad with a pick. now a good sounding OD with fingers, that's a different story.
Has anyone who played this also played the Tech 21 VT bass? Anyone able to give a comparison? Just bought a EQD Dispatch Master and would love to see what else they have. Thinking about getting a Warden pedal too.
- Oct 29, 2012
- 264
- 683
- Disclosures
- Mesa, Darkglass, EQD, Mantic, Source Audio, Yamaha, Delano, Hamstead Soundworks, Jad Freer Audio
Fairly different beasts - the VT Bass is all about amp modelling, and as such has some inherent tonal characteristics that carry through the whole pedal. The Westwood is less so, being listed as a "translucent" drive, though with it's powerful EQ it can certainly cop something akin to a pushed SVT (though minus the speaker emulation the VT Bass can deliver).
The two would complement each other pretty well though - you could run the VT as an always on tone, and then really push it with the Westwood.
I'm using a westwood like this currently with a few other drive pedals (Darkglass VMT, Hamstead Odyssey), basically providing a slightly dirty boost, with the lows pushed to fatten things up, and just a touch of treble presence/sparkle. Works fantastically like this, though it also excels at drive verging on distortion all by itself.
It's worth noting it's not hugely dissimilar to the TC MojoMojo, though it's clearer and more open sounding in the top end, and the Bass frequency of the Westwood really seems to get particularly punchy when pushed.
Thanks! The music I do requires light drive to take things up a notch, but never goes into fuzz territory. The pushed SVT sound plus a tiny bit more drive is about as raging as it will go. To me, it sounds like I would have to choose between the Westwood and VT. I have a Bongo that I play through a GK MB or a Phil Jones, a modern sounding bass through a modern sounding amp. I use the VT to do drive. Seems like it would be hard to go in a wrong direction with either.
Hi everyone, how would this pedal compare to the EHX Bass Soul Food or the Darkglass Vintage Microtubes? Are they all similar?
I just picked up my Westwood this week. I did an A/B shootout with the Vintage Microtubes at the music store. The one feature on the VMT that I really liked was the blend knob. They both had their "sound" but I could almost make them sound the same if EQ'd right. I decided on the Westwood because I liked the tone controls and the smooth overdrive sound was just right. I did not need a pedal that would go from DC to Fuzz. That's why these 2 were on my short list. The price difference also didn't make me feel too bad.
- Apr 29, 2003
- 9,081
- 9,805
- Disclosures
- Contributor- Bass Musician Magazine | Marketing Manager- Trickfish Amplification
Having been through a bunch of nice OD/dist pedals, I stumbled onto the Westwood and its exactly right for me. Plenty of lows, just the right amount of transparent drive and really creamy. I'm done.
Forgot to mention that the effect on LED is so bright it's almost like having a footlight spot in your face. I have to dim that down a little.
I have the barbershop and just got the westwood- I thought I'd love the latter based on the positive reviews and YouTube videos, but I just didn't. Grainy, buzzy drive to my ears except for at really low gain, and synthy, artificial sounding low end. It's definitely going back to the store. Played it for hours through my usual setup: precision bass-> v4b reissue -> 410he and could honestly not see what the hype was all about.
The barbershop, imo, is much more transparent and pleasing at low gain. The Westwood has a lot more drive on tap, but sounds much less organic than the barbershop which actually sounds similar to my Ampeg v4b being pushed into a slight overdrive.
Ymmv!
The barbershop, imo, is much more transparent and pleasing at low gain. The Westwood has a lot more drive on tap, but sounds much less organic than the barbershop which actually sounds similar to my Ampeg v4b being pushed into a slight overdrive.
Ymmv!
sorry for reviving the thread, I've just played with my Westwood clone and it's awesome. Using a cheap opamp rather than the original opa2134. I played with my bass volume knob all the time and the response/sensitivity of the Westwood is outstanding.
The Westwood is my favorite, mainly because it is so foolproof and sounds great.
I've had my Westwood for a while and am really enjoying it. I posted a demo on my YouTube channel (playing with fingers).
I finally got some time with an EarthQuaker Devices Westwood (sadly discontinued now), and I think it's still absolutely worth picking up second-hand if you come across one. It had been on my "drives to try" list for a while.
For context, I'm playing a MIM Fender Precision with flatwounds, usually into a Fender Rumble combo or a bass amp plugin. I'm often looking for a drive that either complements a warm, round baseline tone or can brighten things up enough to cover different genres. First off, it's hard to deny how well EQD build their pedals, and they're just a great company in general—always creative and encouraging musicians to experiment.
On bass, I found the Westwood to be an extremely versatile drive and tone shaper. The drive itself is asymmetrical soft clipping, and it really shines there: at lower settings it adds a very natural breakup at the edges of fingerstyle playing, and when you push it, it can get into seriously powerful drive that works great for rock with a pick. It always felt dynamic and responsive rather than squashed.
The post-drive Bass and Treble controls were the only part that didn't fully click for me with my current setup. The Bass is centered around ~80 Hz and the Treble around ~2 kHz. The Treble mostly brought out pick click for me, though it did help a bit with fingerstyle definition. The Bass control I ended up mostly leaving flat—cutting it thinned out the depth too much, and boosting it made things woollier than I wanted.
That said, the core drive sound is brilliant. I think if you're running a brighter, more open-sounding setup, the Westwood could be very flexible on a bass board. Even with my warmer rig, it was a really impressive and musical drive.
For context, I'm playing a MIM Fender Precision with flatwounds, usually into a Fender Rumble combo or a bass amp plugin. I'm often looking for a drive that either complements a warm, round baseline tone or can brighten things up enough to cover different genres. First off, it's hard to deny how well EQD build their pedals, and they're just a great company in general—always creative and encouraging musicians to experiment.
On bass, I found the Westwood to be an extremely versatile drive and tone shaper. The drive itself is asymmetrical soft clipping, and it really shines there: at lower settings it adds a very natural breakup at the edges of fingerstyle playing, and when you push it, it can get into seriously powerful drive that works great for rock with a pick. It always felt dynamic and responsive rather than squashed.
The post-drive Bass and Treble controls were the only part that didn't fully click for me with my current setup. The Bass is centered around ~80 Hz and the Treble around ~2 kHz. The Treble mostly brought out pick click for me, though it did help a bit with fingerstyle definition. The Bass control I ended up mostly leaving flat—cutting it thinned out the depth too much, and boosting it made things woollier than I wanted.
That said, the core drive sound is brilliant. I think if you're running a brighter, more open-sounding setup, the Westwood could be very flexible on a bass board. Even with my warmer rig, it was a really impressive and musical drive.
