Have you tried it? Are some out there?You're gonna need to check the Bassman one out.
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Fender Bassman Pedals
- Thread starter chiphaleonbass
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- fender
Looks like they are preorder everywhere. Sweetwater estimates October. CME estimates January. Who knows?
I'm assuming that bassman driver will sound like what's on the rumble combos.
I have. We're hoping they'll be in stores soon.
This is not the case. Driver is a novel design. Not a clone or redesign of any pedal or amp.
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That's too bad, I'm a fan of the overdrive on the Rumble cabs, don't need a new amp or cab though
That would be cool. I have the Sub-Lime sitting new in the box. I'd love a small version or something based on the Super Fuzz would be great as well. I just hope it's not another Muff-based fuzz. I've been using the MXR M287 Sub Octave Bass Fuzz for the Super Fuzz sound. I also use the MXR Brown Acid (Colorsound ToneBender) which is cool and just picked up the Broughton Calamity to replace the much larger EHX Deluxe Sovtek Big Muff Pi.
I disagree. They seem designed specifically for bass with different features than the Hammertone series. I just wish they kept the toggle switches rather than using plastic slide switches. They just look and feel cheaper and probably won't last as long. The Fuzz is the only one I possibly see in my future though I'll check out the overdrive as well.
I absolutely LOVED the overdrive/distortion on the Bassman 500 head. I really wish they’d release that in a pedal, but I believe that circuit was going through one of the tubes so that probably wouldn’t happen.
They started to show up in Japan so I picked the compressor. I quite like it. It has nice features and it's easy to use.
So I got carried away and also got the Driver. This one is also great! It feels like someone at Fender took its time to think about the design, instead of just putting a hammertone variation on them. The Driver for example has two gain modes and a mids cut switch. They even specify the frequencies in the manual. Oh, and a handy blend knob.
They both got into the pedalboard right away for a test with the band. No idea if they will last long but the first impression is very good.
And I'm tempted to grab the fuzz as well.
So, thumbs up for this Bassman series.
So I got carried away and also got the Driver. This one is also great! It feels like someone at Fender took its time to think about the design, instead of just putting a hammertone variation on them. The Driver for example has two gain modes and a mids cut switch. They even specify the frequencies in the manual. Oh, and a handy blend knob.
They both got into the pedalboard right away for a test with the band. No idea if they will last long but the first impression is very good.
And I'm tempted to grab the fuzz as well.
So, thumbs up for this Bassman series.
Thanks for the report! I'll have to keep an eye out now for other first hand reviews. My first would be the Compressor. I prefer simplicity. And then the Driver and Fuzz. I have no interest in a Delay or Reverb. An Envelope Filter, Octave pedal and Chorus would be niceThey started to show up in Japan so I picked the compressor. I quite like it. It has nice features and it's easy to use.
So I got carried away and also got the Driver. This one is also great! It feels like someone at Fender took its time to think about the design, instead of just putting a hammertone variation on them. The Driver for example has two gain modes and a mids cut switch. They even specify the frequencies in the manual. Oh, and a handy blend knob.
They both got into the pedalboard right away for a test with the band. No idea if they will last long but the first impression is very good.
And I'm tempted to grab the fuzz as well.
So, thumbs up for this Bassman series.
Any chance we can get a demo of these? Hard to believe these have been announced for months with no demo.
I have no intention of selling, because it’s a great sounding fuzz, with a unique feature set. I bought it “needing repair”, and it cost me nothing to fix it. So if I did put it on the market I’d only need to recoup my investment. Considering every solder joint is original and undisturbed, I’m confident someone would give me the $50 I’ve put into it.
I tried today both the comp and the driver, with some mixed/ interesting results. The compressor worked nicely, adding some body to the sound. It's not a transparent compressor though, it ads some weight to upper mids, (?). It was on for all of the evening and first in line. I had all the knobs fairly low, maybe I should try the pad switch next day.
I put the Driver before the compressor but after a couple of songs I placed it after it. This pedal needs some tweaking time and I didn't want to focus on the pedal all the time we were playing but here are some observations; the blend knob also ads a lot of bass/low mids. It makes the bass sound fat, but it can also be too much and start to sound boomy. I thought it was just a blend knob but it's the clean blend. The manual says unity gain is around 8, adding a few db of boost at 10.
This is playing through a PB into an Ampeg- The pedal has a lot of gain on tap, it's a distortion pedal for the most part of its range although low gain is also there. It also has a pad switch so I should also try it next day. I ended up lowering the blend and adding some moderate distortion. But the way the blend knob interacted with the bottom frequencies puzzled me a bit.
In short, they both stay in the pedalboard for now, but more experimentation is needed. The fuzz arrived after I had left for rehearsal, so it has not been opened yet.
I put the Driver before the compressor but after a couple of songs I placed it after it. This pedal needs some tweaking time and I didn't want to focus on the pedal all the time we were playing but here are some observations; the blend knob also ads a lot of bass/low mids. It makes the bass sound fat, but it can also be too much and start to sound boomy. I thought it was just a blend knob but it's the clean blend. The manual says unity gain is around 8, adding a few db of boost at 10.
This is playing through a PB into an Ampeg- The pedal has a lot of gain on tap, it's a distortion pedal for the most part of its range although low gain is also there. It also has a pad switch so I should also try it next day. I ended up lowering the blend and adding some moderate distortion. But the way the blend knob interacted with the bottom frequencies puzzled me a bit.
In short, they both stay in the pedalboard for now, but more experimentation is needed. The fuzz arrived after I had left for rehearsal, so it has not been opened yet.
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Ok, do not buy the fuzz.
I repeat, do not buy the fuzz.
What a noisy piece of pedal. There's some uncontrollable noise the moment you turn it on, like using a high gain fuzz with the volume and fuzz knobs turned to 11. It's tamed while you play, but I don't think I could use it in a band context.
I'll spend the morning fighting with the shop to see if a return is possible..
I repeat, do not buy the fuzz.
What a noisy piece of pedal. There's some uncontrollable noise the moment you turn it on, like using a high gain fuzz with the volume and fuzz knobs turned to 11. It's tamed while you play, but I don't think I could use it in a band context.
I'll spend the morning fighting with the shop to see if a return is possible..
More impressions.
The more I use them the more they fall into the quirky pedals category. The control knobs look simple but yet sometimes I have no idea what I'm doing, it feels like the knobs don't do what you would expect. They also interact weirdly with other pedals.
The Driver ads a ton of bass content through bigger amps. May I say mud? Need to be careful with the EQ. There's also a tone knob in the inside, but I have not touched it. I'll probably end up selling this one because it's not so ideal to trust it for band use when playing in different rooms. The compressor is still ok. Quite good for the price. Maybe not to the standards of cork-sniffing connoisseurs, but great for first time users and casual players.
The more I use them the more they fall into the quirky pedals category. The control knobs look simple but yet sometimes I have no idea what I'm doing, it feels like the knobs don't do what you would expect. They also interact weirdly with other pedals.
The Driver ads a ton of bass content through bigger amps. May I say mud? Need to be careful with the EQ. There's also a tone knob in the inside, but I have not touched it. I'll probably end up selling this one because it's not so ideal to trust it for band use when playing in different rooms. The compressor is still ok. Quite good for the price. Maybe not to the standards of cork-sniffing connoisseurs, but great for first time users and casual players.
