I'd say "just do it"
IIRC, you have an MBD2, which is one of my favorite circuits, and has been a yardstick by which I judge other dirts since first getting it (well, MBD-1) back in '18.
I've found them to be neck and neck as far as my tops.
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My Dirt Bender - Another Jounal
- Thread starter el murdoque
- Start date
IIRC, you have an MBD2, which is one of my favorite circuits, and has been a yardstick by which I judge other dirts since first getting it (well, MBD-1) back in '18.
I've found them to be neck and neck as far as my tops.
I'm finding similar. I'm not going for totally flat, but a mild bass bump, and an even smaller treble bump, so have them currently Bass 10:00, Mids just short of max, and treble 9:00. Definitely a good initial "home" setting for future exploration.
Man, this is quite the pedal! It's definitely got a lot more drive on tap than my previous; I'd say the line between overdrive and distortion starts to blur quite noticeably around 10-11:00 on the Gain knob. If that happened at all on my AFTC, it was definitely past 3:00 on the sweep. For my needs, though, that'll be great; the Wampler is my low-gain/boost OD, and this is meant to do some more versatile heavy lifting. From snarly drive, to full thick OD, big distortion/almost-fuzz, and then part of an "analog synth" engine. Seems like it should handle all comfortably, but I'm also aware this is definite honeymoon phase, so I want to avoid getting too effusive in my praises just yet!
I've got a Scorpion en route as well. Super excited to try it!
Interesting comment about its "Depth" control. I have a couple other Broughtons whose "special sauce" is similarly contained in one particular knob: "Range" on the Locust Star, and "Low Clip" on the Sentinel, both of which drastically alter the overall tone and response of each pedal. I'm gonna try stacking different combinations of all 3 once I get the Scorpion.
Interesting! I've not played either of those before, but it sounds like a similar function. The Depth knob controls how low the clipping/distortion goes. All the way down and it's pure clean low end, cranked up and you have the whole frequency range clipping.
Editing and video aren't my strong suit, but hoping to have that Scorpion demo put together today!
The camera work is still admittedly dodgy, but hopefully this is helpful for some of you fine folks 
When I went to post in the "What's coming and going" thread, I read that Derek Williams will buy whatever pedal Origin Effects releases today.
I did realize that by today he meant today today. Which is right now.
There's no better time than the present, and that Origin pedal has two things:
1. "Bass" in the name
2. A knob labeled "Drive"
I did not read any further, hacked the name into google, found a German
shop that has them in stock and sent off an order.
It seems to be a Boost/Drive pedal with two band EQ and a high cut switch.
I'll try and sidestep any demo or further info on it until it arrives.
Here's a pic:
I did realize that by today he meant today today. Which is right now.
There's no better time than the present, and that Origin pedal has two things:
1. "Bass" in the name
2. A knob labeled "Drive"
I did not read any further, hacked the name into google, found a German
shop that has them in stock and sent off an order.
It seems to be a Boost/Drive pedal with two band EQ and a high cut switch.
I'll try and sidestep any demo or further info on it until it arrives.
Here's a pic:
The camera work is still admittedly dodgy, but hopefully this is helpful for some of you fine folks
I'll also take some time to listen to that demo when I got a proper listening setup. Here in the office, I only have cheap studio monitor wannabes. I'll have to be at home where I can listen on the proper speakers that are built into my 13" Dell XPS laptop!
The camera work is still admittedly dodgy, but hopefully this is helpful for some of you fine folks
Nice demo- Thanks for the time!
Oh joyous day: I just took possession of the Origin Effects DCX Bass.
Will report back after I played it.
Will report back after I played it.
Tiny recap:
I learned from the Derek's post in the "What's coming and going" thread that Origin is releasing something on that very day. I went over to their website, looked at the pic of the thing and, wanting to try a drive pedal from Origin for quite some time, found a German store that already had one and placed an order. To surprise myself, I then stuck my head in the sand and refused to click on any link that had anything to do with the new Origin release.
So, still not knowing what the rest of the world thinks about it, here's my first impression:
The manual explains the cockpit as follows:
Level and Drive are simply what they are.
HF and LF are EQ knobs that, no surprise here, influence the low and top end.
Noon is flat, so there is boost and cut available. The frequencies influenced are not mentioned, though.
That leaves two switches. The top one has two positions, EQ is low gain and OD is ... more gain.
The lower one has three positions, named dark/flat/medium. This is the DCX's party trick. According to the manual, this is kind of an envelope/low pass filter that comes down when the gain goes up, so you can have crystal clear clean sound - but when you push it, you get some top end cut out to get more of a creamy drive with less harshness. This only works as long as the top switch is in the low gain position - in the higher gain setting, the filter is always on.
This suggests that we have a pretty touch sensitive pedal in the lower gain setting.
With everything set at noon, the cut switch in the flat position and the gain switch in the lower position - this is what the manual suggests as the starting place - it's hard to hear a difference between the pedal on and off, as long as you don't dig in. When playing double stops with some vigor, there is a touch of breakup.
So I started playing around with the knobs, and I learned this:
Both HF and LF are remarkable. It's not like you push the low end hard until it becomes boomy mud when you turn it. It feels like it gets more substance, though.
The same goes for the HF knob. You get a bit more sparkle and a lot more definition.
I found my current favorite setting with the gain switch set low and the gain knob maxed, HF set to a solid boost, LF with just a touch beyond noon and the "Party Trick" switch set to medium.
This gives me the most touch sensitive drive I ever laid hands on. It's beautiful!
You can go from completely clean to a healthy dose of drive.
It's perfectly even all across the entire fretboard.
The tones get a sharp definition, you can really feel ... well, how to put this .... it's kind of the opposite of heft when you stop a note - there's a certain substance to that process that I've never felt before.
The texture of the drive itself rivals the quality of the very good low gain drive pedals. You get lots of character and feel from the bass you plug into it and very little baked in sound.
It's more like a tone enhancer than a tone shaper.
Up until now, I can only say that I really like what I'm getting here!
I learned from the Derek's post in the "What's coming and going" thread that Origin is releasing something on that very day. I went over to their website, looked at the pic of the thing and, wanting to try a drive pedal from Origin for quite some time, found a German store that already had one and placed an order. To surprise myself, I then stuck my head in the sand and refused to click on any link that had anything to do with the new Origin release.
So, still not knowing what the rest of the world thinks about it, here's my first impression:
The manual explains the cockpit as follows:
Level and Drive are simply what they are.
HF and LF are EQ knobs that, no surprise here, influence the low and top end.
Noon is flat, so there is boost and cut available. The frequencies influenced are not mentioned, though.
That leaves two switches. The top one has two positions, EQ is low gain and OD is ... more gain.
The lower one has three positions, named dark/flat/medium. This is the DCX's party trick. According to the manual, this is kind of an envelope/low pass filter that comes down when the gain goes up, so you can have crystal clear clean sound - but when you push it, you get some top end cut out to get more of a creamy drive with less harshness. This only works as long as the top switch is in the low gain position - in the higher gain setting, the filter is always on.
This suggests that we have a pretty touch sensitive pedal in the lower gain setting.
With everything set at noon, the cut switch in the flat position and the gain switch in the lower position - this is what the manual suggests as the starting place - it's hard to hear a difference between the pedal on and off, as long as you don't dig in. When playing double stops with some vigor, there is a touch of breakup.
So I started playing around with the knobs, and I learned this:
Both HF and LF are remarkable. It's not like you push the low end hard until it becomes boomy mud when you turn it. It feels like it gets more substance, though.
The same goes for the HF knob. You get a bit more sparkle and a lot more definition.
I found my current favorite setting with the gain switch set low and the gain knob maxed, HF set to a solid boost, LF with just a touch beyond noon and the "Party Trick" switch set to medium.
This gives me the most touch sensitive drive I ever laid hands on. It's beautiful!
You can go from completely clean to a healthy dose of drive.
It's perfectly even all across the entire fretboard.
The tones get a sharp definition, you can really feel ... well, how to put this .... it's kind of the opposite of heft when you stop a note - there's a certain substance to that process that I've never felt before.
The texture of the drive itself rivals the quality of the very good low gain drive pedals. You get lots of character and feel from the bass you plug into it and very little baked in sound.
It's more like a tone enhancer than a tone shaper.
Up until now, I can only say that I really like what I'm getting here!
Glad your findings match mine, it’s a great pedal!
EDIT: I removed a bit here, I'm not 100% sure of my findings yet so don't want to potentially spread misinfo.
Last edited:
I really like how it is able to touch that thing that Darkglass does in abundance - that upper mids bite, but it is the first time that I hear it executed with such taste that I quite like it.
I will have to toy around with the rolloff the voice switch provides in combo with the HF knob in OD mode,
but I could see the pedal replacing the Spaceman Saturn VI on my board as a low gain OD that provides more top end and brings my flats to life.
I will have to toy around with the rolloff the voice switch provides in combo with the HF knob in OD mode,
but I could see the pedal replacing the Spaceman Saturn VI on my board as a low gain OD that provides more top end and brings my flats to life.
I played around with the dark setting and the HF maxed.
Then I A/B tested it with the Spaceman Saturn VI.
Now that is a tough nut. I will have to examine those in different situations and in a mix.
The Saturn VI is that one Pedal that instantly sat super well with me.
It was practically forced on me by @Charlie Tuna and became an instant love affair even though I did not want to.
This Origin is the same caliber. I can't make them sound the same, but they get close. The Origin is a little more dynamic, and both have that little special something that just resonates, the way it feels under the fingers.
I will try it sitting after the comp next, because right now, I really dig that voice switch dynamic treble cut thing, but I'd like a little bit more gain. Raising the input level by placing it after the comp (which provides a healthy bump in my chain) might achieve that, I'll have to see if enough dynamics pass through.
Then I A/B tested it with the Spaceman Saturn VI.
Now that is a tough nut. I will have to examine those in different situations and in a mix.
The Saturn VI is that one Pedal that instantly sat super well with me.
It was practically forced on me by @Charlie Tuna and became an instant love affair even though I did not want to.
This Origin is the same caliber. I can't make them sound the same, but they get close. The Origin is a little more dynamic, and both have that little special something that just resonates, the way it feels under the fingers.
I will try it sitting after the comp next, because right now, I really dig that voice switch dynamic treble cut thing, but I'd like a little bit more gain. Raising the input level by placing it after the comp (which provides a healthy bump in my chain) might achieve that, I'll have to see if enough dynamics pass through.
Putting the Origin after the comp works better than I anticipated. The raised level lets me dial back on the gain a little and I can get the desired amount of drive in the low setting, but it's not easy to balance everything with the comp filtering out the peaks.
A/B testing with the Spaceman makes even me grasp for words.
Both pedals do something to my setup that makes my ears weep with joy, but both do it differently.
Where the Spaceman adds harmonics like a well educated American Gentleman, the Origin feels like stiff upper lip British aristocracy. In certain aspects, its clever design one-ups the Spaceman, but I'm not entirely sure if that is the better thing.
On the one hand you have that clever adaptive circuit that does certain things at certain levels in certain ways, which yields an awesome result.
On the other hand you have a simple three knob pedal with a drive circuit that does none of that - but it just sounds right.
The Origin has some merits beyond sound, though:
Top jacks as a big advantage versus the barbaric side jack design of the Spaceman and it defaults to active when powered up, which is a bit of a nuisance on the Spaceman because I had to mount it in the lower deck.
A/B testing with the Spaceman makes even me grasp for words.
Both pedals do something to my setup that makes my ears weep with joy, but both do it differently.
Where the Spaceman adds harmonics like a well educated American Gentleman, the Origin feels like stiff upper lip British aristocracy. In certain aspects, its clever design one-ups the Spaceman, but I'm not entirely sure if that is the better thing.
On the one hand you have that clever adaptive circuit that does certain things at certain levels in certain ways, which yields an awesome result.
On the other hand you have a simple three knob pedal with a drive circuit that does none of that - but it just sounds right.
The Origin has some merits beyond sound, though:
Top jacks as a big advantage versus the barbaric side jack design of the Spaceman and it defaults to active when powered up, which is a bit of a nuisance on the Spaceman because I had to mount it in the lower deck.
Maybe put both on your board, and have one before the comp, and one after, and see what kinda flavors you can get.
That is the idea - I have room for two pedals of that class and currently, the front spot is occupied by the Saturn VI and the spot after the comp is held by the Jive.
To get one more pedal on my board, I will have to kick another pedal off.
That’s where it gets tricky. Or, in another sense, decidedly simple; you know the standard that needs to be met and exceeded in order to have a new addition. I’ve just reached that point myself again, and it’s liberating; I no longer have to think of “what next” or “what else fits”. From here on out, unless my needs or tastes drastically change, I know I’ll need to jettison something I’ve allowed to become ingrained in my sound, and that’s not easy. At this point, it’s so much harder for me to justify something new, and I can already feel the pedal fever has broken in the last week or so (curiously coincided with me getting that Scorpion!).
There is always something to be said for trying to eke the most out of what you have, rather than search out something new! Some of my favourite tone discoveries were from when I was limited by the small amount of gear I had, and had to get truly creative to make new noises
For me, there is that simple scenario, where you drop a pedal in your signal chain and things instantly get better - in a way you can easily spot in a blind test.
And there is that complicated scenario where you run across a pedal you already want to like the moment you learn of its existence and then you get it and it's too good to send back, but not really vast amounts better than what you already got. I feel like the Origin falls in that category.
I will have to experiment more and try different combinations and positions.
I mean, that's pretty understandable. The DCX does indeed look tasty. And it seems your reviews are pretty gushing, so I can only assume it'll make your decision making process more challenging
Thankfully, I am not only restricted by the lack of real estate on my board, but I've now got to consider configuration/dimensions of the enclosures, too. Drive pedals are the ones I'd be most keen to test out, but it'll need to be top-jacks and a 125B or smaller footprint. So thankfully, I won't be looking at something like the Saturn VI (which does seem to tick plenty of boxes). And the Jive is another I'd consider, but it's a little too subtle on the drive front for what I need. I guess, one further "restriction" I've placed on myself is that there isn't room for a lot of one-trick ponies, given the limited real estate. As much as I'm sure I'd, um, jive, with that pedal. I just know that, without limiting my options, my wandering eyes might bring home more goodies than I can make use of...
And, well, the DCX is just too expensive; $500 Canada Bucks for a drive/EQ is frankly prohibitive for me. I will live vicariously through your reviews!
