Today, I got a brand-new-to-me Fairfield Accountant! I learned two things:
1 - When the pedal is named after your job, it's probably a good idea to try it. I'm an accountant by day, so I'm happy that the word "accountant" isn't actually printed on the pedal. I don't think I could deal with that kind of a reminder.
2 - If I hate your distortion pedal, I probably like your compressor. I know I am in the minority of people who isn't a big fan of the Darkglass distortion pedals. However, I really do enjoy their compressor. I've also not been a big fan of the Barbershop sound clips that I've heard. It sounds too much like a kazoo when pushed. However, after just a few minutes of fiddling around, I think I'm really going to enjoy this pedal, too.
I was really hoping that I would like it more than the Darkglass, and it would be an easy decision which pedal to keep and which one to sell. It definitely isn't looking like it's a clear line winner. Instead, it seems to be a horse of a different color. While I do like the mix control and the LED meter on the Darkglass, I don't use any of the other knobs very much, nor notice any drastic effect when turning them. I like the way the Darkglass rolls off a little bit of the top end, and doesn't lose any of the bottom. The Accountant, on the other hand, does seem to have much more color to it. It has much more noticeable squish in certain settings. And in some settings, it seems like it almost gets cartoonishly weird sounding. Some of the distortion is kind of nice, but at some point it gets to be a little much. In the more subtle settings it seems to be a nice warm squishy pedal.
In the few minutes I've had playing with it, the thing that I've liked the most, is how much more natural and organic it makes my Spector Euro5LX Alex Webster sound. The pickups and preamp in that Spector are very modern aggressive sounding, and they can border on sounding a little sterile. Playing stuff that is more like classic rock or blues can often sound artificial with that bass. However, with the Accountant on, it sounds like it fits in much better.
Okay, back to playing
Obligatory pic:
View attachment 957602
How do you like your Alex Webster signature bass? I was looking at maybe getting one awhile ago
