NPD Rodenberg LDP Boost and Overdrive

I’m still in the first impressions stage, but I really like this device. It won’t change your life or revolutionize your tone, but it might rock you out.

It’s very attractive, and that matters to me. The character of the overdrive is very amp-like. My reference for “amp-like” would be a vintage Traynor YBA-1.

The boost has a nice sonic depth, I found some settings that have a scooped feel, but without sacrificing the mids.
At this point I can hear some saying, “why bother?” Here’s why.
The signal flow and gain stages in this design offer many options and variations in tone. The clean boost is before the Overdrive, not parallel, not a blend, but a feeder. I appreciate a good clean blend as much as the next player, but there is also some thing admirable about deciding, this circuit doesn’t need a blend, it’s going to maintain the character of a bass guitar. The LDP achieves this.
There is a Deep toggle for both the boost and the OD. I find it very useful, as it doesn’t go over the top. Engaging the Deep switch doesn’t introduce massive overpowering low end, but rather a solid, noticeable nudge, easy to integrate.
There is a Gain Boost for both the Clean and OD. It says +20 but it doesn’t feel that big. Noticeable but easy to integrate. The boost on the Clean side makes it louder, the Boost on the OD side makes it more distorted.
The clean boost works wonderfully as a stand alone EQ/character/level tool, or as another gain stage in the OD. Between the Tone pot, Deep switch, Level pot, and gain toggle, on both sides, there is a wide range of sonic sculpting available. All of it falls within the realm of amp-like, but many paths to explore.
The build is very solid, love the layout and controls. This is my first interaction, but Ulrich seems like a very cool guy, almost Canadian.

 

It’s on long term loan to my daughter’s boyfriend. I had/have excessive preamp syndrome, and he is starting to learn bass. I have no complaints with the LDP, it just drew the short straw for the give away.