I rarely start NPD threads but this thing is very special and I just want to share my experience.
I must specify that I don't have any affiliation with ss/bs, I was intrigued by the demos I've seen on YouTube and just ordered it from a german shop to kill the time during this damn pandemic.
It can be used as a clean-ish boost, EQ, overdrive, distortion and fuzz.
It's not very coloured, it keeps your tone and your low end pretty intact, so it's not ideal if you're looking for something that adds a specific character to your tone.
It just enhance harmonics and add gain in a very "raw" way, if you know what I mean. It's not hard to make it sound too harsh or too muffled (especially direct into a DI), you must understand how the knobs interact with each other to use it properly, which is really easy to do by the way.
The EQ is not extremely dramatic, but it works perfectly to balance the frequencies that can be altered depending on how much gain you're adding. Getting a great tone quickly, at any setting, is really easy.
The gain knob is the most impressive, imho. From 7 o'clock to around 12/1 o'clock you have some kind of a neutral light to medium overdrive.
With the gain on 0% you can use it as a boost and/or EQ, but there's not too much output volume on tap with this setting.
If you raise the gain up to around 9 o'clock you get a lot more volume and just a little bit of grit, depending on the bass you're using. It's perfect as a dirty boost for solos or some kind of "dirt channel", which is one of the things I like to do with it.
Around 2 o'clock it starts to get into distortion territory and it sounds huge. I'm not a heavy metal guy but man... this thing sounds so mean, so crispy. Using the EQ you can tame or accentuate frequencies, changing the overall tone more drastically. I'd say the EQ's range is wider at high gain settings, especially the treble control.
Finally, with the gain cranked it touches fuzz territory and using the gate control you can go from classic fuzz to synthy gated tones. I've placed mine right after my Octabvre Mini and before my Iron Ether Xerograph and it does THAT thing just perfectly. That's another thing I like to do with this pedal.
Using the gate control on lower gain settings opens a new world of combinations. Lots of different tones available.
In conclusion, it has the ability to generate exactly the sounds I have in my mind.
I guess it's just my thing. It's a fantastic pedal for sure.
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