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Source Audio Aftershock alternatives.

#22
Nicholas Smith said:
Now, I don’t know which to consider. The Aftershock sounds good but there’s all these others by SA that can do the same thing.
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There are bass-specific presets on the Aftershock and guitar-specific ones on the LA Lady and Kingmaker, but you can load them all interchangeably using the Neuro app editor. Also the Aftershock is the only one they comes standard with a blend knob.

I’ve never tried the Kingmaker as I’m not a fan of fuzz on bass, but the Aftershock is my favorite drive pedal. Even if you don’t use the app, the stock sounds on the LA Lady work perfectly well for bass, in my experience.
 
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#24
Nicholas Smith said:
I have their Nemesis pedal.
It has just too many features for my needs. Might sell it eventually for something simpler. Only wanted analog delay and high quality reverse feature on that pedal and yet there’s all these extra noises that are fun and probably fun to make for the manufacturers but it’s over kill for me.

I simply record at home and want truly killer analog sounding distortion without all these excessive programmable bits. For some these might be awesome, but I have no need to craft my songs using that stuff. Just takes too long.
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This comment makes me think that you may not want the Aftershock. The pedal is heavily dependent upon the Neuro app for functionality but the app is fairly overwhelming in what it provides.

The saving grace for me is that there are a lot of community provided presets to choose from to start with. Otherwise I would be pretty miserable with it because I don’t like fiddling with my bass and an app and trying to guess how the tweaks would sound in a mix, etc.

But the three pedals can do exactly the same thing through the app: they’ve just got a default interface/knobs/distortion if you don’t override that preset.
 
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#25
InkCow said:
This comment makes me think that you may not want the Aftershock. The pedal is heavily dependent upon the Neuro app for functionality but the app is fairly overwhelming in what it provides.

The saving grace for me is that there are a lot of community provided presets to choose from to start with. Otherwise I would be pretty miserable with it because I don’t like fiddling with my bass and an app and trying to guess how the tweaks would sound in a mix, etc.

But the three pedals can do exactly the same thing through the app: they’ve just got a default interface/knobs/distortion if you don’t override that preset.
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If I don’t go with the Aftershock, what alternatives are there (not source audio) that don’t need an app, same small form factor and killer pre installed grit and fuzz and distortion and over drive etc?
 
#29
Nicholas Smith said:
If I don’t go with the Aftershock, what alternatives are there (not source audio) that don’t need an app, same small form factor and killer pre installed grit and fuzz and distortion and over drive etc?
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Well there’s no free lunch, unfortunately. Something like the Aftershock will give you versatility in a small form factor at the expense of simplicity.

Otherwise you’re going to have to choose the specific clipping that you’re going for. Maybe something like the Way Huge Pork and Pickle is a reasonable compromise with a choice of distortions in a manageable form factor.

The Wetter Bass YouTube channel just did a shootout of scores of distortions at various price points which might help you (or make things harder!).
 
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#30
Nicholas Smith said:
If I don’t go with the Aftershock, what alternatives are there (not source audio) that don’t need an app, same small form factor and killer pre installed grit and fuzz and distortion and over drive etc?
Click to expand...

I personally think you will be hard pressed to find a single box that does what you're looking for. One thing you can do is download the editor and have a look at the factory and community presets. They are super easy to load and you can access six presets pretty effortlessly when using the pedal. I have a metric s-ton of dirt pedals and the Aftershock is the reason half of them stay on the shelf and not on the board. Yes, it can take a little bit of effort, but the AF doesn't require anywhere near the amount of deep diving that the Nemesis does.

Full disclosure: I have a large board dedicated to the Source Audio ecosystem. I don't always use it, but I doubt I will ever part with it.
 
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#31
We have tried to make this simple, but it still seems to be confusing. This is my response to the question. Note my bias. :)
1) I want to have 3 great/different sounds in small format with a mix/blend knob and never touch a computer/phone. Check.
2) I want the option to browse a huge library of sounds that others have created with ease and put them on my pedal if I like them more than the 3 stock sounds. I might only do this once and never again. Check.
3) I love to tweak and create my own sounds and I want a powerful editor. Check.

There a few small pedals that do #1 well.
There are no other small pedals that do #2 at all.
There are no other small pedals that do #3 at all.

And that is why Aftershock is one of our most successful pedals ever.
 
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#32
@Nicholas Smith I just got a pirateship quote from Wisconsin to the UK and it was just under $30 for USPS international. If you play your cards right, you could probably snag one from the classifieds for under $140 shipped. Better yet, offer to send the seller a prepaid label.
 
#33
davedamage said:
@Nicholas Smith I just got a pirateship quote from Wisconsin to the UK and it was just under $30 for USPS international. If you play your cards right, you could probably snag one from the classifieds for under $140 shipped. Better yet, offer to send the seller a prepaid label.
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Well, I’ve been looking about for the cheapest deal I can find, but as I’ve been unsuccessful so far, I’ve started looking at different pedals.
One doesn’t have to have any pedals really as Logic can do it all, but I come from a live band culture so it’s nice to tweak dials etc. still think I might get rid of the Nemesis. Just too much going on. Don’t want the same mess to manage with the Aftershock…
 
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#36
Just to throw a little more love toward the SA options. First of all, to put it another way, all the pedals in the Dirty Trinity (Aftershock, LA Lady, Kingmaker) provide a specific, right-out-of-the-box experience that matches their name/focus (bass/gtr/fuzz, respectively). You can take any one of those pedals and make it into the other ones by just spending a few moments in the Neuro App. But further, you can customize the pedal to your tastes and then never deal with the app again, if you want. I have an LA Lady, and it's the most versatile drive I have.

The EQ's within the SA drive pedals are worth a big shoutout. So much of drive's character comes from the EQ going in and coming out. Analog pedals might only have tone, or Treble/Bass, or sometimes Treble/Mid/Bass. I really love how I can tailor the personality of the drive with the filters, 4-band parametric, and voicing controls.

Out of curiosity, I just took a look at the non-yet-released Zoom MS-200D+ pedal which has 200 distortions (164 of which are not emulations, but new Zoom creations). However, even a slightly closer look and I couldn't find any reference to EQ at all. Hard pass.
 
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#37
You probably will not be into this, but I just went with a Walrus Audio 385 MkII that has two settings and a boost that can be set up, as well, for extra gain.

I like the fact that it can go the full spectrum from OD to Distortion to Fuzzz with it's own character to it. A film projector tube amp in a box? I also have a sweet tube emulation on my Laney Digbeth DB500H that is footswitch selectable I/O and sounds better than any actual tube preamp I've ever dealt with!

Get out there and really checkout as much stuff as you can. I stumbled onto this 385 wanting to hear how it sounded on a guitar...
 
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