Ancient Mariner Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 (edited) I thought it was worth separating this from the Mooer pedals thread. I my last order to WTF accessories I ordered 3 of the Tech 21 clones: American sound, British sound & California sound - the counterpaerts (more or less) of the Blonde, British and [s]US metal [/s]California pedals. I want these for recording guitar, and having given them a quick try, I think they'll be good for that, but the American sound pedal also has a sweet fatness that made me wonder if it would work for bass, run in front of the amp. Well, the answer is that - to my ears at least - it works brilliantly. With the voice knob at 9 o'clock, max level and gain adjusted for unity, bass & mids 12 o'clock, treble at 11 it changes my rather thin and clangy Jazz into something huge and fat, with a beautiful smoothness. The tone controls are very powerful, and with small tweaks I could vary the sound a lot. There's also a lot of drive available, although it gets a bit thin and buzzy to my ears, although it does get a little synthy. Thomann have these at about £25 too. Worth a try I reckon. Edited December 8, 2012 by Ancient Mariner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mart Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 Interesting. I might try putting my bass through my blonde pedal and see how that sounds. For guitar I found the drive gets quite rough in the last third of its range; sounds like the clone has copied this feature! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Hughes Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 +1 for the American Sound pedal. I've found this to be my most satisfying overdrive pedal. I've previously owned an EBS MultiDrive, Tech 21 Sansamp Bass Driver and Leeds pedals, a Wren&Cuff Phat Phuk B, an Ashdown LoMenzo HyperDrive and a few others that I can't remember right now. The £25 American Sound shouldn't be as good as it is, but it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancient Mariner Posted December 9, 2012 Author Share Posted December 9, 2012 Now that's interesting. The overdrive seemed a bit buzzy to me, but I've not got my head around overdrive with bass yet - seems fundamentally wrong, like taking a fat old lady and dressing her up in leather and chains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mart Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 [quote name='Ancient Mariner' timestamp='1355064542' post='1893532'].... like taking a fat old lady .... [/quote] Er, I think you need to buy yourself a new bass, mate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancient Mariner Posted December 9, 2012 Author Share Posted December 9, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancient Mariner Posted December 9, 2012 Author Share Posted December 9, 2012 I tried the California tonight with guitar. That's probably the most gain I've ever had from a pedal - pretty crazy, though it sounded great with the gain backed off a bit and could work really well for solos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wooks79 Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 Can't see them on thomann, do you have a link please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mart Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 It'll presumably be these: http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_american_truetone.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wooks79 Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 [quote name='mart' timestamp='1355088372' post='1893940'] It'll presumably be these: http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_american_truetone.htm [/quote] Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 great pedal ! i use mine all the time for DI-ing guitar, had a quick bash at bass through it....but i may revist that seing what people are saying ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrismuzz Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 I need to stop reading these inexpensive overdrive pedal threads... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancient Mariner Posted December 10, 2012 Author Share Posted December 10, 2012 [quote name='mart' timestamp='1355088372' post='1893940'] It'll presumably be these: [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_american_truetone.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...an_truetone.htm[/url] [/quote] That is indeed Neo (the one). I half wish I'd bought the ACtone too, and have the set, but I've read very mixed reports of both the Joyo/HB and Tech 21 versions and despite owning a Vox AC30 I'm not a fan of the sound these days (gets used on EVERYTHING now). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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