dannybuoy Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 (edited) I don't see these discussed much on here or Talkbass lately, and it looks like they may have ceased production. Their website is down and their last Facebook post was from last May... Anybody around here have one? I've got a custom made Bass Drive pedal that I've had for a few years. Note complete lack of power socket and mechanical on/off indicator! I hadn't played it for ages because I always thought it was too dark sounding and muddy, but I just tried using it again with a buffer in front (either a Boss ODB-3 in bypass or SFX Thumpinator does the job) and it sounds incredible. Really warm, smooth, bass-heavy overdrive that doesn't fart out when you dig in. It can even get into fuzz territory with the gain maxed. It does a pretty good impression of a pushed tube amp, along the lines of the Catalinbread SFT or Fuzzrocious Dark Driving. Of course, if you play a passive bass, you'll still need a powered pedal in front to get the best out of it! Edited February 28, 2014 by dannybuoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tayste_2000 Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted February 28, 2014 Author Share Posted February 28, 2014 I posted on their Facebook page yesterday and it turns out the builder is currently on a break due to family issues but hopes to resume building pedals in the future. Check out some of their more recent creations: https://www.facebook.com/CavePassivePedals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razze06 Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 WANT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 They look sick! Chrome! Steampunk! Truckstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abc Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 Will they have a proper website again in the foreseeable future? I don't have a facebook account and think that limits what i can see on theirs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abc Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 [quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1393528747' post='2381563'] I don't see these discussed much on here or Talkbass lately, and it looks like they may have ceased production. Their website is down and their last Facebook post was from last May... Anybody around here have one? I've got a custom made Bass Drive pedal that I've had for a few years. Note complete lack of power socket and mechanical on/off indicator! I hadn't played it for ages because I always thought it was too dark sounding and muddy, but I just tried using it again with a buffer in front (either a Boss ODB-3 in bypass or SFX Thumpinator does the job) and it sounds incredible. Really warm, smooth, bass-heavy overdrive that doesn't fart out when you dig in. It can even get into fuzz territory with the gain maxed. It does a pretty good impression of a pushed tube amp, along the lines of the Catalinbread SFT or Fuzzrocious Dark Driving. Of course, if you play a passive bass, you'll still need a powered pedal in front to get the best out of it! [/quote] Would you be able/willing to post sound clips of your pedal? I am rather interested in this passive thing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted March 8, 2014 Author Share Posted March 8, 2014 I've not got anything set up for recording at the moment, but I may get round to it someday! Tried it with an active SUB Ray4 yesterday and it sounds pretty good! This pedal definitely likes a buffered signal going into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 There are now integrated circuits that use tiny amounts of power. Passive circuits like these use a portion of the current from the input signal as the power source. Buffered sources (pedals or onboard pre-amps) are capable of providing much more current at their outputs, so it makes sense to use a buffer before a passive pedal. Although passive pedals have quite a high output impedance too, this shouldn't be a problem unless you are running a very long cable into your amp, or driving one or more always-connected lower input impedance devices such as vintage Electro Harmonix pedals. I hope that lot makes sense! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpr_musicman Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 There are murmurings of new designs coming out of cave. Check out their ozbass forum... http://www.ozbassforum.com/viewforum.php?f=35&sid=f38baee0c06d89606cae544ad8ac87d5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted May 24, 2014 Author Share Posted May 24, 2014 Thanks for posting! Trying to register on ozbass to see if he's up for a UK tour box! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slave Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 Heath said something over on OZbass, that the website was something he just never got time to maintain, so the facebrick was a better option for him. AFAIK, he's been a very busy fella working on new designs and such. RE: New pedal doing a tour, you could always ask? I've owned a few of Heath's pedals, they're great IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 (edited) [quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1394271800' post='2389698'] There are now integrated circuits that use tiny amounts of power. Passive circuits like these use a portion of the current from the input signal as the power source. [/quote] Is that really what he's doing, or are they just various combinations of more established passive circuitry (audio transformers, clipping diodes, inductors, RC circuits etc)? From the description of the pedals I'd have assumed the latter, but I haven't heard what the maker says about them. Edited June 4, 2014 by Beer of the Bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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