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ElectroHarmonix BassBalls effect Review


Freuds_Cat
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This is a 1 knob, 1 switch unit, pretty simple to use.



Not a noisy unit but really only has 1 basic sound with a distorted version to the same sound as variation. I tried this with my 72 Jazz with active EMG's into Ampeg gear.
Reminds me of Bootsys solo sound on Govt Mules Deep End vol 1 album. You really dont get much else from it.
I'm into retro and acid rock sounds and it does one of those kinds of funky sounds but its not so great a sound that its worth spending more than about 20 quid on it.
On the question of if I would replace it if it died or was stolen then,If it died at a gig I'd probably throw it at the stage hand and tell him to file it under B.

Customer support from EH: Dunno, dont care. If it dies its in the bin.

I play Rock/classic rock/blues/funk etc etc
I've played for over 25 years, 10 for a living.
If it were stolen or lost I would probably order a beer and forget about it.
It was fun for 5 mins to jam along and have the same sound as Bootsy.
I picked it up cheap from ebay mostly out of curiosity.
I gotta say that the hype I've read about it falls a long way short for the money.

Its a bit of a novelty but seriously if you expect more than a funky novelty sound to use in a short solo out of this unit, dont bother.

My opinion is to spend more time effort and cash on your natural sound than worrying about 1 dimensional novelty sounds.

Sorry to be so negative about this. I am a fan of Mike Matthews and admire what he's done greatly, its just this unit doesn't do much for me.

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I bought one off a fellow BCer and it is kind of fun to use in the house but I found it a bit of a pain to use live as it is sensitive to string/note attack and in a live situation it's not so easy to tease out the nuances. I'll give it a bit longer before relegating it but it doesn't measure up the the EH Small Stone that I regularly use. Good fun and not useless but I'd agree that I'd not rush out to buy another if this were lost (which is the acid test really)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I had one of these back in the 80's. So insignificant was it's impact on me that I don't even recall what happened to it. I don't have it now, or for a long time ...so I can only conclude I gave it to some poor soul, who probably also can't recall where it went...

Don't waste your money buying this pile of worthless crapola.

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  • 1 month later...

I used my new (second hand) one for a gig last night.

It sounded awesome. Nice, simple to use pedal that adds a new dimension to your tone. Very usable live, but probably too one dimensional to really experiment with. It sure does bring the funk though!

What did you expect? Novelty pedal, sure, but the tone is 100% usable if not tweakable.

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I think I may have one of these from the 70s somewhere. Some one gave it to me thinking it was broken because it sounded so awful. I remember hearing its distinctive farrt sound when David J used one on a bauhaus song which surprised me at the time as it meant either it was supposed to sound like that or his was broken too. Mine might be up in the loft or may have gone in the bin...

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  • 3 years later...

I've had one for about 4 years now. I keep pulling it out when recording (given up on trying it in band cos it seems to provoke so much mirth) but I don't think I've evr actually used it to get something down. Maybe keyboards. Maybe.

Having said that, I had a good twiddle with the pots inside, ended up tuning them as low as they go and now it's pretty cool for stamping on into a big sustained chord - gives it a kind of evil stomach-churning wobble thing especially when s**t's all fuzzed up beforehand.

So, I didn't use it at all in its factory state, use it a little bit now, but I don't think I'll be taking it gigging. If it were lost I don't think I'd be too concerned, unfortunately.

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  • 3 years later...

I can agree with what's been said above, but I've had my sovtek Bassballs on my board for some time now; and while it's pretty harsh and one sided on it's own I really like how it works along side a fuzz or another complimentary pedal that can utilise the scoop sound but kill the shrillness of the attack. I'd be quite upset to lose my Bassballs, as it's widened my horizons as to what kind of fuzz/distortions I can use to make the bass sit a little higher in the mix when used with my Precision.
.

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