EBS ValveDrive Class A Bass Tube Preamp/Overdrive Pedal

I'm not some kid with a Fender Squire P Bass who's hot on distortion. I'm a 45 year old live/recording bass player as well as an accomplished live sound engineer. I don't have an inflated view of my accomplishments or capabilities. I'm certainly not unique. I'm just giving some context so you can judge this review fairly. It's hard to wade through reviews on some sites. Most bass player shoppers are looking for a distortion pedal that sounds like the song Hysteria from the Muse album Absolution. Great sound! Every serious gigging bass player should have something like that on their pedal board and if that's what you're looking for then this EBS Valve Drive isn't it. Instead, check out the Malekko Barker Assmaster or the Big Muff. (Bass players are a dirty bunch when naming things aren't we?) This EBS ValveDrive pedal can shred with the best of them, don't get me wrong, but if that's all you're looking for you probably won't appreciate it more than a cheaper stomp box. Go to the EBS website and listen to the sound samples for this model. You'll appreciate the subtlety of tone in a preamp that sounds like a classic. It will define your sound, not just give you an effect to stomp. It's expensive the same way designer shoes are expensive. Owning a pair of $300 shoes impresses nobody but you and people who appreciate shoes. This is a designer preamp. It gives you a tone that musicians, engineers and producers will fawn over but the average listener will not likely notice till you turn it off. THAT my friend, is art. I was hesitant to spend $300 on a pedal especially when the mounting of the tube looked like a gimmick; a designer glow to make it look cool. It is worth every penny for it's added Vintage mode which gives an airier crunch. You get two distinct flavors of overdrive in one box. Most importantly, there is very little sacrifice on the low end with this pedal. Any amount of overdrive/distortion in a bass signal is bound to subtract some low end punch but this bad boy puts out as much low end as you want. Remember, EBS specializes in bass gear and they're passionate about bass tone. They're not just some division of a large corporation like most of the other pedal makers out there. I can't say enough about this pedal. It is now in my "indispensable" category. In retrospect, I would spend my money on this before any amp modeling unit. I own a POD X3 Live and now run it without bass amp modeling so the tone of this preamp shines through. I keep the X3 for volume, tuner, and sub octave effects.

I ordered a replacement and the same thing happened. Then I thought that I was doing something wrong, so I sent it to a technitian to got it repaired and had to pay extra for that. Fortunately after repairing it everithing is ok.

I am using this pedal as a valve preamp more than for the distortion effect and it makes a phenomenal differance to my ampeg solid state head. It has turned my $400 head into a $1400 head in terms of quality of tone and sound when using the vintage setting. I have played with the overdrive side as well and find that more than adequate.

I gig about 10 to 15 times a year and record quite often so you can say I am a serious hobbyist. I was looking for something to add warmth to my solid state amps while gigging and for something to put between my radial JDI and whatever the studios interface while recording. This unit fit the bill perfectly and overcame my expectations. Its nice it has two modes (vintage which is slightly more over driven than the modern or normal setting which is cleaner) which allows for quick switching on my pedalboard without having to tweak another overdrive/distortion unit. In the studio it is dead quiet. Its built like a tank and to top it off, it looks pretty badass. The only downside is its quite big which may be an issue for some people and is AC powered so you have to plug it in to the courtesy outlet of most DC pedalboard power supplies (I use a voodoo labs PP2+, great unit).

OMG this is like the silver bullet of peals! It turns the over bright sound of my cheap solid state bass amp into the fat warm sound of a quality valve amp. In vintage mode this is great for the blues / western swing / stax records sound I need for some of the bands I play with yet in normal mode I can dial in some roaring overdrive for contemporary rock and metal I was sceptical that a pedal with one valve could deliver so much but it does! This is not a cheap pedal and isn't for bedroom bassists, but for guys and gals who gig regularly and want the warmth and growl of an expensive (and frankly heavy) all valve amp, this is a must! Oh, and the glowing valve on a dark stage looks cool too!