BUILD QUALITY SOUND QUALITY VALUE
WHAT WE THINK
PLUS | A quality pedal that really hits
the mark. Solidly built and simple to use
MINUS | Some players might want to
have a few more controllable settings, and it’s not cheap
OVERALL | A fi ne piece of kit that
FX GUIDE
085
THE ULTIMATE BASS GUIDE
MSL Professional
www.mslprofessional.co.uk
APHEX BASS AURAL XCITER PRICE | £154
MADE IN | USA
CONTROLS | Lo-frequency boost,
lo-frequency selector, harmonics (instrument selector), hi-frequency boost, hi-frequency selector, ground lift
WEIGHT | 594g
DIMENSIONS | 165mm x 62mm x
122mm
POWER SUPPLY | 9V AC (UK plug
adapter not included)
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
BGM RATING
BUILD QUALITY SOUND QUALITY VALUE
PLUS | A strong performer that really
gives your signal a real kick in the pants
MINUS | The price might put some
players off, but it does what it says
OVERAL | Diffi cult to fault: this pedal is
really worth a try. Highly recommended
WHAT WE THINK
or a 9V battery, which is accessed via an easy-access plastic cover on the underside. Quarter-inch input/output jack sockets on either side are accompanied by a balanced DI socket on the rear, that also offers phantom power should your mixer offer that as an option.
An exciter is supposed to add depth and tightness to your tone while bringing harmonics and a degree of clarity to the fore, so the controls on offer are no surprise. The low frequency selector offers a range between 80 and 250Hz while the high frequencies range from 700Hz to 7kHz: both boost controls range from 1-10. The Harmonics control pinpoints a specifi c type of harmonic character to be affected by the controls, but despite being labelled Acoustic Guitar/Bass/Electric Guitar, don’t be fooled into thinking the Bass setting is the only useful one to us bassmeisters, as the other two settings throw up some interesting results.
Tested with several different basses, the results were equally impressive despite the different tonal characteristics of each instrument. Using a couple of active
basses that have fl exible EQ systems, the pedal beefed up the underlying bass response while smoothing out the top end. Interestingly, although there is no mid-frequency control, you can affect the low and high-midrange by turning the lo-frequency control up to full, the hi-frequency control to its minimum setting and then adjusting the boost controls as required until you fi nd a sweet spot. Using the pedal with a passive Precision, the natural tone was drastically improved and offered the player a very distinct change from the natural tone and signal. The midrange bark was tightened up in a positive way while the top and bottom sounded almost supercharged, giving the Precision a modern tone while retaining its classic characteristics. The low end sounded smooth and subtle, with a greater degree of note articulation. Slap players will certainly fi nd a use for this pedal on their pedalboards, as it manages to raise the low frequencies without necessarily raising the signal level, making slaps and thumps sound more transparent and focused while D and G-string plucks have greater warmth.
Switching between the vanilla signal of each bass and the affected signal, the differences were quite startling as it radically improves the sonic detail of your playing. Be in no doubt, this pedal may well offer a sonic nirvana for players looking for that missing something in their tone. Actually, it’s so effective and sounds so good, that you may fi nd yourself unable to turn it off. Some players might look at the pricetag and think that it’s quite a lot of money for a tone shaping pedal – but we reckon it could be a very worthy investment indeed.
BASS GUITAR MAGAZINE PRESENTS…
086
FX GUIDE
‘DRIVE LIKE THE WIND, BILLY!’ SAYS MIKE BROOKS OF
SHEEHAN’S ACE NEW STOMPBOX
EBS
www.ebssweden.com ● www.soundtech.co.uk
he quest for the ideal distorted bass tone may well be over; power, clarity and brute force in a box. Read on!
Whether you’re a fan of Billy Sheehan’s playing or not, his main playing tones are instantly recognisable: for years, his distorted tones have come courtesy of preamps designed by Dan Pearce back in Buffalo, New York. The fact that said preamps sell for astronomical fi gures on the second- hand market reveals the demand for them among bassists. Although his new EBS unit is not a direct copy of those preamps, the Signature Drive is obviously close enough in terms of performance, functionality and tonal delivery for Billy to be happy with it.
EBS’s build quality is still second to none, and as a signature pedal (much like the Stanley Clarke Wah pedal), it comes in a custom colour fi nish, in this case purple. The layout is effi ciently simple, with fi ve controls on the front plate: Drive (sets the amount of gain/drive, becoming grittier the more you add), Tone (determines a low to high midrange scoop), Level (sets the level of the driven signal before compression), Clean (sets the level for the clean signal before compression) and Compression (switchable between off, mid (+3dB gain) and high (+6dB gain)). Two additional trim controls reside on the circuit board which can be adjusted with a small Phillips screwdriver: these set the threshold level for compression, and the amount of compression added to the Mid setting.
The inclusion of Loop paths for both the Clean and Drive signals allows the player to add any further effect or processing units to their signal chain in order to fi ne- tune their overall sound. Some players might think this is over-egging the pudding, but considering the effort to
PRICE | £179 MADE IN | China
CONTROLS | Drive, Tone, Level, Clean,
Compression (off, mid, high), Threshold and Compression trim dials (under back plate)
WEIGHT | 480 grams DIMENSIONS | 115mm x 90mm x
35mm
Power supply|9V AC (UK plug adaptor not included)
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
BGM RATING
PLUS | Quite possibly the best bass
distortion pedal on the market. Top quality, strong performance, intuitive and fl exible. Don’t be put off by its rock connotations, many a player could benefi t by adding this to their FX arsenal
MINUS | It’s not cheap but you
get what you pay for, it really does deliver great bass distortion.
OVERAL | |Highly recommended,
other pedal manufacturers will have to go some way to beat this. Billy and EBS have come up with the goods
WHAT WE THINK
BUILD QUALITY SOUND QUALITY VALUE
which some players have gone to replicate Billy’s sound, and a look at Billy’s rack during Mr Big’s heyday, this box is doing its utmost to replicate the Sheehan sound in as uncomplicated a fashion as possible.
Down to business… Using a couple of different basses and a standard 4x10 cab set-up, EBS should be congratulated on producing a plug-and-play unit that delivers on its promise. Bass distortion has always been a frequency-sapper, but the ability to keep the clean signal to maintain a decent level of bottom end is the winning factor. The distortion itself is outstanding for an effects unit without any tubes in place, and the compression is truly the icing on the cake, offering two distinctive settings for those who need even more projection to cut through, whether playing down and dirty holding the band together or soloing up the dusty end of the neck.
Moving over to a Yamaha Attitude bass and a two amp/ two cab set-up to try and replicate Mr Sheehan a little further, there is no doubt that Billy’s set-up and signal chain is what it is – but the EBS unit takes that and wraps