it sit nicely on top of the smooth and naturally clean tone of the rig.
Once I achieved the tone I was happy with,
I moved into further sonic exploration by
switching the toggle controls into various combinations. The left position of the Frequency
toggle seemed to let the natural high end of
the fuzz cut through a bit more than the right
position, which slightly rolled off the sharpness
of the effect. The tonal change resulting from
switching the Harmonic toggle back and forth
was much more evident. Some really trippy,
lo-fi tones with scooped mids can be coaxed
out of the pedal with the Harmonic switch
in the left position. When toggled right, the
switch coaxes the pedal into some utterly
bizarre, space-age tones with increased volume
and harmonics.
The key to getting a great sound out
of the Bass Octave is to approach it with
a conservative and “not-so-knob-happy”
attitude. Just a touch of drive will go a
long way with this pedal, so rely on your
fingering or pick attack for producing
subtle dynamics. All said, really pushing the
Drive control will give you some extremely
aggressive sounds, reminiscent of the opening dirge to King Crimson’s "Red," by bassist John Wetton. But if you’re in the mood
for adding fuzz as more of a texture, start
with lower settings and use different combinations of the Filter and Harmonic toggle
switches to find what you’re looking for.
The Verdict
Though gear companies traditionally
haven’t given bassists the amount of attention bestowed on guitarists, bassists have
had a few gems to call their own in the
past—such as the original Maestro Bass
Brassmaster. Like its predecessor, the
modern-day Black Cat Bass Octave Fuzz
produces a powerful, detailed, and—most
importantly—unique fuzz tone that harkens back to that famous bass grind of the
’70s. Though the pedal can be dialed back
and tamed, it’s not meant to be a smooth-sounding device, meaning these tones are
not for everybody. But that’s what made the
original Brassmaster pedals so popular in
the first place—tones that stand out from
the crowd.
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
Rating:
Buy If...
you’re in the market for a vintage
Brassmaster, but are shy on the
scratch it takes to get one.
Skip If...
you need a smooth, subtle overdrive.
Black Cat Pedals
Street $225
blackcatpedals.com
or use a mobile device to download
audio clips of the pedal at
CLICKHere…
premierguitar.com/jun2011
Strymon_Lex_PG.pdf 3/2/11 5:25:03 PM
• Faithful, Meticulous Rotary Speaker Algorithms • Adjustable Fast and Slow Speeds, Acceleration, Drive, Mic Distance, Cab Direction, Horn Level • Rotary Brake, Bi-Amping • Stereo Out • Expression Pedal Input • True Bypass
rotary
®
