“Ultimate control” over your bass overdrive tones, and your entire backline in a pedal? Ashdown has lofty aims for its latest bass stompboxes
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Endorsed by the likes of Geezer Butler, John Myung and Nate Mendel, Ashdown has a reputation for high-end bass amplification, and the company's new Pro-DI pedal seeks to further enhance that reputation, offering a comprehensive range of features.
For most bass players, the idea of purchasing a DI pedal is probably not too high on the list of essentials but, if you want confidence over the control of your sound, live or in the studio, they can be a valuable addition to your setup.
Bassists who enjoy a chunk of crunch in their tone will also be delighted to hear that the UK company has also added a new distortion pedal to its catalogue of bass-specific stompboxes. The Triple Shot has been designed to combat that age-old problem of drive pedals that remove your bottom end at the flick of a switch, causing your band to assume you’ve fallen off the stage.
It’s based on a super high-gain bass overdrive, and splits your signal into three distinct frequency bands labelled Dark, Medium and Light.
The key to the pedal’s flexibility are the three Roast controls, which control the level of each frequency band. What this means is that you can tailor the overall response of the pedal to your own tastes by reducing or increasing the mix of high- or low-end content.
With all three Roast controls set anticlockwise, the Triple Shot acts as a simple EQ. Bump the controls past 12 o’clock and you can expect anything from a “light tickle” in the midrange to full-on overdrive. Ashdown’s hardy construction also comes as standard, along with its trademark retro VU meter.
The Pro DI Pedal is a compact unit designed with the touring bassist in mind. The brief, Ashdown tell us, is to replicate the professional-grade performance of their ABM, MAG, and Rootmaster bass amps in a pedal. Ashdown has made the most of the stompbox format by adding a five-band EQ, a transformer-isolated DI output and a tube-emulated overdrive complete with level and gain controls.
You also get plenty of other options such as an input sensitivity pad with a -3dB cut for use with active instruments, a line input with a dedicated Line Mix control, ground lift and headphone output.
The Pro-DI retails at £299, or about $362 depending on how close to total breakdown the UK economy is as you read this. The Triple Shot is currently listed at £199 (approx $241).
Head over to ashdownmusic for more information.
