Industrial Radio MIDI Bass
Bass players have long dreamed of a bass
guitar that outputs reliable, pitch-accurate
MIDI. With such a bass, a universe of opportunity
awaits. Various manufacturers, to varying
degrees of success, have tried to conquer this
significant engineering challenge. Next to the
plate? The Industrial Radio MIDI bass. The
technology looks promising (check out the
website for an in-depth description), and I dig
the high-end touches, like the Nordstrand Big
Split pickups.
Price TBD
Contact www.industrialradio.com
Aguilar Octamizer
After dipping its toe in the stompbox water with its
DI/Overdrive Tone Hammer pedal, Aguilar is sticking its
whole foot in with its latest pedal, the Octamizer. The
analog octave features independent volume controls
for the dry and octave sounds, a full-spectrum tilt EQ
for balancing the bass-to-treble ratio, and a multipole
low-pass filter for tailoring the octave’s tone.
Price $159
Contact www.aguilaramp.com
Barefaced Cabinets
British cab builders Barefaced are
all about lightweight, big tone.
Their neo-driver-loaded cabs feature
a rugged textured coating
and large, well-braced cabinetry.
To maximize output volume,
Barefaced emphasizes their cabinets’
high speaker sensitivity.
Price Varies with configuration
Contact www.barefacedbass.com
SWR Black Beauty
Much like what SWR recently did with
its Redhead 2x10 combo, the new Black
Beauty is a major freshening of a venerable
1x15 combo. The 400-watt (650
watts with an optional extension cabinet)
Black Beauty includes a 12AX7
tube in the preamp, a Subwave octave
effect, and an array of cool features, like
extensive EQ and a robust DI output.
Price $1,200
Contact www.swrsound.com
EBS MetalDrive
The eigth addition to EBS’ venerable
Black Label series of
stompboxes is for players seeking
huge bowel-bursting distortion.
Developed from a
MultiDrive modded for
Disturbed bassist John Moyer,
the true-bypass MetalDrive has
three different distortion types
and a simple two-knob layout.
Price $199
Contact www.ebs.bass.se
Guyatone Mighty Micros
Guyatone’s latest Mighty Micro stompboxes pack an extraordinary amount of
sonic mayhem into an impressively tiny package, without compromising
durability or construction quality. Their aluminum chassis features a toploaded
“no tools” battery compartment, top-mounted jacks for saving space
on a pedalboard, and mechanical true-bypass switching. The new effects
include the analog MCm5 Micro Chorus, the STm5 Compressor/Sustainer, the
envelope controlled SVm5 Slow Volume, and the TZm5 Torrid Fuzz.
Price From $136–$161
Contact www.guyatone.com