THE CURRENT STATE OF SMALL-TOmid- size pedal builders seems like a parallel to bands and online music delivery: Not long ago, a few big corporations held all product and channels of distribution.

THESE DAYS NEARLY EVERY WORKING bass player knows about Markbass amps— they’re our little Italian friends that allow us to lug 500 watts or more to our gigs in a small shoulder bag or compact combo.

E.W.S.’S UPDATED TAKE ON THE discontinued Xotic Tri-Logic Bass Preamp, the Tri-Logic Bass Preamp II, is an active 3-band EQ with 20dB of boost.

WITH THE RELEASE OF ITS INNOVATIVE Multiwave Bass Distortion (see Soundroom, March 2010) and Hot Hand motioncontrolled expression devices, Source Audio has really been throwing its weight around on the stompbox playground.

WHETHER IT’S TO COP HERBIE Hancock’s righteously rotund subhook on “Chameleon,” the fabulously filthy stank of Parliament’s “Flashlight,” or the deliciously deep low-end licks of Stevie Wonder, the funkier among us have long sought the wicked tones wielded by our synth-brandishing brethren.

This space has been reserved for rock and metal stylings for a few months now, but I want to get into something more universal.

DEMETER’S NEW COMPULATOR PRO IS essentially the same as the Compulator reviewed in September ’03 with a few small additions. Those familiar with the older version of this pedal can still count on a ton of warmth, transparency, and useable

HAVING SPENT THE LAST 15 YEARS building a solid reputation for its bass heads and cabinets, Aguilar Amplification has begun to broaden its product line to include stompboxes. Aguilar’s Octamizer and TLC Compressor are the latest addition to hit the streets, joining the company’s outboard preamp/DI, the Tone Hammer.

IT’S BEEN SEVEN YEARS SINCE BOSS introduced bassists to the GT-6B, a low-frequency version of its popular guitar multieffect extravaganza. Since that time, we’ve met its less expensive kissing cousins, the ME-20B and ME-50B (Soundroom, June ’04), and its more robust relative, the GT- 6B (Soundroom, June ’02). All three processors provide players with a host of effects to tweak and manipulate, so what does the latest iteration add to our arsenal? In short, improved sounds and a more intuitive interface. Since the GT-10B shares many features with its predecessors, I’ll limit my comments to a couple of the newest and most notable features of the unit.