Minireviews - the new EHX (bass food, bad stone, good vibes)
Posted: Sun May 31, 2015 8:51 am
Yo I got some of the new EHX line for reviews. Decided to write something here as well
Bass Soul Food
Ok, we all know the mojo bullshit etc. But this is a surprisingly nice OD that can go from subtle hint of overdrive (similar to that nice overdrive you might get from vintage bass amps) to pretty agressive OD sound. I'd still call it low to mid gain, BUT due to the blend control, you can dime the gain and treble to get a pretty damn agressive tone and just mix it a bit lower in order to still sound great. Because on it's own it gets a bit too harsh even for me, not NICE you know... the Blend opens up a lot of possibilities and I think even guitar players that like to get a bit creative with stacking and blending shit might really enjoy this one. On lower gain/treble settings it keeps the low ends pretty nice, the way I see the Blend here is not to necessarily to be sure you don't lose low end (to be honest... some pedals are like that) but that you can go more over the top on the distortion and get just a wider palette of sounds I guess. Decent value for the money, however it doesn't really scream "character" and it's probably more interesting for the meat and potatoes type players.
TL;DR: surprisingly decent sound and value for the money, a bit bland but completely usable
Bad Stone
I was pretty stoked to discover they are reissuing this one. The manual notch switch is pretty awesome and get's nicely throaty, if you like to filter stuff, this is quite an interesting option! The "auto" side, aka normal phaser, is quite interesting. Even on the lower feedback settings it feels more watery and chewy than your standard Small Stone. Less smooth, bit more pronounced and funky, not as subtle. The feedback slowly increases this prominence, however, the last notch on the imaginary range is fucked up and makes this a bit bitter - there's a massive increase of noise on the maximum feedback setting. Consulted with Scruffie - this is supposedly a pretty normal quirk of the circuit. More like... Sad Stone... Bummer
The Rate is also pretty awesome, can get quite slow, BUT what's more important, it gets a bit vibrato-y or vibe-y in the faster speeds. I feel it's a quite unique, at least in comparison to the standard Small Stone, pretty inspiring. Of course the Rate can go to those traditional EHX unusable shitsounding rates, but most of the range is pretty great on pretty much any Feedback setting. Also really cool with bass!
TL;DR: Less subtle but more unique sounding than the Small Stone. Noisy extreme Feedback settings, otherwise nice, chewy phaser with a great notch filter type thing, cool with both guitar and bass
Good Vibes
Not sure what to thing about this one. No only are the extreme settings shit sounding and sort of unsuable, it goes into the sharp and thin wave shape way too soon already around/after noon. Some settings are really nice, but it's all about finding a sweet spot on the Intensity and then there's not much more you can really do with it. The overall tone feels rather bright, but I guess that's alright. Not much of a vibe man, but I did find some pretty nice sounds. And compared to the usual vibe price range I guess a) you get what you pay for and b) it's not bad as an "entry level" vibe
TL;DR: A bit of a one trick pony due to most of the Intensity range pretty unusable. Bright tone. Decent price
I hope I'll get to try the nex XO Mistress as well. Might report back when I do
Bass Soul Food
Ok, we all know the mojo bullshit etc. But this is a surprisingly nice OD that can go from subtle hint of overdrive (similar to that nice overdrive you might get from vintage bass amps) to pretty agressive OD sound. I'd still call it low to mid gain, BUT due to the blend control, you can dime the gain and treble to get a pretty damn agressive tone and just mix it a bit lower in order to still sound great. Because on it's own it gets a bit too harsh even for me, not NICE you know... the Blend opens up a lot of possibilities and I think even guitar players that like to get a bit creative with stacking and blending shit might really enjoy this one. On lower gain/treble settings it keeps the low ends pretty nice, the way I see the Blend here is not to necessarily to be sure you don't lose low end (to be honest... some pedals are like that) but that you can go more over the top on the distortion and get just a wider palette of sounds I guess. Decent value for the money, however it doesn't really scream "character" and it's probably more interesting for the meat and potatoes type players.
TL;DR: surprisingly decent sound and value for the money, a bit bland but completely usable
Bad Stone
I was pretty stoked to discover they are reissuing this one. The manual notch switch is pretty awesome and get's nicely throaty, if you like to filter stuff, this is quite an interesting option! The "auto" side, aka normal phaser, is quite interesting. Even on the lower feedback settings it feels more watery and chewy than your standard Small Stone. Less smooth, bit more pronounced and funky, not as subtle. The feedback slowly increases this prominence, however, the last notch on the imaginary range is fucked up and makes this a bit bitter - there's a massive increase of noise on the maximum feedback setting. Consulted with Scruffie - this is supposedly a pretty normal quirk of the circuit. More like... Sad Stone... Bummer
The Rate is also pretty awesome, can get quite slow, BUT what's more important, it gets a bit vibrato-y or vibe-y in the faster speeds. I feel it's a quite unique, at least in comparison to the standard Small Stone, pretty inspiring. Of course the Rate can go to those traditional EHX unusable shitsounding rates, but most of the range is pretty great on pretty much any Feedback setting. Also really cool with bass!
TL;DR: Less subtle but more unique sounding than the Small Stone. Noisy extreme Feedback settings, otherwise nice, chewy phaser with a great notch filter type thing, cool with both guitar and bass
Good Vibes
Not sure what to thing about this one. No only are the extreme settings shit sounding and sort of unsuable, it goes into the sharp and thin wave shape way too soon already around/after noon. Some settings are really nice, but it's all about finding a sweet spot on the Intensity and then there's not much more you can really do with it. The overall tone feels rather bright, but I guess that's alright. Not much of a vibe man, but I did find some pretty nice sounds. And compared to the usual vibe price range I guess a) you get what you pay for and b) it's not bad as an "entry level" vibe
TL;DR: A bit of a one trick pony due to most of the Intensity range pretty unusable. Bright tone. Decent price
I hope I'll get to try the nex XO Mistress as well. Might report back when I do
... thanks anyway