Product: Ashdown LoMenzo Bass Hyper Drive
Price Paid: GBP 49
Submitted
03/16/2009
at
10:58am
by
Les Miserable
Ease of Use
:
10
This pedal is, as we say in Bermondsey, London, the dogs b@llocks. The best fifty quid I've spent on musical gear.
It's easy to get excellent sounds out of it and easy to tweak them to room acoustics.
Manual is easy - see also the Lomenzo video on youtube also
Sound Quality
:
10
Fender precision (1982 Di Marzio PUPS) or Jazz Bass (GTS pups) or Ricky into Mark Bass Little Mark II into a Mark Bass 2x10 cab.
Silent, true bypass, this effect is about as good as they come. I use it to simulate a Hiwatt/Marshall slightly driven bass sound. You can use it for fuzz but the sound of premium tubes is what I bought it for.
The sweep function is amazing - I occasionally, if I have transport and roadies, use a two amps with a crossover (like Chris Squire, amongst others) this pedal enables me to get virtually the same effect for 1% the weight.
Reliability
:
10
It's made of heavy metal, seems to be modelled on the early Trace pedals - of which I have the dual band compressor. That was smashed by a falling bass drum which neatly severed the input jack, and buggered the socket but after repair is as good as new. That was a very freak accident, you could throw this at the drummer and even if you missed and hit a roadie in the head it would damage neither.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Never dealt with Ashdown even when I used their amps - have a good reputation
Overall Rating
:
10
I play everything, this pedal is great for giving you a hot tube sound (like Kai from Hard-Fi) or fuzz or just for exciting the sound - which is what Lomenzo does. I have been playing for years and years and, quite frankly, waiting for a pedal like this to come along.
Compared it to Dave Hall boutique pedals - good but totally different sound and not what I was looking for.
It was remarkably cheap too at reverb sound (??49 new) in the UK - well worth the postage to the US if you're having difficulty finding one at a decent price.
I have now ordered two more pedals in the series.
