The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Bass Amps & Effects => Topic started by: Aussie Mark on November 25, 2009, 03:35:28 PM
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Just a heads up that there is a new Australian boutique pedal manufacturer building some really cool passive (ie. no batteries or power required) effects pedals for bass and guitar. I've just test driven their "Grunt" bass boost/overdrive pedal, and am impressed. Here's the review I wrote .....
http://musformation.com/2009/11/cave-passive-pedals-grunt-bass-overdrive-review.html
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Nicely done review. I have no idea what the market might be for something like this, guess we'll have to wait and see.
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Sounds like an interesting pedal, and different - I haven't run into one that changes character so much depending on the bass you connect to it.
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Very interesting indeed.
Can't listen to the WMA samples here at work (why doesn't he put MP3 samples on his site???)
I think you're right about the led light Mark.
Thanx for the heads up and review.
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Well done! Makes me want to buy one! Did he send you a check or least let you keep the one you tested? :)
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Me likes GRUNT! If that guy will post a schematic on his site, I'll build one for myself, that's for sure.
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Did he send you a check or least let you keep the one you tested? :)
After I did the review he let me keep the one I tested, and he asked me to be his test pilot on other pedals and new pedals under development. So, I'm kind of an endorsed artist now, if a few free pedals counts :-)
I'm under no obligation to write one-sided reviews - I told him I would tell it like it is, but if there are any really bad issues I will let him know before I go to print, to give him a chance to modify the pedal to address the issue.
The Grunt pedal is the real deal - he has them up on eBay at the moment ....
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220517416988&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
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Sounds like he's straight shooter - goodwill and positive word of mouth can't do anything but help him.
He's got himself kind of a small market place - is he working at being able to sell/ship to other areas?
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If you click the shipping and payments tab, it does show that he'll ship just about anywhere.
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Mmmm. I could have sworn that his listing showed shipping to only AU, NZ and Asia. I did click on the shipping and payments tab but perhaps I got throwm by red " calculator unavailable " line. Wouldn't be the first time I've suffered from severe HUA ;)
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I'm not much of a pedal guy but passive pedals sound like a great idea to me. Well written review BTW :)
Rick
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Now on Myspace ..... http://myspace.com/cavepassivepedals
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There are now some extra recordings on the website and Myspace of instrumental tunes featuring only these pedals. The tunes are well done and sound pretty cool.
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Great demo and great music :). Again, I'm not much of a pedal guy but I think Cave has really got something here. If they can make a passive boost, which in itself is kind of a contridiction of terms, it would be nice to see a passive built in preamp for electric acoustics.
My GK head has a 10db cut switch that works great with my ABG. What it does pretty much, is take away the power that the pre amp adds and it smoothes out the sound and cuts feedback issues way down.
Rick
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My recent review of the Cave Passive Pedals "Grunt" overdrive/boost pedal for bass certainly generated some spirited discussion on a number of forums. The Grunt has been on my pedal board for one gig, two rehearsals and a recording session so far, and I'm pleased to report that I'm still very happy with it. At the cover band gig I used the Grunt for the entire gig on the clean setting instead of a VT-Bass pedal, to give me a touch of grit whenever I dug in.
The second pedal that Cave sent me to test drive is the Octa-Bass, which is described at the Cave website ( http://www.cavepassivepedals.com.au/product.cfm?productcategory_id=10&product_id=71 ) in the following fashion - "This pedal gives your bass an “Octave Up” frequency or a sound similar to “Ring Modulators” if two or more notes are played simultaneously. A totally unique sound especially designed for the bass player."
Like the Grunt, the Octa-Bass arrived well presented in a hand crafted MDF box that is now standard with all Cave pedals. The Octa-Bass is built in the same powder coated gloss white aluminium Hammond enclosure as other pedals in the range, with just the one knob, labeled Depth.
I had incorrectly assumed that the Octa-Bass was going to give me an octave up as well as my original signal, similar to other bass octave pedals on the market. But the Octa-Bass is very different to what I expected - instead of adding an octave to my original sound, it replaces the original sound with an octave above, only. ie. the original frequency is removed.
With the Depth control fully anti clockwise, the sound is almost chorus like with just a hint of fuzz, and would be a useful solo tone in a grunge or alt rock situation. As you turn the depth knob clockwise the effect becomes more subtle. Because the Octa-Bass is passive, there are no issues with tracking, which often plague conventional octave pedals for bass. Double stops and chords present no problems for this pedal either, unlike most other octave pedals on the market.
The Octa-Bass is not as "bold" as the Grunt pedal and unlike the Grunt does not boost the signal. It's not a pedal that you'd be able to use for an entire gig, but for solos or some character fills it would have it's place.
The Octa-Bass is more suited to users of roundwound strings than flatwounds, as the way it dispenses with the original frequency is a little too dramatic an outcome when the beefy flatwound bottom end is subtracted. I certainly got a surprise when the bottom end dropped out as I kicked in the Octa-Bass. With roundwounds the transition from effect off to effect on is not as severe, and is more usable. All of my gigging basses wear flatwounds, so the Octa-Bass is not a pedal I can see myself using live.
Cave are developing a mechanical indicator for all of the Cave Passive Pedal range (instead of a traditional LED), and once fully tested and in production will be available some time in 2010.
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I can see how this one might have some specialized uses, most likely in recording, not live. I can't imagine using it regularly, roundwounds or not.
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That thing about tracking sounds interesting. I hate octave pedals who track poorly when you're trying to use them as octave pedals and not as pure noisemakers.
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I can see how this one might have some specialized uses, most likely in recording, not live. I can't imagine using it regularly, roundwounds or not.
That's what I think too Dave. The Grunt is a fantastic everyday pedal, but the Octa-Bass has limited use. I've suggested to Cave that they really need an octave pedal in the range that retains the existing signal and adds either octave up or octave down, rather than subtracting the original signal as this pedal does. The owner/developer is a guitarist, not a bass player, so it's great that he's happy to take my feedback on this type of stuff.
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This is pretty cool ....
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a57/mdeayton/cave/d46d7d32.jpg)
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a57/mdeayton/cave/91749a5e.jpg)
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Behold the power of suggestion. :)
It's a good sign that he's listening, and he doesn't need to go through layers of management to produce it.
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Cool, you've got a signature pedal! :D
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Poseur... ;D
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He's famous in his own pedal bag!
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I wonder what an autographed edition will go for...?
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Here's a video demo of the Grunt, at the request of some sceptics at Geek Chat, who didn't believe that a passive pedal could boost a passive signal ....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clgouhAfddI
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Nice video!
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You could have looked a little more inspired Mark :o
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The "dirty" gives a MB type boost, or is that just my dodgy ears...? Any chance of a demo of your "Octa-Grunt", Sport...
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Do we get a discount on the Aussie Mark pedal? :)
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You could have looked a little more inspired Mark :o
You're right Rob, but I was doing the video mainly to shut up the sceptics at Guitar Geek, so didn't want to look like a full-on salesman.
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I've just finished some more demo videos on a couple of the new pedals from Cave. One is the "second generation" version of the Grunt (Grunt MKII) which has variable drive and level controls, another is a fuzz called The Wasp, and the final one is a varitone called Furry Tongue. Considering these pedals don't use batteries or require external power they are very impressive little pedals, especially for old school rock and blues.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZrAf-OkVtU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xCIpy589cc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0SSWxiELhM
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I got a nice surprise in the mail today.
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a57/mdeayton/cave/gruntdeluxe.jpg)
This is a custom pedal made by Cave for me - it's the first Cave pedal with a mechanical indicator to show when the footswitch is on or off (remember, these pedals don't have any LEDs). Controls from left to right are Grunt, Drive channel A, Drive channel B and Level. The two footswitches are On/Off and Channel A/B. Each of the footswitches has a hole above it with a white painted mechanical disk that moves across the hole when the footswitch is engaged. You can see the "on" indicator above the left footswitch.
This is basically a two channel version of the Grunt MKII, with the "Grunt" control adding "character". I'll know more when I plug it in and give it a whirl over the weekend. This type of pedal should be able to take the place of a Sansamp Programmable Bass DI pedal (without the DI of course).
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Cool videos mr tvstar! :D You must be the only one here with a signature pedal, nice job! ;)
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Cave Passive Pedals have souped up their original Grunt and Grunt MkII passive bass overdrive pedals with this newest incarnation, the Super Grunt. The original Grunt overdrive/boost circuit is retained, but with a flick of the toggle switch the higher boost "super" circuit comes into play. Like all Cave pedals, no batteries or external power are required - there is a mouse on a treadmill inside the pedal case :-)
The Super Grunt is also the first Cave Passive Pedal available to the general public to feature a mechanical indicator (instead of the LEDs that powered pedals usually have). Cave had previously field tested the mechanical indicator concept on custom pedals for endorsed artists (ie. me) to ensure it is roadworthy, and it passed with flying colours.
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a57/mdeayton/cave/supergrunt.jpg)
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So Mark will they be doing a Super Grunt deluxe?
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So Mark will they be doing a Super Grunt deluxe?
The Super Grunt is a limited run of 12 only, until the release of the "Ultimate Grunt" - a 3 button "programmable" pedal with balanced XLR output. A passive competitor for the Sansamp Programmable Bass Driver pedal.
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When is the Ultimate Grunt due?
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Not sure about the due date, am pressing Heath for a timeframe, as there is a buttload of interest on the OzBass forum, given how expensive the Sansamp pedals are downunder.
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Yep, count me in that regards to interest.