New pedal manufacturer without batteries or power supply - Cave Passive

Aussie Mark · November 25, 2009, 03:35:28 PM

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

Dave W · November 25, 2009, 04:46:51 PM

Nicely done review. I have no idea what the market might be for something like this, guess we'll have to wait and see.

Pilgrim · November 25, 2009, 09:07:21 PM

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.

Basvarken · November 26, 2009, 02:13:50 AM

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.

Lightyear · November 27, 2009, 08:32:36 AM

Well done! Makes me want to buy one! Did he send you a check or least let you keep the one you tested?

exiledarchangel · November 27, 2009, 12:23:09 PM

Me likes GRUNT! If that guy will post a schematic on his site, I'll build one for myself, that's for sure.

Aussie Mark · November 27, 2009, 04:28:50 PM

Quote from: Lightyear on November 27, 2009, 08:32:36 AM
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

Lightyear · November 27, 2009, 07:14:24 PM

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?

Dave W · November 27, 2009, 07:45:13 PM

If you click the shipping and payments tab, it does show that he'll ship just about anywhere.

Lightyear · November 27, 2009, 09:30:37 PM

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

rahock · November 28, 2009, 06:30:02 AM

I'm not much of a pedal guy but passive pedals sound like a great idea to me. Well written review BTW

Rick

Aussie Mark · November 30, 2009, 04:03:40 AM

Now on Myspace ..... http://myspace.com/cavepassivepedals

Aussie Mark · December 03, 2009, 03:56:18 PM

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.

rahock · December 04, 2009, 10:12:00 AM

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

Aussie Mark · December 14, 2009, 05:37:53 PM

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.