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Tech21 Leeds, the Hiwatt styley


Mr. Foxen
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Apparently it's just pure Entwistle in a pedal - sounds good to me!

Youtube video demos are few and far between, here's one but the audio quality is pretty crappy:

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb1WKe5xPFI"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb1WKe5xPFI[/url]

Edited by EskimoBassist
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The Leeds is designed to sound like a Hiwatt vs the Ampeg sounds of the VT Bass. I like the Leeds for bass. YMMV. I usually set it for a very mild overdrive. It can be a very clean pedal if you want and has a nice high end sparkle. It's always best to try for yourself.

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[quote name='Tech21NYC' timestamp='1340117689' post='1699363']
The Leeds is designed to sound like a Hiwatt vs the Ampeg sounds of the VT Bass. I like the Leeds for bass. YMMV. I usually set it for a very mild overdrive. It can be a very clean pedal if you want and has a nice high end sparkle. It's always best to try for yourself.
[/quote]

Does it have the speaker emulating roll off like the VT?

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[quote name='Gareth Hughes' timestamp='1340536792' post='1705681']
It can be turned off in the second version. I like it a lot. Found the VT to be too dark for my liking.
[/quote]

Really? Ive got my V1 set to 'clank' and I love it.

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[quote name='EskimoBassist' timestamp='1339962380' post='1696939']
Apparently it's just pure Entwistle in a pedal - sounds good to me!

Youtube video demos are few and far between, here's one but the audio quality is pretty crappy:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb1WKe5xPFI[/media]
[/quote]


I like that a lot!

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  • 3 years later...

[quote name='The-Ox' timestamp='1446741120' post='2901963']
how does this compare to a sansamp or a VT?
[/quote]

The Leeds is part of Tech 21's Character range, along with the VT bass. Essentially they both do the same thing, although the VT bass is designed to sound like an Ampeg and the Leeds, a Hiwatt stack. I've owned both but sold the VT - it's a superb pedal as many on here will confirm but I'm just not a fan of that Ampeg sound. The Leeds suits me to a tee. I'll admit I'm a massive Entwistle fan which is why I went for it in the first place, but it can do much more that the Leeds sound - it sounds lovely on cleaner settings, and can be pushed into something a bit more raucous too if that's your thing (see vid above).
It sounds great as a standard overdrive pedal but it really shines as a preamp pedal - I run mine into an amp's effects return and just use the amp's power stage.
I wish I had the means to make a video as the current Youtube clips really don't do it justice! It really is a beautiful pedal and has no problem with bass whatsoever.


[quote name='The-Ox' timestamp='1446735462' post='2901872']
Entwistle's tone had changed by the time he got to Quadrophenia, can it replicate the growly tone of tracks such as The Real Me?

that manual does say it can get a cruncy tone like in Won't Get Fooled Again I suppose
[/quote]

I would take the manual settings as a guide only - the 'Leeds bass' setting are way OTT for what is supposed to be (I assume) the 'Live At Leeds' sound. But that sound is well within reach - the secret is to go easy on the Character and Drive knobs - a little goes a long way.
The chap in the video above is using quite an extreme setting.

Also, Entwistle's tone on The Real Me and WGFA are, by his standards, very clean, although he recording of WGFA isn't the best recording of his bass. The Leeds pedal can certainly pull off a convincing Quadrophenia-style sound if you pull back on the drive.

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[color=#000000][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=3]I have never played through the Tech21 Leeds, but if I had to buy a Hiwatt preamp style, I would buy rather Shift-Line Olympic MKII because it's specially designed for the bass, it has a pure tube circuit and other option as headphone output + effect loop + ground lift switch. But it is true that it's more expensive than the Leeds.[/size][/font][/color]

[url="http://shift-line.com/card.php?device=60"][color=#000000][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=3]http://shift-line.com/card.php?device=60[/size][/font][/color][/url]

[color=#000000][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=3][/size][/font][/color]

Edited by b'boom
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