Walrus Audio Badwater Bass Preamp & DI

[Daz39]

So this looks a bit nice; nothing too daft, plenty of features including sweepy high and low mids, 3-voice drive with blend and a compressor.
 

Edited May 21, 2022 by Daz39

[MrDinsdale]

Yeah it looks and sounds great from the demos I've seen. Very tempted by it but then again I seem to be tempted by everything I see at the moment 🤣

[SumOne]

"sweeping between 500 Hz to 2.4 kHz with the Low Mid Frequency knob (LMF) or 3.5 kHz to 7.5 kHz on the High Mid Frequency knobs (HMF)."

 

Isn't that all a bit high? 

 

The 100-500Hz range is where I tend to want the most control but presumably thats's all covered by the one (non-sweepable) Bass dial so it's going to have a broad Q and not much control (e.g. wanting to reduce <70Hz while boosting 300Hz seems impossible). Seems like most other EQ pedals give more control in that range to do that: Sweepable ranges on the Q-Strip (40 kHz -700 Hz & 300 Hz- 6kHz), or single mid sweepable things like the Tech 21 Para Driver (160 Hz -3kHz), Starlifter (150Hz–2.8KHz) or EQ points on graphic things like the Boss GEB-7 at 50, 120, 400, 500. 

 

 

[MrDinsdale]

1 minute ago, SumOne said:

"sweeping between 500 Hz to 2.4 kHz with the Low Mid Frequency knob (LMF) or 3.5 kHz to 7.5 kHz on the High Mid Frequency knobs (HMF)."

 

Isn't that all a bit high? 

 

The 100-500Hz range is where I tend to want the most control but presumably thats's all covered by the one (non-sweepable) Bass dial so it's going to have a broad Q and not much control (e.g. wanting to reduce <70Hz while boosting 300Hz seems impossible). Seems like most other EQ pedals give more control in that range to do that: Sweepable ranges on the Q-Strip (40 kHz -700 Hz & 300 Hz- 6kHz), or single mid sweepable things like the Tech 21 Para Driver (160 Hz -3kHz), Starlifter (150Hz–2.8KHz) or EQ points on graphic things like the Boss GEB-7 at 50, 120, 400, 500. 

 

 

Aye this was the one thing that had me a little confused, seems like some odd ranges but tbh I think they'd still be perfectly usable.

[skej21]

Mine just arrived. Must admit, I was shocked at how compact it is! Hoping to get it recorded and demo out by Friday next week for it. Happy to share if it would be useful 🙂

[MrDinsdale]

On 26/05/2022 at 20:44, skej21 said:

Mine just arrived. Must admit, I was shocked at how compact it is! Hoping to get it recorded and demo out by Friday next week for it. Happy to share if it would be useful 🙂

 

Yes please!

 

Ive been wanting to get a preamp/drive pedal to loop I'm to my GT1k and this is super tempting.

 

I was torn between this and grabbing a 2nd hand DG Alpha Omega ultra. The A/O seems like it has a more versatile drive section but the Badwater sounds amazing in every demo I've heard.

 

Would love to hear your thoughts on the mid sweep options. As others had mentioned they seem pretty high, very interested in how usable they seem. It was pretty much the one thing that left me scratching my head a little and no previews/reviews have really touched on.

[skej21]

43 minutes ago, MrDinsdale said:

 

Yes please!

 

Ive been wanting to get a preamp/drive pedal to loop I'm to my GT1k and this is super tempting.

 

I was torn between this and grabbing a 2nd hand DG Alpha Omega ultra. The A/O seems like it has a more versatile drive section but the Badwater sounds amazing in every demo I've heard.

 

Would love to hear your thoughts on the mid sweep options. As others had mentioned they seem pretty high, very interested in how usable they seem. It was pretty much the one thing that left me scratching my head a little and no previews/reviews have really touched on.

 

I’ll do my best to show what it can do!

[MrDinsdale]

16 minutes ago, skej21 said:

 

I’ll do my best to show what it can do!

 

Looking forward to it 🙌

[skej21]

Here you go!

 

 

It will be generally available on YT on Friday but seem as it’s now queued, I thought I’d share it early with you all!

[MrDinsdale]

17 minutes ago, skej21 said:

Here you go!

 

 

It will be generally available on YT on Friday but seem as it’s now queued, I thought I’d share it early with you all!

 

Nice! Will have a proper watch soon with headphones, currently on child duty!

[Daz39]

Nice demo; sounds interesting. How much is it?

[MrDinsdale]

9 minutes ago, Daz39 said:

Nice demo; sounds interesting. How much is it?

Think it's £285 for pre-order. I was really tempted but decided to go for something else in the end.

[skej21]

4 hours ago, MrDinsdale said:

Think it's £285 for pre-order. I was really tempted but decided to go for something else in the end.

It’s certainly an interesting pedal!

 

I must admit, it seems worlds apart from the Noble I have. Normally that p bass (it has flats), is very dark and woolly, but at times it’s sounds like it’s my P with rounds running through my Ampeg gear. It’s very bright and punchy but I think the thing that really impressed me is just how compact they managed to make this with so much crammed in! 
 

As always with my demos, I try my best to keep my own opinions to myself and present it in an objective way that lets the person listening decide (I’m not talking trying to ‘sell’ the features and benefits), so it’s nice to know it helped you make a decision either way!