NPD - Tone Mallet 😀

[stewblack]

[ezbass]

Ooh, interesting. A review of this with regard to build and tone would be interesting.

[stewblack]

Literally took it out of the box and gigged with it. Just finished. Short review? Bloody brilliant.

[stewblack]

I used it last night having had zero time with it to try it out. I used it as a preamp.

It was extremely straightforward to dial in a good tone and to adjust it to suit when the band kicked in. Sweepable mids are always useful, and the bass and treble are very responsive. 

I used it with the dirt on throughout and it's not too in your face, but helped in the mix. 

The thing is extremely light. Feels like it ought to be way heavier and there's no doubt this contributes to a somewhat cheap feel. But it's a cheap pedal, so there's no harm in it feeling cheap. 

Is it rugged enough to be toured? I have no idea yet, I'll report back if it fails in any way.

Anyway, if like me you buy preamps for a bit of fun, and have no intention of forking out a small fortune for one, this is perfect for you.

If you want to support the original brand, and more importantly if you can afford to, then this won't be for you 

[Supernaut]

Does it take a 9V input? What frustrated me about the original was the 12v adapter required. 

[ezbass]

1 hour ago, stewblack said:

The thing is extremely light.

Metal or plastic case? It looks like metal in the various images online, but that may not be the case (pun unintended).

[stewblack]

3 hours ago, Supernaut said:

Does it take a 9V input? What frustrated me about the original was the 12v adapter required. 

Yes. I ran it with a 9v

[stewblack]

2 hours ago, ezbass said:

Metal or plastic case? It looks like metal in the various images online, but that may not be the case (pun unintended).

It's packed away at present. I was a little confused by this last night. It felt like metal but was light like plastic. I'll report back.

[LukeFRC]

a photo of it  inside would be nice too! 

[LukeFRC]

ie inside the enclosure

 

not in your house not garden

[stewblack]

It's metal. So I guess the inside is all made out of candyfloss 

[thisisswanbon]

I found the same with the cali76 clone - it was a fraction of the weight of the Origin Effects pedal, too much to just be a cheaper enclosure.

 

The Aggie tonehammer is another brick of a pedal, it weighs a tonne and runs 12v only. Obviously must not be a straight copy of the Aggie circuit then 🤔

 

Glad you enjoyed your pedal, the Aggie is immense too! It'd be interesting to see if the AGS operates the same way.

Edited November 18, 2024 by thisisswanbon

[LukeFRC]

18 hours ago, stewblack said:

It's metal. So I guess the inside is all made out of candyfloss 

If it’s not too hard to photo inside it would be interesting to see 

[stewblack]

1 hour ago, LukeFRC said:

If it’s not too hard to photo inside it would be interesting to see 

Once again it's still loaded up for the next gig! However I will get there

[stewblack]

[visog]

Hmmm... I have no idea at what I'm looking.

 

Does it sound good?

[stewblack]

1 hour ago, visog said:

Hmmm... I have no idea at what I'm looking.

 

Does it sound good?

I was asked to take pics of the innards. 

In answer to your question, I think it does. It has a good usable drive, and a very flexible EQ section. 

I've used it as a preamp and as a distortion pedal. 

[LukeFRC]

34 minutes ago, stewblack said:

I was asked to take pics of the innards. 

In answer to your question, I think it does. It has a good usable drive, and a very flexible EQ section. 

I've used it as a preamp and as a distortion pedal. 

@stewblack - I very much appreciate you taking the photos! 

[JohnDaBass]

On 18/11/2024 at 13:19, stewblack said:

Purely from a manufacturing point of view that is a nicely designed,laid out and assembled product. It's not possible to comment on the quality of the components used but for the asking price and if it sounds good it's a neat product.

Thanks @stewblackfor your time and effort to enlighten us on your purchases.

[Supernaut]

I'll never understand why people still 5h!t on the Chinese manufacturing process. Most of the electronics you use are now Chinese made. Sure, this is borderline copyright infringement but if you're a player just starting out or someone put off by vastly inflated prices, this is the 'Tone Hammer' for you. 
 

Look at the BDI21 - it has plenty of fans and is still being produced. 

[skinflappingsub]

Thanks for sharing Stew- I loved the original and can't wait to try this out.

[Supernaut]

How are you getting on with this @stewblack? 

[stewblack]

5 hours ago, Supernaut said:

How are you getting on with this @stewblack? 

I like it a lot. I  use it either as an always on pedal with the distortion set just to break things up a little, or set it higher and kick it in when needed,  instead of using a separate distortion pedal.

It's great!