Scott Devine Investigates Some Home-Grown Tone
Design
The majority of bass players have an overdrive pedal of some kind knocking around, and for some it rates as an all-important third of the sound equation, after bass and amp. But with more great bass amps available these days, instead of trying to make an average amp sound better with pedals, more often than not we’re merely extending our tones, elaborating on what’s already a good sound. The key word here is ‘transparency’. Amp manufacturers don’t want you messing around with their wonderful-sounding amps. They just want you to be able to take their tone and give it a nudge. With this in mind, we come to Cog Effects. Hand-made by Tom George in the UK, all of these pedals are built to withstand a rough ride on the road with north-mounted input and output jack sockets that will undoubtedly save space on your pedalboard. “These pedals were all designed from a gigging musicians point of view,” says Tom. “I’d often struggle to get my hands on the exact sounds that I wanted when playing live. Sometimes it wasn’t possible or it would need two or three pedals.” These stompers are an interesting mix of influences that offer good quality effects in a roadworthy package. “I engrave each enclosure on a CNC machine,” says Tom. “So, I can offer custom engraving, which has proved really popular.”
Sounds
Each effect is well above average in terms of the actual sound produced, but they also have the kind of intuitive feel and totally usable range that makes them feel like old friends straight away. The T-65 is an analog octave effect with level controls for octave down and octave up, but you also get the option of a low-pass filter, clean blend and a parallel effects loop. “You can add anything you want into the effects loop,” says Tom. “A combination of modulation and fuzz mixed with the octave signals and sent to an envelope filter works really well.” The Knightfall and Dual Knightfall Distortion are both capable of delivering a subtle boost or a seriously aggressive drive. Tom continues: “Adding the Dual Knightfall to my range was an easy decision as I always have two Knightfalls on my own pedalboard. Putting them both in one enclosure reduces the impact on pedalboard real estate while maintaining the same flexibility.” The TK-421-X is essentially a bass-friendly version of the revered Pro Co Rat Distortion. “I wanted to reduce the noise and add a clean blend to aid low end retention,” says Tom. “But I didn’t want to sacrifice the aggressive upper-mid bite of the distortion.” Finally, the Grand Tarkin is designed to capture Russian Big Muff fuzz tones while offering greater mid control and a filtered clean blend. The result is a very versatile bass fuzz. For more info visit www.cogeffects.com
Over at Scott's Bass Lessons....
With over half a million aspiring bass players following his lessons every month, Scott Devine is the most widely followed bass educator in the world. Whether you’re just getting started or if you’re an experienced player looking to expand your abilities – we have something for you in the SBL course library. With over 60 hours of step-by-step training from Scott and other elite bass educators, an SBL membership will help you to truly elevate your bass playing to the next level. For more information visit www.scottsbasslessons.com
