A bit more NAMM2009 bass news, with thanks to Alun Vaughan, who posted about the new Mark Bass pedals on twitter.  Here is a YouTube clip about them, via Bass Guitar magazine, showing the new range. They look solidly built to say the least!

Steve Lawson also got a nice shot of them:

Mark Bass Pedals - photo by Steve Lawson

You can see more of Steve’s photos in this post on his blog: Photos from NAMM so far… The Mark Bass Pedal range includes a DI box (lots of the pedals have an XLR DI output around the back), a booster (with filters), a Valve Compressor, Octaver (-1 octave -2 octaves), a distortion, a synth pedal, a chorus/flanger and a reverb (the “reverbaro”). The latter two have USB connections to link to a computer for editing – all very high tech!

Bassists aren’t know for heavy use of effects pedals, but there are a number of multi-effects boxes on the market from the likes of Line 6, Roland/Boss, Yamaha et al designed for bass. Stomp boxes are the predecessor to the multi-effects unit, and give you one dedicated effect in a box. Again, there are a fair few purpose built stomp boxes for bass (for example, those from EBS), but I’m sure the Mark Bass boxes will be a welcome addition. There is something reassuring about having a box that does just one thing, with nice analogue dials to adjust the settings and then leave in place when you’ve got “that sound”.