Product Overview
WE ARE EXTREMELY EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THE 'NEW FOR 2025' COLLABORATION WITH MADBEAN PEDALS! Fantastic DIY pedal projects, now available as full or partial Small Bear kits!
Our Partial Kits include the PCB/PCB Set and all parts needed for the project, except you supply your own enclosure and knobs.
Our Full Kit includes the PCB/PCB Set, all the parts, a drilled enclosure and knobs.
You can always check out the MadBean Forum for more info-- a great resource! MadBean Pedals Forum
Overview
When I was a regular gigging bass player (and I swear I was for a couple of years) I was vaguely aware of the SansAmp stuff. But, I never had a need for it and definitely did not have $$ for pedals (my bass pedal assortment consisted of a Tube Screamer and Digitech PDS1002 from my high-school days and a borrowed v1 Whammy pedal, and also a borrowed Eden head and cab). Many years later, I play much less bass but I for sure have a need for a good DI for home studio stuff. The Bass Driver DI™ is a straight-forward and effective bass pre-amp. It’s not as fancy as some of the more modern ones, certainly, but what it does it does well. For the SludgeHammer project, I’ve included what I thought were the most essential features. It can be used as a pre-amp in a pedal rig, and also a DI for home recording or live playing. It doesn’t have everything (I chose to exclude the phantom power) but more than enough to do the job. The SludgeHammer is based on the earlier version which I believe arrived in the early or mid-90’s. I’ve included the option for a balanced output like the original, but I recommend using a TRS jack instead of an XLR. The XLR requires a massive hole to be drilled in the enclosure. I happened to have a large enough stepped bit to do the job. Even with the bit, a drill press and a vice it was difficult to drill. Enough so that I never want to do it again. For my second build, I used a TRS jack instead and that’s what I recommend you do as well. KIM, the balanced output is also optional: if you don’t need or want it, you can omit it and just use the SludgeHammer as a pre-amp or plugged directly into your computer audio interface through the main output.
