Guitar World Verdict
The Scrolls really is a fantastic contender in the crowded bass preamp market. It’s got everything that you need in a compact box, with all the useful tones you’d expect from this kind of pedal – plus a healthy slug of EarthQuaker’s characteristic fuzz madness.
Reasons to buy
- +
Absolutely stuffed full of features, but very sensibly sized.
- +
Capable of trad bass-preamp tones, brutal fuzz and anywhere you like in between.
- +
For something so complex, it’s not difficult to dial in at all.
Reasons to avoid
- -
Only the fact that it’s a pretty costly piece of kit – but certainly not bad value given how much it can do.
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What is it?
Of all the effects manufacturers to achieve stardom over the last decade or two, EarthQuaker Devices must be one of the most avowedly left-field.
Sure, there's traditional overdrive and modulation to be had from the Akron, Ohio shop, but remember – EarthQuaker is the company that gave us that barking-mad oscillating pitch generator, the Rainbow Machine. Or the utterly preposterous Data Corrupter, a three-voice, harmonizing analog fuzz/guitar synth.
It's to be applauded that these complex circuits, with all their hand-built insanity and inarguably niche appeal, are made widely available so that more people can experiment with the outer fringes of viable guitar and bass tone.
So when EarthQuaker announced an addition to the fashionable compact bass preamp/overdrive pedal landscape, it's fair to say none of us were ever expecting a straightforward Sansamp or Darkglass me-too. But then, EarthQuaker often does unexpected things - maybe it could be just that. Is this a classic comedy double bluff? (You never know.)
Today I'm investigating the Scrolls Bass Odyssey, EarthQuaker's take on a bass preamp pedal, co-designed with Japanese alt-rock bass hero Kentaro Nakao. Let's see what's what.
Specs
- Launch price: $349 | £399 | €399
- Type: Bass preamp and overdrive/fuzz pedal
- Controls: Level, Bass, Middle, Treble, Vari (boost/cut), Vari-Freq, push-buttons for Deep, Process, Bright, Drive Level, Blend, Drive, Bandwidth, Tone, footswitches for EQ and Drive
- Connectivity: ¼” instrument input, ¼” amp output, ¼” parallel output, XLR direct out (with Ground/Lift), ¼” effects loop Send, ¼’ effects loop Return
- Bypass: Relay-based true bypass
- Power: 9v DC, 70mA
- Dimensions: 121 x 114 x 57 mm
- Weight: 340g
- Contact: EarthQuaker Devices
Build quality
Build quality rating: ★★★★½
EarthQuaker never disappoints on the quality front, and the Scrolls is a typically sturdy build. Its muted black-and-orange aesthetic is topped off by EQD's signature swirling script for the pedal's name, but the dense black-and-white forest of controls are all very clearly labelled.
The buttons and footswitches click satisfyingly and all the knobs turn with a nicely-damped weight - with centre detents on many of the pots for ease of dialing in.
Despite the surfeit of controls, the enclosure design is such that you shouldn’t have to worry too much about accidentally knocking anything with your feet - yet it’s not excessive in size. In fact, it’s a very reasonable alternative to other bass preamp pedals in terms of footprint.
Usability and features
Usability and features rating: ★★★★½
‘Process’ drastically scoops out low mids for a more guttural, aggressive bark – although you’ll need a lot more Level to counteract the resultant drop in perceived volume
That footprint has a hell of a lot packed into it though – more than many rivals. The two footswitches control an EQ section and a Drive channel; these can be used separately or together.
These sections have individual controls too – to start with, the EQ side offers a Level control, the standard Bass-Middle-Treble setup, plus a two-knob ‘Vari-Freq’ circuit – essentially, allowing you to sweep the EQ range and cut or boost any frequency desired.
Then, push-buttons for ‘Deep’ and ‘Bright’ boost 80Hz and 5kHz respectively, while ‘Process’ drastically scoops out low mids for a more guttural, aggressive bark – although you’ll need a lot more Level to counteract the resultant drop in perceived volume.
The Drive section, meanwhile, gives you a further five knobs to play with. Of course, Level, Drive and Tone are all present and correct, as is a clean blend – vital on a bass overdrive. The fifth control is ‘Bandwidth’, determining the frequency range in which the clipping is most active; from a softer, warmer low-focused overdrive to a tighter, brighter, treble-focused grit. Or “from Motown to metal”, as EarthQuaker puts it.
Whew – it’s a lot of controls, for sure. But it’s intuitive to use; it’s to EarthQuaker’s credit that it isn’t really necessary to resort to the manual in order to dial-in a great tone. I’m a big fan of this ‘what-you-see-is-what-you-get’ style of user interface on pedals and amps.
It can send you down a rabbit-hole of tweaking – but then, Nakao wanted this pedal to function effectively as an all-in-one portable rig solution, and it's certainly not short of features to that end.
Sounds
Sounds rating: ★★★★½
I plugged the Scrolls directly into my Laney 2x12 powered cab, to sample the ‘analog speaker simulation’ on the DI output – EarthQuaker elected to add some filtering here, to combat the harsh top-end that can blight direct XLR outputs. I began with a passive Jazz Bass, and was instantly taken with the way the EQ made the flat speaker signal full-bodied and characterful.
The Drive section is full of great tones too - especially when combined with the EQ. I found a swathe of chunky, powerful blended overdrive sounds, but with the Gain turned up and less clean signal in the mix, it’ll go far beyond a traditional grit and tip decisively into fuzz territory. This definitely isn't your grandad's bass preamp.
It’s a monstrous bass boost; low-end isn’t lacking from the pedal to start with
I tend to keep the Bright setting engaged, for the amount of high-frequency definition that I like. Deep, by contrast, needed to be used with care for my setup. It’s a monstrous bass boost; low-end isn’t lacking from the pedal to start with.
It comes into its own when I switch to my StingRay, and am able to augment its aggressive upper-mid with a gut-punch of deep low end.
These two buttons by themselves can work wonders for quick EQ adjustment when switching between different types of bass.
Verdict
It's similarly punchy money to a similarly-featured Darkglass, but a completely different vibe
The Scrolls can be seriously good fun as a highly tweakable, high-gain overdrive or fuzz, with far more nuanced control of EQ and gain structure than a typical example of those breeds.
But if you want to treat it as a Sansamp alternative, or even a clean preamp with a powerful EQ, it’s no less impressive. It's similarly punchy money to a similarly-featured Darkglass, but a completely different vibe – it's an EarthQuaker, after all.
Nakao's input gives the Scrolls serious credence – on the one hand, he's a bass hero with a unique playing style that calls for an equally characterful-sounding rig. But he's also a session-man; he needs something accomplished, versatile and rugged, which lets him plug straight in and crack on. Objective achieved, I'd say.
Guitar World verdict: The Scrolls really is a fantastic contender in the crowded bass preamp market. It’s got everything that you need in a compact box, with all the useful tones you’d expect from this kind of pedal – plus a healthy slug of EarthQuaker’s characteristic fuzz madness.
Test |
Results |
Score |
|---|---|---|
Build quality |
It’s built superbly, looks really cool and should be tough as nails for gigging. |
★★★★★ |
Usability and features |
The layout is simple to navigate, and it’s packed with features – although if you’re prone to option paralysis, all those knobs could have you chasing your tail. |
★★★★½ |
Sounds |
The EQ is superb and incredibly powerful, and the Drive can go from subtle to devastating – it’s for fuzz junkies more than metallers, though. |
★★★★½ |
Overall |
The Scrolls is a versatile, useful and interesting preamp that takes the fight to Darkglass with a very distinct character of its own. |
★★★★½ |
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