Bass Expander DI Custom Line Pedal

[kodiakblair]

Heard about this start of May but the release date was put back   Told Thomann to get in touch when they had them in stock. Week past Tuesday got email and pedal ordered. Got here on Monday after spending weekend stuck in Post office depot ,had to pay for delivery so wasn't travelling to Edinburgh to collect it

It's a preamp pedal with sweepable mids, Line In for MP3's, headphone out,XLR and phantom power   About the size of the Eden WTDI. Good solid build.
Does the crunchy stuff but remember it's not a fuzz box. If you want a DI with distortion buy a Darkglass or similar. Quite expensive as far as HB's go, an Eden WTDI can be had for the same if you shop around. Bloody good pedal the Eden 

A lot of tone control in this wee box and it doubling as a headphone amp is a huge bonus, it's up against proven products costing OK maybe double but hey there's plenty Levis folk out there.

Blasted punk tunes through it for  near 4 hour tonight so I'd say it works grand. A few others must think the same as it was sold out by Thursday the 8th June 


www.thomann.de/dk/harley_benton_custom_line_bass_di_expander.htm

[JAC]

I was interested to know what this pre was like since I read about it last month. I didn't expect the price to be quite that high though.

Don't get me wrong, I would rather HB make a decent pedal at 100€ than a crappy one at <50€, but it puts it in direct competition with things like the Eden, Hartke and a couple of others that I forget. You could also find something like a sansamp used around that price if you are very patient.

I think Thomann definitely need to get plenty of sound demos out there if they want people to consider it.

[blablas]

While checking your link I found this on that page, combined tuner and effects power supply, smart thinking!!

I don't need either of the two but it's still tempting, for the time being it's on my wish-list.

[kodiakblair]

JAC

You're right it is pricey. It's a solid well made pedal and it does the tone shaping stuff good. The 2 knob compressor gives it the edge over the Eden's 1 knob.The Hartke Bass Attack doesn't have a compressor and neither the Eden or Hartke have sweepable Mids.

The Line In and Headphone features are missing on both the Eden and Hartke too. More pros/cons are no phantom power on Eden but there is on the Hartke.

To my mind the big T has put out a good product.The Sansamp I tried was a one trick pony,going for the Ampeg in a box thing. The Bass Expander concentrates on tone.

The Eden's a bloody good pedal,the Bass Expander's a bloody good pedal (only had maybe 6 hours play on it though) with the added practise tool option. Both are the same price but the HB does offer more. I'll flit between the 2 and get back to you over the next few days.

[JAC]

It certainly sounds like a decent buy. I guess we just go to used to HB stuff being dirt cheap. But as I said, I would rather it be good than cheap.

To be honest, as I have always had a Zoom that I used as a preamp (I used the B2 before the B3 came out), I haven't really played with any preamp pedals for any length of time.

I did set up sound for a band a few weeks back where the bassist was running through an Ampeg SCR and sounded pretty damn good (playing mostly reggae) but that is a 250€ pedal.

[kodiakblair]

JAC

I don't think it's cheap or expensive,other pedals would cost the same if they dropped the Brand mystique and middle man price hike.
Long fancied getting the Growling Krizzly from Musikding,the kit and knobs alone will cost 90 euro.

I'm on a dangerous path. Preamps have taken over from basses Well let's face it I hardly need to buy another bass

Will report back in a month or so.

[JAC]

So, kodiakblair, are you still liking this?

I am curious about the "thru" output, I am guessing that it just directly bypass (true bypass?) the pedal completely?

Also, just to confirm, the DI is "post" EQ and Compression?

If both the above are true, it looks very interesting for setting the tone for the DI without changing what is going into the bass amp.

[kodiakblair]

Aye I do like the DI. The Moen is noisy,should clear up with a noise gate but that's no ideal.

Can confirm the "thru" is bypass to amp and the DI/Output both send the "post" signal.

Got a nice wee set up in the house just now.

Bass > Bass Expander via wireless. Bass Expander > M-Audio monitors via wee cheap Behringer mixer. DI is on ch1, thru signal ch2/3.
Handy having that extra bit of control FOH Vs Stage.

[JAC]

When you say noisy, how bad is it?

All I am looking for is basically a compressor for the DI to the board, with a little bit of EQ.

[kodiakblair]

I was talking about the Moen being noisy. The Harley Benton is quiet.

There's no compressor on the Moen either so ignore any referrence to it

[JAC]

Aha, you had me confused there, and here's me looking for alternatives, I even started a thread over on TB.

The only thing similar seems to be the EHX Batallion, which is also at an interesting price.

[kodiakblair]

Wee update !!

The Bass Expander doesn't work via "phantom power". Thomann are aware of this so sales have been changed to " on request ". This will be so they can explain to buyers the issue and save a whole load of returns.

The factory has been informed so either it'll get sorted or the spec sheet will be ammended.

[ruthcod]

Can anyone tell me their experience with this DI expander
There is not much to find on the internet

[JAC]

The only person I know with this pedal is kodiakblair, I think his experience is pretty positive.

I keep thinking about getting one, but never end up hitting buy.

[kodiakblair]

Nov 1, 2018 19:59:50 GMT ruthcod said:

Can anyone tell me their experience with this DI expander
There is not much to find on the internet

What is your proposed use for it ? Practise tool while travelling or at home ? Live sound ?