Hartke VXL Bass Attack Pedal Reviews

4.4/5.0 based on 14 customer reviews

Sweetwater Advice

Dave Brow

I initially got the Bass Attack to use as my front end on my live rig because it gives me all the tone control I need to get that punch I like. Now I find myself using it for direct recording. I can dial in the right sound very quickly and get a clean, hot signal through the XLR output. It can be powered via phantom through the XLR out as well. One other nice touch is the parallel 1/4" output that is perfect to keep your tuner hooked up without actually going through it. This thing is built like a tank too; it’s solid and the knobs are smooth.

Sort By Date Sort By Rating

Customer Reviews

from
December 25, 2012Music Background:
I make music

Yep

Very high quality pedal. Great preamp. It works very well for live shows as it has an xlr out, 1/4 inch out, and a parallel output. This is nice because you can go xlr into the P.A. and you still are able to go to potentially two amps or back into your pedal loop. The sound quality is top notch. The shape knob/switch combo is very effective for live shows where a quick drastic tone change is needed. The harmonics overdrive sounds like a classic overdriven Ampeg and the other knobs really let you shape your tone to your preferences. Very good pedal for 99 bucks and sounds great with bass and guitar.

Matt
from Wisconsin, USA
September 30, 2012Music Background:
Pro Musician

Good, clean sound

I'm really happy with my Bass Attack pedal. It really gives you a wide range of sounds. Just had to look at the manual to find out how the switches work. The ON/OFF enables the Brite and Harmonics/Mix knobs. The SHAPE enables the Shape knob(duh). I also really like the 3 options for power - 9v battery, 9v AC adaptor(not included), or phantom power from a mixer. When using a 9v battery, I always try to unplug my bass input as this cuts out the pedal and seems to make the battery last longer.

John Ditzel
from Westminster, MD. 21157
July 21, 2012Music Background:
Song writer, bassist, guitar, drums

Bass Attack

Superb, Wish it was a rack unit, but great.

marco
from ohio
May 23, 2012Music Background:
church musician, student

It works

I like the versatility of the unit. It will be added to my arsenal of preferred components.

Bill Barfield
from North Mississippi
February 29, 2012Music Background:
ROCK!!

BAM!!!

I love this thing..

Ron Mountenay
from Venice, Fl.
December 12, 2006Music Background:
Recording Engineer

WOW! What a great deal.

I really liked the sound I got with my Hartke bass amp,but was having problems with hum using the XLR out when recrding. I saw the Bass Attack when searching for an effects pedal. It had the same contols as my amp and at the price I figured what the heck. When I plugged it in, using the 48v phantom power from my VS480, I was blown away. Dead quiet when not playing and great bottom end and overall sound. This product far exceeds its price in terms of quality

David Hartman
from Fort Wayne, IN
July 28, 2006Music Background:
Hobbyist

Bang for your buck

I was in need of a pedal to give some overdive and boom in parts of songs where it was needed. I was never one for stomp boxes but this is amazing. The body and structure its very durable and strong. This pedal can turn a little combo amp into a stack sound. It adds alot of boom to your bass, this gives alot of options for distortion or overdrive. It is definatley worth the money.

clark
from San Diego, CA
February 23, 2013Music Background:
hobbyist, musician

Good Device

This device does what is claims. Its built pretty sturdy, so far as I can tell. All the knobs help provide for extra shaping and tone control for your bass sound, and the preamp gain ability really helps me get more noise-free gain on my bass into my audio interface. The harmonics and shape functions are somewhat neat, not up my alley but I know they will come in handy for some people.

The parrellel out, as well as an XLR out and Line out really take the cake for me, especially when doing casual jamming/recording. My only gripe is that it doesnt come with a power cable, you have to buy it separately. Thats always a downside. Other than that Ive been loving using this thing, mainly for recording, since its tone control isnt TOO much better than whats already on my bass. Great product, just wish it came with power cable.

Jeff
from NW Ohio
September 5, 2011Music Background:
Hobbyist/Student

Great pedal

First off, I had been looking for some sort of subtle overdrive/preamp to throw in front of my rig. I was going to get a VT Bass used on Talkbass, but then I learned about this little guy from my sales engineer. I checked it out and ordered it the same day I heard about it. When I got the first one, it worked great... for a day. The pedal's circuit died somewhere and I got a lot of signal loss and no overdrive. Fortunately, Sweetwater has amazing customer service and the next day I got a replacement pedal.

With that sorted out, I got a chance to play on it and I must say, this little stomp box has all sorts of tones available from a warm SVT tube emulation to a growly slap tone. The tone-shaping circuit works great because it can function as a preset tone. The DI function is a great help that I wasn't sure I needed at first. I've ended up bypassing my rig and going straight to the mains from this multiple times since I got it.

The only reason it doesn't get a perfect 5 is because of the initial quality issue.

Scott
from Midwest Ohio
March 2, 2013Music Background:
bass for the last 35 years

Hartke VXL Bass Attack

Nice pedal. Quite surprised at the quality vs. pricepoint, for the money I dont think it can be beat. Solid case, knobs seem firm, no scratchy pots, all the switches and jacks are solid as well. You get alot of nice tones out of this box, I prefer the distortion sound on this unit over the Tech 21 stuff. Give it a try.

willstuff
from Washington, DC
March 8, 2011Music Background:
Semi-pro

Sounds great

Bad news first: my main gripe is the chrome-top knobs -- they're so shiny, it's virtually impossible to see how they're se -- so frustrating. Ironically, they include some sample settings in the manual (fun) -- indicating they realize how particular settings can be -- but it's so hard to see the tiny dot that indicates a given level. . . it's just a really bad UI choice.

On the up side, I got this pedal primarily to offset a small/cheap practice amp that had very basic eq, and it does the trick. I also use it (with a compressor) to go straight in to the sound board. The main bang for the buck is having access to the infamous Hartke Shape knob -- that' s the magic. The other features do certainly offer more than a basic amp as well, so overall I'm quite pleased.

Rickter
from Nashville, TN USA
September 15, 2007Music Background:
Hobbyist, Active Musician

Good Tone, Questionable Quality

The "Shape" feature is by for the most valuable part of this pedal. The bass, treble and bright knobs don't do anything great or drastic to affect your tone.

After purchasing this unit, I was trying it out on my rig and when I adjusted a knob there was a loud POP and suddenly I had no signal. My power amplifier was showing no incoming signal. The pedal had seemingly fried after only 30 minutes of use. The next day, on a whim, I pulled the pedal back out and tried it again. All appeared to be well.

I would say this pedal is a great value provided that it continues to function properly. It sounds great for the money spent on it.

The tones achievable are great and numerous, however, it's quality of construction (Chinese Construction) causes me concern. I won't gig without a back up pedal. That being said, at $65 having a back up pedal/preamp won't be hard to do.

Lucas
from Indiana
July 19, 2007Music Background:
Bassist for 10 years, recording engineer

Ok, but could use one more feature

let me start out by saying, it's a fantastic sounding pedal
here's the problem i encountered:
i, like most musicians, don't have the pedal always on...there are certain parts that i'd use it for. The tube overdrive will jack the output volume THROUGH THE ROOF...so i had to ride my volume knob when i'd turn it on to find a good blend w/ the rest of the band again after switching it on...now i use it soley to boost my volume when i use a remote control (to get that strange beep) so that it's loud enough
basically, if it just had a distortion volume knob, it'd be fantastic
also, it'll make your rig a lot louder, so be careful if you're already pushing your amp when you enable it (if you're not used to it)

Nick
from C-Ville, OH
February 1, 2005

Awesome!

This was exactly what i was looking for! i was trying to get a tone, that was like flea's from korn, but not that low of tuning. So i tried out this pedal, and its done everything for me, i have the ampeg b5r head, and a 18" peavey cabinet, and it makes it sound really punchy, and gives it all the highs i was looking for. It also kinda sounds like the bass thats in inflames-cloud connected. or the sound epic, by faith no more. But at any rate i found the sound i wanted without spending money on some nice 10's lol