Hartke VXL Bass Attack Preamp DI Pedal (Discontinued)

Submitted by Alexander Briones on Mar. 1, 2017..

90

GEARANK

90 out of 100. Incorporating 150+ ratings and reviews.

Discontinued

This has been discontinued so if you're not looking for a second hand one, check out our guide to The Best Bass Preamps.

Overview

Drawing from their amp building experience, the Hartke VXL Bass Attack houses their distinct tone in a compact two foot-switch pedal form factor.

What makes it distinct is the dedicated "Shape" footswitch which lets you engage or disengage the extended tone shaping options that the pedal offer.

And speaking of tone shaping, this pedal comes with a 3-band EQ that lets you adjust treble, bass and interestingly, brightness - which allows for more of the upper frequencies and attack to flow through.

Also noteworthy is its "Harmonic" knob which lets you dial in just the right amount of tube warmth to your bass sound, cranking it all the way up results in fuzz like tone, which is different from the smoother overdrive style sounds that other bass preamps offer.

Wrapping up its features is the pre-post switch that lets you output wet or dry signal to a PA system as you prefer.

One thing to note is that when this was available in stores that it didn't come with a power supply - it had to be bought separately. As a result many people powered it from their pedalboard power supply, so if you're buying one second hand you'll probably have to use your own power adapter.