SONICAKE Bass Multi Effects Pedal Preamp Compressor Boost Fuzz Octave Pedal with FX Loop Boom Ave

I bought this on the strength of two things: the reviews here and elsewhere (there's a great one on YouTube) and getting tired of fiddling about with multiple effects pedals, power supplies, cables etc even for the smallest and simplest gig or rehearsal. I've had this a couple of days now and am hugely impressed. Firstly, it is physically robust. The case is metal and the foot switches are smooth. The power supply has a sensible length of cable (about three metres) - it is a 9v, centre-negative plug, so you *could* add this easily onto a larger pedal board if you wanted to add it to an existing set up. It is just over 10 inches long and just under 2.5 inches wide. All the inputs/ouputs are on the back. There are four sections to the unit - Compression (comp), Overdrive (blues), Echo (slapback) and Reverb (Air). When reviewing this (or considering buying it), you have to remember that this is the 'Twiggy Blues' pedal. So if you are expecting to get tones out of it suitable for electro-pop, funk or heavy metal then it probably isn't suitable (although I think the same company make another more stadium rock version if that's your thing). But for straight ahead classic rock, country, rockabilly and even ambient this is perfect. The Compression section works well - you can even turn the compression itself right down and the volume up on this section to boost your signal for solos etc. It shows one of the features of this product. The sound it creates is quite warm, and doesn't have that nasty digital edge you sometimes hear. The Overdrive part is relatively subtle, when you compare it to the wildly distorted sounds produced by some overdrive pedals. That isn't a criticism (see above about playing heavy metal using it!) - it's perfect for blues and blues rock. It's easy to get a creditable Bad Company/Free tone - dial it right back and you are in Eric Clapton territory. The Echo section is adjustable so you can set the number of repeats. One creates an excellent rockabilly slapback, multiple creates a more spacey Hillage/Gilmour vibe, depending on the number of repeats, the delay duration you set (up to 500 milliseconds) and you can change the blend between the echo and the original signal. Reverb does what you'd expect - from very subtle, to 'playing in a huge ambient cave'. And again it keeps the warmth. There is also a cabinet sim switch, which you'd use if playing directly into a PA rather than through an actual guitar amp/cab. It does make a bit of tonal difference when playing through an amp/cab, but probably not enough to bother with. I haven't tried it through a PA system - I don't have one! Obviously I still have a lot a playing around to do (although it is - mercifully - a simple pedal to use) but am going to use it at the next rehearsal. I also tried it with two different ukuleles, both electric. One a piezo based model and the other with steel strings and magnetic pickups. It was just as good with those as with a guitar (despite not being intended for use with the ukulele!). Is it the only pedal you'll ever need? Quite possibly, but probably not. You will need a tuner (although I have recently switched to a Planet Waves headstock tuner, so one pedal less there!), maybe a wah pedal if that suits your style or perhaps a volume pedal if you are an ambient merchant - but for the majority of us, in the majority of gigging band situations it will do the job excellently for the musical styles it is aimed at. Oh - and did I mention it is only £70? Amazing value. Free standard non-Prime delivery took a very acceptable two and a half days from my late night order until a luchtime delivery.

I'm not a pro or knowledgeable guitarist, but bought this just for experimenting. Decent enough sound transformation with it, but when layering the effects, it tends to deteriorate a bit. Definitely worthwhile for someone starting out with an electric guitar, far simpler to use than a load of daisy-chained separate pedals.

Just before the review. I've been a professional for many many years. I'm a veteran of literally thousands of gigs and hundreds of recording hours. My current rig is Markbass, Musicman, Warwick, ESP and Ibanez Premium. I have a fully cased pedalboard but a hankering to travel light. Some of the reviews of this are unflattering and might lead me to question just how much experience the writers have with kit and the real world. From my perspective I was really bowled over. I expected a flyrig to sit in my case for rehearsals where there was a studio amp available, as a backup for short festival slots where I could just DI out and possibly for pit band work. I'm now looking at some of the pedals on my main board with fresh eyes just because of the quality coming from this TINY box. The compressor is really transparent and sounds natural, the boost is a useful option (P'raps for the above DI as an "always on" option?), but not needed. It knocks spots off the Ashdown dual band compressor that's in a cupboard somewhere. Fuzz on bass isn't really my thing, but at a pinch with the sustain backed right off it hits nasty overdrive well. One thing that it does do is to nail the old Big Muff sound. The preamp is a diamond. Again the DI gig would be happy with the tone-shaping which really does sound like an amp. On a more real-world situation it's great to be able to add a driven Ampeg sound on the songs that need it. One great thing is that both the fuzz and the preamp react really well to volume changes from the bass so cleaning up is always an option. I habitually run the bass on half volume to preserve dynamics later down the chain and a pristine to grind transformation is really easy to achieve which just adds versatility. The Octave section is, in my opinion, really good. It tracks down to the B on a five string without glitching. Turn up the direct, octaves on half and the compressor keeping things tidy and the tracking and sound is better than my OC3 (which cost double what the whole soundbar costs). Noise floor is very low unless you dime the drives, construction solid and just too cute for words. If I could suggest anything for the mark II it would be a 9v output to drive a pedal in the loop and some sort of tuner, especially since that's going to be the essential either in the loop or in the front end. But that is that. On the whole I'm more than delighted and am thinking of buying a second to sit on my main board and run the other pedals in the loop. Great bit of kit.

I gig quite often and lugging around my huge pedaltrain and my deluxe reverb combo is not always an option. I'm trying to set up a new blues project so I wanted something inexpensive yet flexible and twiggy blues seemed to fit the bill perfectly. For less than the cost of a boss pedal, you get four great sounding effects plus a switchable cab simulator. Construction: This thing is tiny yet extremely robust( see the picture with the plectrum for size scaling). The switches seem very durable, the knobs are nice and smooth and it's just around the right weight. The knobs are dressed with silicone covers so adjustment is easy and stable. A huge plus is that each effect's knobs light with a different colour making it easy to see which effect is on and also the settings. It was also a very pleasant surprise that a power supply and an anti slip mat are included. Sounds: Twiggy blues has anything to get you from clean chicken pickin country to power blues a la S.R.V. The included effects are a compressor(comp), an overdrive(blues), a slapback echo/delay(slapback) and a lovely warm reverb(air). The compressor is a two know dynacomp style compressor. It can be used to even out dynamics, make your strat sound nice and round or at more extreme settings give a nice volume boost and sustain, especially when used in conjuction with the overdrive. The overdrive has all the controls you'd expect(vol,tone,gain) and is a very smooth low to mid gain overdrive. It is more amp like getting you those very sought after dumble tones. Works great with both single coils and humbuckers and with every guitar I tried it,it never sounded mushy, quite contrary was always well defined ,warm and cut through great. Although I've got more than 20 drive pedals,this one sounded similar to none. It's more like a warmer in between of a tube screamer and a blues driver.Quite interesting. The slapback delay can go up to 500ms. It's suprisingly non colouring, especially at this price point,sounding better than delays which cost double than the whole twiggy blues.It has the typical three controls allowing control over repeats, delay time and mix level. Aftrer the delay there is a switch which activates or deactivates the cabinet simulator. Although nothing mindblowing, it is a perfectly usable cab simulator which sounds to me like a nice and round american style 4X12. Tried to record directly and performed quite satisfactory. Last but not least is the reverb. It is a very classy and quite defined medium to large room with a very subtle underlying shimmer. As the name(air) suggests, although it only has a level knob,it opens up the sound making it way more 3d and textured. Overall it is an astonishing value for money which won't disappoint, not only at this price point but anyone who wants to get a quality country to power blues sound without busting the bank or breaking your back. Works great, power consumption is only 150ma so you can incorporate it easily to your existing setup and use your own power supply, while sounding absolutely amazing both connected to an amp or direct.

These pedals are amazing in terms of quality, value for money and simple elegant functionality. As a hobbyist guitarist I’ve tried several programmable multi effects pedals in my time and have always found it difficult to quickly find exactly the tone I want without significant preparation beforehand. Sonicake solves this problem in a simple elegant way. You are effectively buying four independent pedals in one box. Each can be activated or deactivated with its own stomp switch, and each can be adjusted using its own set of parameter dials. Simplicity itself. The only disadvantage over independent pedals is that you can’t alter the sequence in your signal chain, but the effects are chained logically and perfectly appropriate for all but the most specialised needs. At the time of purchase I was initially sceptical about the sound quality but a quick search for demos on YouTube put my mind at rest and I can confirm that these pedals sound fantastic, with no discernible noise brought into the mix. Quite honestly I’m a convert and for the price Sonicake is a clear no brainier for the hobbying guitarist.

Great little unit which takes up very little pedalboard space. The preamp is superb and really brings my (Fishman soundhole humbucker equipped) guitar to life. The chorus is also very good although as I mostly play 12-string it is not something that I will use a lot. The reverb has a huge range and I find that it is probably best used subtly (1-3) as its is easy to overdo it. When I bought this unit I was expecting to use the delay a lot, especially as it features tap tempo but I have found it to be a little muddy compared to the crisp repeats from my Donner pedal but I will persevere as it may just be a question of learning how best to use it. The unit seems to need to be used with its own power supply. I found it got very noisy when running from a power block with my EHX MEL09. I haven’t tried using the DI output but it could be very useful in some circumstances. All in all a great little unit. It has some shortcomings but at this price it is superb value for money.

Good product, little bit bassy and not enough highs.

Cheap multi effects pedal for acoustic. Does the job. Not keen in the coloured lights.