Earthquaker Devices Blumes Bass Overdrive, Purple Sparkle (Gear Hero Exclusive)

As the Plumes® Small Signal Shredder continues to defy our wildest sales expectations, we decided to crank it down a couple of notches and design a similar circuit that is ideal for bass players and all purveyors of low end.

Behold the mighty Blumes® Low Signal Shredder, the first EarthQuaker device created specifically for bass players! The industrious Blumes is also the perfect pedal for guitarists’ deep overdrive needs, especially for the drop-tuned masters.

While embodying most of the kick ass characteristics and features of the Plumes, we went ahead and modified this circuit with double the gain and a deeper bass response to retain all the low end. Lower gain settings provide all of the crunchy tone found in the Plumes, but once you get above noon on the gain control, that’s where the similarities stop. Now you’re in bass country, baby!

And much like the Plumes, this pedal offers three different clipping options to meet all those low end face melting needs.

• Mode 1 is symmetrical LED clipping that utilizes a pair of light emitting diodes. This is the crunchiest setting the Blumes has to offer. This signal is less compressed and way more open with tons of output.
• Mode 2 is a clean pure OpAmp gain boost mode. This eliminates the soft clipping diodes altogether and leaves you with straight OpAmp drive. This will be the loudest output with the fullest frequency response, and can be used as a clean boost when the Gain control is set below 11 o’clock.
• Mode 3 is an asymmetrical silicon diode arrangement similar to the stock screamer but with more output and clean clarity, which provides more transparent tone. Using this mode gives a warmer low-end response and lower output. It’s fuzzier with half the output and is the most compressed.

This all-analog tri-mode overdrive with soft clipping carries the torch of the classic screamer circuit but has a voice all its own. And thanks to its bipolar power, you’ll get more dynamics, clarity, and all the headroom you could ever desire. The end result is a more three-dimensional tone with added clarity that really pushes a nice tube amp over the edge.

• Deep bass response
• Twice as much gain as the Plumes
• Features 3 different clipping options: symmetrical LED, asymmetrical silicon, and no diode OpAmp drive
• Operates on internal bipolar power for more headroom and signal integrity
• All-analog signal path
• True bypass
• Silent relay-based switching with Flexi-Switch® Technology
• Lifetime warranty
• Current Draw: 25 mA