One Control Hooker's Green Bass Machine review

Envy-inducing bass overdrive pedal

  • £129
  • $144
There's plenty of bottom end on that trim pot

MusicRadar Verdict

A brilliant add-on for bassists needing more bottom end, or for guitarists looking for a darker drive.

Pros

  • +

    Adds great growl to your bass sound. Works for guitar, too. Nice bottom end on the trim control.

Cons

  • -

    Comparatively expensive for a Chinese-made mini pedal.

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Bass players probably have a right to feel hard done by when it comes to stompboxes, because there are far more pedals designed for guitar than specifically for bass.

"We reckon it adds a great growl to your bass sound - think Stranglers or Lemmy"

While bassists can use guitar pedals, there's often the likelihood of compromising bass tone, as some guitar overdrive pedals have built-in bass cut when engaged.

Not so, though, with Hooker's Green Bass Machine - there's plenty of bottom end and a trim pot on the side to adjust it to suit your instrument.

One Control says that this pedal is designed to give a modern transistor bass amp more of a valve-amp sound, or the tones of an older transistor model, such as a Sunn transistor bass amp.

We reckon it adds a great growl to your bass sound - think Stranglers or Lemmy. It works great with guitar, too, for a darker overdrive.

Trevor Curwen has played guitar for several decades – he's also mimed it on the UK's Top of the Pops. Much of his working life, though, has been spent behind the mixing desk, during which time he has built up a solid collection of the guitars, amps and pedals needed to cover just about any studio session. He writes pedal reviews for Guitarist and has contributed to Total Guitar, MusicRadar and Future Music among others.