I’m a huge EHX fan, but I have to be honest in this review, the Bass Metaphors simply does not live up to its potential. I’ll have a quick review, and how this can be improved. And it should, because it’s a good idea.

The Bass Metaphors does some things well and others not well. First the good:

* The distortion on it is good, it has a kind of tube-y kind of thing going on. It reminds me a lot of the Bass Blogger, which is why I asked if the distortion circuit was based on anything in a different post (but it may be secret!). It’s more of a fuzz than an overdrive, but it does sound good.

* The EQ, by itself, is good. It does let you emphasize treble and bass without anything sounding too shrill or boomy. It’s dialed in well.

Now the problem areas:

* The biggest problem the Metaphors has is setting a volume– it’s unreasonably difficult. I figure that the problem lies in the fact that too many things affect the overall output. The Master Volume sets how loud the pedal is overall, but you CANNOT get a unity volume by using that alone. Each EQ channel is a boost only circuit, according to the manual, so boosting the bass or treble does have the apparent effect of making things louder, and this is highly interactive with the EQ Level knob, which blends in the EQ. But because the EQ is boost only, adding in the EQ level is a drastic perceived increase in volume. Blending in or out the Dry knob also has affects this, but in a way that seems completely detached from the EQ Level knob. The compressor also significantly raises the apparent volume. All of these things are highly interactive, so trying to manipulate all of them to somehow be the same volume as clean is unnecessarily difficult.

* The compressor needs to be more flexible. The compressor is just an on/off kind of setup, but it has a super fast attack that makes a ‘thud’ sound with every single finger-style pluck as the compressor clamps down on the signal. The thud sound is not smooth and it’s not transparent, and I wish it could have been dialed in or out. It’s maybe more suited for slap style players? I like to use compression to make high notes sustain and chords to ring more clearly. The compressor’s attack is so quick that even chords have that thud, making it not very useful.

* Here’s a little nitpick. The Direct Output shouldn’t be on the Input side of the pedal. It’s a pedal-board pest trying to run a cable underneath other effects or around them to stick it into that side. Output should all be on the output (left) side or the top.

With those two problem areas in mind, here’s how any future update on this idea could be greatly improved (Maybe the Bass Similes?)

* Boost/Cut EQ circuit. It would not only allow even greater control over frequencies, but be easier to manage with a master volume. The Graphic Fuzz implements this beautifully.

* One Volume knob. For a channel-strip effect, dialing in the right volume over several parameters is crucial. One knob needs to be able to achieve a unity volume quickly, and all things on the channel-strip should be in-sync with this control. Blending a dry signal with an EQ’d signal doesn’t really make sense to me. The effect is very hard to notice, even with the compressor on. Why not make the distortion blend-able, but the EQ stable as long as the effect is on?

* Compressor should have some flexibility. The Soul Preacher is a great small box compressor. It’s simple but it can be tweaked to get the right sound/feel. Why not implement this into future designs? With a master volume, it would be one knob (sustain) and a switch.

* The Distortion sounds good, but it is not effective with other distortions (it disappears immediately) and it doesn’t cut through a mix. Having on board distortion that isn’t tweak-able isn’t very useful. For recording, one distortion sound that’s either more or less apparent isn’t going to be interesting to use for any more than a couple songs. The Metal Muff’s boost feature would be more useful, it would let you cut through/boost the distortion boxes in your chain or your amp.

All of the above suggestions could fit in the XO 6-knob format. [knobs for master volume, boost volume, bass EQ +/-, treble EQ +/-, blend, and sustain, with an attack switch ala Soul Preacher]. And of course, a great example of a well done blend-able distortion/compressor combo was the Deluxe Big Muff- go ahead and reissue that at some point too!

Thanks for reading. I’m a huge fan and I hope this criticism helps you make future products.