AMT Bass Bricks

AMT Bass Bricks are the bass preamp pedals in AMT Electronics' Bricks series: the A-Bass and the O-Bass. Each is a compact bass preamp pedal that combines an analog preamp with a full digital back end, so a bass player can run straight to a mixer, interface or power amp and still get a complete amp-and-cab sound from one box. Both models are listed by AMT as available now¹².

The Bricks series as a whole covers preamps, effect pedals, noise suppressors, cabinet simulators, controllers and pedalboards, all sharing a common design and functional compatibility³. At the time of AMT's detailed review, the series included 11 one-channel preamps, with the last two forming the X-Bass product line³.

What is in the signal chain

AMT's demo of the Bass Bricks preamps lays out the blocks in order, and it is more than a plain preamp. The chain runs⁴⁶:

1. Analog preamp with Clean, Low gain and High gain modes⁴
2. Compressor⁴
3. Noise gate, set as a global setting rather than per preset⁴
4. Power amp with 9 types⁴
5. IR cabsim, using 1 IR for both L/R channels per preset⁴
6. Delay or Reverb, one effect per preset⁴

For a player, that means the pedal handles the whole job of an amp front end: gain staging, dynamics control, power amp character, cabinet simulation and a time-based effect, without needing separate pedals for each. The global noise gate is a feature shared across the Bricks preamp line, appearing on the guitar models too, including the D-Lead, M-Lead, Vt-Lead, B-Lead and Vx-Clean⁷. The nine-type power amp block is likewise shared across the series, so the bass models use the same power amp modeling as the rest of the line⁷.

A-Bass and O-Bass: what each one is

The two bass models cover different amp lineages, and the difference is mostly in the preamp circuit and the EQ³.

The A-Bass is based on the circuit of the Alembic bass preamp line, which AMT's Ivan Demichev describes as legendary³. RockBoard's PedalPedia entry calls it a compact bass preamp pedal designed to deliver classic bass amplifier tone in a pedal format, with controls for Gain, Low, Mid, High and Level and a built-in speaker cabinet simulation⁵.

The O-Bass takes a broader approach: AMT lists it with an analog preamp offering Clean, Low gain and High gain modes, a parametric pre/post EQ that can sit before or after the preamp, the nine-type power amp and the IR cabsim⁷. Both pedals can be equipped with a 12AX7-family tube, and AMT names the AMT-12AX7WS, 12AX7 and ECC83 as options, or any other 12AX7-compatible tube¹².

Where the Bass Bricks fit in the series

The Bricks series is AMT's unified pedal platform: preamps, effect pedals, noise suppressors, cabinet simulators, controllers and pedalboards, all built to work together in design and function³. The guitar side of the preamp range includes models such as the P-Lead, B-Lead, M-Lead, Vt-Lead, D-Lead, R/S-Lead, F-Clean, Vx-Clean and X-Lead, each emulating a different tube amp, while the two X-Bass models, the A-Bass and O-Bass, cover bass³.

Because the power amp, IR cabsim and global noise gate are common across the line, a player who already knows a Bricks guitar preamp will find the bass models familiar: the differences are in the analog preamp stage and the EQ, not in the digital back end⁴⁷.

AMT also makes related bass gear outside the Bricks format, including the O-BASS and O2 preamps and the Bass ZEALOT BZ-300 power amp, which appeared alongside the Bass Bricks preamps in AMT's own demo⁴.

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