AMT Bricks O-Bass

The AMT Bricks O-Bass is a tube bass preamp pedal from AMT Electronics, listed by the maker as bass overdrive, distortion and fuzz in one unit¹. AMT says the basis of the preamp is the nature of sound of the Orange AD200 mark3, which the maker calls a legendary bass amp². It is an analog preamp with clean, low gain and high gain modes, plus an IR cab sim that loads one IR for both L/R channels per preset¹. The pedal is marked AVAILABLE NOW by the maker².

Where it sits in the AMT Bricks series

The O-Bass is part of the AMT Bricks series, a line the maker describes as including preamps, effect pedals, noise suppressors, cabinet simulators, controllers, pedalboards and other devices with design and functional compatibility³. In practice that means the O-Bass is built to sit alongside other Bricks preamps, such as the AMT Bricks X-Lead or AMT Bricks Vt-LEAD, in one system.

That compatibility matters for bypass behavior. In a serial chain of Bricks preamps, turning on any preamp in the chain turns all the other connected preamps off, switching them to true bypass². So the O-Bass is true bypass when it is switched off in that kind of chain.

Two ways to use it

AMT gives two placements for the pedal's overloaded channels:

• Preamp mode: connected to the amp's return, so the O-Bass acts as the preamp².
• Drive pedal mode: connected to the amp's input, so it works as a drive pedal in front of the amp's own preamp².

²

The first setup suits players who want the O-Bass to be their whole front end; the second suits those who want to push an existing amp. The pedal also carries a Power Amp section with 9 types and a Noise Gate as a global setting⁴, so it can shape more of the signal chain than gain alone.

Tube, power and MIDI connections

The O-Bass uses a real tube. AMT supplies it with one of the following types: AMT-12AX7WS, 12AX7, ECC83, or another 12AX7-compatible tube². The maker highlights a really high anode voltage of +250 to 300V, and describes the circuit design as either full tube or hybrid, tube plus semiconductors, with efficient emulation of vacuum tube behavior in the hybrid case².

For control, the pedal can control other devices or be controlled by other devices, and it has special CTRL A and CTRL B connectors for this². Despite the compact design, AMT fits the full set of regulation knobs: Gain, Treble, Middle, Bass and Volume².

The enclosure is small; AMT describes the dimensions as Snickers size². The maker's user manual in English is published on the AMT site⁴.

Related AMT bass gear

Players looking at the O-Bass may also want to compare it with the AMT Bricks A-Bass, the AMT A-bass, the AMT Bass ZEALOT BZ-300 power amp, and the AMT Bass Bricks range, all covered on their own pages. For other gain pedals in the Bricks line, see the AMT Bricks P-Lead and AMT Bricks B-Lead. More general background on the category is on the preamp pedals page, and on bass pedals for bass-specific effects.

Videos

Click to load

Questions