The Damnation Audio Bass Power Distorter is a bass overdrive and distortion pedal that covers, in the maker's words, "everything from light transparent overdrive to a mountain of crushing distortion." Damnation Audio describes its design as "a punchy gain stage with compression and grit, and a powerful EQ to deliver chunky low end you feel in your gut," built when the company "decided to make a straightforward powerhouse bass overdrive." It comes in a standard version, the BPD-1, and a custom etched limited edition.1
Controls
The pedal keeps things simple: three knobs cover gain, low end and level.1
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| DRIVE | Adjusts gain level from 20dB to 54dB1 |
| DEPTH | 100Hz boost-only control from 0 to 17dB1 |
| VOLUME | Overall volume level of the BPD-11 |
The VOLUME control sets the overall output level of the BPD-1, letting you match the pedal's level with your clean tone or push it louder for solos, and it works independently of the gain stages so your set level holds steady at any setting.1
Power and the bipolar supply
The Bass Power Distorter runs on 9 volts DC, center negative, adapter only. Damnation Audio is emphatic about this on the product page: "POWER: 9 volts DC center negative adapter only!!!"1 No battery option is mentioned.2
The pedal takes an adapter only, with no battery option given. Power it from a dedicated output on your power supply rather than a daisy chain shared with other pedals.
Inside, the pedal does something less standard than its power input suggests. "Voltage is internally inverted to create bipolar supply," according to Damnation Audio, a design the maker ties to dynamic range and headroom.12 In plain terms, a bipolar supply gives the circuit positive and negative voltage rails, which leaves more room for the signal before it runs out of headroom, and the pedal generates it internally from the ordinary 9V input so you do not need any special adapter.
The BPD-1 and the etched limited edition
The standard version of the pedal is the BPD-1, the name the maker uses when describing its volume control.2 Alongside it, Damnation Audio offered a limited edition with a custom etched enclosure, the Crab version, priced at $199.00 USD. The etching was done by "our good friend Clint from Deep Space Devices," and the maker notes that "each one is a little different," so buyers were asked to select the specific unit they wanted.1
The custom etched Crab Bass Power Distorter is listed as sold out on the Damnation Audio site as of 26 October 2026.1
Damnation Audio has a history of what it calls "overcomplicating things" and "stuffing complex signal chains into compact pedals," and it names the Bass Power Distorter as the point where it decided to make something straightforward instead.1 Players comparing it with the rest of the range will find the same house approach elsewhere, from the Damnation Audio Curmudgeon 2 power amp distortion to the Damnation Audio Bass Fuzz Enforcer and the Damnation Audio Dirtmixer.
Videos
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Questions
Does the Bass Power Distorter take a battery?
No. Damnation Audio specifies a 9 volts DC center negative adapter only, and the maker's product page puts exclamation marks on that point. There is no battery option, so plan your pedalboard power around a dedicated adapter output rather than a battery compartment.
What does the Depth knob do on the Bass Power Distorter?
Depth is a 100Hz boost-only control that runs from 0 to 17dB. It only adds low end, it does not cut, so you can dial in the chunky low end the maker describes without touching the mids or highs. At zero it stays out of the way.
How much gain does the Drive control add?
The Drive control adjusts gain from 20dB to 54dB. That is a wide span, and the maker describes the pedal's range as everything from light transparent overdrive to a mountain of crushing distortion, so the low end of the dial suits milder overdrive and the top end suits heavy distortion.
Is the Damnation Audio Bass Power Distorter still available?
The custom etched Crab version of the Bass Power Distorter is listed as sold out on the Damnation Audio product page as of 26 October 2026. The standard BPD-1 version is the pedal's regular form.
What is a bipolar power supply in a pedal?
A bipolar supply gives the circuit positive and negative voltage rails instead of a single rail, which raises dynamic range and headroom. The Bass Power Distorter does this from a standard 9V input: the voltage is internally inverted to create the bipolar supply, so you still power it with a normal 9 volts DC center negative adapter.
Sources (2)
- CUSTOM ETCHED (CRAB) BASS POWER DISTORTER, Damnation Audio
- BASS POWER DISTORTER, Damnation Audio
