GUPtech Bass Bone Douche edition

The GUPtech Bass Bone Douche edition is a bass overdrive-preamp from the Canadian maker GUPtech, built around the Darkglass B3K circuit. GUPtech describes it as "Inspired by the incredible work around the Darkglass B3K, this overdrive-preamp is the perfect new friend to your bass"¹. It sits in the overdrive family, and players comparing bass-oriented drives may also find the overdrive pages useful.

What it does

The Bass Bone is an overdrive-preamp, meaning it both drives the signal and shapes the overall bass tone. The circuit it draws from, the Darkglass Microtubes B3K, is a compact CMOS-based bass overdrive pedal² that Darkglass describes as "aimed to give you a perfect combination of brutality and clarity"³. The B3K has been covered by the bass press since its arrival: No Treble ran a gear watch on it in November 2010⁴, and Pedal of the Day featured a guest review in August 2016, where the reviewer introduced it simply as "the Darkglass Microtubes B3K Bass Overdrive"⁵.

Controls and power

GUPtech's product page gives a short control set:

• Level knob: controls the driven signal¹
• Attack and Grunt modes: three positions each, for shaping the drive character¹

Power comes from a 9V DC center negative supply, with a power consumption of 19mA¹. That draw is low enough for any standard pedalboard supply.

The Douche edition versus the standard Bass Bone

The Douche edition is not a different pedal. GUPtech states: "As for all our other douche edition, this is the exact same circuit but in a more limited run"¹. The distinguishing feature is cosmetic: "This one is in a purple metallic box"¹, and the listing gives the style as Purple¹.

The listing price is £99.00 GBP as stated on GUPtech's page¹.