Tech 21 dUg Pinnick

The Tech 21 dUg Pinnick DP-3X is a signature bass preamp and distortion pedal from Tech 21, developed in collaboration with dUg Pinnick, the King's X frontman whose bass tone has long paired high-end distortion with low-end bass¹. It is a super-compact adaptation of his Tech 21 Ultra Bass 1000 Signature head, and both recreate the sound dUg originally developed back in the '80s²¹. Before his signature head, that sound involved running a guitar amp and a bass amp together along with a rack full of effects³.

The idea behind the pedal, as dUg put it in Sweetwater's Winter NAMM 2018 demo, was to make the big amp's sound portable and affordable:

He described carrying it in his suitcase for a month-long European tour with his blues band, and using it live with soundmen who could put his bass in the mix because the tone is scooped in a way that leaves room for the guitars and kick drum⁴.

The controls and modes

The DP-3X runs in two modes. Mix mode is where dUg's own tone lives: it engages the Drive control to bring in distortion and Chunk for upper harmonics²⁷. Clean/full-range mode is for traditional bass sounds; in that mode Drive and Chunk disengage while Comp and Gain remain active²¹. As Ty Campbell put it in his Bass Musician Magazine review, "When mix mode is engaged, it engages the chunk and drive, which gives you that dUg Pinnick gnarly sound that he is known for."⁹

The compressor is worth a note for players comparing circuits: Tech 21 describes the COMP as using "old school, all-analog, FET-based technology, which is inherently warmer, more transparent and more musical"⁶. In Pete Thorn's interview video with dUg, the two discussed how the compression acts on the low end, with dUg explaining that compressing only the low end keeps the bottom solid while the high end stays untouched¹⁰.

dUg's own starting point, as he showed Pete Thorn, is simple: Low wide open, mids halfway up, and the high end only becomes audible as you turn up Chunk¹⁰.

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In that same video, Pete Thorn noted the built-in tuner ("one less thing to bring") and a switch that bypasses the whole pedal for your regular tone¹⁰.

Based on the Ultra Bass 1000 head

The DP-3X is a pedal version of dUg's Tech 21 Ultra Bass 1000 Signature head, a amp he and Tech 21 developed first¹². MusicRadar's review describes the pedal as "an adaptation of the King's X frontman Dug Pinnick's Ultra Bass 1000 head," and Bass Musician Magazine's Ty Campbell called it "an adaptation of his Tech 21 Ultra Bass 1000 Signature head"¹¹⁹. Both the head and the pedal recreate the sound dUg developed in the '80s, merging high-end distortion with low-end bass¹.

For a player, the practical difference is the one dUg described at NAMM: the pedal can plug into a power amp, a PA or a studio setup through its XLR out, and it fits in a gig bag⁴.

Outputs, headphones and the tuner

The DP-3X is built to be a whole rig on its own. Its outputs are:

• An XLR output with ground lift, to go direct to a PA desk or studio board⁶¹
• A 1/4-inch low impedance output for an amp or power amp²⁶
• A headphone mode switch for silent practice and tone dialing²

Alongside the XLR output is a ground switch, which helps with ground-loop hum when going direct⁹. The built-in chromatic tuner has been part of the feature list since launch²¹.

Power and the enclosure

The pedal runs on the included 9V DC universal power supply, Model #DC9, which Tech 21 describes as "auto-switching" and self-adjusting from 100V to 240V at 200mA⁶². The supply comes set up for US outlets, with interchangeable international prong assemblies included for the EU, UK and Australia/New Zealand, so it can be used anywhere in the world⁶⁹.

The housing is rugged and all-metal, with metal footswitches and jacks and silent-switching custom footswitch actuators. It measures 7.75 inches long by 2.5 inches wide by 1.25 inches high and weighs 12 oz⁶.

Sample settings

The owner's manual includes sample settings beyond dUg's personal one, which give a sense of the range the EQ and mode controls cover⁶:

• Muse, "Hysteria"
• Yes, "Roundabout"
• Tom Petersson
• Paul McCartney
• Smooth Studio

What reviewers said

MusicRadar's review concluded with "Excellent work all round."¹¹ Ty Campbell, reviewing for Bass Musician Magazine, used it both as a stomp box with an amp and as a preamp direct to the board on gigs where amps were not permitted, and reported that "It worked great for every application and met my needs."⁹ He also uses it alongside the Tech 21 Bass Fly Rig, finding the two different and each unique, with both now an essential part of his rig⁹.

Videos

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Questions