Tech 21 dUg Pinnick Signature DP-3X

The Tech 21 dUg Pinnick Signature DP-3X is an all-analog preamp pedal for bass, developed in collaboration with dUg Pinnick, the bassist and vocalist of King's X¹²³. It is a super-compact adaptation of his Tech 21 Ultra Bass 1000 Signature head, and it recreates the sound dUg originally built with that amp: clean, full low end merged with high-end distortion⁴⁵. Pinnick himself described the idea behind it in a Sweetwater demo at Winter NAMM 2018:

For a bass player, that means one box that can serve as a distortion pedal in front of an amp, or as a full preamp plugged straight into a power amp, a PA desk or a studio board through its XLR output⁶¹³.

An all-analog signature bass pedal

The DP-3X sits in Tech 21's SansAmp range, and like the company's other bass pedals it is built entirely in the analog domain: Tech 21 lists "all-analog technology" for the pedal, a point repeated across the press coverage and reviews⁴³¹. Even the compression is analog. Bass Musician Magazine's 2023 review describes the COMP control as using "old school, all-analog, FET-based technology, which is inherently warmer, more transparent and more musical"¹.

The pedal came out of a direct collaboration. Pinnick already had a signature Tech 21 amplifier, the Ultra Bass 1000 Signature head, and the DP-3X packages that head's preamp circuit in a stompbox⁵³. As Bass Musician Magazine's Ty Campbell put it when the pedal was new, "who better to collaborate with than dUg Pinnick"². Pinnick has gigged it hard himself: in the Sweetwater demo he described taking it to Europe for a month with his blues band, stuck in his suitcase, and using it in live situations where soundmen plugged it straight into the PA⁶.

Gain, Mix mode, tuner and XLR output

The DP-3X's controls divide into two layers: the always-on shaping controls, and the Mix mode section that produces dUg's distorted tone¹⁵².

The pedal has two operating modes. In clean/full-range mode, Drive and Chunk disengage while Comp and Gain remain active, giving a traditional clean bass sound⁵. Mix mode engages Drive to bring in distortion and Chunk for upper harmonics, which is where the dUg Pinnick sound lives⁵. As Ty Campbell described it in his review, "When mix mode is engaged, it engages the chunk and drive, which gives you that dUg Pinnick gnarly sound that he is known" for².

Beyond the tone controls, the DP-3X carries the utility features of a gigging preamp⁵³⁷:

• A chromatic tuner, so tuning does not need a separate pedal⁴⁵
• Headphone capability for silent practice⁷
• An XLR output with ground lift to go direct to a PA desk or studio board¹²
• A 1/4-inch low impedance output for running into an amp or power amp⁴
• Sample settings in the owner's manual, including dUg's personal setting plus styles referencing Muse's "Hysteria," Yes's "Roundabout," Tom Petersson, Paul McCartney and a smooth studio setting¹

Power comes from the included 9V DC universal supply (Model #DC9), which is auto-switching and self-adjusting from 100V to 240V at 200mA, with interchangeable international prong assemblies for the EU, UK and Australia/New Zealand¹. That makes it usable worldwide without a converter, though it also means the pedal runs on its adapter rather than a standard 9V battery or a typical pedalboard daisy chain.

From the Ultra Bass 1000 head to the pedal

Tech 21 introduced the DP-3X at Winter NAMM 2018³. Guitar World reported the street price at the time as $289³. The pitch was portability: a super-compact adaptation of dUg Pinnick's Tech 21 Ultra Bass 1000 Signature head, built into a rugged, all-metal housing¹⁸⁴.

In Pete Thorn's video interview with Pinnick, the two walk through the pedal, with Pinnick pointing out that "it's got a tuner built in" and demonstrating the sounds from his signature head in the smaller format⁹.

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What reviewers made of it

Bass Musician Magazine reviewed the DP-3X twice. Ty Campbell's 2018 review came from working gigs: he used it both as a stomp box with an amp and as a preamp direct to the board on shows where amps were not permitted, and concluded that "It worked great for every application and met my needs"². He kept it in his rig alongside the Bass Fly Rig, finding the two units different and each unique in its own way². Freekbass's 2023 review confirmed the feature set, from the analog compressor to the international power supply¹.

MusicRadar's review took a more mixed view, listing the price as a con and calling the unit "pricey"¹⁰. Guitar Interactive also reviewed the pedal in print, per Tech 21's own reviews index¹¹.

Videos

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Questions