Trickfish Trilobite

The Trickfish Trilobite is a dual preamp pedal for bass, built around two of Trickfish's Bullhead preamps in one box, with the routing options and effects loop the maker says modern gig setups call for¹. Trickfish released it in September 2018². It is an analog, solid state design³², and Trickfish positions it as a compact piece of gear for the gig, the studio, and the practice room¹.

For a bass player, the Trilobite is two preamp pedals in one enclosure. Each channel has its own EQ, and the pedal can either switch between two preamp settings on a single instrument or run two instruments independently⁴. Bass Musician Magazine's 2026 roundup of bass preamps and DI pedals called it the pick for players who want maximum flexibility for switching basses live⁴.

Two Bullhead preamps in one pedal

Trickfish says the goal was to "harness the power of two Bullhead preamps paired with the routing options required for modern gig setups"¹. The Bullhead preamp is the company's own solid state preamp design, and the Trilobite puts two of them in a single pedal, each with its own EQ section¹².

Bass Musician Magazine's reviewer, B.A. Johnson, spent three weeks with the pedal and found the pairing brought "matchless versatility" in every situation he tried, noting the low noise of the solid state preamps². The 2026 buying guide from the same magazine describes it as a heavier duty preamp pedal running dual Bullhead preamps⁴.

The controls: three footswitches and two EQ sections

The Trilobite's front panel is organized around three footswitches and two independent EQ sections².

Channel A's EQ is the more configurable of the two: its mid band is switchable, and the low-mid and hi-mid bands offer selectable frequency and bandwidth options². Channel B covers the same four bands with variable gain on the mids but without the switching options². An input level indicator with green and red signal and clip LEDs helps you set gain so the preamp is driven hard without clipping².

Power and connections

The Trilobite runs on 12V DC, center negative, drawing 250mA³.

The rear panel carries a full set of connections for a gig rig²:

• Instrument inputs: Mono/Dual 1/4 inch phone jacks with rotary gain control²
• AUX Out: 600 ohm balanced XLR, post EQ²
• Amp Out / EFX Loop: Parallel effects loop with side-chain dry blend²
• Insert Loop: Series²
• Headphone Out: Stereo 1/8 inch mini jack²
• Tuner Out: 1/4 inch phone jack²
• Line In: 1/8 inch mini jack²

The parallel effects loop with a side-chain dry blend lets you run time based effects such as delay or reverb without losing the dry low end of your bass signal, while the series insert loop takes pedals that need to see the whole signal². The line input and headphone output together make the Trilobite usable as a practice rig on its own².

Mono Mode and Dual Mode

The Trilobite's routing splits into two modes⁴².

Mono Mode uses a single instrument while switching between the A and B preamp settings with the Channel A/B footswitch². This suits a player who wants two voicings on one bass, for example a flat setting for one song and a scooped or boosted setting for the next.

Dual Mode runs two instruments, with the A and B channels acting as independent preamp channels². A player carrying a fretted and a fretless bass, or a 4 string and a 5 string, can dial in a separate EQ for each and switch between them from the pedal.

Bass Musician Magazine's 2026 guide highlights exactly this flexibility, naming the Trilobite for players who want maximum flexibility for switching basses live⁴.

What reviewers said

B.A. Johnson's 2019 review for Bass Musician Magazine tested the pedal over three weeks and concluded that the routing options of the paired, low noise, solid state Bullhead preamps bring "matchless versatility" to every situation he put it in². The magazine's later buying guide kept the Trilobite on its list of the best bass preamps and DI pedals it had reviewed, recommending it specifically for live bass switching⁴.

Trickfish's own framing is similar in spirit: the company says it put its on the gig experience into the design to make the Trilobite "a powerful on the gig solution" that keeps a setup versatile whether you are playing live, recording, or practicing¹.

Videos

Click to load

Click to load

Click to load

Questions