Just sharing, I thought this sounded beautiful ( not affiliated in any way )...
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Earthquaker Devices Westwood
- Thread starter son_of_mogh
- Start date
Does sound good. Would love to try it out. Just a shame all their pedals are expensive.
Wow! I am not much of a pedal guy but I may have to check that out. Sounds great so far.
O.K. I just put an order in for this one through Sweetwater... I'll let you guys know my thoughts after it gets here!
I love the way it sounds on bass, sounds a little uninspiring on guitar to me though. Fairly close tonally to my Catalinbread SFT, and I've had to put myself on a dirt moratorium (too many ill-advised purchases last year), so it's a no from me. I do love the level of piss-taking EQD did with this- 'translucent' dadcore overdrive?
I'm already overstuffed with dirt pedals. That includes the Dunwich ODB I recently got, which has 3-band EQ plus a couple more bells and whistles. I love the Westwood demos, though. 
I ordered one from prymaxe and it arrived earlier this week. Haven’t been able to spend a ton of time with it, but I’m really liking it so far with a passive p and a stingray 5. The sound in the demos is a pretty good representation of what I’m hearing in person. It’s responsive to touch, reacts well with the active electronics in the Stingray, and sounds equally awesome going into my Noble pre or my Tonehammer head.
I like the character of the drive - nice and transparent. The EQ is simple but effective, although I haven’t really used any extreme settings. Doesn’t venture into heavy distortion territory, but can get gritty enough for me. I sold my Grizzly to buy this, mainly because i wanted something a little simpler and didn’t need the higher gain settings on the Grizzly. Was worried I would regret the swap, but so far I’m thinking I made the right decision (although the Grizzly is a *great* pedal).
I like the character of the drive - nice and transparent. The EQ is simple but effective, although I haven’t really used any extreme settings. Doesn’t venture into heavy distortion territory, but can get gritty enough for me. I sold my Grizzly to buy this, mainly because i wanted something a little simpler and didn’t need the higher gain settings on the Grizzly. Was worried I would regret the swap, but so far I’m thinking I made the right decision (although the Grizzly is a *great* pedal).
Just noticed. Very well played!
You mean they didn't make it specifically for you?
Sadly not but have to get one don’t I! I mean I dnt have a choice!!
So I got the Westwood yesterday and was able to play around with it this weekend.
First off, I'll admit that I don't have a TON of experience with grit pedals, as I've only owned a BOSS ODB-3, a BLOWER BOX, and a RED WITCH ZEUS. Sum total of experiences. But there's a range there that I can compare to for sure, and I've listened to dozens and dozens of recorded examples of other pedals.
so... I really, really like the Westwood! I am using it with the drive turned to 9 o clock to add a very subtle touch of overdrive and it sounds very rich, near to that tube-induced breakup I hear on warmed up tube amps. There is a delicate crackle that allows for the tones to ring true and yet tickle my ears with that wonderful flavor of buzziness I like so much. Whether I play hard or soft I can clearly hear what sounds like an amp being pushed, but not to extremes.
With the drive turned to 3 o clock the overdrive is loud and obvious and present in a whole different way. It is still a very smooth sounding grit (oxymoron much), especially as compared to the RAT based Blower Box I have.
What makes this pedal though are the separate bass and treble controls, which allow me to blend in plenty of my low end (prevent tone suck knob) while adjusting for the character of the breakup with the treble. The two tone knobs themselves can seriously alter the sound of the overdrive which gives even more options.
Tomorrow night is practice so I'll get to hear it in a full band setup. I play through my TecAmp jaguar there like at home but instead of a Bergantino 2x12 it'll be a 8x10 Ampeg fridge. Can't wait and I'll update with the results as it sits in the mix.
Thanks for reading and sorry if my adjectives make no sense, lol. Best thing is try to find one you can play through yourself! Peace. Mike
First off, I'll admit that I don't have a TON of experience with grit pedals, as I've only owned a BOSS ODB-3, a BLOWER BOX, and a RED WITCH ZEUS. Sum total of experiences. But there's a range there that I can compare to for sure, and I've listened to dozens and dozens of recorded examples of other pedals.
so... I really, really like the Westwood! I am using it with the drive turned to 9 o clock to add a very subtle touch of overdrive and it sounds very rich, near to that tube-induced breakup I hear on warmed up tube amps. There is a delicate crackle that allows for the tones to ring true and yet tickle my ears with that wonderful flavor of buzziness I like so much. Whether I play hard or soft I can clearly hear what sounds like an amp being pushed, but not to extremes.
With the drive turned to 3 o clock the overdrive is loud and obvious and present in a whole different way. It is still a very smooth sounding grit (oxymoron much), especially as compared to the RAT based Blower Box I have.
What makes this pedal though are the separate bass and treble controls, which allow me to blend in plenty of my low end (prevent tone suck knob) while adjusting for the character of the breakup with the treble. The two tone knobs themselves can seriously alter the sound of the overdrive which gives even more options.
Tomorrow night is practice so I'll get to hear it in a full band setup. I play through my TecAmp jaguar there like at home but instead of a Bergantino 2x12 it'll be a 8x10 Ampeg fridge. Can't wait and I'll update with the results as it sits in the mix.
Thanks for reading and sorry if my adjectives make no sense, lol. Best thing is try to find one you can play through yourself! Peace. Mike
Update from post-practice.
First off, I almost forgot that I have also owned a TAFM so add that one to my short list of experiences. . .
In any case, this was the first time I used the Westwood, obviously, but also the first time I've heard the IdiotBox in a full band setting. Holy crap that pedal is huge when mixed in with everything! I kind of got both these pedals around the same time and been waiting to test them each, but yeah, wow. Now I understand why people love that BLOWER BOX man. Sounds very deep and present, and the grit doesn't fight with the guitars, it layers on top of it and complements it. Killer stompbox. But oh yeah, you came here to read about the Westwood.
So the Westwood holds its own in a band setting too, although as you know it's an overdrive an thus inherently more subtle. There are a few parts in our songs where the bass is playing solo (not soloing, just solo, lol) and there is definitely a nice rough edge to the sound when I'm playing there. I really knocked the drive to the lower end, because I want just that tiny amount of breakup, but when I jam on the strings in my typical aggressive prog-rock-esque finger style, I can get it to respond more, which allows for some treble to cut through.
Some of the coolest sounds are when playing chords, and especially when those chords ring out and you give the notes a chance to fade. The breakup crests and then diminshes so this would be a great pedal for a quiet part in the song with an acoustic or low gain guitar part and song open bass chords underneath. Kind of makes me want to write a part just for that! In any case I'll update after we jam a bunch more times and after I really explore all the range available in the pedal. It's definitely a good addition to my board and I'm glad I pulled the trigger.
Now, who's looking for a Red Witch Zeus? haha. Peace.
First off, I almost forgot that I have also owned a TAFM so add that one to my short list of experiences. . .
In any case, this was the first time I used the Westwood, obviously, but also the first time I've heard the IdiotBox in a full band setting. Holy crap that pedal is huge when mixed in with everything! I kind of got both these pedals around the same time and been waiting to test them each, but yeah, wow. Now I understand why people love that BLOWER BOX man. Sounds very deep and present, and the grit doesn't fight with the guitars, it layers on top of it and complements it. Killer stompbox. But oh yeah, you came here to read about the Westwood.
So the Westwood holds its own in a band setting too, although as you know it's an overdrive an thus inherently more subtle. There are a few parts in our songs where the bass is playing solo (not soloing, just solo, lol) and there is definitely a nice rough edge to the sound when I'm playing there. I really knocked the drive to the lower end, because I want just that tiny amount of breakup, but when I jam on the strings in my typical aggressive prog-rock-esque finger style, I can get it to respond more, which allows for some treble to cut through.
Some of the coolest sounds are when playing chords, and especially when those chords ring out and you give the notes a chance to fade. The breakup crests and then diminshes so this would be a great pedal for a quiet part in the song with an acoustic or low gain guitar part and song open bass chords underneath. Kind of makes me want to write a part just for that! In any case I'll update after we jam a bunch more times and after I really explore all the range available in the pedal. It's definitely a good addition to my board and I'm glad I pulled the trigger.
Now, who's looking for a Red Witch Zeus? haha. Peace.
I hate myself for letting the graphic and color scheme be a deal-killer.
Disclosure: that's probably financial self-preservation kicking in. As I mentioned above, I already own a dozen overdrive pedals that I really like, and I also have to save my pennies to pay the balance on a custom bass that might be ready soon. Still... love the Westwood demos. When Juan cranks the bass knob, the OD gets really phat but without the synthy/kazooey vibe that can happen when combining low end boost with OD.
Disclosure: that's probably financial self-preservation kicking in. As I mentioned above, I already own a dozen overdrive pedals that I really like, and I also have to save my pennies to pay the balance on a custom bass that might be ready soon. Still... love the Westwood demos. When Juan cranks the bass knob, the OD gets really phat but without the synthy/kazooey vibe that can happen when combining low end boost with OD.
Lol I can relate, there are a few pedals I will never buy for equally silly reasons. The 3-Lead Audio "You're Doom" just rubbed me the wrong way because of the grammar. I guess it is a play on YOU'RE DOOMED! and YOU are the one doing the dooming... but it just creates so many cogs jamming in my head that I can't focus.