As the Plumes Small Signal Shreddercontinues to defy the company’s wildest sales expectations, EarthQuaker Devicesdecided to crank it down a couple of notches and design a similar circuit thatis ideal for bass players and all purveyors of low end. Behold the mightyEarthQuaker Devices Blumes Low Signal Shredder, the first EarthQuaker devicecreated specifically for bass players. The industrious Blumes is also theperfect pedal for guitarists’ deep overdrive needs, especially for thedrop-tuned masters. While embodying most of the kick-ass characteristics andfeatures of the Plumes, EarthQuaker went ahead and modified this circuit withdouble the gain and a deeper bass response to retain all the low ends. Lowergain settings provide all the crunchy tone found in the Plumes, but once youget above noon on the gain control, that’s where the similarities stop. Nowyou’re in bass country, baby. This all-analog tri-mode overdrive with softclipping carries the torch of the classic screamer circuit but has a voice allits own. And thanks to its bipolar power, you’ll get more dynamics, clarity,and all the headroom you could ever desire. The result is a morethree-dimensional tone with added clarity that pushes a nice tube amp over theedge. And much like the Plumes, this pedal offers three different clippingoptions to meet all those low-end face melting needs.
Modes
Mode 1 is a symmetrical LED clipping that utilizes a pair of light-emittingdiodes. This is the crunchiest setting the Blumes has to offer. This signal isless compressed and way more open with tons of output. Mode 2 is a clean pureOpAmp gain boost mode. This eliminates the soft clipping diodes and leaves youwith a straight OpAmp drive. This will be the loudest output with the fullestfrequency response and can be used as a clean boost when the Gain control isset below 11 o’clock. Mode 3 is an asymmetrical silicon diode arrangement likethe stock screamer but with more output and clean clarity, which provides amore transparent tone. Using this mode gives a warmer low-end response andlower output. It’s fuzzier with half the output and is the most compressed.Each Blumes pedal is forged in the deepest, lowest caverns of Akron, Ohio, USA.