Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
Electronic Audio Experiments' Greathammer evolved Solid State Bass Driver / Preamp sounds Thunderously Good on Guitar too!
Key Points
Electronic Audio Experiments' Greathammer evolved Solid State Bass Driver / Preamp translates to guitar exceptionally well — thunderous, immense yet poised and balanced. It’s compared favorably to the EAE Glaive Fuzz and is SMT construction.
Controls: Level, Gain (50dB), Mids: Flat Mids / Full Mid Cut / Slight Mid Cut, Bass, Attack (Pre-Gain Tone / Sharpness / Bite). Reported settings: Level, Gain and Bass ≈ 3 o’clock; Attack ≈ 2 o’clock; Mids on Full Cut.
Joe’s Pedals sold out the first batch; the reviewer bought from the second. As of writing, the price was £249. EAE site is awaiting the next batch at $249.
I was a touch too slow to react initially - literally by split seconds - as Joe’s Pedals sold out of the Greathammer almost instantly - before I could even react to the announcement. So I picked up one from the second batch as quickly as I could, and have been entirely wowed by the experience.
Not all Bass Preamps work well with guitar - and I have several which sound pretty horrendous - overly flubby, woofy and boomy. While a handful of those can sound wholly killer - yet few are as impressive as the Greathammer.
That combination of controls seems to be perfectly calibrated for guitar - as I have the Bass EQ set pretty high - but am still getting a killer balanced output!
Controls - Level, Gain (50dB), Mids : Flat Mids / Full Mid Cut / Slight Mid Cut, Bass, Attack (Pre-Gain Tone / Sharpness / Bite).
This pedal is loud and full on - in the best sense. Similar to my experience of the EAE Glaive Fuzz - which is one of my very finest and fiercest Octave Fuzzes and those number over 80 now! My Bass Preamps are only in single digits thus far - and have generally been a mixed experience.
That was certainly not the case for the Greathammer - which yielded pretty much instant satisfaction. I have Level, Gain and Bass all set @ 3 o’c, Attack @ 2 o’c and the Mids on Full Cut (Middle). So plenty of range remaining - while the pedal is already magnificently thunderously good. It sounds totally immense - and yet is poised and balanced too - but very evidently with a lot in the low-end department. I favour a lot of Stoner and Sludge Fuzzes / Distortions - which are ultra heavy brigade too - but all my favourites of those have great balance also - and sound utterly wonderful in that kind of ’wall-of-sound’ sense.
I like fuller-flavour big-sounding pedals, and this one definitely carries the same sort of pedigree as the Glaive - they are both towering examples of controlled gain generation. Different output profiles for sure - but both equally potent and immense.
I'm a huge advocate for Doomy pedals / Doomy fuzzes which ratchet up the low-end - various Meathead types and similar. And while this is not that - there is a similar sensibility at play. The Greathammer is another superb moniker - and very aptly carries the bone-crushing thunderous nature of this pedal.
This one really sounds superb - and I seemingly have several gears in reserve too.
I have been so impressed with the last 2 pedals to come out of the EAE stable - both the Glaive and Greathammer are elite weapons of speaker-crushing destruction - each in their own way.
This is an entirely SMT construction - which shows just how great the results can be for that format when well-engineered - this one sounds like it's crammed with the highest quality high octane components - I really commend the Glaive and this Greathammer at the highest levels - they are both an absolute joy to deploy!
I acquired my Greathammer from Joe's Pedals as mentioned, and as of writing this - there are still some in stock - priced at £249, while the main EAE site is awaiting the next batch - where those go for $249.
John seems to be on a roll at the moment - and the Greathammer definitely lives up to its name!
Demos
