Palmer launches Bass Pocket Amp pedal and preamp

Doing for bassists what the original Pocket Amp did for guitarists, Palmer's Bass Pocket Amp provides a compact DI for recording, playing live and practising.

As well as three cab options (flat, modern, vintage) and three drive modes (fuzz, overdrive, clean), the Bass Pocket Amp serves up eight controls for adjusting tone: bass, mid freq/level, highs, drive, blend, saturate and volume.

An XLR DI output (pre- or post-sims and effects) and standard 1/4" with ground lift mean the BPA can plug straight into a mixing desk or interface, while a headphone output and aux in provide plenty of practice potential, too.

The pedal's footswitch can be set to mute or bypass the signal, allowing for silent tuning via a bass thru jack, and external effects can be added using the FX insert TRS jack - the unit is powered by a standard 9V power supply or battery, and supports passive and active basses alike thanks to a pad switch on the input.

Price is yet to be confirmed for this one, but it's expected to hit stores in Q2 2016. That means very soon, basically.

Michael Astley-Brown

Mike has been Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com since 2019, and an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict for far longer. He has a master's degree in journalism from Cardiff University, and 15 years' experience writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as 20 years of recording and live experience in original and function bands. During his career, he has interviewed the likes of John Frusciante, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello, Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Joe Satriani, Tom DeLonge, Radiohead's Ed O'Brien, Polyphia, Tosin Abasi, Yvette Young and many more. His writing also appears in the The Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar. In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock as Maebe.