Blackstar Fly 3 Bass
DUNLOP JOHN PETRUCCI
SIGNATURE CRY BABY WAH
£187
BLACKSTAR FLY 3 BASS £49
Making the Dream a reality
No space for bass? Try this
GIVEN
the simplicity
of a wah pedal
– basically a tone knob you control
with your foot – Dunlop has a huge
catalogue of Cry Baby models. Just
in terms of artist collaborations,
it offers versions for Dimebag
Darrell, Zakk Wylde, Eddie Van
Halen and Kirk Hammett. Now,
Dream Theater guitarist John
Petrucci gets in on the action with
the most tweakable Cry Baby yet.
At fi rst glance, his signature wah
is a handsome devil, with its smoke
chrome fi nish and bright blue
status LEDs to let you know when
the effect is engaged. Yet, it’s
what’s going on inside the pedal
that makes it special. Unscrew the
baseplate’s four rubber feet and
you’ll fi nd a bank of mini trim pots
BASS
amps are usually
big boxes because
they need large speakers to chuck
out all that low-end energy. Clearly
nobody told Blackstar, which has
made its fi rst dedicated bass amp
a minuscule affair. The Bass Fly
shares the Fly 3’s tiny enclosure,
and like the guitar version, this
three-watt amp can be battery-
powered. Also like the Fly 3, if you
need more power, the Stereo Pack
(£79) adds a second three-watt
extension cab and power supply.
You get two channels (clean and
OD) with gain, compression and
master volume, and an EQ control
that goes from a mid-rich bite to a
mid-cut thump. There’s a built-in
Sub control, too, which layers bass
harmonics to provide further beef.
The Bass Fly also has an input for
your phone or mp3 player, and a
that allow you to tweak volume,
‘Q’, and a six-band EQ. The Q pot
alters the intensity of the wah
effect, and the pedal comes preset
with Petrucci’s favourite setting:
a very vocal-sounding sweep that
most of us would be satisfi ed with.
Its just the ticket for funky Jimi
Hendrix stuff and classic porno
soundtrack boom-chika fun.
As with any artist-endorsed kit,
Petrucci fans will be all over this
thing, yet a regular Cry Baby costs
a hundred quid less than John’s
fancy upgrade, and will provide
what most of us need from a wah.
That said, the JP signature justifi es
its price tag by allowing Petrucci’s
fellow sonic adventurers to nail
their own unique wah sound.
Ed Mitchell
headphone/emulated out for
silent playing or recording.
We loved the Fly 3, but we were
sceptical that an amp of this size
could do the business an octave
down. We were wrong. This little
monster has more than enough
volume for home practice, and the
tone is something else. The Bass
Fly holds its goodies even when
you crank it, and the drive sound is
genuinely great, with none of that
small amp honk. Using our Jazz
Bass on the clean channel, with the
compression up, and the EQ set
fully clockwise the tone is punchy,
clear and has plenty of low-end.
You’ll want to be careful with that
Sub control, as dialling it too high
can create some fl appiness, but
this is a new standard for space-
strapped bassists.
Stuart Williams
FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
USABILITY
OVERALL RATING
SUMMARY
FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
USABILITY
OVERALL RATING
SUMMARY
90 JUNE 2016
DUNLOP/BLACKSTAR
REVIEW
TYPE: Bass practice amp
OUTPUT: 3W (single), 6W (Stereo Pack)
SPEAKER: 3”
CONTROLS: Gain, EQ, Comp ratio, sub,
channel Master vol
SOCKETS: Input, aux in,
headphones, speaker
POWER: 6x AA batteries (included), 6.5V
power supply (available separately, £12.99)
DIMENSIONS: [HxWxD] 125 x 170 x 100mm
CONTACT: Blackstar Amplification
01604 817817 www.blackstaramps.co.uk
TYPE: Wah pedal
CONTROLS: Internal trim pots: volume,
Q, and six-band EQ
SOCKETS: Input, output, mains adaptor
BYPASS: True bypass
POWER: 9V battery or mains
adaptor (not supplied)
CONTACT: Westside Distribution
0844 3262000
www.jimdunlop.com
TGR280.gear_halves.indd 90 4/20/16 3:15 PM