NEXI Bass Pedalboard £279
Unplug and play? What sorcery is this, asks our mystified editor
Sick of pesky patch cables and dead batteries? Look over here, says the editor
Unpack the Nexi Industries Bass Pedalboard from the industrialstrength box it arrives in and you immediately grasp its central idea. For those of us accustomed to using more than one or two effects pedals, and requiring a pedalboard to keep them functioning, a couple of the most common complaints are simply removed from the equation – the problems of power and connectivity.
Essentially, the pedals on the board fit tightly into sockets that both power and connect them to each other. There are no patch or power leads other than the basic in and out of the board itself. You can use Nexi’s own pedals: a fuzz, chorus, phaser and compressor that cost £99.95 each, with one thrown in when you buy the board for £279. The pedals are hybrids, so they can go it alone too – even a simple 9V battery is good enough to get them up and running. If you prefer, you can connect up to four of your existing pedals with a pad called a Connexi. There’s one included in the asking price, and they cost £24.95 on their own.
The other advantage of this unit is that it comes with an onboard voiced preamp, so you can send your signal directly to the PA, computer or desk. For the price, this is arguably to be expected, but it’s still a valuable feature for any bassist at semipro level or above. Other useful features include a tuner and a three-step booster, the latter allowing you to kick up your volume at the touch of a toe. In addition, Nexi tell us that the product is splashproof.
The main question, then, is how do Nexi’s own-brand pedals sound? The answer will largely depend on your expectations. For me, the fuzz is a joy, with a wholly usable range of tones from a warm buzz to a hellish mosquito swarm. Likewise the chorus, which gave me an excellent, Peter Hook-style swoosh or – maxed out – the expected seasick wobble. The compressor and phaser did their jobs competently, too, but if you’re a studio bassist with a particular tone that has to be 100 percent like it is on your million-selling album – not 99 percent, but 100 percent – you will inevitably have to experiment and see if your requirements are met.
Personally, my monkey brain struggles to remember more than three things at a time, and less than that under the stress of a gig or other situation with multiple opportunities to screw up, so the chance to ditch those pesky patch cables and batteries and forget about unwanted hum is welcome. Bassists of greater higherbrain capacity may well be happy with their existing setup, and of course there are many whose journey towards the perfect tone will not allow them to leave their treasured effects units behind. If you don’t fall into those categories, though, Nexi’s user-friendly solution may well be the chance to simplify and de-stress that you’ve been looking for.