FX92 Bass Grunge

FX92 Bass Grunge pedal from 1995, with original box

The FX92 Bass Grunge pedal was DOD's first overdrive/distortion pedal developed for bass guitar. Given the print date of its instruction manual (2/94), the FX92 probably debuted in early 1994 (although the oldest FX92 serial number we have seen corresponds to August 1994), beating the Boss ODB-3 to the market by less than a year. While its instruction manual featured sample settings for Melvins, Prong, and Exit 13 sounds, as well as a suggested setting for vocals, the tone of the language used in the manual appeared to concede that this pedal was not aimed at pro or even semi-pro musicians. The FX92 was discontinued with the introduction of the FX91 Bass Overdrive in 1998.

• Controls: More (clean/distortion blend), Zip (hi eq), Stupid (distortion), Juice (level); the FX92 also features a "dry out" jack
  
  
• From the manual: "The FX92 Bass Grunge is a special distortion box designed for bass guitar that allows you to mix distorted bass with your original sound. It gives you thunderous low-end power while retaining the punch you need to cut through even the most obnoxious band. You could use a normal guitar distortion box, but not only do they not have the bottom-end punch you need, but they'll even roll off the low end, giving it a wimpy "squished" sound."
  
  
• Ad copy: Monster Sounds
  
  
• Sample settings (scanned from the user manual)
  
  
• Notable IC chips: two 4558-type op-amps
  
  
• FX heritage: FX92 FX91
  
  
• External links:
  • @ discofreq's FX site
  • @ harmony-central.com
  • @ noiseguide.com
  
  

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