Tech 21 DP3X dUg Pinnick - Can it replace my B7K?

The dUg Pinnick signature bass preamp is extremely small and loud, but does it sound good?
Today we take a deep dive into the curious world of the worlds smallest dUg Pinnick signature unit, the DP3X all-in-one pedal by ‪@Tech21nyc‬! The DP3X has a clean channel and a mix channel which has a distorted top end and a clean bass. There's also a tuner, a built-in compressor and you don't need any additional cabinet simulation with it.
Sounds like a tall order, let's see if they got it right!
0:00 Intro song
0:52 Meet the DP3X
1:53 Tone test 1: MoneytOne
2:22 Do you need a cab?
2:58 How's the clean channel?
3:23 Tone test 2: Well Yes, but no
3:54 How's the distortion channel?
6:05 Tone test 3: We're just happy to be here
6:25 Do the channels work together?
7:48 Tone test 4: Far Beyond Overdriven
8:10 I don't like the compressor
8:56 Secret tones Tech 21 doesn't want you to know about
9:25 Tone test 5: Get stOned
10:52 The importance of pre-gain EQ
11:19 Tone test 5: Trust me, I went to school for this
11:52 Using these secret tones
13:24 Honest opinions and deep analysis
15:20 Is it worth the money?
16:09 Summary and outro
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#tech21 #kingsx #bassplayer #ariaproii #dugpinnick #bassdistortion #flyrig

[@ferox965]

I was set on the Darkglass. Tried the dUg on a whim. Walked out with the dUg and it's been on my rig ever since. Couple of years now. I play everything from soul, to country, to rock. Great pedal.

[@codyhansonbass]

I love your honest reviews.

[@Paajanenae]

Thank you! Honest and fair is the way to go ✌️

[@bazZzment]

Wow, what a great demo! Thank you so much for this comprehensive take on one of my favorite pedals. It really is versatile, I actually use it a lot without distortion for a clean-ish P-Bass tone that cuts well in a pop situation. I wish I had two channels and a little more control on the mids, but I get far by reducing the lows and highs and using the comp only a bit. I have also had to tame the compressor by reducing my bass' output sometimes, but I still really like the comp for being able to REALLY limit and not just being too soft and transparent as many other devices do.

[@Paajanenae]

It does sound good! My main gripe with this definitely is the lackluster channel interaction, with a better designed two channels this would've been a great choice for a lot of players.

[@marcavus1]

Mix channel sounds great in the mix to my ears.

[@souldustpro]

I am thinking about buying the Tech 21 dUG pedal and really I appreciate your honest review. I've been using the Bass Fly Rig V1 for awhile and love what it does, just looking for some new tones. I want to say that you are a great bass player, I dig your style... I also want to say that some of things you said you didn't like -- and then proceeded to demonstrate, are exactly what I DO like... I love the tones and so this review is incredibly helpful for me... Thank you!! 🤘

[@iblisofficial479]

I use this pedal about 2 years…IT IS THE BEST EVER. No Way!!! N.1

[@Paajanenae]

Sounds great! 💪

[@flv2358]

I’m in love with my SH1 unit. Quite versatile and with two channels.

[@Paajanenae]

I've tried it briefly and it seemed really solid and well built!

[@flv2358]

@@Paajanenae there’s more than meet the eye in this one - really good cab sim (based on EV speaker Marshall cabinets) and an interesting gain structure - pushed really hard it has a nice tube-like compression.

[@Paajanenae]

I really need to get my hands on one again, it just seems so cool and well thought out pedal!

[@francoishtzl157]

@@flv2358 Tech21 product are made to reproduce a tube amp and cabsim

[@nagchampa44]

I have been using the actual Dug Ultra Bass 1000 amp since about 2017 and I bought the pedal when it came out with the thought it would be a perfect redundant back up however, the pedal doesn't come close to the actual amp and I sold the pedal. I think the key to the amp is the HPF and LPF on the separate channels. The top drive channel is useless on it's own, but it's purpose is to tweak the drive to lay on top of the clean low channel. Mixing both channels and increasing or decreasing the drive amount allows you to dial in nice clean tones if needed. I wish Tech21 would make a preamp only that was the exact preamp from the amp. I spoke to Tech21 directly about that and while that was discussed, as a company the decided to not do that, I guess because the DP3 was doing so well. I use IEM and go direct 99% of the time, so I'm basically carrying around a 1000 watt preamp! LOL

[@ObeseChess]

Great example of how subjective this all is - every single tone you demonstrated as being not very good sounded better to me than my B7K that I finally sold. Solid review. Cheers!

[@Paajanenae]

To clarify, I don't think any of the tones I presented were in any way bad! My criticism with this pedal lies in other, perhaps more minor things :)

[@ObeseChess]

Fair enough! I thought they were very reasonable criticisms either way. @@Paajanenae

[@topcurve4963]

Besides the things you didn't like about the dUg Pinnick Tech 21 pedal.... It sounded absolutely amazing on my end.... Listening to your video with old school headphones.... Every example of this pedal came cut through the mix... And really brought out the tone of your Bass! 👍

[@SisterAbdullahX]

Sounds great to me!

[@Ruovikko]

Helevetin kovvaa kontenttia taas kerran! Täyttä asiaa rehdillä no bullshit -meiningillä. Tech21:n purkeista kiinnostaisi tietää miksi esim. VT Bass Deluxen valmistus lopetettiin ja nyt yritetään työntää näitä hiivatin littanoita, todella spesifin soundin fly-rigejä tilalle.

[@Paajanenae]

Kiitosta, tähän pyritään! VT Bass Deluxe on jo aika iäkäs pedaali eikä niin suosittu vrt. Bass Driver, vissiin ei enää menekki riittänyt perustelemaan. Eiköhän tuolta tule lisää uutta heti kun koronan vaikutuksista päästään eroon :)

[@markszabo3794]

I’ve had success making use of the analog mojo of this pedal. I set it right at the edge of breakup. For normal sound I just play consistently. For mellow I roll off treble on the bass. For the dUg grind I either dig in or use a pick. Once I got my right hand consistent this thing became way more versatile. Love the reviews! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@Paajanenae]

Thank you! I love the way you take full advantage of everything this pedal has to offer with just some touch adjustments!

[@elStevobass]

I thought every setting you used in the video was great! Thats all the proof you need right there. Each audio example sat in the mix great and didn't get in the way of the guitars which is exactly what we're looking for. And what was it - half a dozen totally useful tones that are all vastly different? Great demo for any tool to shape bass tones. I've had this pedal for a few years now in 2 different rigs - one in the loop of my Fractal rig and one on my pedalboard with an Xotic Blender pedal. In both instances I blend my own version of 'DuG Grind' in with my own sound and it is ridiculous. So good. On its own, yeah, I'll concede, its kinda the Bass version of dating a stripper - tricky to tame but really worth it. I own it, I use it to great effect and I will immediately buy another one when it breaks. My humble advice: Do not miss this gem of a pedal.

[@Paajanenae]

Thank you! There's no use trying to showcase sounds that don't work, is there? 😉 I really like the Tech 21 pedals, those are great!

[@classicmetaldude]

SOUNDS SO GOOD

[@5stringKen]

This is my favorite pedal for hard rock and metal. I've had a few bandleaders compliment my 'clang'. On top of that, I highly recommend the following cool trick that I use to bring my tone from clang to purr and back: dial down the passive tone control on your bass (most of my active basses have a passive tone). Because this is a multiband pedal, rolling off highs removes the clang and much of the distortion. So, I can easily go from dUg/Tool to ZZ Top and back. You do make valid points. I never use the clean channel for the reasons you mentioned - it's either dirty or bypassed. But I love the dirty tones so much I don't consider this a negative. Aside from that, it seems to me that you would prefer a traditional full range distortion, and that's fine. In fact I never recommend the DP3X without caveats because it's so unusual. But again, it's my favorite: makes my P-style basses sound like dUg (or ZZ Top or other), and my dual bucker Zon sound like Tool or Entwistle's Alembic.

[@Paajanenae]

Using the tone roll-off to control the high end is an ingenious trick, I would've never figured that out but it makes perfect sense!

[@somebrains5431]

This pedal is growing on me. I never gave it a chance bc I didn’t like the Dug head. That direction the head went reminds me of the Billy Sheehan Ampeg preamp or the Scrambler on full fizz. This pedal sounds useable.

[@scotkaeff7456]

Great review! I'm an avowed Tech 21 fan and user (Bass Fly Rig and SH-1 Steve Harris pedals), but the dUg gave me the same feelings as you got. I think a split mid-control, similar to the Steve, might have given it a little more versatility. But, having said that, can you get dUg's tones perfectly? Oh, yeah. And if that's where you want to live, this is a great, great pedal. Not for everyone, but it has its place.

[@Paajanenae]

Exactly! This pedal does dUg but not too much else. I've always really loved the Sansamp tones and the SH-1 is a great unit, it's a bit sad how far the DP3X is from those pedals.

[@larsetom1]

I would actually go further to say that it really has one channel. I never use the pedal out of the "mix" mode. I also think that versatility is not that important to me as I usually don't change the settings much once I've got my tone down. I think your criticisms are generally on the money. I do have a Darkglass Alpha/Omega, however, the DP-3 is on more than any other pedal I have. For all its weaknesses, the Dug delivers!

[@scottearl6094]

I agree with everything you said I’ve been running it through the sans amp bass driver I know weird just messing around and I found the DI out on the bass driver really changed the sound for the better. It was crazy. My only concern now is I have not been able to try it out in a band situation. It sounds great by itself, but I’m not sure it’s gonna cut in the mix live. It’s not giving me the mids that I’m used to.

[@granttaskerud5367]

Love it.. Two years live... But only with the mix button on. Lol No level but to equal the two channels. Two different tones two different volumes is all that's possible. Still i just leave mix on and only adjust the dist know and chunk off until ozzy or other clanky need. Im going to just start using green only.. No mix. I think there are different outputs from the xlr vs the 1/4 in out puts. I wish it had dual out/parallel parts using both outputs simultaneously.

[@GlauberJoe]

Tell us about that Aria Pro 2 man, I had one in the early 90s and it was so cool! It was my very fist bass and I miss it... What are the mods you did, is that the original neck and headstock? Pickups are the originals or EMGs? Awesome tone, and beautiful art on it! Love to hear all about it!

[@Paajanenae]

Hahah, thank you! It's (partly) an old Aria Pro II XRB-2 which was a Jackson Concert Bass style bass. The body is original but it has been repainted since in this relic style by a hobbyist. They also installed the neck, which I think is an Allparts neck or similar and it's also too short since the original had 24 frets at the neck joint and this one only has 20 frets. When I got it it couldn't be intonated, so I moved the bridge back a bit and I also changed the tuners to Schaller tuners. No other mods here (except for removing the tone control), the electronics are all original still!

[@GlauberJoe]

@@Paajanenae Pretty awesome tone, exactly as I remembered! You just added flame to my gas heheh Really enjoyed it! Keep rocking man, cheers from a bass fellow from Brazil! 👍

[@jonathankall3062]

Yeah but it’s for all of that are NUTS over dUg’s Unique - Aggressive Tones and Styles. Similarly to the very unique, and practically impossible to duplicate, tones and sounds that King’s X guitarist Ty Tabor gets so beautifully.!! #dUg #Kingsxrocks

[@666thsense]

i have a darkglass microtubes 500 head and it annoys me to no end that there’s not enough low end and the gain distorts the low end. dugs signature sound is a smooth low end with grit mixed on top so that the bass is always smooth in the background and never ever gets lost. i wish they’d make more of his heads, that thing is perfect.

[@zoltanmiski5364]

Hi! Can I ask which kind of stand are you using during the video for the pedal? I would be great for me, too. :)

[@Paajanenae]

It's a 3D printed stand, originally meant for the Darkglass Ultra series pedals! These are made by a guy who goes by the name Sietse de Krieger on Facebook and are super affordable. I think I paid less than 40€ incl. postage for my two sets!

[@zoltanmiski5364]

@@Paajanenae great, I will check it, thanks a lot. :)

[@jackshittle]

Damn. I was going to buy the DP-3X. I have an old VT Bass pedal (the one without the XLR but has the speaker sim button) but I wish it had a "blend" knob. So if the DP-3X isn't the pedal I should be looking for, what is? I'm just trying to get awesome clank. I went and got a B3K and for some reason it sounded like crap with my gear so I got rid of it. I'm playing a Modulus VJ w/ EMG's into a SWR SM400s into a SWR 2x12. No gigging (I'm retired) so it's just for fun in my home by myself. I want to like the Darkglass stuff but after tring the B3K and not liking it I'm kind of weary. Cheers!

[@Paajanenae]

You could try the SH1! While it doesn't have a blend control, the footswitchable channels give you a lot of control 😄 I have never been a fan of dry blend on bass pedals, I prefer to have it affected in some way. That's what the Way Huge Pork & Pickle does, the Clean Blend is a Neve-emulation! The distortion on that needs a bit work though 😅

[@NodakSavage]

Dude, buy the pedal. The mass majority of those that use it have said it's not just great, but it's the best pedal they've ever used. The "only dug tones" is nonsense and is even proven in this video as not ever example sounded like dug. I had one, returned it, got the Steve Harris, which is pretty tame and maxed out on gain is super weak for any fuzz, plus the Harris distorts the low end. Sorry, I like my lows clean. Tried a b3k and returned that after 2 days and bought another Dug. I play in an industrial metal band and in a doom metal band and I use this pedal, always on, in both bands, though with completely different settings. The one trick pony only dug tone description of this pedal is total nonsense.

[@francoishtzl157]

@@Paajanenae The YYZ unit is killer too, look simple but has some cool "secret" feature and is super versatile

[@loriszanelli2966]

I’ve buyed this pedal Because of the distortion channel and the chance to ‘condense’ both Compressor and Tuner into 1 pedal. After a week of digging into it, I’ve switched back my Laney Digbeth bass pre. The ‘clean’ tones were too much affected by the eq and the comp makes you loose waaaay too much dynamics, even with the pedal turned off. With the pedal plugged in I almost felt like every bass that I own sounds the same. The distortion Sounds great but a clean blend would be much appreciated.

[@Farewelltokingz]

The pedal clean blends for you. It’s multi band so your high frequencies are distorted and your bottom ends stays smooth and big and clean.

[@badger4361]

I found the Doug Pinnick pedal to be a bit of a one trick pony, but man what a trick. I run mine as well as some Darkglass gear and an Empress Compressor, that works very well, expensive setup though (aern't they all). 😅

[@Paajanenae]

Yeah that setup might already be nudging it toward the "overkill" category 😂 It's a one-trick pony but if it works, it works 👌

[@ferox965]

I've been using mine for years. Country, blues, funk, soul, hard rock, I play whatever I'm paid to play. Not a one trick pony.

[@FunkadelicPancho]

​@@ferox965exactly my experience

[@jamcam9]

I use a tech21 yyz pedal to add dirt and grit to my fretless jazz. It's a suuuuper temperamental pedal, though.

[@matthewduncan9405]

If you like to live in the heavy side for a gig this pedal kicks ass. If you are considering buying it pretend there isn’t a clean channel. You can’t use both because the volume difference is very very noticeable and the clean channel sucks.

[@Paajanenae]

Very well said! I'm not sure why they included the clean channel tbh.

[@NodakSavage]

strictly bought it for an always on mix mode pedal. It's a b3k b7k killer all day long in my opinion

[@Farewelltokingz]

Despite all of its flaws, this is king simply put. I’ve sold it for Darkglass and let me tell you that the sounds of the Darkglass are weak, compressed, and downright dull. The Dug on the other hand is nice and open while still being distorted. The clean tone mid boost sounds bad in isolation but it really helps keep the bass present while doing a clean passage.

[@dupgab]

Try this Pedal with a mudd mid Heavy Bass and you will love this Pedal. It will cut all the mudd and get a good Tone. But if you take a Bass with emg it will Sound very very very scooped. Because this Pedal is so scoop😂.

[@ChaseTheBass878]

Love the new bass. Is that a mayones?

[@SergeyZipir]

I think, it's Fame Baphomet. Looks similar to Mayones Be (discontinued atm), but specs are different and Fame is not so expensive. Anyway, here it sounds pretty good.

[@Paajanenae]

Thanks! It's a Fame Baphomet IV, a straightforward Corvette copy made by Mayones for the German Musicstore.com. Cheap instruments with quality hardware. I'll tell more about it soon, it has quite a story :)

[@discobassgroove]

Mustard actually

[@fistinair1979]

My two complaints about this pedal were that it is a little too scooped for my tastes and there was no way to get unity volume between the clean and distorted modes. Otherwise I enjoyed it.

[@Paajanenae]

Yeah the scoop was impossible to EQ out 😅

[@naobakonjengbam9101]

For that problem the best way is to use with another distortion pedal with a drive knob off in order to get dp-3x drive tone and the other pedal volume knob set with the same volume that you set on the dp-3x. That’s how I used mine(with a darkglass x ultra clean mode)

[@fistinair1979]

@@naobakonjengbam9101 yeah, I did it with a clean boost pedal. Just made for extra tapdancing.

[@truckerron]

And at the end you point to nothing!! No links appeared.

[@Paajanenae]

Oh that's embarrassing! It should work now 👌

[@ZiggyDude777]

I wish the guitar parts were not hiding the bass tones with volume.

[@poxcr]

4:09 It seems that you completely missed the point of this pedal. Why would you disparage a product just because it does EXACTLY what it was designed to do? Just get an XB Driver instead, it was designed to do everything you complained the DP3X can't do.