This pedal pre-amp doesn't sound bad at all! And it has a nice packing as a bonus. It adds this mid range to my bass guitar sound (I own a Fender US Precission standard bass), that it feels way warmer, tube-amp like. I think it's pretty much the closest to tubes I've ever heard. There are four controllers. First one is Distortion, which adds bit of fuzzy like character to the tone. I'm not using too extreme settings of this, however the more you use, the more hearable your bass in the final mix will be - but watch out, it doesn't sound so good without distorted guitars in the mix. So far I don't overdo this controller to more than 9 o'clock and it works out for me. Blend controller is obvious, it tells the ratio between pedal sound and dry sound. Level controller on the pedal is used for output volume, so it seems like it doesn't have to be touched, but I feel it adds more bass instead of flat increase. The very last controller is an Era controller. It prety much changes the character of whole sound and it's the most important controller of all four. The lower level, the more muddy like oldchool sound you will get. Don't expect to get a modern crystal clear Mesa like sound from this pedal, if you want this go for more modern pedal from Darkglass. I use this pedal to record country/rock/punk songs and it works out really nice for me. It also works as a booster for an electric guitar, which I also like. I do recommend this pedal. Yes, it's a bit pricey, but on the other hand it's a great alternative to SansAmp preamp, which is concidered sort of a standard, but I would say one level higher. And if you want better bass sound, this is the way to go.