Earthquaker Devices Scrolls V1 Bass Odyssey and DI Pedal

Designed in conjunction with Japanese bassist Kentaro Nakao, the Scrolls Bass Odyssey serves as a true command-and-control center for your bass setup—whether you use a dedicated rig, plug into backline gear, or record direct. It combines three essential tools in one unit: a Drive pedal, a full-featured EQ, and an all-analog XLR DI output. And there is a Buffured parallel output carrying your clean signal that is always active allowing you to route your clean signal to external destinations such as a tuner, seperate pedal chain, amp, etc. 

The EQ section is comprehensive, highly flexible and easy to use, making it an exceptional front end for virtually any bass. The EQ defeat switch adds extra convenience, especially for players who travel with two basses and need to tailor settings for each instrument quickly.

While the EQ is excellent, the drive section is what truly sets the Scrolls apart from other bass DI and preamp pedals. Even pedals with blend controls can sound flabby, muddy, or overly fuzzy, making it difficult for the bass to cut through a mix. The Scrolls avoids that problem with a tight, natural-sounding overdrive that remains focused and musical and adds the Bandwidth control, which lets you shape where the clipping is most active

Bingo! A bass overdrive pedal that allows you to control not just tone, but the frequencies where the distortion lives. Push it toward the higher frequencies for added bite, presence, and cut, or shift it lower for a broader, heavier low-end rumble. Combined with the drive, level, blend, and tone controls, the Bandwidth control gives the Scrolls an impressive range, allowing it to adapt to nearly any bass, playing style, or musical genre. Lastly, the Drive side uses Flexi-Switch technology: Hold the switch down for momentary use, or press it once to toggle the Drive on/off.

We've played with a lot of bass overdrive and fuzz pedals, and the Scrolls is one of the few we'd stick velcro on.

In the words of Earthquaker:

The Scrolls Bass Odyssey was born from a partnership with Japanese bassist and longtime EarthQuaker Devices friend Kentaro Nakao (Number Girl, Crypt City). His vision was to consolidate vintage and modern bass tones into a single, highly portable unit. 

"I am constantly playing shows in every type of venue you can imagine," Kentaro explained, "so having my sound in a portable rig is a must—that’s why I’ve been a big believer in preamps for a long time."

For Kentaro, the two most important foundational elements of the design were a full-range of EQ control and the ability to shape overdriven tones. The EQ channel is designed to be completely transparent when the knobs are set to noon, ensuring the bass retains its inherent tone. Three push buttons offer quick tone sculpting: Deep boosts 80 Hz for booming lows, Process scoops mids for a punchy modern tone, and Bright activates a 5 kHz boost for attack.

Inspired by a rare overdrive in Kentaro’s collection, the Drive channel delivers versatile, tube amp-like distortion with precise low-end command. To maximize the pedal’s tone-shaping capacilities, Vari-Freq control was added to the EQ channel and Bandwidth control to the Drive channel.

"These two knobs have enabled me to fine-tune my sound to fit each specific playing situation more than ever before," Kentaro noted.

Designed to serve as the brains of your signal chain, Scrolls includes an effects loop right between the Drive and EQ channels, a buffered parallel out for sending a pristine clean signal to an external destination, and a balanced XLR out featuring  a 100% analog speaker cabinet simulation.

EQ Controls

Level: Output volume control when the EQ controls are active. Set the knob at noon for unity, turn clockwise to boost the output signal, turn counterclockwise to cut the output signal. 

Vari: Boosts or cuts the Variable Frequency control. Position this control at noon for unity (marked with a center detent in the potentiometer.) Turn clockwise from noon to boost the Vari-Freq, or counterclockwise to cut. 

Vari-Freq: Variable frequency control for fine-tuning your tone. Adjustable from approximately 20 Hz to 10 kHz. 

Treble: The center position is flat and marked with a center detent in the potentiometer. All settings above this point boost the treble and all settings below cut treble. 

Bass: The center position is flat and marked with a center detent in the potentiometer. All settings above this point boost the bass and all settings below cut bass. 

Middle: The center position is flat and marked with a center detent in the potentiometer. All settings above this point boost the middle and all settings below cut middle. 

Deep: 80 Hz Boost.

Process: Low-mid scoop for a more modern sound.

Bright: 5 kHz Boost 

EQ Footswitch: Activates the EQ channel

Drive Controls

Level: Output volume control for the Drive channel. 

Blend: Blends between your clean signal with the Drive signal. Turn the knob fully clockwise for maximum crunchiness. 

Drive: Controls the intensity of the overdrive. 

Bandwidth: Determines where the clipping is most active. Turn the control counterclockwise to activate low-end clipping for a warmer, softer, rounded, and overall more subdued tone. Turn the control clockwise and activate High-end clipping for a present, focused crunch with a tighter low-end. 

Tone: Low pass filter enabling you to shape the frequency of the Drive channel. Turn counterclockwise to reduce highs.

Drive Footswitch: Activates the Drive channel

Outputs

Parallel Out: Buffered output carrying your clean signal that is always active. This allows you to route your clean signal to external destinations (amp, DI, separate pedal chain, tuner, etc.) 

Direct Out: Balanced XLR out with a subtle amount of analog filtering added to the signal path to simulate the tonal characteristics of a bass speaker cabinet. 

Ground Lift: Press for ground lift on the XLR output. 

Effects Loop: Situated between the Drive and EQ stages. Hard-wired into the signal path and remains active at all times.