NEW Stuart Zender Signature Pedal
After months of development we're proud to announce the launch of the SZ Funk Face Twin Dynamic Filter Pedal.
After months of development in partnership with the awesome Stuart Zender, Ashdown are very proud to announce the launch of the Ashdown Funk Face – Stuart Zender Signature Twin Dynamic Filter Pedal.
Having worked together in ventures past, this wasn’t a newly formed relationship for Ashdown and Zender and after catching up at the 2016 London Bass Guitar Show in March, Ashdown were able to focus their efforts into producing the Funkiest sounding twin-dynamic bass filter pedal on the market – and who better to help them than Funk-master Stuart Zender?
Regarded as one of Britain’s all-time greatest bass players, Stuart Zender is best known for being one of the founding members and the original bass player of funk band, Jamiroquai. Post-Jamiroquai, Stuart has worked with other huge names in the industry, including Mark Ronson and more recently, Zender can be heard on Zak Abel’s 2016 hit song “Everybody Needs Love”.
Made in England, the SZ Funk Face is a dedicated bass twin dynamic filter pedal and the only bass pedal on the market that’s fully qualified on producing those distinctive choppy “Virtual Insanity” type bass grooves.
The Funk Face’s simple 3-knob and 2-switch layout makes things simple for the bass player when those funky moments strike.
Like classic envelope filters, the Funk Face’s ‘Sensitivity’ rotary control allows the player to shape the exact effects response, whilst the ‘Output’ knob allows you to decide just how much you it you want. Dependent on your playing style, attack and dynamics - by tweaking the Output and Sensitivity controls in unison - you can range from subtle filtering to a fully responsive “Funk Bass in your Face” Auto Wah.
The 12AX7 powered ‘Valve’ drive distortion switch can be selected by foot to naturally enrich the harmonics of the Funk Face pedal, whilst the Wah sound is also footswitchable. A very carefully considered switch on the right ride of the pedal allows the player to decide on whether the valve overdrive is added pre or post-wah, providing yet more tonal opportunities.
Ashdown are continually in pursuit of the best and truest bass tone, as such the SZ Funk Face features genuine true bypass switching for zero-colouration of your input signal when the pedal isn't in use. The Output level control lets you dial in the perfect balance between the effect and the true bypass level and effectively works as a clean level boost when the Wah feature isn’t in use – bringing you up a notch in the mix when demand strikes.
At the rear-end is a simple ¾”inch jack in and jack output. This 18-volt pedal comes supplied with its own independent power supply. The pedal can run off a 9-volt supply in limiting situations, however 18-volt is recommended.
Perhaps the icing on the cake, or the pièce de résistance is the illuminated purple ‘SZ’ logo, in which Stuart Zender lends his name to the pedal. In keeping with other Ashdown built pedals the SZ Funk Face is built for the road, with metal casing, premium controls and switches.
The Ashdown SZ Funk Face Auto Pedal is designed in England by Ashdown and Stuart Zender and will be shipping in January 2017.