About This Item
Description
Fuzz that grinds without taking the floor out from under you. Bass War is Death By Audio hitting a new low: the Fuzz War idea rebuilt for bass players, with a harmonically rich octave fuzz, huge tone sweeps and a Mix control that keeps your sub bass underneath the destruction.
Which Death by Audio fuzz belongs on a bass rig?
- Fuzz War: the guitar voiced original that Bass War grew from.
- Apocalypse: five fuzz voices with a sweepable equalizer for guitar or bass.
- Crossover Fuzz: splits highs and lows into two independent fuzz bands.
Bass War is the one with a dedicated clean blend, so the fundamental never disappears. Crossover Fuzz solves the same problem differently by splitting the signal into two filtered bands.
Why guitarists choose the Bass War
- The Mix knob blends your clean bass back in, so low end stays solid while the fuzz does the damage.
- Fuzz spans +16 to +64 dB of gain, covering raunchy drive, smooth fuzz and overloaded insanity from one knob.
- Tone sweeps a deep notch filter from 98 Hz up to 3.3 kHz, which is a real voicing change rather than a treble roll off.
- Volume reaches +27 dB with unity near 10 o'clock, so it can drive a power amp or a following pedal hard.
- True bypass keeps the fuzz out of your signal path when it is off.
- Backed by a lifetime warranty and handmade in New York City.
Controls and switches
- VOLUME sets the overall output from silence to +27 dB, with unity around 10 o'clock. It is capable of extreme volume.
- FUZZ sets the gain of the fuzz circuit from +16 to +64 dB, moving from raunchy drive to smooth fuzz to overloaded insanity.
- TONE sweeps a deep notch filter tuned across 98 Hz to 3.3 kHz.
- MIX blends the clean signal back in against the fuzz.
- The footswitch is true bypass, with a red indicator LED.
Power and pedalboard compatibility
- Runs on 9 V DC, 2.1 mm barrel, center negative.
- Current draw is 33 mA, so budget that on your supply.
- A 9 V battery can also power it.
- True bypass means it is completely out of the signal path when it is off, so place it wherever the chain sounds best.
- Jacks sit along the top edge, which keeps patch cables out of the row in front.
- It measures 14.99 x 12.01 x 5.69 cm including hardware, so measure your row before ordering.
Technical specifications
| Model | Death by Audio Bass War |
| Effect type | Bass fuzz |
| Controls | Volume, Fuzz, Tone, Mix |
| Bypass | True bypass |
| Expression or CV input | No |
| Power | 9 V DC, 2.1 mm barrel, center negative |
| Current draw (mA) | 33 |
| Battery | Yes |
| Top mounted jacks | Yes |
| Dimensions including hardware | 14.99 x 12.01 x 5.69 cm |
| Weight | 15.5 oz. |
| MPN | 198715564853 |
| GTIN | 198715564853 |
| Manufacture and warranty | Handmade in New York City, lifetime warranty from Death By Audio |
FAQ
Will it keep my low end? Yes. The Mix control blends the clean bass signal with the fuzz so the fundamental stays present even at high gain settings.
How is it different from the Fuzz War? Bass War is derived from the Fuzz War concept but is voiced for bass, adds the Mix blend, and uses a notch sweeping Tone control tuned from 98 Hz to 3.3 kHz.
How loud does it get? The Volume control reaches +27 dB, with unity gain near 10 o'clock. Set it carefully before you engage the pedal.
Can it run on a battery? Yes, a 9 V battery can power it, though a battery is not supplied. It draws 33 mA.
Is it true bypass? Yes.
Does it work on guitar? It will, and the notch sweep is dramatic on guitar, but the gain structure and the blend are built around bass frequencies.
Is there a warranty? Death By Audio states a lifetime warranty and asks owners to email repairs@deathbyaudio.com if there is an issue.