Description
The Electronic Audio Experiments Bard is a unique overdrive pedal that captures the clean sparkle and gritty breakup of the cult-classic Music Man HD130 amp. Originally released in the '70s, the HD130 stood out for its solid-state preamp paired with a tube power section-an oddball design that delivered pristine cleans and a biting, raw overdrive. The Bard takes that same hybrid spirit and reworks it into a compact, modern pedal that leans into the amp's quirks and tonal range.
The Bard's EQ-first design shapes your signal *before* it hits the gain stage, giving you highly responsive tone sculpting that affects both clean and driven textures. The Drive control ranges from jangly sparkle to angular, non-tube-like clipping at higher settings-especially with the Bright switch engaged. Passive Bass and Treble controls each offer about 15dB of range, letting you dial in punchy lows or sharp, glassy highs depending on where you set them. The Bright/Normal switch adds extra shimmer on the front end, particularly noticeable at lower gain settings.
It's true bypass with relay switching, runs on standard 9V DC, and is compact enough to fit easily on any board. The Bard isn't trying to clone anything-it's designed to give you a new flavor of drive that can handle traditional tones just as well as more unconventional, textured sounds. If you're into pedals that lean a little left of center but still sit well in a mix, this is one we really like recommending.
Specifications:
- Controls: Level, Drive, Low (bass), High (treble), Bright/Normal switch
- Input Impedance: 200kOhm @ 1kHz
- Output Impedance: 5kOhm @ 1kHz
- Power Requirements: 9V DC, center-negative (2.1mm jack)
- Current Draw: 60mA (100mA recommended supply)
- Bypass: Relay switching with true bypass
- Dimensions: 121mm x 66mm x 40mm
Sku: EA-BARD
