Broughton Scorpion

It took me a while to purchase a Broughton Scorpion, because what I heard from the demos, I was not completely sold. I’m glad I waited a bit, because while some of the Broughton pedals turn into unobtanium and the prices skyrocket, the Scorpion is a ground dwelling beast and so is its price at the moment I’m writing this.

The Broughton Scorpion is a solid state bass overdrive pedal with a Fender tonestack. Mids are cut only and bass/treble are boost only, so the flattest setting you get is 0/10/0. There is an added knob labeled Depth, and that knob decides how much low end is sent to the clipping stage of the pedal. You can use that knob to get an even response over the entire fretboard – or you could use it for the opposite, should you want your lows or highs to clip stronger than the rest.

With the bass knob at just past noon, the mids knob more towards 3 o’clock and the treble set by ear (play and add until it’s to harsh, then dial back one notch), the bass felt more solid even with the gain so low it does not really add drive yet. A good start.
Now, slowly increasing gain up to the point where you are able to hear the dirt on the decay, but not on the attack of the note, where double stops get a nice bloom, setting the depth knob for a good, even feel – I got a beautiful sound out of the unit. Smooth, but not creamy. Not custard, but puff pastry.
Sweet and a little brittle, frayed around the rearmost edges, but the heft and attack of the notes like being punched in the gut by someone who’s really good at punching people in the gut – but wearing 16oz gloves instead of b(r)ass knuckles.
It falls into the category of pedals that remind the ear of an oldschool amp that’s driven just a bit too hard. Like you set it as far as it would go cleanly, and then add a bit more to get that last bit of volume out of it, not daring to go any further than that because you need it to last the entire show.

This is only a personal account, but I must admit that the Scorpion has given me a ton of fun just playing it; Not with a firm plan to use it for a specific purpose – just plugging it in, toying with the knobs and enjoying what it gave me. In direct comparison, the Bass Blaster, the Gladio and the VB-2, as the most recent candidates to rush across my test bench, felt a bit like a chore.
The Bass Blaster was great, but felt somewhat bland to my ears (which are pampered by luxury at this point). The Gladio was, in one word, boring.
The Scorpion on the other hand, took me by the end of the arm (opposite the shoulder) and invited me into a world of toan.
Switching it on felt like things are getting better, turning knobs brought me even further and I did play just for my own pleasure and enjoyment.

I did check out the very high settings and found them not to my liking. The grind gets quite artificial when turned all the way up, but I have other pedals that can do that sound in a more convincing matter, like the Doom2 or Fake Plastic Trees.

For me, the Scorpion is a great low gain drive pedal. It is totally capable of giving my dead flats some definition and some top end via the EQ and when adding just a hint of drive, I get a a very civilized sound that works well in a mix, even in places where you would not expect a bass track with dirt in it.
In some way, it does remind me of the Bassrig ’64. It’s capable of producing what I want to call white collar dirt.
You could absolutely use it for blues (the non-heavy stuff), jazzy tunes and funk.