Made in France, the Ami Effects Umami aims – we guess – at being to tone what umami is to food: delicious.
It’s a rather transparent device that can do boost and overdrive and features a carefully designed set of controls including two gain stages and a 2-way EQ section with knobs for Treble and Bass.
A toggle switch in between the four knobs sets the output level with options for 0, -10 or -20 db, useful for taming the output when both Volume and Master are turned up.
It’s precisely the interaction between those two knobs that opens up a range of tones with varying degrees of compression and saturation.
Check out the videos of the Umami, below.
Ami Effects Umami, Builder’s Notes
What is UMAMI? Is it a clean boost ? Is it an overdrive? What is sure is that it ignores these categories to offer you a whole bunch of very tasty sounds!
With its VOLUME potentiometer, MASTER, and 0/10/20 dB attenuation switch, the UMAMI’s controls don’t just mimic those of the most popular tube amps, it reacts like them!
The UMAMI is capable of great sonic transparency, subtle and warm compression, raw and dynamic sounds, fuzzy and singing crunches… Like a guitarist’s spice box, it’s the perfect tool to enhance your sound with a dash of flavor!
Each UMAMI is carefully handcrafted in Paris, France, using only the highest quality components, ensuring that your pedal will stay in your rig for a long time.
In detail
The UMAMI has 4 potentiometers to adjust the preamp VOLUME, the MASTER volume, and the TREBLE / BASS EQ of the pedal. It also has a switch to set the output level of the pedal. The foot switch that activates the Umami is true bypass.
The two settings for VOLUME and MASTER both provide different amounts of compression and saturation when pushed. You can dose one against the other to sculpt your sound texture. When these two settings are used in conjunction the pedal provides a strong amplification. The ÷ switch can then be used to lower the volume generated by the pedal if it is too loud. When the VOLUME is low and the MASTER is pushed, you get a clean boost. Using the ÷ switch can generate a subtle compression of the sound.
The BASS and TREBLE controls are inserted before the MASTER (in the pedal circuit) and therefore allow you to play with the saturation or compression of the MASTER. These two EQ controls are interactive. For example, pushing the treble will give precision to the bass.Standard 6.35mm input and output jacks. 9V DC power adapter, 2.1mm jack only. (standard Boss type). Power consumption : 15mA max.
