Review: Hotone Soul Press II

Hotone Soul Press II Review

Disclaimer: Hotone has generously provided us with a review unit of the pedal. We wish to clarify that although we have been provided the pedal, our opinions and evaluations in this article are based solely on our honest and unbiased assessment of their gear. We value transparency and objectivity in our reviews and aim to provide our readers with accurate and reliable information.

Hotone Soul Press II Review… Hotone is a Chinese manufacturer of guitar/bass gear best known for their innovative use of technology to deliver products that are not just standouts but also practical and affordable. They first started making waves in the effects world with their line of compact, affordable, and authentic-sounding pedals. However, they haven’t stopped there. In recent years, they have expanded their product range to include multi-effects and amp modeling hardware that can go head-to-head with industry favorites such as the Line 6 Helix.

Today, we’re having a look at their take on the volume/expression pedal: The Hotone Soul Press II.

Specifications

The Soul Press II is a 4 in 1, true bypass pedal that can act as a volume pedal, an expression pedal, wah, or volume/wah. It has a 1/4″ mono audio jack input and 3 outputs: a 1/4″ TRS for connecting to another device with EXP control IN jack. A 1/4″ output to connect to another gear and a 1/4″ tuner out. It can be powered by either a 9-volt DC adapter or a 9-volt battery.

Controls

In order to provide all its functionality, the Hotone Soul Press II has multiple controls:

• Mode, where you can select between volume mode, wah mode, or a combined volume/wah mode (more on that below).
• Tone, where you can control the wah filter frequency range (nicknamed ‘warm’ and ‘classic’ on the pedal), and Q for adjusting the wah filter frequency width.
• To round things up, the Hotone Soul Press II also possesses a LED that indicates which mode we’re on and a set of status LEDs that show the current pedal position (these LEDs functionality can also be changed by a 3-way switch that can be found within the battery compartment.

The Review

Don’t let the looks fool you, the Hotone Soul Press II is a sturdy pedal. I dare to say it competes with the old Boss pedals in terms of how sturdy it is. It was done to be used and abused, to be taken on studios and tours. The action on it is also pretty soft and balanced which guarantees good control over the sound. The strip of LEDs on the side makes sure you always know what position the pedal is in without having to step on it and ruin a perfectly fine performance 😉

Of course, due to the metal encasing, you get a sturdy pedal, but a rather heavy one weighing in at around 500 grams (which is not too heavy, but still considerable if you have to carry it around).

The metallic blue sparkle casing is killer!

Despite the small size (smaller than most other options in the market 81mm x 162mm x 51mm), the Hotone Soul Press II is comfortable to use and provides enough accuracy even for someone with big feet like me.

The volume and expression sides of the pedal work just as expected; even though we found out that we get a rather sharp increase in volume at the beginning (probably due to the pedal using a linear pot).
On the wah side, we were able to get a nice variation of usable tones, it can go from soft flanger-type sounds to funky almost Cry Baby type of wah on the “warm” setting (which offers a lower range of frequencies 390Hz to 1.4Hz);  to a full-on Cliff Burton when paired with a fuzz on the “classic” setting (which has a slighter higher frequency range at 360Hz to 1.8Hz).

The Hotone Soul Press 2 truly is a versatile pedal. I’ve used it for volume swells, for controlling my Moog MF-101 filter, and for emulating Cliff Burton on From Whom The Bell Tolls together with a fuzz pedal.
Price wise the Hotone Soul Press II is very affordable giving you that feeling of getting more than what you paid for.

Finally, the pedal comes packaged with a small user manual where you can find all the relevant pedal information. The user manual can also be found online at hotoneaudio.com

Conclusion

Overall, the Hotone Soul Press II is a solid choice for bass players who want a pedal that can handle volume, expression, and wah effects with ease. While there are some minor drawbacks to consider, such as the weight, the benefits of its compact size, affordability, and diverse range of features make it a worthwhile investment for any bass player wanting to make more with less!