I can’t recall a period in the world of bass stuff when trendiness has been such a potent drain on our wallets. The smoldering cauldron of social media, YouTube, democratized tech, and stylistically schizophrenic music — along with the vast proliferation of virtual venues for kinship with like-minded enthusiasts — was already transforming the way we discover, discuss, lust after, and maybe even buy bass stuff. Then the pandemic came along and was a massive accelerant. All of that time at home, bored out of our skulls, that sweet-sweet stimulus money coyly winking at us from our banking app, flirty like: “Pay rent? Pfft, you can figure that out later, babe! Take me out! I heard Facebook Marketplace is lovely this time of year." Or: "You only live once, so let’s go to Reverb! Besides, you’ll definitely get more gigs with the pedals you buy, so, really, it’s almost like you’re making money!”   It’s hard to know what’s actually good, though, and I haven’t even mentioned paid “influencers,” deep-fakes, AI-written copy, and other harbingers of the looming apocalypse. Why do I bring this up, other than making public amends for some of my questionable late-2020 spending? Because the Jad Freer Audio gear I’m reviewing here is quintessentially on-trend. Take the Capo. It’s fourpreamps in a stompbox, with effect loops, multiple balanced outputs, and EQ up the wazoo; it’s designed to do everything from crispy zing to brash grind. And why is that trendy? Well, in case you haven’t noticed, we are in a golden age of what I call “Stuff That Used To Be Built Into An Amp That’s Cooler When It’s Expensive and Lives On Your Pedalboard.” Lest you think today’s trends are all-about packing maximal tech into minimal packages, then I present the Sisma, a remarkably dense head that takes a different approach. Where the Capo is a Swiss Army Knife — the fat one that has a fish scaler and a pharmaceutical spatula — the Sisma is like a hand-forged blade by 9th-generation Old World artisans. It’s minimalist, brutal, design-forward, dangerously effective, and doesn’t go dull when the shit hits the fan. It’s also expensive and shockingly good, like that new $6-latte place that opened in what used to be the scary part of town. So, trends aside, are the Jad Freer Audio Capo and Sisma genuinely musical tools that accomplish their design goals, or are they from the Elizabeth Holmes school of overpromising and underdelivering? My not-paid-for verdict: They are good. More than good. In fact, they are some of the best bits of bass gear that I’ve played through in a good long while. Before I explain why, a quick intro to Jad Freer Audio is in order. Founders Mauro Freddi and Giada Pezzi have been designing and manufacturing gear from their shop in Brescia, Italy, since 2008. Prioritizing durability, technical innovation, and boutique hand-built products, Jad Freer Audio aims to fill underserved niches in