BBE Sonic Stomp

Musicbiz60 · #1 06-11-2009, 09:48 PM

I heard so many positives about this pedal I bought one. The manual is completely useless. Can anyone advise how to set the two controls? Many thanks.

shortscale91 · #2 06-11-2009, 11:19 PM

yeah I have one as well and I have both the low contour and the process set to 8 and my tone is a little more clearer, but it isnt 10 times better, like everyone said it would be.

Musicbiz60 · #3 06-12-2009, 05:57 AM

Thanks for your reply. I hope others chime in too.

Bootzilla · #4 06-12-2009, 06:11 AM

If you are playing through cheap equipment I doubt you'll be able to notice much of a difference. I don't know what you expect it to do but this is from their site:

"The Sonic Stomp is a stomp-box version of our ever-popular Sonic Maximizer. The Sonic Stomp was carefully designed to deliver the same sonic improvement as our rack-mounted 482i Sonic Maximizer, adding clarity, definition and punch to any instrument."

You can't magically make your instrument have more clarity/definition/punch by processing it. It WILL make small changes and it WILL improve your sound but you have to actually listen to hear a difference and it won't fix cheap amps for you. It is still a good piece of gear but it is a subtle one.

I don't have it myself but I just read the manuall online and this thing basically elimenates phase cencelation (I don't know how good your physics knowledge is but it basicly means that audio waves don't overlap correctly and thus cencel each other out). This results in a less muddy sound. Depending on how badly the waves overlap you can correct it with the controlls on the sonic stomp. For the most dramatic effect you turn the knobs all the way clockwise.

If I were you I would just try different settings and see what sounds best.

bassman1185 · #5 06-12-2009, 07:18 AM

Step one: Put it in as late as possible in your signal chain. It will work in your effects loop if you have one, and that's the best place for it.

Step two: Fiddle with the knobs till you get a sound that you like. Your best bet will be to keep both knobs low, as in below the 11:00 point.

Step three: Actually, there is no step three. That's pretty much it.

warwick.hoy · #6 06-12-2009, 07:21 AM

You probably aren't getting a whole lot of responses because sonic maximizers have been somewhat beat to death in the FX subforum.

Did you try a search?

prokfrog · #7 06-12-2009, 07:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassman1185

Step one: Put it in as late as possible in your signal chain. It will work in your effects loop if you have one, and that's the best place for it.

Step two: Fiddle with the knobs till you get a sound that you like. Your best bet will be to keep both knobs low, as in below the 11:00 point.

Step three: Actually, there is no step three. That's pretty much it.

I always heard the compressor goes FIRST in line??

bassman1185 · #8 06-12-2009, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prokfrog

I always heard the compressor goes FIRST in line??

It's a Sonic Stomp, not an Opto Stomp. It's a pedal version of the Sonic Maximizer.

Bassamatic · #9 06-12-2009, 07:52 AM

The Sonic Stomp as well as the Sonic Maximizer is basically a bass boost with a dynamic HF EQ. The louder the signal, the more HF Boost.

All the stuff in the ads and user guide about phase correction, etc. is just an advertising joke.

We were making a similar product many years ago and did a very close examination of the Sonic Maximizer when it came out.

Because it is just an EQ, this may be the reason you are not seeing some magical effect.

bassbrock · #10 06-12-2009, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gio S

The Sonic Stomp as well as the Sonic Maximizer is basically a bass boost with a dynamic HF EQ. The louder the signal, the more HF Boost.

(...)

Because it is just an EQ, this may be the reason you are not seeing some magical effect.

+1 - I did an RTA (Real Time Analyzer) of the BBE 882 Sonic Maximizer a couple of years ago and was surprised to learn that it pretty much is nothing more than a smiley-face EQ - boosts the highs and boosts the lows, sucks mids. The sucked mids are usually what cause people to make the comment "it was like lifting a blanket off my speakers!"

Most of the time, sucked mids doesn't work too well in a band settings. Sounds good by itself but can cause you to get lost in the mix with a full band setup.

shortscale91 · #11 06-12-2009, 11:26 AM

Is it really only useful for use at the end of a pedalchain?
Because when I used it by itself, it made the tone a little more clearer, but when I put it at the end of my pedalchain, it seemed to make a much more substantial difference.

Bootzilla · #12 06-12-2009, 11:39 AM

If it is indeed just a special eq you can use it anywhere in the chain but the results will vary.

I'm kinda surprised that a company can and does make such bold claims about their product on their site AND in the user manual

.

warwick.hoy · #13 06-12-2009, 12:27 PM

I had a Stomp and an old 428. Had is the operative word here.

rcubed · #14 06-12-2009, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassbrock

+1 - I did an RTA (Real Time Analyzer) of the BBE 882 Sonic Maximizer a couple of years ago and was surprised to learn that it pretty much is nothing more than a smiley-face EQ - boosts the highs and boosts the lows, sucks mids. The sucked mids are usually what cause people to make the comment "it was like lifting a blanket off my speakers!"

Most of the time, sucked mids doesn't work too well in a band settings. Sounds good by itself but can cause you to get lost in the mix with a full band setup.

+1. It's a pedal for playing at low volumes. Highs and lows are harder to hear at low volumes (and thus mids sound louder) so this pedal can be used to EQ for a more even sound across the spectrum. If you're playing loud, it's a pretty pointless pedal to have.

OilcanRacer · #15 06-12-2009, 02:48 PM

back in the day when the rack mount sonic maximizers came out i got two(running most of my effects in stereo) into two 18" cabs with horns on top.

at first i was not happy as the difference was not very apparent. not untill i walked about 50 feet away from my cabs and then i could hear what they were doing.

still it was subtle, but better. remember the lower the note the larger the wave and farther away from the speaker in relation to higher ones that have a tighter wave.

the maximizer is trying to equal out how highs and lows react coming out of the speaker, but you still need to be a certain distance away from your speakers to get the full effect.

i know that does not answer your question of which way to turn your knobs, but it might help you to experiment in turning your own knobs.

pandathe3 · #16 06-12-2009, 04:11 PM

If you add the lo contour up high along with you hi's you could use it as a solo booster or just a bigger fatter sound as if your going into a bridge section.