Darkglass B3K OR B7K

[Spencer!]

Originally Posted by fivestringgecko

Another note: You weren't kidding on your web page when you say the DI is louder. I used the DI for the first time for church this morning and the sound guy commented on it... asked me if I switched DI's because my signal was pretty hot. More headroom = WIN.

Worked great!

5sg.

With the USA one we made the balanced output the same volume as the 1/4" output - in other words, LOUD. It wasn't too hot, was it?

[fivestringgecko]

Originally Posted by Spencer!

With the USA one we made the balanced output the same volume as the 1/4" output - in other words, LOUD. It wasn't too hot, was it?

Nope, it was fantastic. The sound guy liked having that headroom there. Better to have and not need, than need and not have. It worked great, and was clean and quiet. I had to send my Tone Hammer back to Aguilar for some TLC (a ground loop problem), and if they tell me they can't find anything wrong with it, I now have a reference. Dead silent DI unless I was making noise.

5sg.

[Spencer!]

Speaking of ground loops....do you ever have to lift the ground on the B7K? I left the button in there because it's what people expect, but I've never been in a situation where lifting the ground on it made anything better.

[fivestringgecko]

I've only used the DI at my church so far, and didn't need to lift it. I've got a couple more gigs coming up soon and might take the opportunity to at least flip the switch and see what happens, but yeah... Same experience here... Lifting the ground has never solved any issues.

5sg.

[Darkglass]

Originally Posted by fivestringgecko

I've only used the DI at my church so far, and didn't need to lift it. I've got a couple more gigs coming up soon and might take the opportunity to at least flip the switch and see what happens, but yeah... Same experience here... Lifting the ground has never solved any issues.

5sg.

Great to hear you're digging the pedal and the DI!
I agree on the ground lift... But like you said, I'd rather have it and not need it than the opposite .

[bunkaroo]

Question - has anyone had problems with overloading the input of the B3K pedal?

I have the US made version. I started noticing something weird yesterday - seems like I'm getting a kind of "helicopter" type sound when I hit my low B hard. A little about my setup:

Spector Euro 6LX (trimpot at 50%) -> EBS MultiComp (active switch enabled) -> B3K (Driven Amp settings from website) -> soundcard.

My soundcard is not indicating overload, and I can hear it even when I have the level quiet. Also hearing with or without the compressor in front of it so it seems I've narrowed it down to the B3K. I have also tried several of my Spectors all of which have made the sound happen. I will say my SR5 did not seem to cause it, but that does have a somewhat weaker B string without as much "meat" to it.

It seems less apparent on the low E but still there. I'm going try and get a sound clip of it later today. Just wanted to see if anyone who uses a low B (or lower) with this pedal has heard anything like that.

[Darkglass]

Originally Posted by bunkaroo

Question - has anyone had problems with overloading the input of the B3K pedal?

I have the US made version. I started noticing something weird yesterday - seems like I'm getting a kind of "helicopter" type sound when I hit my low B hard. A little about my setup:

Spector Euro 6LX (trimpot at 50%) -> EBS MultiComp (active switch enabled) -> B3K (Driven Amp settings from website) -> soundcard.

My soundcard is not indicating overload, and I can hear it even when I have the level quiet. Also hearing with or without the compressor in front of it so it seems I've narrowed it down to the B3K. I have also tried several of my Spectors all of which have made the sound happen. I will say my SR5 did not seem to cause it, but that does have a somewhat weaker B string without as much "meat" to it.

It seems less apparent on the low E but still there. I'm going try and get a sound clip of it later today. Just wanted to see if anyone who uses a low B (or lower) with this pedal has heard anything like that.

Hey mate, I use a 5 stringed Lakland all the time with my pedals without any issues.
What power supply are you using?

Regards, D.

[bunkaroo]

Originally Posted by Darkglass

Hey mate, I use a 5 stringed Lakland all the time with my pedals without any issues.
What power supply are you using?

Regards, D.

I've got the 1-Spot. Originally bought it with an Aguilar PS but that was very noisy. I'll also note I am not sharing out the 1-Spot to several pedals - just directly connected to the B3K.

[Darkglass]

Originally Posted by bunkaroo

I've got the 1-Spot. Originally bought it with an Aguilar PS but that was very noisy. I'll also note I am not sharing out the 1-Spot to several pedals - just directly connected to the B3K.

Ok cool! That leaves the usual suspect out of the picture.
Can you send me you email address via PM so that we can get in touch with you to help you out? Thanks!

Doug.

[bunkaroo]

Originally Posted by Darkglass

Ok cool! That leaves the usual suspect out of the picture.
Can you send me you email address via PM so that we can get in touch with you to help you out? Thanks!

Doug.

Sure - thanks!

[fivestringgecko]

Just another reason that Doug / Darkglass get top marks for customer service. Regular contact with users in the forums and personal tech support.

WIN.

5sg.

[Epitaph04]

I hate to start a new thread because I effing LOVE this pedal, but I was wondering if anyone else had been having issues with the B3K pedal not wanting to work?

It's intermittent as hell, but yesterday as I tried to play through the B3K whenever I would switch it on I would get zero sound...basically a mute. The bright blue light would turn on and everything.When off, everything sounded perfect. No issues.

I tried it again today and now it works perfectly! This is the second or third time it happens in the past few months...so odd! I've been using a Onespot connector to power it the whole time by the way...

If it helps, all I've been playing through lately is a Tascam US-100 with livewire cables and an MM Bongo 6. Everything works perfectly otherwise.

[Spencer!]

Originally Posted by Epitaph04

I hate to start a new thread because I effing LOVE this pedal, but I was wondering if anyone else had been having issues with the B3K pedal not wanting to work?

It's intermittent as hell, but yesterday as I tried to play through the B3K whenever I would switch it on I would get zero sound...basically a mute. The bright blue light would turn on and everything.When off, everything sounded perfect. No issues.

I tried it again today and now it works perfectly! This is the second or third time it happens in the past few months...so odd! I've been using a Onespot connector to power it the whole time by the way...

If it helps, all I've been playing through lately is a Tascam US-100 with livewire cables and an MM Bongo 6. Everything works perfectly otherwise.

Is it a USA or Finnish model? I've never seen this particular issue on one of my units, although there was one Finnish model that had a similar intermittent problem. If it happens again, shoot me an email and I'll take a look at it.

[Epitaph04]

Ah I knew I forgot something! It's a Finnish model.

[Spencer!]

Ah - Doug would probably have more insight into this than I. From the few Finnish B3K's and B7K's I've worked on, I'd say the problem could be caused by some sort of internal mechanical short. I worked on a B7K that had no output, and the culprit was a tiny metal shaving between the blend pot and the enclosure that was shorting the signal to ground. That kind of thing is rare, but it can happen.

[bunkaroo]

Just wanted to note my issue has nothing to do with the B3K. Thanks as always to Doug and Spencer for your help. Still the best overdrive pedal I've heard!

[Darkglass]

Originally Posted by Epitaph04

I hate to start a new thread because I effing LOVE this pedal, but I was wondering if anyone else had been having issues with the B3K pedal not wanting to work?

It's intermittent as hell, but yesterday as I tried to play through the B3K whenever I would switch it on I would get zero sound...basically a mute. The bright blue light would turn on and everything.When off, everything sounded perfect. No issues.

I tried it again today and now it works perfectly! This is the second or third time it happens in the past few months...so odd! I've been using a Onespot connector to power it the whole time by the way...

If it helps, all I've been playing through lately is a Tascam US-100 with livewire cables and an MM Bongo 6. Everything works perfectly otherwise.

Hey mate! Send me your email via pm to sort it out.
I'm sure is a very simple issue - probably a mechanical problem (one of he reasons of why there's no mechanical connection between jacks and switches and the rest of the circuit on the new US version).

[Darkglass]

Originally Posted by bunkaroo

Just wanted to note my issue has nothing to do with the B3K. Thanks as always to Doug and Spencer for your help. Still the best overdrive pedal I've heard!

Thanks mate! I'm glad you sorted it out .
Just out of curiosity, what was it?

[bunkaroo]

Originally Posted by Darkglass

Thanks mate! I'm glad you sorted it out .
Just out of curiosity, what was it?

Not completely sure yet - could be a mix of my bass preamp and pickup height. I was hearing the sound without the B3K on so if anything I think the B3K was just accentuating it.

[AdamR]

I just stumbled across the bass cam video of the B7K and now I have serious gas for one. Whats the US price of the B3K and the B7K ? Are there any US retailers ?