Samples of Darkglass B3K Distortion for bass

[rodrigo_a_garci]

Hello!... first of all, i'll introduce myself. My name is Rodrigo García, and i'm from Chile. i play in the band Alejandro Silva Power Cuarteto (www.myspace.com/alejandrosilvapowercuarteto) and i'm a professional bass player, among other things.

I got a couple a weeks ago a Bass Distortion from Darkglass Electronics (from Finland, but Chilean owner, that's how i knew about them). the pedal is called the B3K. i used before the MXR m80 and Sansamp programmable, among other pedals. i recorded the following samples in my home studio, with a miced ampeg svt-II, and my loyal Fender bass. i would love to hear your opinions... i personally think it's the best distortion i've used... mostly 'cause i can still hear the tone of my bass underlying the drive madness. the guys from Darkglass were kind enough to give it away for free to me, so i'm not the one to give opinions about it (even when, if i don't like it, it could have ended collecting dust like my MXR and Sansamp)

now the samples:
BASS WITH PICK

SLAP BASS

what do you think?

best regards,

Rodrigo García
www.rodrigogarcia.cl

[JimmyM]

pedal sounds cool, but your playing totally kicks ass.

[bongomania]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

pedal sounds cool, but your playing totally kicks ass.

Agreed! You could be playing through a broken practice amp, and still sound great.

[BassistFreak416]

holy crap, your playing is amazing. love the distortion.

[Darkglass]

Hey! Thanks Rod for uploading recording this!

I agree, his playing is really kick ass... and guys, believe me, you haven't seen anything from this guy... he's totally amazing!

You should check his Youtube channel!

http://www.youtube.com/rodrigogarciagonz

Regards

Doug.

http://darkglasselectronics.com

[rodrigo_a_garci]

Originally Posted by bongomania

Agreed! You could be playing through a broken practice amp, and still sound great.

hehe.. thanks for the nice comments! anyway... i disagree on that... a nice sound and tone are always inspiring for playing better, and i'm sure that note selection is heavily influenced by sound.

[blastjv]

Um...wow. Technically impressive, toneful, and actually enjoyable to listen to!!! (lot's of people who can play that well choose to play unlistenable garbage just to show off my opinion)

I agree, I need my distorted sound (which is pretty distorted) to still sound like ME playing through MY BASS.


-John

[silky smoove]

Great sounding clips. I'll agree with everyone that you're quite a monster player.

A couple of thoughts specifically about the distortion:

1. How much more gain is available as compared to the clips you've posted? There's definitely some dirt in those clips, but it's far from fuzz territory. I'm curious how nasty this pedal can get at higher gain settings.

2. There seems to be quite a scoop going on to the midrange in those clips. Is that a factor of the rest of your setup, or does the pedal itself impart that type of EQ? I see that you've also used a BDDI and an M80, two pedals that I feel are built to scoop mids, which makes me think it's something you might be looking for. Just curious.

3. During the B section of the pick clip; Is there a phaser or some other effect being applied there as well? I can't tell if I'm actually hearing that or not.

[FreaqyFrequency]

Yeah, definitely a phaser toward the end of the pick clip.

Great chops, incidentally.

Did the clips stop working for anyone else?

[rodrigo_a_garci]

[quote=silky smoove;9546532]

1. There's more Gain avalaible, and the mix (or blend) is on the Dry half of the pot still.. i'll post somethiing more extreme. anyway, i'm not sure if this can get fuzz sounds... sounds more dynamic and with more attack to me than a regular fuzz.

2. i bought the sansamp and MXr blindly, just based on what i heard on forums. they scoop the sound, and seem a bit too "boomy" for me. and have this little "plastic" quality to it which i don't preceive in the B3K... anyway, i've done fine recordings with the sansamp in the past, like this one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXImwwoDUus). it just never felt right in the fingers, and i felt the dynamics heavily compressed. i use the mxr also sometimes to record other bass players... as a pre sounds nice, but the distortion is just too "farty" for my taste. i'll record some effect on/off for you to judge.

there's a phaser, yes... it's a normal mxr phase 90.

by the way, notice how the video is stupidly edited... i appear with two different basses, and the playing doesnt sync at all with the music... it was some promo work for ibanez here in Chile.

[MEKer]

Did an internet search, found all sorts of reviews and the home site of the B3K, but could not find any mention of price or who sells it. ???

[Darkglass]

As for the Frequency response, I designed the Microtubes to have a pretty flat frequency response, specially in the mids. Is one of the main characteristics of this pedal, and is, among other specs, why I can "retain" the natural character of the bass being used...

MEKer, in the pre-order section there's more info!
Thanks for the interest and the nice comments!

Regards

Doug.

[Robertron]

I was actually really sad when the clips stopped because the playing was so good!
This pedal also sounds fantastic. I have no use for a distortion like this, but it's very impressive in how much tone and attack it retains.

[Mr. BassmanPT]

this topic is only increasing my anxiety! i ordered a custom rack from darkglass a while ago, it should be ready by the end of the month.. listening to the samples is making the wait even worse.. if there was a way to advance through time i would use it!!!

anyway, the rack i am talking about contains 3 darkglass pedals, the compressor, the microtubes and the harmonic booster..

here it is if anyone is curious:

my custom darkglass effect rack

[ba$$]

Sounds GREAT

[MEKer]

Originally Posted by Darkglass

As for the Frequency response, I designed the Microtubes to have a pretty flat frequency response, specially in the mids. Is one of the main characteristics of this pedal, and is, among other specs, why I can "retain" the natural character of the bass being used...

MEKer, in the pre-order section there's more info!
Thanks for the interest and the nice comments!

Regards

Doug.

Thank you, Darkglass.

[fivestringgecko]

Rodrigo, AWESOME clips... I've been talking with Doug and he sent those to me yesterday.

Doug, WHY DO YOU KEEP DOING THIS TO ME? lol I posted this in the What's Coming And Going Thread:

Originally Posted by fivestringgecko

IN: Even MORE G.A.S. for a Darkglass Microtubes B3K, on my search for "The Perfect Overdrive."

Been talking back and forth with Doug (Darkglass owner), he's a pretty cool cat. His website is up and has some demos, and he just sent me a couple more sample links: clip one and clip two. I fear that despite being in contact with John Fromel about a custom overdrive, I'm probably going to order a B3K the minute Doug starts taking Paypal (which he says should be late August or early September?).

*sigh* lol

Oh well, if pedals are my drug of choice, I could be doing a lot worse in life. lol

5sg.

5sg.

[Darkglass]

Originally Posted by fivestringgecko

Rodrigo, AWESOME clips... I've been talking with Doug and he sent those to me yesterday.

Doug, WHY DO YOU KEEP DOING THIS TO ME? lol I posted this in the What's Coming And Going Thread:



5sg.

Thanks 5sg for your kind words! I actually really enjoy talking with other bassists, wether is about my gear, or any other topic.

Our website is still in beta... so there's still tons of cool content to be added, and improvements to be made.

Anyways, if there's any extra info that someone may want, both myself, and Hugo Villarroel, our international sales manager (his email is on the contact, and pre-order section on the website) will be more than glad to answer them!

Kind Regards

Doug.

[Mr. BassmanPT]

i am listening to these clips again.

it is not helping me but i keep listening to them

i already know the youtube videos from the top of my head lol

[rodrigo_a_garci]

thanks for the nice comments!... specially about my playing jeje. my bass player self-steem just got up!.