Alternative to B3K

[Sindhu Partomo]

I like the sound of B3K and B7K, but they are nearly impossible to find here in Indonesia. Any suggestion on similar-sounding overdrive?

 

[Animal Chin]

Darkglass seems pretty ubiquitous. How would we know which OD is MORE available in Indonesia? If you're just looking for comparisons, there are only hundreds of posts about that here in TB. Search function is pretty rad.

 

[Adamixoye]

@mmbongo did some sound tests and I believe the conclusion was that you could cop a B3K-ish sound with two Digitech Hardwire pedals---the CM-2 and the SC-2.

 

[mmbongo]

@mmbongo did some sound tests and I believe the conclusion was that you could cop a B3K-ish sound with two Digitech Hardwire pedals---the CM-2 and the SC-2.

Yep, those make a nice poor man's B3K! Not a B3K by any means, but you can get those pedals used for less than $100 combined and they sound killer together.

 

[MGR]

Closest I've found if VFE Triumvirate. I highly doubt also that a B3K cannot be shipped to indonesia. It is, after all, a major trading port.

 

[jwr]

Vintage Deluxe? I kid, I kid.

I'm not sure. I haven't found anything that is like the B3 or B7. They are very uniquely voiced. The Triumvirate is very good but it's not same tone.

@Darkglass do you have a Indonesian dealer? Surely their is someone that would ship there?

Unless you're talking about a local shop. Then you're out of luck for the most part anyway.

 

[MGR]

The Triumvirate is very good but it's not same tone.

I find that the way the VFE and B3K affect the treble portion of the signal to be remarkably close, but yes I do agree, different tone.

 

[jwr]

I find that the way the VFE and B3K affect the treble portion of the signal to be remarkably close, but yes I do agree, different tone.

Yea they can get similar in ways, and different in others. I have a RUP which is essentially a mega Triumvirate and I still run a B7K. They sound brilliant together.

 

[Amplified]

eBay/Amazon is your friend.

 

[FunkHead]

I honestly don't think you can get anything like a B3k without getting a genuine one. Someone may "Clone" it someday but there's nothing quite like it. I love my Grizzly bass but it's different.

 

[ole Jason]

The B3k is awesome and one of the best pedals created for bass... but it isn't magic. The drive section isn't all that special sounding, most CMOS based dirt pedals sound pretty similar. What really makes it special is the blend function and the unusual EQ points. The B3k/B7k have very pronounced upper mids by default. The grunt switch can be used to bring back in a lot of low end. There are a lot of things working together to get "that" sound.

I guess that doesn't really answer your question but there isn't anything about the B3k that makes it impossible to mock with other pedals. It may be very difficult to cop those tones with only one pedal though.

 

[tom_ric]

I found that Sansamp gt-2 + clean blend (Mosquite Blender) got me pretty close but it still lack that very low end boost.

 

[Sindhu Partomo]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I tried Hardwire CM and SC. I guess I will just work on getting B3K.

 

[doomedwarwick]

I've owned the B3K, B7K, and the Vintage. One thing I can say is that I found the B3K and the B7K to color my tone way to much. Every time I went back to my clean you can obviously hear how much my original signal was colored.

I prefer dirt boxes that just enhance my original clean tone. The Vintage on the other hand was much better at preserving my original tone but didn't have enough dirt for my liking.

Don't get me wrong Darkglass makes some excellent pedals they just weren't my cup of tea.

 

[DavC]

full size TC Spark ... 2 band eq , nice for the price ... used

Beta ... nice warm, non raspy

Barbershop ... little raspy on attack , but very nice

Wampler Low Blow ... i had a B7K , this seems similar ... but i like it better ... 3 band eq , blend , 2 ODs , filter switch ...

 

[cplegue]

As current/former owner of the 2 darkglass pedals, and several other dirty boxes (barbershop, vt, triumvirate,...) i have to say that there is one that knocks out the rest.

The grizzly bass. It is a-w-e-s-o-m-e... But to be honest is not a dirty box, is an enhancer that makes my jbass sound through a markbass mini rig as it were an ampeg fridge on an stadium.

 

[spaz21387]

Id suggest just getting a bk3. If you want a bk3 theres really nothing that comes close. Im very happy with mine. I have wanted once since the mk1 came out but it was so expensive. So when the 2.0 came out for 250 i was stoked. It is my most expensive pedal but its so worth it. The snarly fat bass you get is unreal!

 

[SirMjac28]

In a short answer "nothing" I have owned two BK7's and two BK3's and each time I sold them I spent more money trying to find replacements based on what people in different threads suggested rather than just going out and buying the pedal. It is also one of the few newer pedals you can buy and not worry about reselling it.

 

[MGR]

In a short answer "nothing" I have owned two BK7's and two BK3's and each time I sold them I spent more money trying to find replacements based on what people in different threads suggested rather than just going out and buying the pedal. It is also one of the few newer pedals you can buy and not worry about reselling it.

I agree 1000%. Every other pedal comes and goes on my board, but the B3K has lived for a good solid time on loop #1 and hasn't gone anywhere. Every time I kick it on I smile a little bit.

 

[Nic.]

If you happen to be in Singapore for a while for holiday or business, you can easily grab one here. Drop me a message if you're around and I'll bring you to the retailer.

Anyway try looking for John K's review of the pedal and the frequency spectrum. It basically boosts the 150hz a bit, a sharp cut at 300, and boosts the 2k hz a lot. You could get a vaguely similar tone by overdriving and then EQ that way. Won't be the same, but close enough until you get a real one, and you might be able to figure out if this kind of sound really works for your band setup.