I have a GK 1001RBII and a 6x10 stack that I use to melt peoples faces
But most of the time I use my TC Electronic BG250 1x15 combo as it's powerful enough for 80% of our shows.
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Am I missing something? (B3K)
- Thread starter Boy_Narf
- Start date
I have a GK 1001RBII and a 6x10 stack that I use to melt peoples faces
But most of the time I use my TC Electronic BG250 1x15 combo as it's powerful enough for 80% of our shows.
Try a few different things with it. I was skeptical at first because I didn't want to dish out 400 bones for it.
I loved it at first, but loved it even more after I started experimenting with it. The DG line of pedals get along VERY well with other pedals and make them sound better. Recently, I found a sick tone with boosting my high mids and low mids all the way up to 100%.
For some people, the B#K isn't what they're looking for. It's a bit too modern and edgy with his glassy tone. The VMT may suit you better. I have both, and find that the VMT is about to get taken off of my pedal board completely. I think a lot of the Darkglass crew are pretty die hard fans in our thread, but most of them will be honest with you if you tell them that you're looking for a certain sound and the B#K won't give it to you.
A lot of us have gone down the "I'm on the *looking for MY tone* rabbit trail", and the Darkglass line seems to be our answer. Doesn't mean it's everyone's answer.
I loved it at first, but loved it even more after I started experimenting with it. The DG line of pedals get along VERY well with other pedals and make them sound better. Recently, I found a sick tone with boosting my high mids and low mids all the way up to 100%.
For some people, the B#K isn't what they're looking for. It's a bit too modern and edgy with his glassy tone. The VMT may suit you better. I have both, and find that the VMT is about to get taken off of my pedal board completely. I think a lot of the Darkglass crew are pretty die hard fans in our thread, but most of them will be honest with you if you tell them that you're looking for a certain sound and the B#K won't give it to you.
A lot of us have gone down the "I'm on the *looking for MY tone* rabbit trail", and the Darkglass line seems to be our answer. Doesn't mean it's everyone's answer.
If you like to keep your mids, the Cusack Bass Screamer or Bass Screamer Fuzz is a great pedal.
Adamixoye
A PT Pro is cool for worship, right?
- Apr 9, 2012
- 18,158
- 69,338
- Disclosures
- Occasional Beta Tester for Confusion Studios, Singular Sound, and Source Audio
This is very similar to my experience. I have the B7K, not B3K, but for me it lived up to the hype. It's versatile. I run it with medium to high (but not 100%) blend and low gain most of the time (although high gain is cool too). I also think it sounds like the demos I've heard, with both of my basses. FWIW.
I'd like to add that I also use the fulltone OCD and bassdrive pedals for dirt, both actually boost the midrange(IIRC, the bassdrive is a tube screamer variant, or at least very close)
What kind of bass/pickups are you using?
My b3k sounds great with my Ric 4003 or my Squier VM Jaguar, but with my Westone Spectrum and its hot humbucking pickups it doesn't sound so great; that bass sounds best straight through my pf500 with the gain cranked.
So I love the pedal, but it certainly doesn't work for every bass/amp/player combination. If you really hate it, the good news is you should be able to flip it for decent money, as they are popular pedals.
My b3k sounds great with my Ric 4003 or my Squier VM Jaguar, but with my Westone Spectrum and its hot humbucking pickups it doesn't sound so great; that bass sounds best straight through my pf500 with the gain cranked.
So I love the pedal, but it certainly doesn't work for every bass/amp/player combination. If you really hate it, the good news is you should be able to flip it for decent money, as they are popular pedals.
Crazy talk.
I can certainly appreciate that the tone is not for everyone/ every occasion.
But a noisy switch? I thought the switch was a pretty big upgrade compared to the typical switches found on pedals. Maybe you have a broken one?
I can certainly appreciate that the tone is not for everyone/ every occasion.
But a noisy switch? I thought the switch was a pretty big upgrade compared to the typical switches found on pedals. Maybe you have a broken one?
i also replaced my B3K with the VMT and i´m much happier now.
John K´s review (link on page 1) of the B3K nails it.
"Don´t believe the hype" ;-)
John K´s review (link on page 1) of the B3K nails it.
"Don´t believe the hype" ;-)
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OP: Definitely contact Douglas.
I had a very similar engage/disengage pop on my B7K and it is a known issue with a certain production range of those. I do not know if the B3K is similarly affected but Douglas will give you the scoop. For me, it was a warranty repair at a US depot and I've been really happy since.
That said, I mostly use the VMTD if I'm using anything, but since I need to stay versatile, I like having those edgier tones available.
I owned the VMT and it was decent but I sold it and bought the VMT Deluxe which I also sold. Now I own a Barbershop and am much happier with my OD tone.
So yeah, Darkglass isn't for everybody.
So yeah, Darkglass isn't for everybody.
It just goes to show you that even the popular pedals arent for everyone. I think its odd that youre getting a popping when your footswitch is engaged. The footswitches are all soft ones. Unless you got an older one.
My first suggestion, that is if you decide to keep it, would be to try different blend settings. The blend can make a huge difference. I have and use the B7K all the time and I run my blend somewhere around 11 oclock to noon depending. I like to have a little of the flavor of the pedal mixed with my bass tone and the rest of my rig.
DG is def not for everyone. It seems as though most of what they make people love em or leave em. But isnt that the way it is with most pedals? I guess you could say that DG really has received a lot of hype and proclamation here on TB, and for me, I think its totally warranted. DG has totally change my whole bass life. And I think a lot of others feel the same, so of course were going to scream it from the rooftops. But then theres the other percentage that dont feel theyre all that. And that is totally fine.
You will never know until you try it. Period. You can listen to demos all days and night and love what you hear. But most of that will not matter until you get in front of you, with your bass and rig.
My first suggestion, that is if you decide to keep it, would be to try different blend settings. The blend can make a huge difference. I have and use the B7K all the time and I run my blend somewhere around 11 oclock to noon depending. I like to have a little of the flavor of the pedal mixed with my bass tone and the rest of my rig.
DG is def not for everyone. It seems as though most of what they make people love em or leave em. But isnt that the way it is with most pedals? I guess you could say that DG really has received a lot of hype and proclamation here on TB, and for me, I think its totally warranted. DG has totally change my whole bass life. And I think a lot of others feel the same, so of course were going to scream it from the rooftops. But then theres the other percentage that dont feel theyre all that. And that is totally fine.
You will never know until you try it. Period. You can listen to demos all days and night and love what you hear. But most of that will not matter until you get in front of you, with your bass and rig.
Had a B7k and a VMT Deluxe. Both are gone now.
There's a bunch of hype about this pedal. There are lots of things in the marketing jargon which don't make sense in the real world, as you noted.
That said, there is something about this pedal that is desireable for certain sounds and styles. I did find feeding lower level gain into the VMT D yielded better tones. Canibal Corpse's bassist says the same thing in a YouTube clip describing how he uses the pedal.
You'd probably also hate the lo/hi mid EQ points on the B7k since they are really just hi/hi-er mids.
Lots of fans. The company is cool. I tried to make the gear work for me. In the end, my experience says
Internet love > my results
There's a bunch of hype about this pedal. There are lots of things in the marketing jargon which don't make sense in the real world, as you noted.
That said, there is something about this pedal that is desireable for certain sounds and styles. I did find feeding lower level gain into the VMT D yielded better tones. Canibal Corpse's bassist says the same thing in a YouTube clip describing how he uses the pedal.
You'd probably also hate the lo/hi mid EQ points on the B7k since they are really just hi/hi-er mids.
Lots of fans. The company is cool. I tried to make the gear work for me. In the end, my experience says
Internet love > my results
...for my money, the Blower from Idiotbox is a better fit. It does some similar things, but in a way which works better for me. The mid scoop and EQ points are better. I'm still searching for "the right sound" for me.
It took me quite a while before the lightbulb went off for me on the B3K (when that happened I promptly sold it and other things for a B7K)
So so versatile, there are so many nuances in how the knobs and switches interact with one another. Hated it at first, now I love it, certainly not for everybody.
So so versatile, there are so many nuances in how the knobs and switches interact with one another. Hated it at first, now I love it, certainly not for everybody.
The B3K is NOT for everyone. It's just not. It's like any player. It's going to depend on what type of tone you want to achieve I like that treble heavy grindy sound, so it's perfect for me (I have a B7k, but same thing without the pre). I would suggest playing around with it a bit more and see if there's anything you can identify with. If not, it's not a big deal. There's lots of options out there and not all of them are right for everyone.
I love the versatility of the B7K for example, but where it really shines is as a preamp and not as a straight overdrive. So I always put it at the end of my chain. It cleans up the signal ala buffer bypass and boosts everything when engaged. It's like a multiple use pedal that I love. I couldn't see myself using anything else. Using it at the front of my chain though does not achieve me the results I seek, and I don't dig it as much. It's just got a different character depending on how you use it. LOVE it.
I love the versatility of the B7K for example, but where it really shines is as a preamp and not as a straight overdrive. So I always put it at the end of my chain. It cleans up the signal ala buffer bypass and boosts everything when engaged. It's like a multiple use pedal that I love. I couldn't see myself using anything else. Using it at the front of my chain though does not achieve me the results I seek, and I don't dig it as much. It's just got a different character depending on how you use it. LOVE it.
This is an important point, and as much as I hate the spare information in the "manual", everything _does_ (pretty much) interact with everything else _and_ your dynamics. So while you might get one tone with all the knobs and switches in one position, changing any one knob or switch opens up a whole chapter of tones for all the other knobs and switches. So yeah - I hate it when the manual just says "play with it until you find something you like" - you kind of have to.
(N.B. - WRITE DOWN the settings you like because you probably found them by accident and if you lose them, it's how you'll have to get them back...)
So be patient, play with it to get a feeling on how the controls interact. It has been noted many times that some of them are counter-intuitive and use names that mean different things on other (even similar-purpose) pedals. You've got it - it's paid for. Spend some time with it and see if you can't find some settings you like. And if you can't - move on.
Remember the good ole days, when smaller music stores carried high-end gear, and you could try stuff out before buying it? Thanks to GC buying them all out, then stocking low-end crap, most quality gear is now purchased sight-unseen and based purely on YouTube videos.
I bought my B3K used, also sight-unseen, but it works for me.
I bought my B3K used, also sight-unseen, but it works for me.
