Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Am I missing something? (B3K)
- Thread starter Boy_Narf
- Start date
Is it a fantastic pedal? Yes. Does it work for every setup? NO. A lot of people done see the underlying issue with gear recommendations: Tone=Everything in your chain depending on everything else in your chain. I've gone through so many pedals on this forum that people swear up and down are the most amazing thing and it will make you sound like you spawned from Lemmy's Loins or something. Unless you use their bass, rig, and similar effects, even the same strings sometimes, you will not get a very similar result.
Personally, I love the B3K. I have it blended in pretty low with a decent amount of gain that gives me some nice breakup when I dig in. Is it the end all be all? Nope. It just happens to be a well crafted device that will sound good for a large portion of rigs out there. Pedals that "color" the sound will be even more polarizing.
Personally, I love the B3K. I have it blended in pretty low with a decent amount of gain that gives me some nice breakup when I dig in. Is it the end all be all? Nope. It just happens to be a well crafted device that will sound good for a large portion of rigs out there. Pedals that "color" the sound will be even more polarizing.
I'm surprised noone mentioned the SansAmp. Bought it for recording, but use it regularly as an OD pedal.
Because it's not the same thing. It's more of a glassy modern grind, and the Sansamp is more of a tube overdriven grit. The B#K is capable of getting a similar kind of tone, but it's got its subtle differences. The Darkglass VMT is more suited for that kind of OD tone.
Seems like I'm chiming in a bit late here. To be completely honest, my experience with Darkglass stuff is that it sounds great, but it isn't that roadworthy. I started to get nasty pops when engaging my B3K, then eventually it just started to cut out to altogether and give me a thin, fizzy sound. I brought it to two very reputable repair guys, and they did what they could, but both said that since there was so much crammed into such a small enclosure, there wasn't much they could do.
They both basically said it was a problem with the contact points.
I have the Vintage Microtubes, and I'm starting to get the same problems with it. I take very good care of my gear. I don't stomp the crap out of pedals. I carry my board in a hardshell roadcase.
The B3K started giving me big problems after about 30 shows. ***?? With pedals that cost this much, the build quality should be way better.
It doesn't matter if something sounds great if it's not WORKING. I have pedals that you could throw against a brick wall and they would work.
Hence, I'm looking for replacements for both pedals. Darkglass build quality is severely lacking, IME.
They both basically said it was a problem with the contact points.
I have the Vintage Microtubes, and I'm starting to get the same problems with it. I take very good care of my gear. I don't stomp the crap out of pedals. I carry my board in a hardshell roadcase.
The B3K started giving me big problems after about 30 shows. ***?? With pedals that cost this much, the build quality should be way better.
It doesn't matter if something sounds great if it's not WORKING. I have pedals that you could throw against a brick wall and they would work.
Hence, I'm looking for replacements for both pedals. Darkglass build quality is severely lacking, IME.
have you tried emailing darkglass to see if they'd fix it?? I'm pretty sure they put customer satisfaction as a top priority and would try to resolve your problem...
also I've heard of some older builds having issues with the switches, but don't quote me on that.... But if you really dig the DG sound, I don't think anything else could cop those tones.... sorry for your bad experience
- Dec 10, 2008
- 2,341
- 5,822
- Disclosures
- Douglas Castro, Founder: darkglass.com
I am sorry to hear you're having problems with our pedals.
The first revisions did have some issues that we've fixed along the years (we've made 8 revisions since your B3K which is one of the very first made if I remember right, all with improvements in assembly and reliability) to the point that since the move back to Finland last year we've shipped over 3000 pedals and we've had only 1 (yes one) failure so far (a broken potentiometer) which is by far the lower it's ever been, and we worked obsessively before making pedals again here to make sure that the designs and assembly model were the best and most reliable we could make (hence the tact switch rated for 1,000,000 cycles, unibodies, PCB's made and populated by a factory with contracts to build circuits for the British military, etc).
Bassists like Alex Webster and Tony Levin have used them extensively in touring and studio without any type of issue to my knowledge.
Now I get it, if your pedals broke (regardless of them being for earlier revisions) non of this matters, which is why if you've experienced problems with any of our pedals you (and anyone) can contact me at any time so I can make sure to get them fixed, free of charge as always (we have never charged a dime for a repair so far, and never will).
Sh*t happens every once in a while, that sucks but it's the way it is with any electronic device, the cool thing about it is that if it happens, you can count on us to stand behind the pedal, regardless of how old or in what condition.
Regards,
Doug.
Last edited:
Pay attention, kids. THIS is customer service at its finest.
And I'd like to add, the Vintage Deluxe is now my main OD, and it's always on. It's my tone, and I wish I would have gotten this from the start although I did enjoy fiddling with the 30-40 pedals I had before it. The only bad thing is that before I got it I told myself I'd have to sell my B3K to help pay for it, as I just couldn't justify having both. I've had my B3K since day one. And guess what....the Deluxe into the B3K just kills so now I don't think I can sell my B3K. Something else may have to go to pay for the Deluxe
First-hand experience here - had an issue with a B7K, Douglas pointed me to a US tech and it was fixed fast and free.
I don't own a b3k but I stood 3 feet away from a friend who was able to dial in nearly identical tones with the Aguilar Agro. If I got a dg it would be the 7. Don't really have the gas to spend that type of money though because I'm happy with my sans amps
I owned a 7 and VMTD. I now own an Agro. There is some overlap. The DG cand do things the Agro can't. However, I like the Agro better.
Sorry to resurrect this, but I just got my b3k a few days ago and I'm having very similar second thoughts as the OP, but before deciding anything I need to try it a bit more because it does seem like dialing it in requires a lot of experimentation. Any suggestions how to go about this? The controls seem very interactive and I'm constantly finding myself slightly tweaking one knob in an attempt to change one characteristic of the tone, and then having to do huge sweeps with the others in order to preserve the other characteristics.
I didn't see any recommended settings... can you please add a link?
There are basically 2 tones I'm trying to achieve: One is a very slightly overdriven sound, like a tube-amp that's only slightly pushed, so that most of the original tone is preserved while adding some "hair" (I believe this is the correct technical term ) and the other is a Muse-like fuzz (is this pedal even capable of this? Will it help to put a booster before it?)
I didn't see any recommended settings... can you please add a link?
There are basically 2 tones I'm trying to achieve: One is a very slightly overdriven sound, like a tube-amp that's only slightly pushed, so that most of the original tone is preserved while adding some "hair" (I believe this is the correct technical term
) and the other is a Muse-like fuzz (is this pedal even capable of this? Will it help to put a booster before it?)
Hey Dude,
Sorry can't really help. After playing with a band for a few months I went through a handful of pedals (B3K, OFD, BBM, RC, TightFuzz, and Rat2 through a mosquite and X blender) and settled back on my bass BB. It was the only pedal that actual cut through a busy mix and kept the definition. I'm even getting great results recording with it. I actually sold all of my other pedals as none of them made the cut.
Sorry can't really help. After playing with a band for a few months I went through a handful of pedals (B3K, OFD, BBM, RC, TightFuzz, and Rat2 through a mosquite and X blender) and settled back on my bass BB. It was the only pedal that actual cut through a busy mix and kept the definition. I'm even getting great results recording with it. I actually sold all of my other pedals as none of them made the cut.
Last edited:
Sorry to resurrect this, but I just got my b3k a few days ago and I'm having very similar second thoughts as the OP, but before deciding anything I need to try it a bit more because it does seem like dialing it in requires a lot of experimentation. Any suggestions how to go about this? The controls seem very interactive and I'm constantly finding myself slightly tweaking one knob in an attempt to change one characteristic of the tone, and then having to do huge sweeps with the others in order to preserve the other characteristics.
I didn't see any recommended settings... can you please add a link?
There are basically 2 tones I'm trying to achieve: One is a very slightly overdriven sound, like a tube-amp that's only slightly pushed, so that most of the original tone is preserved while adding some "hair" (I believe this is the correct technical term
I found myself in constant fidget and adjustment with my B7K. Every setting had something interesting but something lacking, too. I have other pedals that are much more set and forget. I understand your desired to make the pedal work. I wish you luck.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
@ProfFink
I spent several weeks before settling-in on the sound that worked for me. B3K has a really wide pallet so I suppose that could be a drawback to those seeking a simpler path to one tone. Spend the time and you'll be rewarded.
Full disclosure- I've also got the VMT for that warmer OD tone, and the Duality for the gated-square-wave. B3K doesn't do either as well as those pedals but definitely can get a workable tone on the opposite ends of its spectrum.
@ProfFink
I spent several weeks before settling-in on the sound that worked for me. B3K has a really wide pallet so I suppose that could be a drawback to those seeking a simpler path to one tone. Spend the time and you'll be rewarded.
Full disclosure- I've also got the VMT for that warmer OD tone, and the Duality for the gated-square-wave. B3K doesn't do either as well as those pedals but definitely can get a workable tone on the opposite ends of its spectrum.
Last edited:
I drank the kool-aide as well..............had a VMT and A B3K they didn't last long on my board.........not a fan of what I got out of them
I love my B7K, it's the only pedal that's been a constant on my board for the last few years. I've been through so many: VMT, Agro, Oxide, Duality, You're Doom, Polish Love, EBS Valvedrive, TAFM, Rat Tail, BBOD, Fulltone Bassdrive, Sparkle Drive, PSA-1, Bass Blowtorch, Tone Hammer, V-amp, ...
It's a more versatile pedal than some people realize. I use it as an always-on pedal, but I don't really use it as a distortion, more of a clean tone-shaper. I think you have to be judicious with the blend control, as in general a little goes a long way with the very strongly voiced sound of the pedal. My basic settings:
blend: 9:00 level: 2:00 drive: 9:00
low: 2:00 treble: 10:00 lomids: 2:00 himids: 10:00
grunt: fat
This setting (for me) is wonderful and subtle. It just adds a focus and a bit of bite, just enough to make me pop in the mix. But from my bass I can still get anything from motown to bright aggressive pick tones. I could crank the drive and get more of that Nolly grind, but the music I play doesn't call for that. My sound is not audibly distorted (although it's in there), but if I turn off the B7K, everything sounds smaller, less punchy, and less lively.
One thing it doesn't do is get warm old-school tubey distortion. It does a punchy kinda-clean, and a modern metal drive, with a focus on the high mids.
The eq is voiced very high, what it calls "low mids" are "mids" to me, its "high mids" are my "treble", and so on.
And while it's not a very "warm" sounding pedal and doesn't really distort like tubes, my overall perception when you don't CRANK the controls is one of bigness and heft, with a glassiness in the highs. That is the same feeling I get from a nice low-gain tube amp.
It's a more versatile pedal than some people realize. I use it as an always-on pedal, but I don't really use it as a distortion, more of a clean tone-shaper. I think you have to be judicious with the blend control, as in general a little goes a long way with the very strongly voiced sound of the pedal. My basic settings:
blend: 9:00 level: 2:00 drive: 9:00
low: 2:00 treble: 10:00 lomids: 2:00 himids: 10:00
grunt: fat
This setting (for me) is wonderful and subtle. It just adds a focus and a bit of bite, just enough to make me pop in the mix. But from my bass I can still get anything from motown to bright aggressive pick tones. I could crank the drive and get more of that Nolly grind, but the music I play doesn't call for that. My sound is not audibly distorted (although it's in there), but if I turn off the B7K, everything sounds smaller, less punchy, and less lively.
One thing it doesn't do is get warm old-school tubey distortion. It does a punchy kinda-clean, and a modern metal drive, with a focus on the high mids.
The eq is voiced very high, what it calls "low mids" are "mids" to me, its "high mids" are my "treble", and so on.
And while it's not a very "warm" sounding pedal and doesn't really distort like tubes, my overall perception when you don't CRANK the controls is one of bigness and heft, with a glassiness in the highs. That is the same feeling I get from a nice low-gain tube amp.
Last edited:
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
Totally agree on the "more versatile than it gets credit for" point. I use mine as a slightly dirty tone-shaper/preamp, but I do love the full-blown distortion as well and wish it had a second switch to engage a preset or whatever.
Those saying the B3K has no high mids don't understand what high mids can sound like. High mids can be anywhere from 900hz to 3K. The B3K/B7K accentuate the very upper mids like nobody's business.
If you're a fan of Billy Gould, Paul D'Amour, Chris Squire, early Geddy...there's not many pedals that can get you as close to that upper midrange presence.
Pedals like Tech21, MXR, Aguilar...etc. They can all accentuate the highs but seem to sorely miss out on that crunchy, sometimes metallic, prescence that is found in the very upper mids.
If you're a fan of Billy Gould, Paul D'Amour, Chris Squire, early Geddy...there's not many pedals that can get you as close to that upper midrange presence.
Pedals like Tech21, MXR, Aguilar...etc. They can all accentuate the highs but seem to sorely miss out on that crunchy, sometimes metallic, prescence that is found in the very upper mids.
I never could get the Agro to work. In fact, the Aguilar was one of the last pedals I got in my quest for the grindy, metallic top-end I wanted. I know Doug from Darkglass bought one a long time ago as well, and he felt similarly about it. It was too dark and muddy for my tastes.
