API TranZformer LLX (not LX)

[Deleted member 271037]

To avoid any confusion: This thread is about the currently sold LLX (eq only, no compressor), NOT the discontinued LX (eq+comp).

I can find quite a bit of information about the LX online, but very little about the LLX.

Based on the API rack gear I've got in my studio I really like "the API tone" so I would love to test this bass-specific LLX pedal.

Unfortunately there are no API dealers in my local area, which means trying = buying, unless I'm willing to take a rather long drive to the nearest API dealer...

There's one thing I would like to know before I potentially waste time/money on a pedal that might be useless to me:

Is it possible to somehow set this pedal for unity gain? Based on the specs it seems like this pedal must be a gain staging nightmare? The discontinued LX had an output level control, but they seem to have replaced this with a -20 dB pad on the LLX, which is of course utterly useless for proper gain staging. The gain knob seems to go from 0 - 40 dB so it seems like the best one can hope for is unity gain with the gain at 0, right? At least unless you do some severe cuts with the eq. If this is the case, this pedal would be pretty useless to me.

I would love to hear from people who have actual experience with this pedal. As far as I can tell it must be impossible to dial in unity gain with this pedal, but that seems like such an unbelievably stupid oversight from API that I wondering if I'm missing something here?

All the demo videos I could find online also suggested that this pedal has an inherent signal boost at most (possibly ALL) settings, and that it's impossible to adjust this pedal for unity gain. Is this really the case? How do actual owners of this pedal approach gain staging with the LLX?

 

[GrowlerBox]

I have this pedal. Unity gain is at zero, as you say, and there is a boost in those frequencies affected by EQ settings clockwise from noon.

Whether it's a problem depends on what you expect to do with it. For me, and I suspect for most users, as well as by its design, it's an always on pedal (along with the API-CMP at the beginning of my chain). "Unity" in that context is measured from the output of the LLX, not from the bass.

If your use-case is different than that, then it may well be use-less to you.

 

[Deleted member 271037]

I have this pedal. Unity gain is at zero, as you say, and there is a boost in those frequencies affected by EQ settings clockwise from noon.

Whether it's a problem depends on what you expect to do with it. For me, and I suspect for most users, as well as by its design, it's an always on pedal (along with the API-CMP at the beginning of my chain). "Unity" in that context is measured from the output of the LLX, not from the bass.

If your use-case is different than that, then it may well be use-less to you.

Thanks! That's what I suspected. Sadly it's not the right pedal for me then. I would definitely use it as an always on pedal, but I would still want to keep my gain staging optimal, all the way from bass to amp. I want my tube amps (as well as any downstream effect pedals) to be hit with more or less the output level of a passive bass. I don't want any significant signal boost in my signal chain. My intended use for this pedal would be to push the input hard in clean mode, for (hopefully) a bit of transformer saturation. But without an output level control that won't work for my intended use.

Apart from this it looks like a really cool pedal and I bet it sounds great! But not for me unfortunately.

 

[thumbslapper]

I guess it depends if you just boost or do some cut/boost on the 3 frequencies... you are right hte output is just gain (no way to cut the volume) which means if you do boost then you can't get unity gain. the distortion is weird because of the -20db pad - you can only set the distortion to one setting with the 20db pad if you want unity gain, but to me anyway the distortion isn't that great so that was never an issue with me. I use it as a always-on pedal - just going thru the transformer makes a noticeable improvement to sound (seems to tighten up low freq if that makes sense), and if I do any eq its less then 5-6db in either direction. It really is a great sounding pedal....

 

[GrowlerBox]

Thinking a bit more about this ... Not that I'm trying to sell you an LLX (I'm definitely keeping mine), but there is an obvious solution and it is the -20 dB pad. For some reason, it's typically assumed that this is for the purposes of using the overdrive circuit, but I have not found it helpful there. The overdrive circuit is not especially sensitive to the pedal's gain control, and is much more so to the input signal either from the bass directly, or from an upstream pedal.

What the pad would do for you, though, is essentially to put unity gain at noon with a 20 dB cut or boost either side. That's as much boost as most dedicated boost pedals, and equally, plenty of cut to compensate for any EQ changes. Engaging the pad does not change the tone at all, in my experience.

With all that said, I think I would have to revise my earlier opinion, and say that you should find that it meets your requirements. Sorry to be misleading earlier; I've provided both my answers here during breaks at work, and so haven't had the pedal in front of me, and I'd forgotten about the pad (which I rarely need).

 

[johnk_10]

i have the very large earlier API LX bass and IMO it's a great pedal, albeit that it's HUGE. i had an earlier version of it that didn't have a bypass, but the bypass allows you to compare it to your clean signal.

 

[GrowlerBox]

Just to be certain that my revised opinion wasn’t just a load of speculative twaddle, I’ve spent a delightful afternoon rearranging my boards. I had been thinking about moving my API pedals to the front of my small jam-session board, which goes in front of an Orange Crush 50 for those sessions, or jacked in towards the end of my large board for home rig, recording, etc.

Anyway, in the new setup, unity gain with an already pretty hot G&L is desirable, so I’ve been experimenting with various gain settings. With the pad engaged, having all EQ and gain controls at noon is indeed unity, with a pretty wild 20 dB of boost and cut available either side, to compensate easily for any EQ settings. If I cut fairly heavily and push the pedal hard with output from the compressor, I can also get some nice drive from the op-amp if needed. I have plenty of other options for dirt, so I don’t really need this, but it reflects the flexibility of the setup, and is a clear demonstration of the intention behind the pad and its particular value (i.e. -20 dB)

So, I think I can safely say now that the LLX would definitely meet your requirements. FWIW, I also highly recommend pairing it with the excellent matching compressor. @scubaduba has a comprehensive and glowing review of the latter on his website.

 

[scubaduba]

The API products are stellar. Here's the compressor review: API Tranzformer CMP Compressor Review

 

[Mister_argentum]

I have the pedal, it is pretty amazing. You can get unity gain and api bite by using the -20 pad. You can also use it to push a passive DI and get a good line level recording level. The low freq boost is amazing, as the high frequency shelf. The overdrive is not your standard overdrive, it is just like a console distorting. Still, even clean the overdrive channel with the -20 pad gives a slightly different clean tone. If you want to use the overdrive, you are going to have to cut quite a bit with the high shelf. If you want more details or samples pm me.