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b3k gain level dropping

bassjamn

bassjamn

Jan 4, 2002
1,257
470
Colorado
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#1
I am using a B3k as my light overdrive always on grind sound, sounds great through my pedal board/headpones to my focusrite 2i2.
However once i get to the studio i have to turn the "level" and "drive" way up to even get close to the same level of light overdrive. Not sure what is causing this gain drop.

The variables are
- guitar to bass & amp thru pedalboard (bass into pedal board in, pedalboard out into amp head)
- aguilar db750(active switch on w/active bass)head is a aguilar db750
- different instrument cables
cant figure out why the pedals in the same configuration sound different at home vs at studio. :rollno:
 
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#4
If the pedal is going thru an amp with a speaker cab and not just to the board it could just be that the cab you use is a little less than responsive in the high end compared to the sensitivity of the headphones and the resulting lack of high frequency information psycho acoustically makes it SEEM like there is less drive than on the headphones as the high end of the distortion is the most easily recognizable aspect of the drive and the lower and mid frequencies blend in more with the tone of the bass until they are cranked..

just a thought.
 
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#5
eyeballkid said:
If the pedal is going thru an amp with a speaker cab and not just to the board it could just be that the cab you use is a little less than responsive in the high end compared to the sensitivity of the headphones and the resulting lack of high frequency information psycho acoustically makes it SEEM like there is less drive than on the headphones as the high end of the distortion is the most easily recognizable aspect of the drive and the lower and mid frequencies blend in more with the tone of the bass until they are cranked..

just a thought.
Click to expand...


That's def a possibility, i am using a Aguilar GS410 but will be bringing in a Bergantino Nv412 thurs, could possibly see if there is a difference when i switch cabs.
Thanks Eyeballkid
 
#6
eyeballkid describes my experience with the B7K (among many other pedals) pretty well - through a high quality headphone amp more of the subtleties and character of the pedal will come out; they can get covered over a bit through particular amps and cabs (I have a GS112, my fEARful 12/6 has a flatter response and sounds closer to a direct signal). I haven't had to turn level and drive "way" up, but definitely can push at least the drive through an amp and cab compared to direct into headphones.
 
#7
One more thing you might want to consider is that the quieter the input signal, the louder the output will appear in comparison.

Really hot basses will saturate way earlier which means you'll have to set the Level knob way higher to get the same output volume as the input.

My 2 cents regarding using the same microtubes settings with different instruments ;).
 
#9
The DB750s inherent voice really scoops out a big portion of the high midrange that makes drive pedals grind- you can actually use that to your advantage and use much higher levels of drive than you'd normally get away with and it sounds really good, but the amp definitely has a strong baked-in "voice" that is tough to dial out.
 

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