B7K ultra drive strength (passive bass)

[FaithNoMan]

Get a boost. Or a compressor that can boost.

I replaced my Ric's original pickups with brighter, weaker ones. I have no problems with my B3K. It also sounds like you could change up the midrange to help nail the sound you want..

May I recommend the EWS BMC pedal to place out front?

 

[staf Wouters]

A detuned passive bass. I bet those strings are loose as heck. That will make it sound sloppy and have less energy to excite overdrive for sure.

Thicker stings/more compression and/or boost.

Yes I thought of this . I am using the 4 thickest strings of a 5string set. It's not loose at all

 

[Timmy-Watts]

I find the TC Spark Booster is awesome for boosting other pedals. It even enhances the tone and makes other effects pop more.

 

[Crazy Otto]

i had this problem with a grizzly and a passive precision...just had to goose it a little with a spark mini. you could also try driving the b7k with another pedal, a dedicated boost pedal is not a must.

 

[FaithNoMan]

Yes I thought of this . I am using the 4 thickest strings of a 5string set. It's not loose at all

Shoot, then the boost it is!

 

[makanudo]

Heavy attack and low action to really get it to grind. After I straightened my truss rod to the point where diggin into the strings produced a string zing along with the note the tone just rips.

 

[Veldar]

How do you EQ you're bass and amp, normally when I can't get a good tone out of my drives/fuzzes I have my EQ set wrong.

 

[hintz]

This is my experience with the B7K, but I think it applies: it sounds pretty good normally...but to really bring out the best, it needs to get hit hard. I do that by goosing the signal with the output knob on my compressor (Empress, which plays wonderfully with the B7K), plus playing hard (which I do anyway).

Very true!! I found with high out put pickups I could get amp like drive outta the B7K with blend at 3:00 and drive completely off, so I'm guessing any kinda boost will have the same affect!! Maybe raise the pickups?? And I had the bass completely cranked on the EQ with zero mud, just amazing!!

 

[cheechi]

I can't listen to the clip now but I will give you my experience with my B7K

I like its drive at low, and I like its drive near the upper end of mid, and I like it ok at the top area of its drive. I don't love the entire range, and I use the blend with it since it's the last pedal in my chain before phaser then amp. So all this may mean nothing to you but I find that either the TCE Spark boost, Timmy (lowish gain) OCD (lowish gain) or even a fuzz into the B7K is better to me than going much into the top of its drive range.

That being said I could replace nearly every pedal on my board with 4-5 B7K's and be incredibly happy. I like nearly every sound that I get out of it, the downside is I have to pick just one at a time.

 

[Adamixoye]

That being said I could replace nearly every pedal on my board with 4-5 B7K's and be incredibly happy. I like nearly every sound that I get out of it, the downside is I have to pick just one at a time.

+1 to this. Presets on this would be killer...

 

[gregmon79]

If youre looking at boosts, maybe consider the DOD FX10 too. Magic tone adder right there. Great boost as well! Has the ability to fatten up or make your tone crystal clear.
@staf Wouters

 

[staf Wouters]

If youre looking at boosts, maybe consider the DOD FX10 too. Magic tone adder right there. Great boost as well! Has the ability to fatten up or make your tone crystal clear.
@staf Wouters

Thank you for your suggestion! I will look into that ^^

 

[Matthew_84]

Zombie-thread revival...

It seems like it is somewhat recommended to boost the signal of a passive bass before the B7K Ultra to get more gain out of it...

I'm thinking of ordering a B3K for use with a passive bass. Based on a comment earlier in this thread by @dannybuoy it seems like the B3K may have a bit more gain (or distorts easier due to less headroom than the B7K). Has anyone felt the need to boost a passive bass's signal into a B3K, or is a passive signal, by itself, strong enough to bring the B3K to full distortion?

Thanks!

 

[dannybuoy]

I get plenty of dirt from mine even with my CV Jazz which has the lowest output of all my basses!

 

[Matthew_84]

I get plenty of dirt from mine even with my CV Jazz which has the lowest output of all my basses!

Great! Exactly what I hoped to hear!

Looks like I'll get my first DG pedal in the near future (depending on a looming strike/lockout from Canada's national post office).

 

[anavar]

This is my experience with the B7K, but I think it applies: it sounds pretty good normally...but to really bring out the best, it needs to get hit hard. I do that by goosing the signal with the output knob on my compressor (Empress, which plays wonderfully with the B7K), plus playing hard (which I do anyway).

i do this exactly. but i also hit the B7k again with a vintage deluxe.

tone like nonna use to make...

 

[millahh]

i do this exactly. but i also hit the B7k again with a vintage deluxe.

tone like nonna use to make...

Nice. My core tone is VMT -> Empress Comp -> B7K, though the VMT is more about drive character and (sometimes) touch sensitivity, rather than slamming the B7K...but I'm intrigued.

Interestingly, I had an EP boost, and even with the boost set to minimum, it still made the B7K too wooly.