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Barber Linden EQ • New small form factor

#21
extreme said:
Custom spec? Did you pick your own frequencies for the low and high?
Click to expand...

No. I asked for an always on duplicate of a B-15N tonestack sans the ultra hi and lo switches - but with a gain knob, afterwhich we went back and forth about where to use discrete components vs ICs and so on. And so the Alex-1 BAX was born.

Final result was everything I wanted - and it sounded exactly as expected. (I own a B-15N so I’m very familiar with that sound and the way it works.) It also doubles as a really nice FET boost.

C17D88DC-637F-4050-8691-5EBDB412C4F4.jpeg

When I ordered it a few years back I couldn’t find an outboard baxandall-design EQ and Josh came to the rescue.
 
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#22
OK. Got the Linden and the Broughton H/LPF in the mail.* Small board completed. Bass to tuner to Linden to Broughton to MXR octave to Telefunken. All on a little Nano board.

Had a chance to mess with it yesterday and rehearse with it for a reggae gig coming up. Not bad.....Not bad at all.

The Linden is cool. Not being that familiar with a two band tone stack, it's amazing the amount of tones one can get with two knobs: Bass and Treble. The switches are also very cool. I stuck with the "grunty-er" settings for the switches. Nice!! And the Broughton just cleared up any mess at the end of the chain. Such a great utility pedal.

Pics to come.

*Didn't I just sell something because I "needed the money"??? :rolleyes:
 
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#23
Turn Em Loose said:
OK. Got the Linden and the Broughton H/LPF in the mail.* Small board completed. Bass to tuner to Linden to Broughton to MXR octave to Telefunken. All on a little Nano board.

Had a chance to mess with it yesterday and rehearse with it for a reggae gig coming up. Not bad.....Not bad at all.

The Linden is cool. Not being that familiar with a two band tone stack, it's amazing the amount of tones one can get with two knobs: Bass and Treble. The switches are also very cool. I stuck with the "grunty-er" settings for the switches. Nice!! And the Broughton just cleared up any mess at the end of the chain. Such a great utility pedal.

Pics to come.

*Didn't I just sell something because I "needed the money"??? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
I think the magic here is the Baxandall design where those two knobs give you an almost limitless set of EQ curves as you make adjustments and the two filter circuits interact in a very musical way (for lack of a better description). This is much different than a plain shelving high and low filter or a peaking mid.

To me the Ampeg folks really had the right approach for EQ on bass (as opposed to the FMV tone stack which is better suited for guitar IMO). As I understand the design of the Linden it's supposed to let you experience that aspect of the Ampeg legacy.
 
#24
Well looky he-yah! what little gem of an EQ showed up today.

DBA51CF0-C1D4-41B9-AF64-6967CCFC3121.jpeg


Only had about 15 free minutes to play with it, but boy this thing is the real deal. Contour switch to the left, input toggle to the left, bass at 3 o’clock and treble at 9 o’clock and it got a very B-15N-ish kind of sound right out of the box. (Fear the Bax!)

Can’t wait to put some real quality time in with it. Just quickly messing around with the contour and input switches I can see the Linden takes that already pretty thing a baxandall EQ can do with the mids and puts some sauce, sprinkles and a cherry on top of it all. This is one sweet pedal.
 
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#26
Question for anyone/everyone:

How usable would you consider the Linden with an active bass with Aguilar OBO-3 and Aguilar DCB Pickups?

There seems to be so much flexibility with most active basses, so in general would you still recommend adding the Barber Linden?

Also, If it is recommended, How would you approach the initial settings.
 
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#27
FunkHead said:
Question for anyone/everyone:

How usable would you consider the Linden with an active bass with Aguilar OBO-3 and Aguilar DCB Pickups?

There seems to be so much flexibility with most active basses, so in general would you still recommend adding the Barber Linden?

Also, If it is recommended, How would you approach the initial settings.
Click to expand...
A very good question. It would depend entirely on if you were happy with the EQ in your bass more than the EQ in the Linden. I would consider it overkill with my active basses, which have 3 bands with a sweepable mid and they all get the job done for me fine. Now where the Linden used to shine for me is when I was using a different bass with a completely different sound and EQ response, such as using my Precision and my violin bass. I could very easily rein in the crazy low end and add a little treble pop to the violin bass with the Linden. But that bass required outside help to keep from freaking out the mix when I switched, and my actives don't.
 
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#28
I use the Linden as a boost with my active basses. Have a bit more Bass dialed in and both switches all the way to the left for a little more girth and grit. As an EQ it would be overkill as an always on pedal with an active bass most likely. Unless of course you aren't satisfied with the baked in preamp on your bass.
 
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#29
Thanks for the above replies. I am still getting familiar with my Aguilar equipped Mayones bass. It has a tremendous range. I am going to give the Linden a whirl with it just to see how it sounds.
 
#31
scubaduba said:
I doubt you'd have a lot of need for the Linden as an always on pedal when you have an OBP-3 on board. If your Mayones is like the two I had you also have a tone control that works in active mode which would help you further tweak the sound.
Click to expand...
Absolutely. I noticed the tone working in active mode and it was a surprise to me.

With my Ric 4003’s, I only use compression(Photon Death Ray) and they sound amazing.

I’m going to see how the Linden combined w/compression sounds on the Rics. What I really wish to accomplish there is a fat bottom end without boom. If that makes sense.

The Photon Death Ray also sounds great with the Mayones.
 
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#32
FunkHead said:
Question for anyone/everyone:

How usable would you consider the Linden with an active bass with Aguilar OBO-3 and Aguilar DCB Pickups?

There seems to be so much flexibility with most active basses, so in general would you still recommend adding the Barber Linden?

Also, If it is recommended, How would you approach the initial settings.
Click to expand...

I don’t like to stack EQs. I’ve found that unlike gain stacking, having multiple EQ stages is generally counterproductive.

With active basses you can approach EQ in two different ways. You either set the amp flat and do all your EQ on the bass itself; or, do your main EQ settings on the amp and use the bass’s onboard EQ for minor tweaks. Neither is intrinsically better. It’s more a matter of how you prefer to do it.

But in any event I don’t see where a Linden EQ would bring much to the party unless there was a specific tone you were looking for that you couldn’t get with what you already have. A baxandall EQ can get some tones you won’t be able to dial in with the usual bass/mid/treble boost and cut EQ most active basses (and amps) employ. But if you go that route I’d recommend leaving the amp and bass set flat for starters and just use the Linden.

Good initial settings for a Linden? Hard to say since it’ll vary from bass to bass. But I’d suggest putting the bass at 1 o’clock, treble at 11 o’clock, and having both switches in their leftmost position to begin with. Then start experimenting. Pay especial attention to the switch settings. Because that’s what elevates the Barber Linden above similar baxandall EQ pedals IMO. They’re not just there as icing on the cake. Some exceptionally good sounds to be found among the nine possible combinations of switch settings.

The trick with a baxandall EQ is to realize that as you move the bass and treble controls, you’re also changing the midrange curve - despite there being no midrange knob. Once you get a feel for how the bass and treble settings interact - and how they significantly affect the midrange - you’ll be able to quickly dial in just about any tone you want.

Happy bax explorations!
 
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#33
FunkHead said:
Question for anyone/everyone:

How usable would you consider the Linden with an active bass with Aguilar OBO-3 and Aguilar DCB Pickups?

There seems to be so much flexibility with most active basses, so in general would you still recommend adding the Barber Linden?

Also, If it is recommended, How would you approach the initial settings.
Click to expand...

I tend to use on board preamps as a last line of defense. In general I'll get a basic tone that works for the FOH from my board and then use my hand position and Blend on my basses to get achieve different tones. I'll also eq my amp on stage for stage monitoring if there FOH. If there's no FOH I'll try to get strong, clear-but-not-muddy tone from my rig that supports and cuts at the same time.

For the Linden I'd suggest setting the Bass/Treble at noon and get a setting with the switches you like. THEN use the Bass/Treble to fine tune your tone. Personally I like the switches Left and Center (from left to right). Seems to cut well and the Bass is tight.

This is a very useful and fun pedal. I'm loving mine!
 
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#34
40Hz said:
I don’t like to stack EQs. I’ve found that unlike gain stacking, having multiple EQ stages is generally counterproductive.

With active basses you can approach EQ in two different ways. You either set the amp flat and do all your EQ on the bass itself; or, do your main EQ settings on the amp and use the bass’s onboard EQ for minor tweaks. Neither is intrinsically better. It’s more a matter of how you prefer to do it.

But in any event I don’t see where a Linden EQ would bring much to the party unless there was a specific tone you were looking for that you couldn’t get with what you already have. A baxandall EQ can get some tones you won’t be able to dial in with the usual bass/mid/treble boost and cut EQ most active basses (and amps) employ. But if you go that route I’d recommend leaving the amp and bass set flat for starters and just use the Linden.

Good initial settings for a Linden? Hard to say since it’ll vary from bass to bass. But I’d suggest putting the bass at 1 o’clock, treble at 11 o’clock, and having both switches in their leftmost position to begin with. Then start experimenting. Pay especial attention to the switch settings. Because that’s what elevates the Barber Linden above similar baxandall EQ pedals IMO. They’re not just there as icing on the cake. Some exceptionally good sounds to be found among the nine possible combinations of switch settings.

The trick with a baxandall EQ is to realize that as you move the bass and treble controls, you’re also changing the midrange curve - despite there being no midrange knob. Once you get a feel for how the bass and treble settings interact - and how they significantly affect the midrange - you’ll be able to quickly dial in just about any tone you want.

Happy bax explorations!
Click to expand...
Thanks, That's a fantastic post.
 
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#35
Turn Em Loose said:
For the Linden I'd suggest setting the Bass/Treble at noon and get a setting with the switches you like. THEN use the Bass/Treble to fine tune your tone. Personally I like the switches Left and Center (from left to right). Seems to cut well and the Bass is tight.
Click to expand...

That’s a good starting point since a bax is essentially flat with treble and bass at noon. So with the Linden that’ll let you hear what the EQ contour and the input filter toggles do by themselves - which is a lot! And three positions for each make for nine combinations. I personally think all nine are musically useful. A setting of left for contour and input filter with the bass at 3:00 and the treble at 9:00 nails the B-15N portaflex sound to my ears. (Even through an SWR full range 2x10.) And I’ve got a late ‘69 B-15N to compare it to.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed] for anyone who’s interested.
 
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