Birdsong Bbox

I just recieved this little guy in the mail. I saw another TB'er with one & had to try one out for myself.



Basically, it's just a passive tone control in a nice hardwood box. While that may sound pretty boring - man this thing is great!!!

We all know how limiting the typical passive tone control can be (treble attenuation). While the old-school tone knob certainly works, there is a lot more going on inside the Bbox.

There are 4 or 5 different capacitators as well as a tiny transformer inside (along with the funky 6-way rotary switch). The transformer reminds me of the switchable "thump" circuit in old Gibson Hollowbodies. The wooden case is flawlessly constructed with a full copper shielding job.



The sounds are anything but straight-forward. The first setting is just the bypassed instrument-only tone. The next 5 are all different shades from treble reduction, to big pillowy texture, to gritty compressed flavors.

I was a little concerned that it would just be different degrees of tone roll-off. But that is far from what the box actually does. (A previous TB'er posted some sound files, which were great, but I'm not sure they did the box justice.)

I can't wait for my next session to use the Bbox. It really does create some cool, funky changes to your sound!

 

Jetpack, I checked out yer' MySpace. While the genre may not be my everyday cup-of-tea - the bass sounds are INCREDIBLE! I do dig the punk conviction. I'll hope I can see your "act" sometime.

 

Yeah, it was the Big Business site.

 

Yeah, it looks a lot like that set up. The caps look beefier in the Birdsong circuit, but that's the same idea!

I need to try the Bbox with a guitar next.

 

Good question. Passive circuits (like the Bbox) are generally better at preserving your instruments natural nuances. (In my experience)

Absolutley, the Bbox lets your instruments "natural" character through. A couple of the extreme settings ( 5th & 6th position) do color the sound a lot, however. I find the first 3 "effected" positions to be the most transparent & usuable. The more extreme settings are more intriguing sounding for, perhaps, a more unique sound.

I will say that, after more thorough testing, the Bbox reacts better to passive electronics. While it still works fine with my active basses, the tonal differences are much more subtle when fed by an active preamp. Some might argue that it is sort of redundant to use such a device on an instrument with a built-in preamp to begin with. I can see either argument.

I hope that helps.

On a side note: It appears that the Bbox is a modified Gibson Varitone circuit. Interestingly, you can get custom made Varitone circuits from some other vendors - but they are a little more expensive and don't come with the handcrafted enclosure. I guess that makes the Bbox a bargain, although $95.00 for a tone control is definitely in the "boutique" realm. I'd still consider it money well spent. Of course, $95 can get a decent bottle of Scotch.........

 

You beat me to the post on the passive/active question! (see above)

As to the gritty description, I do believe it is loading the pickup. Not so much shorting, but the last two settings definitely seem to load the pickup. It's not a bad sound, but there is some noticeable compression and clipping resulting in a small amount of volume loss.