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Black Finger?

C

ColinGWood

Aug 4, 2009
313
0
The Great White North
#1
Hey guys, I have a chance to pick up an EHX black finger.

I've read that there are alot of noise issues, but those don't really bother me i like a noisy garage rock tone.

What I'm wondering though, is about the tube section. I understand the White Finger is a solid state compressor and the black is a tube. Will this give my overall tone a "tubey" warmth, similar to what the VT Bass does?

I don't see any bass specific videos on YouTube, so any feedback you guys can give me would be nice. cheers
 
#2
http://www.ovnilab.com/reviews/blackfinger.shtml

Its tone and action are both quite versatile, ranging from "thick, fat, greasy, funky" to more subtle and gentle. The tone is quite "tubey", not like a driven tube amp, but it does color your signal noticeably...The B.Finger actually sounds very similar to the White Finger, there is not that much of an audible quality difference between the tube and solid-state versions.
Click to expand...
 
#5
Annoyingly, the Black Finger has a "double life"--some of them sound super warm and tubey, and others sound clinically clean. It's a total random crap shoot which one you'll get.

Also FWIW the "FET" transistors in the White Finger are meant to emulate tube tone, just like how the VT Bass uses solid state components to emulate tube tone, and in fact the WF doesn't sound all that different from the BF. And, some tube pedals aren't all that tubey sounding. So in general you're better off asking "which pedal will give me a fat warm tubey tone", rather than choosing a pedal just because it contains a tube. :)

And one more thing: everybody interprets the words "tubey" and "warm" differently, so be mindful of that when reading posts (including mine). For example a person with refined tastes and a high-end listening environment may hear one pedal and report that it has a "rich tube warmth"; while another person may not hear that subtlety, it might not be nearly as colored of a signal as they expected/wanted.

If the BF is cheap, then grab it just to try it out for yourself, it will be a good learning experience, and you may luck out and get one that sounds like you hoped. If it's not cheap, then just know they are on Ebay all day, every day.
 
#6
Sorry I was taking my time typing that reply, and missed the several that got posted before. Heads-up that the Baby Blue II goes for around $400 to $500 here in the TB classifieds, so that is probably the worst trade offer ever. :)
 
#7
thanks bongo, I just have the BF available to me right now though, not the WF. a music student from the college offered it up with a Phase 90 for my amp... my guitar player is also at the college so i should be able to try it out next jam session we have there and I can report back with MY interpretations on "warm, tubey" :p

ps the amp has one of it's speakers ripped and the student can replace the speaker for credit in his class, kind of thing. It's not pushing any air at my house so maybe he can give her the lovin she deserves!

I am still taking local offers for it though, of course.. an MIJ fender P or a P deluxe is what Im REALLY hankerin for!
 

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