Boss-BB1x Yea or Nay?

[Paul Glickman]

All,

I have been a bass player since i was about 15, almost 49 and inactive for about 15 years (very sad, I know). All my gear is totally professional but I broke down and bought a used Boss BB-1x distortion pedal for playing around with. I have always run dry through my amp but I was able to get the pedal for $125 delivered. I started playing with it and Im on the fence. Here is my current gear:

Alembic Epic 4 String
Eden Navigator Pre Amp
Crown XTi 4002 Power Amp
Alesis Quadraverb (For goofing around)
Furman Power Conditioner
SWR Goliath Sr
SWR Big Bertha
Roland PK5 MIDI Pedal

Has anyone used the BB-1x and whats your opinion?

THanks

 

[Mosfed]

All,

I have been a bass player since i was about 15, almost 49 and inactive for about 15 years (very sad, I know). All my gear is totally professional but I broke down and bought a used Boss BB-1x distortion pedal for playing around with. I have always run dry through my amp but I was able to get the pedal for $125 delivered. I started playing with it and Im on the fence. Here is my current gear:

Alembic Epic 4 String
Eden Navigator Pre Amp
Crown XTi 4002 Power Amp
Alesis Quadraverb (For goofing around)
Furman Power Conditioner
SWR Goliath Sr
SWR Big Bertha
Roland PK5 MIDI Pedal

Has anyone used the BB-1x and whats your opinion?

THanks

Meh. I think there are way better distortion pedals out there

 

[Rogulus]

to me the bb1x was the more organic sounding bass drive pedal out there, alot of others just sound very plastered on and weak. i liked it, if i used drive id have it on my board.

 

[dannybuoy]

I bought one when it first came out.

Went back to the shop the same day I got it!

I actually got some cool fuzz tones from it at high gain, but the low-medium gain side I bought it for left me underwhelmed.

 

[pbass6811]

I've got one, I like it. I just use it for very low gain stuff. I'm not a fan of "dirty" bass, so I was looking for something that could give me that (very)slightly overdriven amp sound, without being obnoxious, it does that pretty well. I leave it on most of the time. If I need more dirt than that, I have an X7 on my board as well. I pair the BB-1X with Boss' BC-1X, it's a fairly potent combo. I agree with @Rogulus , I find it to be pleasingly organic, for me...

If I were looking for a true bass OD, I'd probably look elsewhere, but the BB-1X does precisely what I want, for less money than my Strymon Sunset, so it's a winner for me...

I put together this board as a less expensive alternative to my ridiculously expensive boutique board. This board sounds almost as good at about 1/3 cost. The top row is pretty potent...

 

[Marko Hazabent]

Hello. I really like BB1x. It really sounds more organic vs Alpha-Omicron i also have on my board.

 

[adube810]

FWIW I have one on my mini board, It fit the bill of having a line level out , speaker sim, blend and eq in the size of a boss pedal. I use it as a preamp DI box of sorts, I just plug a TRS cable into the line out and I either put that straight to my audio interface or use a XLR adapter to plug into any board direct. Personally I dont really like the tone once you start blending higher than 25% ; the effect feels pretty amp like this way and sounds really good in the mix.

also fwiw i just pony'd up for a HW finally to compare it with , I imagine it will be an upgrade over the bb1x but time will tell in august for my batch complete