Broughton Audio Super Thread

[TREYontheBASS]

A propos of nothing currently on the thread:

Could any other SV-Pre users share their settings with me? I have the Fliptop and the SV-Pre, and while I found the sweet spot on the fliptop almost immediately, it's really taking something for me to get there with the SV-Pre. I'm wanting to really use it clean as an edgier counterpart to the Fliptop's traditional warmth, so I'm not wanting to crank the drive up a whole lot. I'm mostly focused on setting my EQ, and that's where I'm looking for ideas.

I really like mine set as:

Low switch left, bright switch right.
Bass just past noon
Mids at 3, set at 800hz
Treble at 9-10
Master dimed, gain as volume.

 

[jdjk7]

For clean sounds on the SV-Pre, you definitely want to turn the Master all the way up and use Gain for volume.

Another thing you can try is flipping the Bright switch on, turning the Treble all the way off, then rolling it back in gradually, as necessary with your setup. I felt like there was a bit more headroom on the top end with these settings, as opposed to leaving Bright off and Treble in the middle.

I also thought there was too much mid scoop with Low turned on, so I left it off and boosted the bass instead, but how you set the mids will depend a lot on the rest of your chain. I was using the SV-Pre for my main source of EQ.

I guess the main issue for me is that of the gain and master knob. I've done the trick of setting the master at max and bringing the gain up as the volume, but... my question is, does this affect the tone in other ways than just reducing the distortion? My experience is that sometimes this setting sounds good, while other times it sounds too boomy or just... off. I'm not sure how or why.

As far as the EQ tips, those are good ones for Ampegs in general. I have had a PF-50T for a long time and picked up a lot of stuff like cutting treble with the bright switch on. For me, this was to tame the harsh clicking from using flatwounds, especially with a pick, until it was a more agreeable balanced top end.

As far as the ultra lo, here's the trick I have always been told... ultra lo on, bass in the middle, and mids set to selectively bring back the range of mids that you want. I forget the name of this trick, but it relies on making a cut and a boost in the same range but with differing bandwidths.

EDIT: re: my gain knob issue, this is something I have experienced across a variety of amps, preamps, and pedals, not just this one. Also, my SVP seems either quite noisy or is amplifying quite a lot of noise compared to my other pedals... is that normal?

 

[labeledbass]

Azure Drive is my favorite Broughton over drive by leaps and bounds. I know some don't like "stoner rock" but this is different. It can be subtle and responsive at the same time, no real loss of lows but in a FxLoop it gets even better. I kept it over a LS, Sunder, RF, Bass Box and Helion if that states anything

 

[WG Plum]

Over a Calamity? Does it DOOM?

 

[shaggy45]

Yay!


Love the green led. Josh doesn’t usually use green ones. Still gonna have to cover it with tape.

for the few minutes I tried it, sounds good. I’ve got to figure out where I’m gonna put it. I was running it last after the p15->la1a->s1 boost combo.

 

[labeledbass]

Over a Calamity? Does it DOOM?

So far I haven't had the chance to try that one, and I'm still on the fence saying I like it better than a Maestro, but as much as I love my Doom 2, the Azure still comes out on top. It sounds like a smooth tube amp, I run mine at pretty average power supply

 

[ColoRADoKT]

I really like mine set as:

Low switch left, bright switch right.
Bass just past noon
Mids at 3, set at 800hz
Treble at 9-10
Master dimed, gain as volume.

Same settings for me, perhaps I have a tad more treble and less bass depending on the day.

P-bass with rounds, love me some grind.

 

[ColoRADoKT]

Dibs on having my azure drive & calamity dreams crushed.

 

[NKBassman]

A propos of nothing currently on the thread:

Could any other SV-Pre users share their settings with me? I have the Fliptop and the SV-Pre, and while I found the sweet spot on the fliptop almost immediately, it's really taking something for me to get there with the SV-Pre. I'm wanting to really use it clean as an edgier counterpart to the Fliptop's traditional warmth, so I'm not wanting to crank the drive up a whole lot. I'm mostly focused on setting my EQ, and that's where I'm looking for ideas.

Bass 2:00ish
Mids 3:00ish
Treble 1:00ish
Master Max
Mid Freq 700-800ish
Gain set for desired output volume
Low Switch Left
Bright Switch Left

Haven't done much experimenting with the Bright switch on, but perhaps I should.

 

[Charlie Tuna]

It sounds like a smooth tube amp, I run mine at pretty average power supply

 

[Lowendtech]

Dibs on having my azure drive & calamity dreams crushed.

Granted.

 

[CATFISHMcC0Y]

Haven't done much experimenting with the Bright switch on, but perhaps I should.

sitting here coming to the same realization

 

[Sascha Erni]

A propos of nothing currently on the thread:

Could any other SV-Pre users share their settings with me? I have the Fliptop and the SV-Pre, and while I found the sweet spot on the fliptop almost immediately, it's really taking something for me to get there with the SV-Pre. I'm wanting to really use it clean as an edgier counterpart to the Fliptop's traditional warmth, so I'm not wanting to crank the drive up a whole lot. I'm mostly focused on setting my EQ, and that's where I'm looking for ideas.

I use mine with two different bands, and, well, totally differently.

80s-90s Metal / 90s-2000s Alternative cover band, keeping close to the originals:

Bass at noon, 800 Hz Mids at 5 o’clock, Treble at 1 o’clock, Low switch left (bathtub), Bright switch left (off), Gain at 1 o’clock, Master to dime the compressor after the SV-Pre. There’s also a Broughton HPF (~ 60 Hz) and LPF (~ 5 kHz) in the loop.

Then, there’s my main band, 70s-2010s “creative” covers band. Like, let’s play this The Who song as if we were Rammstein, and let’s do a Punk version of this Country tune:

Bass at 3 o’clock, ~1200 Hz Mids at 3 o’clock, Treble at 9 o’clock, Low Switch in the middle (neutral / off), Bright switch to the right (boost), Gain at 11 o’clock, Master to dime the compressor after the SV-Pre. Abovementioned HPF is at about 80 Hz, LPF at 3.5 kHz.

Both settings sound completely different, but both work exceedingly well for me.

Hope this helps,
-Sascha

 

[cosmicevan]

I’ve got to figure out where I’m gonna put it.

Duh...on the shelf

 

[cusar5]

I guess the main issue for me is that of the gain and master knob. I've done the trick of setting the master at max and bringing the gain up as the volume, but... my question is, does this affect the tone in other ways than just reducing the distortion? My experience is that sometimes this setting sounds good, while other times it sounds too boomy or just... off. I'm not sure how or why.

As far as the EQ tips, those are good ones for Ampegs in general. I have had a PF-50T for a long time and picked up a lot of stuff like cutting treble with the bright switch on. For me, this was to tame the harsh clicking from using flatwounds, especially with a pick, until it was a more agreeable balanced top end.

As far as the ultra lo, here's the trick I have always been told... ultra lo on, bass in the middle, and mids set to selectively bring back the range of mids that you want. I forget the name of this trick, but it relies on making a cut and a boost in the same range but with differing bandwidths.

EDIT: re: my gain knob issue, this is something I have experienced across a variety of amps, preamps, and pedals, not just this one. Also, my SVP seems either quite noisy or is amplifying quite a lot of noise compared to my other pedals... is that normal?

I found that diming the Master felt like having more headroom, which I liked. But yeah, it can get noisy if you do this, and even noisier if you also turn Bright on, but it depends a lot on the rest of your signal. SV-Pre is definitely sensitive to stuff like bad cables, grounding issues, other noisy pedals in the chain, etc.

 

[ColoRADoKT]

… SV-Pre is definitely sensitive to stuff like bad cables, grounding issues, other noisy pedals in the chain, etc.

I’ve never had noise issues with the SV-Pre, but did have noise issues with my messenger sitting on my board too close to the power supply…

 

[Grahams Groove]

I’ve never had noise issues with the SV-Pre, but did have noise issues with my messenger sitting on my board too close to the power supply…

Haven't had my SV-Pre in a while, but it was a noisy pedal with any/all of my supplies. I tried my PP2+, CS6, and Strymon Zuma. It was not sitting among slouches either - so any other pedals in the chain were of equal/higher quality and didn't introduce noise in any other pedal configurations. It was especially problematic if I used it in conjunction with a gain pedal or wah - I'd get high pitched squealing as soon as the SV-Pre was part of the equation. Very weird since I don't recall that with any other Broughton pedals I've had.

 

[ColoRADoKT]

Haven't had my SV-Pre in a while, but it was a noisy pedal with any/all of my supplies. I tried my PP2+, CS6, and Strymon Zuma. It was not sitting among slouches either - so any other pedals in the chain were of equal/higher quality and didn't introduce noise in any other pedal configurations. It was especially problematic if I used it in conjunction with a gain pedal or wah - I'd get high pitched squealing as soon as the SV-Pre was part of the equation. Very weird since I don't recall that with any other Broughton pedals I've had.

Wild, mine plays with gain well! I’m using a Walrus Audio Phoenix power supply.

I described the noise from my messenger as a high pitch hum and someone had me move it off my board completely to troubleshoot. That’s how I figured out it was some sort of interference sitting too close to the power supply that is attached under my board. Maybe give that a shot with your SV-Pre?

 

[Sascha Erni]

Haven't had my SV-Pre in a while, but it was a noisy pedal with any/all of my supplies. I tried my PP2+, CS6, and Strymon Zuma. It was not sitting among slouches either - so any other pedals in the chain were of equal/higher quality and didn't introduce noise in any other pedal configurations. It was especially problematic if I used it in conjunction with a gain pedal or wah - I'd get high pitched squealing as soon as the SV-Pre was part of the equation. Very weird since I don't recall that with any other Broughton pedals I've had.

I had weird noise issues in conjunction with my SV-Pre. I think I asked for help in this thread and the Damnation Audio discussion as I at first thought it was the MBD-2 I had just got. Turned out it was the SV-Pre not liking what was going on on my board. It didn't react at all to different positions near / over the PSU (TrueTone CS6), and when I also turned on the Joshwah, all noise disappeared immediately. Joshwah off? High-pitched hiss.

After loads of testing the two culprits were identified:

1) My wireless (Sennheiser XSW-D), both the sender and the receiver
2) Patch cables

When rebuilding the board and trying out different cables (EBS “High Performance” rather than the regular ones) it turned out it really was mostly the patch cables. Once I replaced them with the better shielded kind, most of the noise was gone. There’s still SOME additional hiss when I use my wireless, but it’s hardly noticeable now – too much would I record stuff, but no issue when playing live.

 

[jdjk7]

For both the SVP and Fliptop, I get a strange zap sound if I unplug it from power while the pedal is still in the signal chain. Not sure I've ever heard any other pedal do that.