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Broughton Audio Super Thread

I post this on the off chance someone stumbles into this thread having not heard a P15 before. Hopefully it can be of use to someone who is tossing up whether to purchase one.


Ugh. There are definitely moments where I wish I didn't sell my P15...
If I were doing any kind of studio recording work I'd want to get another one furshurr.
 
Yep, I think mine will be a keeper. It's sitting pretty next to an Avalon U5 on a shelf in my rack.
I'm stuck using the band leaders Fender Rumble combo at the jam space for rehearsals, and I've never been able to find a sounds I'm excited about with that amp... So finally firing up my Aggie TH500 and Berg cab on stage for a sound check usually settles any GAS pains almost instantly. That rig sounds gooooooood.
 
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cross post from the "minimalist country pedal board" thread. :)

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MBD2 VS MBD3 Differences if you tried the MBD3.
I have not tried the MBD3, but I do love the 2. It has outlasted maaaaany distortion boxes over the years. It's up near the top of the list, right next to the Broughton Terraformer.

The separate footswitch for the boost control on the 3 would be nice, but tbh I don't need the boost for anything I'm currently doing. It sounds gnarly, but there's not much call for fuzz these days. And keeping to the smaller box of the 2 suits my needs better, too.

Reading the product page just now, I actually never realized that the Tone control was a Tilt EQ centered on the Mid Shift switch. wild... gonna have to explore that now
 
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I've been starting to scope out the MBDs to maybe dip my toes into those. I do want to try them out at some point, but I'm also particularly interested in the Amp Grinder. I've done some digging on the DA thread, but I'm curious to hear what the Brough's think.
 
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I've been starting to scope out the MBDs to maybe dip my toes into those. I do want to try them out at some point, but I'm also particularly interested in the Amp Grinder. I've done some digging on the DA thread, but I'm curious to hear what the Brough's think.
Never really looked at the Amp Grinder too closely. Chasing zen by focusing on using what I've got, these days.
 
cross post from the "minimalist country pedal board" thread. :)

View attachment 7528640

Interesting tape wrap on the LBA 2020s. Were you running into grounding buzz or signal loss? I had to rotate the output jack cable from time to time to clear out signal issues on mine. I finally tightened the jack washers as well as the case screws (the internal ground from the transformer is a small piece of copper tape that pinches between the case pieces), and that seems to have fixed it.
 
Never really looked at the Amp Grinder too closely. Chasing zen by focusing on using what I've got, these days.

I’ve only just tried my first proper Rat/Distortion for bass in the last year.

I’ve had a couple fuzz pedals (mainly a Pork & Pickle) but I can’t get over how fizzy the top end gets on most.

Snagged a Locust Star a while ago and I love it. I know I started with a good one, but I still want to try a couple more. Amp Grinder is at the top of that list.
 
Interesting tape wrap on the LBA 2020s. Were you running into grounding buzz or signal loss? I had to rotate the output jack cable from time to time to clear out signal issues on mine. I finally tightened the jack washers as well as the case screws (the internal ground from the transformer is a small piece of copper tape that pinches between the case pieces), and that seems to have fixed it.
The one jack is loose internally and the patch cable kept popping out, and instead of investigating the root of the problem in any reasonable or responsible way, I just wrapped some tape around it to keep it in place. Then I was going to sell it so I removed the tape, which took half the label off with it. I said "Eff It I guess I'm not selling it now... ", taped it back up, and here we are. These things aren't worth so much money that it really makes a huge difference to just keep it at the end of the day.

tbh I'm not at all sold that these LBA transformers are really doing anything for me sonically. But I've got them, so I decided to patch them up for my current run of gigs. Everything sounds good as it sits right now, but I haven't A/Bd it with/without the transformers or anything.
 
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Locust Star vs Amp Grinder would be a relevant and useful comparison.

I’m not sure how useful my comparison will be.
I find the LS to sound good, but not great for what I want out of it (light grind, not too much drive). The control set makes it very flexible, but it’s the most un-rat like of the rat based circuits I’ve tried.
Others I’ve tried include the Blue Colander Tremond and Comodoro Rat Bass.
The Comodoro was my go to for a grindy tone until the Amp Grinder showed up. It just sounds a little more full and mean. The low passed clean blend is pretty much perfect. It lets you add back in any bottom end that you might be lacking depending on your level of gain. It really doesn’t sound anything like the LS.
 
The one jack is loose internally and the patch cable kept popping out, and instead of investigating the root of the problem in any reasonable or responsible way, I just wrapped some tape around it to keep it in place. Then I was going to sell it so I removed the tape, which took half the label off with it. I said "Eff It I guess I'm not selling it now... ", taped it back up, and here we are. These things aren't worth so much money that it really makes a huge difference to just keep it at the end of the day.

tbh I'm not at all sold that these LBA transformers are really doing anything for me sonically. But I've got them, so I decided to patch them up for my current run of gigs. Everything sounds good as it sits right now, but I haven't A/Bd it with/without the transformers or anything.
IME with the 2020s where they are placed in the chain is pretty significant, meaning that the more signal they receive the more effect they have on your signal.
I found placing them after pedals that increased the level worked best for me.
As an example- I would move the one that’s in the front of your chain to after the Omni, and I would have the omnis level set to be a slight boost above unity (assuming the Omni is always on).
I’ve positioned my 2020s under the board so they don’t take up any real estate up top, which also allowed me to experiment with where in the chain they were sitting.
But no real need to mess with anything if you are happy with the sound!!
Compact boards that get it done are really cool, I dig what you’ve going on.
 
IME with the 2020s where they are placed in the chain is pretty significant, meaning that the more signal they receive the more effect they have on your signal.
I found placing them after pedals that increased the level worked best for me.
As an example- I would move the one that’s in the front of your chain to after the Omni, and I would have the omnis level set to be a slight boost above unity (assuming the Omni is always on).
I’ve positioned my 2020s under the board so they don’t take up any real estate up top, which also allowed me to experiment with where in the chain they were sitting.
But no real need to mess with anything if you are happy with the sound!!
Compact boards that get it done are really cool, I dig what you’ve going on.
I'll try that for my gig tomorrow, thanks!
 
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