Darkglass b7k ultra - not digging it

[bassmeatball]

Kind of disappointed that if I want to engage the distortion channel you already need to have the bypass channel turned on....really not digging that since the EQ for a dirty or clean tone should be independent.

Also, the pedal is noisy as hell unless you are cutting the high mids or treble. If the grunt is on it sounds like an airplane is going off with all that background hiss.

Anyone else just not digging the way they did this pedal?

 

[saltydude]

Took me awhile to figure it out. You really gotta play with it. The EQ non independency you speak of isn't as much of an issue as it appears. Easiest way to begin dealing with the levels is to use the "Level" knob to set you distortion volume and the Master for clean.

 

[bassmeatball]

Took me awhile to figure it out. You really gotta play with it. The EQ non independency you speak of isn't as much of an issue as it appears. Easiest way to begin dealing with the levels is to use the "Level" knob to set you distortion volume and the Master for clean.

Are you running it between the bass and amp input or in the amp FX loop? I find it to sound much better before the amp.

 

[saltydude]

Are you running it between the bass and amp input or in the amp FX loop? I find it to sound much better before the amp.

Between the bass and amp. Honestly I've not had much luck using the loop for much of anything in the past. Also the "noise"? Is your bass active? It does have a tendency to be with actives. I only use passive these days. My favorite setting for thick distortion is grunt switch in the up position with the level and drive knobs set appropriately. You'll adjust the drive knob more as your strings loose their brightness. It's an excellent pedal to determine string life.

 

[bassmeatball]

Between the bass and amp. Honestly I've not had much luck using the loop for much of anything in the past. Also the "noise"? Is your bass active? It does have a tendency to be with actives. I only use passive these days. My favorite setting for thick distortion is grunt switch in the up position with the level and drive knobs set appropriately.

Yup, thumb bolt on. I run it in passive and I still get the same noise out of the pedal. Really bad.

 

[Darkglass]

Sounds like you're getting a lot of hum, what power supply are you using?

Also, if you keep the Distortion switch always on the you can simply use the bypass actuator as a master bypass (the distortion needs the EQ to be on).

I hope this helps!

 

[Ethereal Thorn]

I've never been a fan of the B3k or B7k sound they are too modern and harsh for my needs

 

[bassmeatball]

Sounds like you're getting a lot of hum, what power supply are you using?

Also, if you keep the Distortion switch always on the you can simply use the bypass actuator as a master bypass (the distortion needs the EQ to be on).

I hope this helps!

Hi, Moollon power supply. Not sure why you guys would design a pedal where you can't engage the distortion unless the bypass is already engaged....it means if I want to go from clean I need to press two buttons to get distortion. Pretty lame. Also, the switch configuration isn't exactly intuitive. The flat switches are in different places on the attack and grunt lol

 

[crguti]

^ I would also swap the foot pedal switches. The distortion switch should be below the drive knob.

 

[Fenflex]

it means if I want to go from clean I need to press two buttons to get distortion.

As Doug said, you can let the left switch On and press the right switch only when you need the distortion (+EQ) to come in.

The flat switches are in different places on the attack and grunt lol

I agree with you on this ^^

 

[ole Jason]

Try it in a different room or building too. One of my old practice spots would make the b7k outrageously noisy... like to the point that it wasn't usable. No other pedals were affected in the same way.

 

[gregmon79]

Hi, Moollon power supply. Not sure why you guys would design a pedal where you can't engage the distortion unless the bypass is already engaged....it means if I want to go from clean I need to press two buttons to get distortion. Pretty lame. Also, the switch configuration isn't exactly intuitive. The flat switches are in different places on the attack and grunt lol

Am I wrong or don't most preamps that have a dirty side work this way??? Seems lame to single DG out for doing the same type of setup that many, many, other builders use.

 

[Fuzzbass]

The Ultra is easy for me: I use EQ plus Distortion, or bypass it entirely. So, I only need to tap the Bypass switch.

This makes sense for my application: I use the Ultra EQ specifically to tweak the Ultra distortion; I use my amp EQ as master EQ. Yeah, that makes the Distortion switch superfluous, but that doesn't bother me.



Edit: all my DG pedals are super quiet (active or passive basses). I power them with a Voodoo Labs ISO-5.

 

[EMoneySC2]

Hi, Moollon power supply. Not sure why you guys would design a pedal where you can't engage the distortion unless the bypass is already engaged....it means if I want to go from clean I need to press two buttons to get distortion. Pretty lame. Also, the switch configuration isn't exactly intuitive. The flat switches are in different places on the attack and grunt lol

You are butting heads with how the pedal is intended to be used, IMO. Leave the bypass always on to use the B7KU as a preamp (it IS a preamp), and engage the distortion when you want it. If you just want distortion on/off you can do what @Darkglass suggested, or you could get a regular B7K.

As for the noise and your active bass, I play Dingwall Combustion basses with 18v preamps and I've got no noise problems with my B7KU beyond the expected noise when using the distortion.

 

[Fenflex]

The Ultra is easy for me: I use EQ plus Distortion, or bypass it entirely. So, I only need to tap the Bypass switch.

This makes sense for my application: I use the Ultra EQ specifically to tweak the Ultra distortion; I use my amp EQ as master EQ. Yeah, that makes the Distortion switch superfluous, but that doesn't bother me.

You got extra switches from your Ultra vs the B7K, so it's not totally superfluous

 

[EMoneySC2]

Between the bass and amp. Honestly I've not had much luck using the loop for much of anything in the past. Also the "noise"? Is your bass active? It does have a tendency to be with actives. I only use passive these days. My favorite setting for thick distortion is grunt switch in the up position with the level and drive knobs set appropriately. You'll adjust the drive knob more as your strings loose their brightness. It's an excellent pedal to determine string life.

I've got basses with 18v preamps and zero noise problems with the B7KU, or any Darkglass pedal I've owned either. Not sure where you got this impression that Darkglass pedals are noisy with active basses.

 

[EMoneySC2]

It's OK if you don't like the pedal, to each their own, some of us are just chiming in because we want to make sure you're using it in a good setup and that you understand it. I know plenty of us are Darkglass fanboys, but don't write off our comments without considering what we're saying. Since you spent the coin in a B7KU you should make sure you fully evaluate it before you have to sell it second hand and lose money.

As another note, @Darkglass is a saint for being active here and engaging with our community. No need to be snarky with him.

Again, we're fine if you really don't like the pedal. You don't have to. You do you.

 

[MojoPenguin]

Never had a noise issue with my B7K hmm strange. They do react better with my Basses in passive mode though, would love to have a pad on it.

 

[saltydude]

I've got basses with 18v preamps and zero noise problems with the B7KU, or any Darkglass pedal I've owned either. Not sure where you got this impression that Darkglass pedals are noisy with active basses.

So do I. I'm glad your DG is responding well to your pre. When I switch back and forth there's more than just a noticeable difference but even if it was negligible as someone else said it works better in passive anyway.

 

[EMoneySC2]

So do I. I'm glad your DG is responding well to your pre. When I switch back and forth there's more than just a noticeable difference but even if it was negligible as someone else said it works better in passive anyway.

Can't say I agree with you on that. I don't notice much difference in how the B7KU responds to my basses in active or passive mode. I've got active/passive switches on my basses, so this is really easy to test. Listening to a good DI with good headphones I don't notice any difference.