Darkglass b7k ultra - not digging it

[willsellout]

It honestly sounds like you bought the wrong pedal. You probably would have been happier with the B7K.
As far as the noise, unless there is something wrong with your unit, it might be coming from somewhere else and getting amplified by the B7KU's gain. The only times I've encountered noise on DG pedals was when I had another pedal before it that on it's own wasn't especially noisy, but when coupled with the DG pedal created more noise than normal. But this is coming from a guy who uses passive basses.

 

[gregmon79]

Yeah I will admit, and it's pretty common knowledge here for those who know me, I'm a huge DG supporter and enthusiast. Fanboy to say the least. I've never had issues with noise powering off a 1spot or isolated. Yes there is noise, with active basses, but it's because of what else I run on my board. So for me it's expected. Nowhere near being unusable. But it's been said many times before, DG may just not be your thing. Nothing wrong with that at all. and Doug and the rest of the DG crew are among the very best at customer service if there was an issue with your pedal. Top notch all the way.

But it's like @EMoneySC2, you def want to make sure you're covering all your bases before you give up on it. The B7K is most def a very versatile preamp for bass. It excels in metals tones but it also has the ability to do many other things from Motown to rock to jazz. That's part of what I love about it so much. The versatility. Plus the way I use, the added punch and clarity. I happen to use both sides of my Ultra totally clean too. Works great for me.

Hopefully it works out for you @bassmeatball. At the end of the day it may not be what you're looking for. But def give it it's fair shake. Not all preamps are created equal in the way they are controlled and interact with each of our setups. I wish you luck! There is a ton of info here on TB about the B7K and B7KU in the Darkglass CLub thread. If you have any other questions or concerns we are all more than willing to share of experience with you to see if we can help.

 

[dannybuoy]

No noise from mine (well a B3K and the preamp out from a M900 which is almost a B7KU!), and I'm very picky as I practice through headphones. It does of course boost the treble frequencies if you use the bite switch or boost the upper EQ knobs, which would amplify existing noise in your chain. I've worked out which of my patch cables were picking up noise and which of my pedals needed isolated power by testing each element in isolation and now my setup is virtually noise free.

 

[fishstix]

Personally, I bought the B7K Ultra viewing it as 3 pedals in one. I thought that I'd like the B3K as an additional Darkglass drive adding to my VMT and Duality. However, the added EQ on the B7K gives even more shaping ability to get a more modern drive tone from my kind of vintage sounding rig. Going the route of the B7K Ultra gives all that plus the ability to use just the preamp without the drive to put a more modern clean tone in my arsenal (and an emergency pre/DI).

As others have mentioned, it really sounds like you may have bought more pedal than you needed/wanted. You still have everything thing there is to offer from that series though, so nothing is lost other than $$$, IMO.

Noise has never been an issue for me other than what I'd expect from really high gain settings.

 

[Charlzm]

I have a B7KU and it made a noise like a 1950's sci-fi flying saucer when I engaged the distortion. Turns out it was the power supply; I got a TrueTone 1 Spot and the pedal was much quieter (and the flying saucer finally flew away).

 

[Ellery]

I'll fix your problem right now, I'll give you a hundred bucks for it

 

[xnewyorka]

A couple of posters here have claimed there was something wrong with your unit because of the noise. That is not correct. This pedal is extremely sensitive to the quality of the power supply. You need a very good, clean, well regulated power supply. You are most likely using a not-so-great quality switching power supply. Even a onespot is not completely 100% clean, but it is substantially better than a run of the mill power supply. When I switched from my $6 Chinacrap supply to a onespot, the noise almost completely went away, and when I switched to a voodoo Pedal Power Plus, the noise completely vanished. As a simple test, if you have the ability, you can wire up a 9-volt battery with a short cable and the right connector and power the unit with a 9-volt battery, and you will observe that it is completely dead quiet. I did that as a test in order to confirm that there was, in fact, nothing wrong with my unit. I did suggest to DarkGlass that they look into putting some filtering on the power input circuit. They do plan on adding that as an enhancement at some point, but for the time being, it forces us to use clean power. Not such a bad thing, I guess, as long as you realize the constraint.

One thing about this paddle, is that there are so many knobs, there are lots and lots of permutations. When you combine that with the knobs on your base plus the knobs on your amp, you end up having an almost infinite number of permutations, some of which do not sound very useful, but many of which are just absolutely incredible sounding. You will need to spend a lot of time experimenting in order to find what works. For example, if you pump up the bass and the treble, and cut out the mids, with a humbucker or just Bridge pick up by itself, the tone is killer with heavy drive. If you want that tone, that is.

Also, if you have a clean boost available that you can put ahead of it, you can get even more tonal variety. Or, if you have an active bass, you can experiment with active versus passive, and also don't be afraid to try tone settings on your bass that you would have never previously used. For example, I have never before run with my bass tone control below flat on a active bass with boost and cut, but now with this pedal, I find it very useful to cut both treble and bass below flat when using a mid boost setting for solo work. It is just very sensitive to minor changes, so be patient, and make gradual adjustments and listen closely and observe their effect.

Take good care of your pedal and spend some time experimenting with it, and if you decide you don't like it, you shouldn't have a lot of trouble finding someone to buy it for about 300 bucks.

 

[TonyP-]

I'm running the B3K and VMT with passive basses to 18v preamps.
I have no issues using voodoo power supplies.

 

[kleinenenten]

If it’s not your thing, then pass it on. It wasn’t my thing, though I tried to love it. For me, it always added too much high end. But plenty love it, and for good reason. I love my B3K, and will never part with it, but the B7KU just wasn’t for me. No shame in that. I’d take some of the advice here, as many of these guys are quite knowledgeable about this stuff, but if it doesn’t do it for you, find what does. No biggie.

Good luck!

 

[Charlzm]

I really, really wish Darkglass would include a power supply with their pedals.

 

[jpTron]

I use a regular Boss power supply and it's super quiet. It might be the quietest pedal I own.

 

[XLunacy]

I really, really wish Darkglass would include a power supply with their pedals.

From a manufacturer point of view, it means more stuff to order, handle, package ; adding another element to the package means a larger package and an additionnal possibility for something to fail. It also means increasing the price a bit.
From a consumer point of view, it means that you'd pay extra for something you might not need.
IMO most people getting a DG pedal already have a power supply, and if they don't (probably means it's their first pedal, which I think will be quite rare, even though I'm one of them ), better let them choose which one caters for their needs the best

 

[Charlzm]

From a manufacturer point of view, it means more stuff to order, handle, package ; adding another element to the package means a larger package and an additionnal possibility for something to fail. It also means increasing the price a bit.
From a consumer point of view, it means that you'd pay extra for something you might not need.
IMO most people getting a DG pedal already have a power supply, and if they don't (probably means it's their first pedal, which I think will be quite rare, even though I'm one of them ), better let them choose which one caters for their needs the best

It was my first pedal since the 80's. I then had to go get a power supply. The one I bought made a weird interference sound and I couldn't return it,s o I had to make a 15 mile trip to Guitar Center to get another one. PITA. I would have gladly paid an extra 20 dollars to have had a PS in the box.

 

[xnewyorka]

The only times I've encountered noise on DG pedals was when I had another pedal before it that on it's own wasn't especially noisy, but when coupled with the DG pedal created more noise than normal.

When this issue happens, the first test to try is using a separate, dedicated power supply for the DG pedal instead of daisychaining it with the power going to other pedals. If that does solve the problem, then either use multiple power supplies, or use an isolated power supply that has multiple isolated outputs.

 

[Darkglass]

When this issue happens, the first test to try is using a separate, dedicated power supply for the DG pedal instead of daisychaining it with the power going to other pedals. If that does solve the problem, then either use multiple power supplies, or use an isolated power supply that has multiple isolated outputs.

Daisy chaining becomes more problematic when adding elements to the chain, for small rigs daisy chaining often works well.

But at some point investing in isolated power supplies simply becomes a necessity.

 

[Hi-End Basses]

I use to have the Ampeg SCR-DI, and it sounded terrible without the eq, and yes, you could engage the Scrambler without Preamp section. But who would want to?

 

[Fuzzbass]

Daisy chaining becomes more problematic when adding elements to the chain, for small rigs daisy chaining often works well.

But at some point investing in isolated power supplies simply becomes a necessity.

My pedal needs are modest: I limit myself to 3 max; I don't even have a pedalboard. I have enough individual power supplies to cover my needs, but it's easier to use my Voodoo Labs ISO-5. I can't say it's the best because it's the only multi I've ever used, but it's been perfect. I constantly rotate my pedals, using 'em in different combinations/permutations, and I've never had any conflicts/misbehavior*.



*aside from the feedback that can happen when I stack three ODs at once, but that's not a power supply issue

 

[jwr]

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

You may or may not be dialing it in correctly if this is an issue. It can be subtle as well as harsh. I can make the pedal do whatever I want, but I've spent a lot of time figuring it out and what works well for the sound I'm trying to achieve with my set up.



The B7K Ultra takes some getting used to. I preferred the B7K, so I switched back to that. I just don't have a need for not using the drive all the time. It's part of my sound. That being said, it's a great pedal.

 

[StayLow]

I use to have the Ampeg SCR-DI, and it sounded terrible without the eq, and yes, you could engage the Scrambler without Preamp section. But who would want to?

What do you mean by "terrible"? It's is essentially an EQ, so without the EQ it's useless, or just passes the signal through. Do you mean if just using it as a DI?

I've used the Scrambler without the preamp, for a nice bit of high-end grit. Really livens up basses that don't otherwise have a lot of output in the highs or that have dead strings.

 

[Hi-End Basses]

What do you mean by "terrible"? It's is essentially an EQ, so without the EQ it's useless, or just passes the signal through. Do you mean if just using it as a DI?

I've used the Scrambler without the preamp, for a nice bit of high-end grit. Really livens up basses that don't otherwise have a lot of output in the highs or that have dead strings.

I love Ampeg. Use all their gear ( even have the shirt). But using the Scrambler unit without eq is just meh in my opinion. I brought it up, because the OP didn't like the fact that the Distortion circuit on the B7K Ultra couldn't be utilized without the preamp option.