So I'm thinking of upgrading from a Sansamp BDDI to a Darkglass B7K. What're your thoughts on the two? I want to get a punchy distorted tone. I play a schecter jazz bass into a peavey tour 700 head and ampeg 810 cab. I play melodic hardcore music. Thanks for the help.
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Darkglass Microtubes B7K
- Thread starter JoshSmith
- Start date
The B7k is one of my favorite overdrives / di's available. I like the BDDI very much as well but the B7k has a variety of tones available that are pretty amazing.
Thanks I'll think I'll stay with my sansamp just cause I'm happy with it and not ready to drop 400$ on a pedal. 
)
Both have a "baked in" inherent tone that you can't really dial out with the blend at 100%. I owned both at different times, and have sold both since both my 1500w and 350w head have an xlr out. I just don't need that many tone shaping options.
Sansamp I had the PBDDI, and dug the flexibility of 3 presets. The tones I liked from it ultimately weren't different enough to justify the space it took. I also play a Warwick Thumb5, which has an enormous midrange presence. Because of this I never complained about the mid scoop others hear.
B7K I kept for about 2 months before I realized the things others love is the one thing I couldn't jive with. The upper mids were too harsh with my bass and amp even dialed down. It sounded and felt unnatural, so I moved on. Probably a fantastic pedal if your bass doesn't already have a heavy mid presence.
Sansamp I had the PBDDI, and dug the flexibility of 3 presets. The tones I liked from it ultimately weren't different enough to justify the space it took. I also play a Warwick Thumb5, which has an enormous midrange presence. Because of this I never complained about the mid scoop others hear.
B7K I kept for about 2 months before I realized the things others love is the one thing I couldn't jive with. The upper mids were too harsh with my bass and amp even dialed down. It sounded and felt unnatural, so I moved on. Probably a fantastic pedal if your bass doesn't already have a heavy mid presence.
I play a Ric and love it's little brother, the B3K. I use a parametric eq after it, but if I didn't I'd just get a B7K.
And Rics have lots of mids and they go great with Darkglass' sound. Doesn't sound at all unnatural to me. But I guess everyone doesn't like the tones I like.
I like a lot of rock tones with cutting grind up top, and the B#K pedals deliver that in spades. But they can also sound much softer. The BDDI never satisfied me by itself, but I have had good results with other distortions, like a ProCo Rat out front.
And Rics have lots of mids and they go great with Darkglass' sound. Doesn't sound at all unnatural to me. But I guess everyone doesn't like the tones I like.
I like a lot of rock tones with cutting grind up top, and the B#K pedals deliver that in spades. But they can also sound much softer. The BDDI never satisfied me by itself, but I have had good results with other distortions, like a ProCo Rat out front.
I like a little more subtlety in my distortion, so I chose the DG Vintage Deluxe over the B7K which was a little too edgy for my taste.
OP: Sansamp or Darkglass?
Reply 1: Darkglass
Reply 2: Darkglass
OP: Cool, I'll stick with Sansamp
...
Why waste time like that?
Reply 1: Darkglass
Reply 2: Darkglass
OP: Cool, I'll stick with Sansamp
...
Why waste time like that?
Be sure you do your research. There's a thread called "Darkglass disappointment" with an ongoing discussion of a guy that grabbed a B3K and it's not what he was looking for. The Sansamp is going to give you that SVT overdriven tube style of tone. The Darkglass is going to give you more of a distortion, but some of us are using the B7K as a preamp with the drive pretty low. The blend and level pedals of the Darkglass are different than other pedals. You can get a variety of tones with it but it takes some playing with it to find what you're looking for.
If you're interested more in a light grit, Darkglass makes a Vintage Microtubes that's more of the tone that the Sansamp has.
In a nutshell, someone on the other thread put it best with their description of "For an Alice in Chains tone, Vintage Microtubes or Sansamp, for Pantera tone - B3K/B7K.
I have a Sansamp RBI rack unit, and B7K. My tone used to be the Sansamp RBI on all the time. Then I got the B7K and now my tone is the B7K always on with the blend and level at 50%, and the Drive at around 9 o'clock. It does sparkle the mids a bit, but I'm always bumping my mids up in my band setting.
Also, keep in mind my experience with the Sansamp is with the Rack unit, which has a Mid control on it. I don't believe any of the pedal units have a mid. I started with the BDDI, but then when I built my rack I upgraded to the RBI rack mounted Sansamp.
I did some testing with my B7K a while back to our drummer's track of one of our songs. I can't remember where the drive is set in the recording but I'm pretty sure it's either 75% or maxed. Maybe it'll help you decide if you want that Sansamp grit/overdrive, or distortion.
And for the record, I'm actually looking to get a DG VMT to add to my B7K in the near future. Because I find myself wanting them both.
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If you're interested more in a light grit, Darkglass makes a Vintage Microtubes that's more of the tone that the Sansamp has.
In a nutshell, someone on the other thread put it best with their description of "For an Alice in Chains tone, Vintage Microtubes or Sansamp, for Pantera tone - B3K/B7K.
I have a Sansamp RBI rack unit, and B7K. My tone used to be the Sansamp RBI on all the time. Then I got the B7K and now my tone is the B7K always on with the blend and level at 50%, and the Drive at around 9 o'clock. It does sparkle the mids a bit, but I'm always bumping my mids up in my band setting.
Also, keep in mind my experience with the Sansamp is with the Rack unit, which has a Mid control on it. I don't believe any of the pedal units have a mid. I started with the BDDI, but then when I built my rack I upgraded to the RBI rack mounted Sansamp.
I did some testing with my B7K a while back to our drummer's track of one of our songs. I can't remember where the drive is set in the recording but I'm pretty sure it's either 75% or maxed. Maybe it'll help you decide if you want that Sansamp grit/overdrive, or distortion.
And for the record, I'm actually looking to get a DG VMT to add to my B7K in the near future. Because I find myself wanting them both.
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I have the Sansamp and the B7K.
The Sansamp got played about 2 times live, the B7K is at every gig.
I like to run it so I get just a little grit. You have 2 mid controls, so you can cut out what you want, I have a Ken Smith which is pretty middy already, but I have no issues. Helps cut through in a rock setting.
Both are good, just depends what you want.
The Sansamp got played about 2 times live, the B7K is at every gig.
I like to run it so I get just a little grit. You have 2 mid controls, so you can cut out what you want, I have a Ken Smith which is pretty middy already, but I have no issues. Helps cut through in a rock setting.
Both are good, just depends what you want.
Bass cover by Caney from Kanowit, Sarawak. Using my B.C. Rich Warlock Paolo Gregoletto Signature Bass 5 String upgrade with Seymour Duncan Passive Phase II Soapbar SSB-5 pickup and Seymour Duncan Basslines Active 3-Band Tone Circuits™ STC-3 onboard preamp, Warwick 42300 ML Red Label Stainless Steel String, DiMarzio cable, Seymour Duncan Studio Bass Compressor, Darkglass Electronics Microtubes B7K Analog Bass Preamp Limited Edition, Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Bass Big Muff Pi and Behringer UC6102 interface.
I don't have a bddi anymore. I got rid of mine years ago when I got my sans amp RBI but I do currently run the b7k ultra into the RBI. They are different animals. To me sans amps are great for hard rock and I prefer the b7k for modern heavy stuff. The tones I like out of them are pretty different. With the sans amp I like to get basically just a little bit of bite, with the b7k I never have my level or gain below noon, I'm always using the b7k for a more extreme sound. And that's where IMO it shines over the sans amp. Because while the sans amp does a great job if you just want a little bit of bite i don't think the sans amp sounds that good if you really crank the drive. At the same time the b7k is kind of bland sounding with the dirt dialed back but really nice with the gain, blend, and level more extreme. I think for your style you'll like the b7k more.
Using B.C. Rich Warlock Paolo Gregoletto Signature Bass 5 String upgrade with Seymour Duncan Passive Phase II Soapbar SSB-5 pickup and Seymour Duncan Basslines Active 3-Band Tone Circuits™ STC-3 onboard preamp, Warwick 42300 ML Red Label Stainless Steel String, DiMarzio cable, TC Electronic® Polytune 2, Seymour Duncan Studio Bass Compressor, Darkglass Electronics Microtubes B7K Analog Bass Preamp Limited Edition.
Darkglass Electronics Microtubes B7K Analog Bass Preamp Limited Edition
I know I'm a little behind the times on this... but it's something I've been considering as well... my current thoughts are to have two DI signals running to FOH. Sansamp for a cleanish tube tone, b7k or alpha-omega for grit... with gritty tone coming out the amp so I can hear myself.
nobody said you have to use just one!
nobody said you have to use just one!
