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Darkglass vs High Output Basses

chaosMK

chaosMK

May 26, 2005
5,549
1,675
Albuquerque, NM
Disclosures
Too much hip thrust
#1
I sold my bicycle, donated plasma, and panhandled for a few weekends. Now I own the legendary Darkglass B7K.

I use a Peavey Cirrus 5 USA and either a Bass 400 or D180.

I experimented briefly with running the Darkglass in my FX Loop (like I run my Sansamp) and wasn't feelin' it. So it's up front going into the Input.

At first I was struggling to get the really cool sounds out of it. Turns out the issue was my bass output (as it is with many pedals for me... I suppose the 18v pushes the sensitivity into "whooosh" territory on most pedals). At around 1/2-3/4 volume on my bass, the pedal responds with the musical range of tone I was expecting.

Anyone else deal with high output basses? They seem to be a plague upon many pedals. I hate cutting my volume though but I guess I'll have to to use this pedal.

Once I got my 1/2 volume thing figured out I used it as my main tone at a gig later that night. It was sounding sweet. Pricey pedal though. If it were priced more like a Sansamp this thing would take over in a flash.
 
#2
I haven't had problems but my Wawick's preamp isn't that hot and its not 18 volt, Alex webster had the problem and got a Radial bassbone but thats a lot of $$$ for a volume decrease, you could just get one of those zoom small stomps and use a pedal to bring the level down, allowing the bass preamp to be open all the way.
 
#3
I also use a USA Peavey Cirrus 5 and have struggled to find pedals that it plays nicely with. The high output doesn't behave well with most pedals. I've pretty much given up trying to use that bass with effects and now keep it simple with just compression and dirt using a SansAmp BDDI, EBS MultiDrive, and EBS MultiComp. Also used an EBS DynaVerb for a few years with the Cirrus. EBS pedals seem to be tolerant to high output active basses.
 
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#6
G.Bisson said:
I also use a USA Peavey Cirrus 5 and have struggled to find pedals that it plays nicely with. The high output doesn't behave well with most pedals. I've pretty much given up trying to use that bass with effects and now keep it simple with just compression and dirt using a SansAmp BDDI, EBS MultiDrive, and EBS MultiComp. Also used an EBS DynaVerb for a few years with the Cirrus. EBS pedals seem to be tolerant to high output active basses.
Click to expand...

I also use a MultiComp, I run it first in the chain and just lower the output all the way down to tame my high output basses. Up until a couple of months ago I had a volume pedal dedicated to that job (MultiComp was last in the chain) but I found I liked the Comp better at the front and it doubled as both the Comp and the Volume pedals so I gained a spot for another pedal :)
 
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#8
How are you setting up the bass' EQ? In some cases the high output is accentuated by boosting too much lows on the bass or running all the bands full blast!
I run a Mayones with EMG pup's and a Spector with EMG pick ups and preamp without any issues... it's hard to get a cleanish drive out of the Microtubes but it does sound aggressive and musical.
 
#9
Darkglass said:
How are you setting up the bass' EQ? In some cases the high output is accentuated by boosting too much lows on the bass or running all the bands full blast!
I run a Mayones with EMG pup's and a Spector with EMG pick ups and preamp without any issues... it's hard to get a cleanish drive out of the Microtubes but it does sound aggressive and musical.
Click to expand...
I usually run my bass flat or with slight variation, maybe 5% cut to bass and up to 10% boost to mids. It just has a hot output.
 
#10
chaosMK said:
I usually run my bass flat or with slight variation, maybe 5% cut to bass and up to 10% boost to mids. It just has a hot output.
Click to expand...

Wow, must be hotter than the devil's oven! If it has an internal trim to keep it under control I'd recommend trying it out... past a certain point there's no real benefit of having such a high output so early on in the chain.
Hotter basses will in theory have better noise performance but there's a point of diminishing returns, specially when it comes to compatibility with other gear!
If you need any further help just let me know ;).
 
#11
chaosMK said:
I sold my bicycle, donated plasma, and panhandled for a few weekends. Now I own the legendary Darkglass B7K.

I use a Peavey Cirrus 5 USA and either a Bass 400 or D180.

I experimented briefly with running the Darkglass in my FX Loop (like I run my Sansamp) and wasn't feelin' it. So it's up front going into the Input.

At first I was struggling to get the really cool sounds out of it. Turns out the issue was my bass output (as it is with many pedals for me... I suppose the 18v pushes the sensitivity into "whooosh" territory on most pedals). At around 1/2-3/4 volume on my bass, the pedal responds with the musical range of tone I was expecting.

Anyone else deal with high output basses? They seem to be a plague upon many pedals. I hate cutting my volume though but I guess I'll have to to use this pedal.

Once I got my 1/2 volume thing figured out I used it as my main tone at a gig later that night. It was sounding sweet. Pricey pedal though. If it were priced more like a Sansamp this thing would take over in a flash.
Click to expand...

High output and EMG equipped basses have never played well with my Tech 21 gear, but I've never had a problem running them with my Darkglass stuff.

Still, I prefer the dynamics and range you get out of basses and pickups with a more medium output
 
#12
MDBass said:
High output and EMG equipped basses have never played well with my Tech 21 gear, but I've never had a problem running them with my Darkglass stuff.

Still, I prefer the dynamics and range you get out of basses and pickups with a more medium output
Click to expand...

Yeah, some hot basses are awesome, and there are benefits to having higher outputs early on the sound chain, but I guess some basses just take it to a whole new level...
I've never had problems with EMG's either.

It's a bit frustrating because I do test plenty of hot basses (I have a Spector that I use for testing with the EQ all maxed out) and yet there seem to be a way hotter basses out there.
 
#13
Darkglass said:
Yeah, some hot basses are awesome, and there are benefits to having higher outputs early on the sound chain, but I guess some basses just take it to a whole new level...
I've never had problems with EMG's either.

It's a bit frustrating because I do test plenty of hot basses (I have a Spector that I use for testing with the EQ all maxed out) and yet there seem to be a way hotter basses out there.
Click to expand...

A Spector with the EQ maxed is CRAZY hot, I can't even imagine something with significantly more output than that!
 
#14
I was just thinking this thread was one I would start. Interesting it is already here.

My Nash PB 63 will smash my VMT into harsh sounds that I don't like (fizzy highs). My JB 63 doesn't do the same thing, so I wondered about the output of the pickups. I lowered the P pickup and rolled a bit of volume back, and it sounded much better. I tried running my Diamond BCP-1 with minimal compression and output below unity and found I liked the results.

I'm also finding a string change on my bass had a huge tone impact. Time for a new thread on that issue.
 
#15
I've actually found my higher output basses perform better with my B7K. My ATK in ATK mode is weak, vs. my (passive) Corvette or the same ATK in P mode - both higher output options get more interesting grit without cranking the drive knob to super saturate everything.
 
#17
I have hot output issues with my Schecter Stiletto Studio and my Wal bass. (The Wal has 1/4" and XLR outputs, with the XLR able to drive a console input.) It forced me to swap out the Zoom MS60B for the B-3. The B-3 has an "active" input switch that pads things enough to keep the front end input out of distortion. Not the case with the MS60B, which would fart and poop on occasion on certain bass settings. The only remedy was to back off the volume or bass boost, which I resisted doing for quite a while, but have since found value in implementing. I back off one or 2 notches out of 10, and play with it depending on the tone I'm going for and the level of the stage mix.

I owned a B3K briefly, tried it for a few gigs, but sent it to a new home. Some cool sounds, to be sure, but I found that I had other options that I could make work well enough that I didn't need to occupy any more floor space with another stomp. I didn't find the hot output to adversely effect the B3K, though now I'm curious if I'd have liked it better feeding it a less hot signal.
 
#18
I have EMG in my fretted and Kent Armstrong in my frettless and the frettless works so much better with my pedals that I am planning to change the EMG to KA. I actually like the KA clean sound more than the EMG at this point. Much more midrangy than the EMG. Now the fretted sound dull. :)
 
#19
There is a YouTube vid with Alex Webster of Cannibal Corpse talking about his 2013 tour rig, using a Radial Tonebone into a B3k and using the Radial to reduce the signal gain from his active basses to get the tone he wants (less growl) with the B3K. Interesting.

Edit - Veldar mentioned this issue in the second post. I just saw the video recently. I'll link it later.
 
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#20
I'd never heard of any problems with high output basses before this thread. I was (at some point) planning on running a vt di for a warm/light drive sound, then using a b7k for heavy overdrive. I wouldn't have any problems with a stingray would I, or would I need to have a compressor in the loop?
 

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