Demeter HBP-1 tone controls

[Mike Arnopol]

I'm sure it's been talked about but I can't find it. I'm a bit perplexed with passive tone controls. (I assume these are---the parametric I'm fine with).Anyone know which settings for reasonably flat? And what does the presence control do? If it were 5 bands fully parametric I'd be fine but I know that these tube tone circuits are a different animal.

 

[BassinCT]

Before I tried one of these in a CT guitar shop, somebody told me that this is the setting that was close to flat.
treble- 11 o'clock
mids- 3 o'clock
bass- 1 o'clock

I hope this is helpful.
R

 

[J.Wolf]

I don't know about flat, but I usually set mine like this for the most balanced tone:

treble 11 o'clock
mids noon
bass 2 o'clock
presence 10 o'clock

i usually set the parametric like this, due to my bass sounding very big and crisp:

cut @ 160-180hz -3db
cut 1.8khz -2db

 

[chucko58]

Mike, I posted the results of my tinkering on the Greenboy forums. Look for a thread called "Fun with RoomEQWizard" in the Nerd Holodeck.

Here's the closest approximation to flat I found:

As the image says, the Bass control was at 2 o'clock, the Mid was maxed, the Treble was at 9:30. The Presence (boost only from 1 KHz up) was all the way down.

 

[chucko58]

And this is what you get if you set the Bass, Mid, and Treble controls pointing straight up (what would be "flat" on some pres). Once again the Presence was all the way down:

 

[J.Wolf]

I wasn't aware that the mid knob functions kind of as a cut only control, it seems from looking at these plots. Kinda reminds me of the f1x in that way. All that info helps explain why they hbp can sound kind of bright and scooped with everything at noon. I'll have to experiment with killing the presence knob and maxing the mids. Thanks for posting these plots, I love the hbp1, and am glad to understand it a little better

 

[blowinblue]

Before I tried one of these in a CT guitar shop, somebody told me that this is the setting that was close to flat.
treble- 11 o'clock
mids- 3 o'clock
bass- 1 o'clock

This would be the exact settings that James Demeter himself gave me on two different occasions back when I owned an HBP-1. The presence control should be all the way off (counter-clockwise) and the parametric out, of course.

M. M.

 

[J.Wolf]

Tried those settings last night. What do you know, I like that preamps tone more than ever. I never thought to jack the mids since my bass and cab tend to be inherently mid heavy, but the tone was rich and thick and very nice. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[testing1two]

If I had known these setting I might not have sold mine several years ago.

 

[BurningSkies]

Modified bassman tone circuit...sounds about right. That's also what the Kern has too (one of the preamps often compared to the Demeter). I tended to run mine set at 3-10-5 for a fairly bass heavy sound.