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Disappointed in Darkglass B3K

yakmastermax

yakmastermax

Mar 1, 2015
671
444
33
Boulder Colorado
#1
Hey TB!

NPD for me, I got a Darnkglass B3K Microtubes. I have been playing without a distortion for a while and finally bit the bullet.

I was considering several cheaper options, a Fulltone OCD, the Spark and Dark Matter by TC electronic, and the Ibanez TS9B Tube Screamer.

I decided to go against my typical judgement and opt for the more expensive option. Normally I'm a pretty frugal guy, always trying to squeeze out the best value with used mid tier stuff that saturates the market and comes up for cheap. This time I went with a brand new boutique pedal and I'm afraid I've made a mistake.

For $240 I guess I was expecting something pretty magical because honestly it doesn't sound that fantastic. I messed with the settings quite a bit, dialing in a medium overdriven/distorted tone. I play in a prog stoner rock band so I use fuzz occasionally, but I was looking for an overdrive/distortion tone to have always on except for mellow bridges and stuff like that. The tone I'm getting is good, but not as good as I was expecting for the price. You know what they say about diminishing returns. I seriously feel like I could get similar tone out of my EHX Big Muff Deluxe with enough tweaking, or some other cheaper pedal for that matter.

Right now I'm playing a MIM Fender Precision through a Carvin BX700 and two TC K212s.

I want to carve out a killer tone, something with character and uniqueness, the kind of tone that will make the ears of bass players in the audience perk up. I thought the B3K would have been the ticket but it has left me disappointed so far. Can anyone offer me any advice?

Thanks TB.
 

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#2
Yeah I know man. This pedal gets a lot if love and a lot of hype. I don't get it either.

Gotta admit it is a well made pedal though.

For me the quest for overdrive is a like the quest for fuzz. It is very personal and it is neverending.

Can you detail the kind of sound you are looking for ?

FYI here are some of my personal favorites and they are a different kind of overdrive than the B3k. Those are warm and tubey rather than clinky and cold :
-Fairfield circuitry Barbershop
-Solid Gold FX Beta
-Lazy J Cruiser

I'm getting my hands on a mad professor Blueberry overdrive soon. Seems like a cool pedal too.
 
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#6
yakmastermax said:
prog stoner rock band
Click to expand...
Very bad pedal for that genre. Just Not meant to do that job.
The B3k is more of a djent or technical metal kind of distortion.
It does the job everybody wanted an ODB3 for in the 90s(that one never really delivered).

I think your looking for a tuned RAT style distortion. The new MXR would work great. Fuzzerocious has several that do the trick as well. Very popular with sooner rock bassists.
 
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#7
The "in the mix" replies are dead on. I just got a Barbershop and now use my B7k for eq only. Both pedals are always on. Took the 7k out of the mix during last night's rehearsal and didn't care for the result much.

YMMV obviously, but I wouldn't give up too quickly.
 
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#10
Nothing else gave me the clank I was looking for except for Darkglass. Tronographic Rusty Box came close but I disliked its' midrange with my Ric.

It's not all the pedal can do, but if you were looking for grindy, ultra aggressive "all the time" tone, nothing beats it, imo. Well, except having a VMT in front of it!

If you were not looking for that and a more organic earthy tone, you probably looked in the wrong place, honestly. I can make it sound round as well, but I'd say other pedals have a monopoly on that. S.S. grind is the B#K family for sure.

It makes my Ric come alive. I couldn't play without it now:

Dropbox - huh_ I suck at drums. shag!!!!.mp3

Invalid Link Removed

Dropbox - B3K.mp3

Dropbox - FkOffthenwhat_.wav

Rounder tone:

Dropbox - OMD bass playalong.wav
 
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#12
Also the pedal sounds best when used with dual pickups like a Jazz or T-Bird, I guess anything that has scooped mids built in (a natural side effect of blending two pickups).

The pedal has a mid scoop right around 350 Hz which really helps accentuate the growl of some basses, but it also happens to be the area that a Precision has a lot of low mid fatness. So with a P, I prefer to set it to 'thin' and just blend in a sheen of upper midrange distortion on top of the clean sound.
 
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#13
Pedals are dependent upon your guitar as well as your entire rig. The B3k seems like the opposite of what a Pbass delivers - big lows, scooped low mids and a zinging treble from the B3k. And your 2x12s are more about the mids than the super lows too.

I like dannybuoy's suggestion of blending in a bit of upper mid distortion - at least your bass provides some frequency content for the pedal to work with.
 
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#14
For what you describe the B3K isn't the pedal I would have chosen. It sounds like you're looking for something with good dynamics. The Blueberry or Barbershop would be my first choices. I prefer using the Blueberry with a P bass personally, it just sounds right and both compliment each others strengths very well.
 
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#15
Prog stoner rock? Not the B3K's forte. I'd second the VMT, or some other low gain dirt. Maybe DOD250, as I know it's fairly popular with stoner rockers. Personally, I like a modded Pork Loin for my low gain needs. I much prefer OD and distortion to fuzz, but as many have said, it's all personal preference. Took me a lot of time and money to realize high gain fuzz type stuff just isn't for me.

Good luck!
 
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#16
yakmastermax said:
...
prog stoner rock band so I use fuzz occasionally, but I was looking for an overdrive/distortion tone to have always on except for mellow bridges and stuff like that. The tone I'm getting is good, but not as good as I was expecting for the price. You know what they say about diminishing returns. I seriously feel like I could get similar tone out of my EHX Big Muff Deluxe with enough tweaking, or some other cheaper pedal for that matter.

....

I want to carve out a killer tone, something with character and uniqueness, the kind of tone that will make the ears of bass players in the audience perk up. I thought the B3K would have been the ticket but it has left me disappointed so far. Can anyone offer me any advice?

Thanks TB.
Click to expand...

The advice people are giving of: try it in mix, doesnt really hold. it will only tell you if the pedal works in the mix, but you will still dislike its character. And what also is stated above in this thread: the b3k isnt really complementary for stoner rock sound(which is associated with a dark sound). The vintage microtubes be a better choice than the b3k, but i still think you probably find it too lush/smooth.


the ampeg-esque harmonic overtone sound could be what you mean by "ears of bass players in the audience perk up". Try youtubing a couple of the following:
Catalinbread SFT, Behringer Vtone BDI(cheap!), Sansamp
 
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#18
I have an on/off love affair with my B3K, but it has remained on the pedalboard for it's particular flavor, which really no other pedal can deliver. It's particular baked in tone is great for metal and prog rock, especially where you need to hear the note articulation. For stoner rock, I don't think it's a good choice at all. I say I have an on/off love affair with mine because after spending time with lots of OD's, Fuzzes and Distortions, I am finding that my own particular "bass voice" relies on a more low-gain natural overdrive sound that I can find in my Mr. Black bass OD than in the ultra-hifi, baked in, modern metal sound of the B3K. But as I said, the B3K lives on my board for those times when I am doing faster, grindey stuff where my other pedals lose the articulation.
 
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