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Disappointed in Darkglass B3K

#83
grillman said:
I agree on that, which is why I mentionned it in my first post.
And I may have misinterpreted what he meant. But calling all the pedals mentionned before mediocre at best was borderline trolling in my opinion.
First because I find it unlikely that he tried thoroughly all of them and second because it is rather insulting to the pedal makers and condescending to the people who appreciate those pedals.
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In the last 10 year, I've easily tried 20 different dirt pedals....maybe more.

Any feeling you have of being condescended to are on you.....I was merely stating my opinion.
 
#85
monsterthompson said:
I'm with you. I don't dig that guy's demos. He's clearly popular, but something there isn't working for me.
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The tones are all captured via a mic'd cab, and his particular cab and amp are very colored in nature; his demos all sound great, they just don't tell you nearly as much about the gear as someone like Ed Friedman does.
yakmastermax said:
Thanks for the advice man. I agree, I think that an active bass might do me good. We play in drop C#

Just to clarify I'm not looking for a fuzz or heavy overdrive. I'm not looking for a vintage sound.
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No problem man.

Don't worry about "active" so much though, adding a preamp to your P isn't going to give what you want, you just need a bass with a bridge pickup; even a passive Squire jazz through a B3k can sound like what you're looking for.
 
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#86
guy n. cognito said:
If you haven't gotten the point yet, friend..... How exactly would I recommend a pedal when I clearly state (in the post you quoted, btw) that I have yet to find a good one??
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I tend to agree- in a band mix ALL of the pedals I tried for OD dropped bottom end punch out. Whatever the magic bullet to give me grind/ growl without dropping punch, I haven't found it yet either.
 
#87
yakmastermax said:
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?
.
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i made a thread comparing the two different Darkglass Pedals (b7k vs VMTD).

the song at the beginning is modern metal i suppose but the tail end gets slower and a bit gloomier. its subtle but you can hear the difference between the two pedals. I highly rate the VMTD for stoner rock (pun, %1oo intended)

Darkglass B7k VS Vintage Deluxe - Heavy metal bass tone
 
#88
I have tried just about every bass OD, Distortion and Fuzz out there...no seriously.

There are quite a few that get a ton of love on here that I just didn't get including the B3K, VT Bass and honestly one of the worst was the Barbershop IMO.

In all honesty, the only pedal of this type that stays on my board is the Way Huge Pork Loin. I actually use 2, one for warm soft clip (Tubey OD) and one for warm rich fuzz.

As new things come out I try them and occasionally I find something I keep for studio or occasional use.

A few other keepers for me:

EHX Bass Soul Food, Alchemy Audio Mod

MXR Bass Distortion

Aguilar Agro
 
#89
yakmastermax said:
Thanks for the advice man. I agree, I think that an active bass might do me good. We play in drop C#

Just to clarify I'm not looking for a fuzz or heavy overdrive. I'm not looking for a vintage sound.
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Not to assume you haven't done this, BUT....I used to play in a hard rock band that stayed in C# tuning and the BEST thing you can do is to use the right strings, set up your bass properly for that tuning AND the head you are using will make ALL the difference!
 
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#90
Darkglass is not for everyone that's for sure! That's why I have several over drives. I can get anything I want form the combination of a few or by switching between them. The B7K is way more useful IMO but the new one will be even better for most.

My favorite ods are

Toneczar Openhaus 6 band (it can od like crazy or be a high gain distortion)
Dr. Scientist The Elements
Okko Basstard
VFE RUP
Boss DS1 no I'm not joking
Joyo American
Fairfield Barbershop

Ehh many others I can't think of right now.
 
#91
yakmastermax said:
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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I would recommend Juan Alderete's youtube channel: PedalsAndEffects.

Here's a sample of several overdrive pedals:



Here's another one for fuzz:

 
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#93
+1 on the Vintage Microtubes. I had a b7k and just couldnt jive. It was cool but not entirely my thing. Then I heard the comparison video between the b3k and VMT side by side and appreciated that sound more.

 
#94
I'm no seasoned expert, as I just got my first pedal 2 days ago, but maybe take a look at Black Arts Toneworks Pharaoh. I've only spent a couple hours with mine so far (I actually got the Coven, which is the Pharaoh plus Black Forest OD) and it sounds huge and amazing. It also seems very versatile with hi/lo settings and the ability to switch between silicone, germanium, or no diode. There are a couple good youtube vids that demo it on bass, maybe it would work for you
 
#95
Dave W said:
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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I absolutely love the Blueberry with my passive P5. I have a version called the Foundry: concept by Jared Lash, built by JohnK.

I absolutely love the B7K with my active Sadowsky P5. Modern sounding pedal with modern sounding P-bass... match made in heaven!



NortyFiner said:
Idiotbox Blower Box? Or is that too over the top metal?
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Not necessarily. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I love the Blower Box at lower gain settings too. It can go from just-barely-dirty to screaming-face-melt dirty, and points in between! In fact I don't need the over-the-top settings, so I typically set it for gentle dirt.
 
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#96
grillman said:
A bit of a rant here.

Of course you would get better results with a vintage tube amp pushed to overdrive. We all know that.

But this is the "Effects" forum so obviously we will discuss effects rather than amps.

Also it might not have occured to you that some people don't want a saturated sound during the whole song.
Or maybe that after spending 2 grand on an ampeg rig and realizing that I need a different type of overdrive for one cover I don't want to spend another 2 grand on another rig.
Hence the use for a pedal.
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Thank you.

Yeah, my favorite sound back in the early 80's was vintage SVT head pushing vintage SVT 8x10 really loud, to the point where the power tubes were breaking up. But guess what: I rarely play(ed) in those situations. At low volume the SVT still sounded good... but it was clean. The magic for me was in the power tube overdrive.

Some players use lower power tube amps (e.g. V4B) in smaller/quieter situations. Sorry, but I don't wanna own multiple tube heads and try to match the head to the room. And I also like to use different levels of OD, including clean. I'm not about to set up multiple amp rigs for that!

So I am MUCH MUCH MUCH happier with a loud clean amp rig and my collection of OD pedals. I can get the level of OD I want at any volume, and make it unity gain with my clean tone so I can switch on and off. I can run multiple OD pedals so I can switch between different levels/tones/types of OD... and combining different overdrives can sound way cool. I don't miss the weight of those lead sleds, and TBH, when I get the pedals dialed in right I am as happy with them as I was with the SVT at full throat (my Bergantino NV610 helps a lot).
 
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#97
Fuzzbass said:
Not necessarily. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I love the Blower Box at lower gain settings too. It can go from just-barely-dirty to screaming-face-melt dirty, and points in between! In fact I don't need the over-the-top settings, so I typically set it for gentle dirt.
Click to expand...

I think it sounds best at low gain, played with a pick, I can't stand the Blower Box with the gain above 11 o'clock (I have the original one, which doesn't sound the same as the newer smaller one with the knobs at the same positions).
 
#98
For me, a "tube bass sound" isn't what gets me most excited. My favorite dirt of all time came from a Peavey solid state amp in the form of early Faith No More. So I see why Darkglass' overdrive would work better for someone like myself.

The B3K seems to nail those frequencies better than anything I've tried and the VMT seems to refine it further and give it depth
 
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#99
guy n. cognito said:
I have yet to find a bass distortion pedal that I liked. Even the ones raved about here are mediocre, at best.
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I think that for a lot of us a bass is supposed to sound clean whereas distortion seems more natural for guitar. I use octave and chorus a bit but rarely use distortion with the exception of a little light growl from a VT Bass pedal (tube warm rather than tube scream).
 

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