Dual drive pedals

[Toby East]

Blackstone Appliances Blackstone Appliances

Yep

 

[SteveLo42]

Interesting suggestions, cheers!

I've always been a bit anti multi FX, I guess I just prefer the analogue, more tactile and physical aspects of individual pedals. As I get more used to how pedals work I may decide to try out a multi, but I dont think the time is now.

The Two Notes Revolt does seem to call out my name, however, and I've been checking it out. As I understand the tube provides some natural compression? I do love that it has a tube in it.

Of course I don't need anything new, it's pure GAS now that I have some spare cash that could be better spent elsewhere

 

[PhatBottomBass1]

Interesting suggestions, cheers!

I've always been a bit anti multi FX, I guess I just prefer the analogue, more tactile and physical aspects of individual pedals. As I get more used to how pedals work I may decide to try out a multi, but I dont think the time is now.

The Two Notes Revolt does seem to call out my name, however, and I've been checking it out. As I understand the tube provides some natural compression? I do love that it has a tube in it.

Of course I don't need anything new, it's pure GAS now that I have some spare cash that could be better spent elsewhere

The ReVolt has a 12AX7 in it and does offer a nice compression for those not requiring a limiter or a squashing effect. I put an NOS '65 Amprex (Mullard/Blackburn) 12AT7 in it and #3 channel because much more useable for me with the reduced gain structure. It offers a great bang for the $$$.

 

[sifrancis]

I can verify that it works superbly on bass- it’s become my #1 bass drive pedal, with one channel set to an always-on light drive and the second channel to an almost Russian Big Muff low-gain fuzz/distortion. Really under-appreciated option for bass.
I tried it out based on rumors that the Omega side of the Darkglass Alpha-Omega pedal was based on it (that pedal was designed for bassist Jon Stockman who uses a Blackstone Mosfet) plus a number of comments from @sifrancis (himself an accomplished pro bassist in the U.K.) praising it on Talkbass over the years.

It’s a rare drive that IMO works equally well for low-gain and high-gain and is touch-sensitive in a way that very few other drives I have are.

It doesn’t have a built-in compressor, but is small enough that a compressor of choice could be added and the combo might not take up much more space than some of the other options

The Blackstone Mosfet is wonderful - forever coming back to it, on the rare occasions I venture away.

I have it always on with some very light "edge-of-breakup" type juice on the brown side.
Then the red gives me something heavier and more distorted.

This pedal also stacks superbly. Pushing it with boosts, fuzz, or other drive and distortion effects is always a good time.

I personally almost never use compression live (on my pedalboard) unless for a distinct squish-y effect (I am aware I am a minority here).
Most drive will offer a degree of compression and the Blackstone in particular adds general tonal magic and compression/evenness to everything.

Re: bass/low-end loss. Never noticed any enough to be aware, though it certainly seems to tighten and focus the low end in my experience. Similarly it adds some texture and warmth to the hi end too.

I have bassfuzz.com and Jon Stockman to thank.

 

[chris1327]

this guy right here:

it’s a dual drive pedal made specifically for bass: a blower box on one side and a dungeon master on the other, able to be run independently or together. both channels are pretty gnarly, so there’s really no “clean” option unless you bypass, but it is a fun pedal. certainly no low end loss

 

[sunbeast]

The Blackstone Mosfet is wonderful - forever coming back to it, on the rare occasions I venture away.

I have it always on with some very light "edge-of-breakup" type juice on the brown side.
Then the red gives me something heavier and more distorted.

This pedal also stacks superbly. Pushing it with boosts, fuzz, or other drive and distortion effects is always a good time.

I personally almost never use compression live (on my pedalboard) unless for a distinct squish-y effect (I am aware I am a minority here).
Most drive will offer a degree of compression and the Blackstone in particular adds general tonal magic and compression/evenness to everything.

Re: bass/low-end loss. Never noticed any enough to be aware, though it certainly seems to tighten and focus the low end in my experience. Similarly it adds some texture and warmth to the hi end too.

I have bassfuzz.com and Jon Stockman to thank.

I’m grateful for your posts about it through the years- it’s among my best pedal purchases ever and I wouldn’t have paid it any attention for bass otherwise! It is of course also a killer guitar overdrive

The high gain sounds with gain set around 3 o’clock are my perfect low-Gain fuzz-ish tone- something I’ve used Russian Muffs for a long time, but the Blackstone does it better (for my tastes). That was particularly surprising as I expected to find either great low gain OR great hi-gain, but the Blackstone does them both really well. And it is compact (I’d be happy with nothing but the Blackstone and a tuner that can fit in the accessory pouch of my gig-bags or hardcases).

 

[BaltBass5]

Yes I played with a lot of DG stuff for many years and used a VMT as an always-on light drive in one band for 8 years. I still dig the VMT for its punch and pleasant compression but haven't touched it since the Blackstone came around- the tone is much more open, organic, and touch-sensitive on the Blackstone. I never really jived with the B3K/B7K which had too much of a baked-in thing for me. I will say that I never liked using the Blend control on my VMT and don't miss anything going to the Blackstone which doesn't have a Blend- the VMT has a low-mid hump baked in that the Blackstone doesn't, but both tighten up the lows slightly (in a pleasant way for me)

Ended up ordering one and it arrived this morning. My experience is not at all like yours. I spent about 90 mins tweaking and can’t get any useable tones with my Spectors. Even at the lowest gain settings with the internal trim all the way down it’s got too much gain. Also find it to be super fizzy sounding. Any pointers?

 

[PhatBottomBass1]

I listened to that Blackstone Appliance and thought it sounded good and could sound great with an EQ treatment post effect with a P Bass.

I think that if VMT isn't getting you where you want to go, then the Source Audio After Shock BASS DISTORTION (Fuzz, OD) should be investigated in your situation. You may find something that you were not expecting?

I used to have a Night Owl Edison with an NOS 60's Mullard tube rolled in there and it was great on a Warwick Streamer Stage I-5 (Spector) with Delano pickups/preamp.

YMMV

 

[sunbeast]

Ended up ordering one and it arrived this morning. My experience is not at all like yours. I spent about 90 mins tweaking and can’t get any useable tones with my Spectors. Even at the lowest gain settings with the internal trim all the way down it’s got too much gain. Also find it to be super fizzy sounding. Any pointers?

Assuming you are on the “Brown” channel? The Red channel needs to have the socketed capacitor on the top of the circuitboard removed to work best with bass IMO (otherwise turning down the Red Gain actually increases the gain while also cutting bass- gain on the stock Red channel is at its lowest with the Gain set at noon. Remove said capacitor and it becomes a second Brown channel with more predictable behavior).

With an active bass make sure to try switching the internal “buffer” switch. Make sure the internal Treble trim isn’t cranked- lots of people seem to prefer that rolled all the way down for bass though I turn it up personally (particularly nice with flatwounds). It is a pre-gain control, so turning it up also increases gain. Try turning the outside tone control down- I find it can get a bit harsh for me if cranked, I set it between 11 o’clock and 2 o’clock or so depending on the instrument and the presence I want (it is a mid-scoop, but with bass it seems to control presence at these settings).

Are you boosting a lot of EQ on the Spector? Bass boost will eat up drive headroom quickly unless you also lower the volume into the pedal to compensate. Really any active EQ boost put pre-drive could eat up headroom depending on overall output of the instrument (I haven’t played Spectors a lot, but know some of them can be pretty hot and some famous players get their tones by cranking the EQ).

FWIW I am able to get clean sounds out of my Blackstone with all of my passive basses, even a G&L Fallout (which is HOT). I do use a compressor before the Blackstone most of the time, so can attenuate my signal going into the pedal if I want- that might be needed with a super hot bass. Not an issue with any of mine unless I’m boosting bass EQ on my few active instruments, for me the Blackstone gets cleaner than any of the Darkglass pedals I’ve owned (which is most of the analog ones).

 

[s_wood]

I’m a huge fan of the Free The Tone Black Vehicle. 2 channels,and the bost channel has its own gain and output volume settings. It’s made for bass, and I don’t notice any bass loss when I kick it on. I use the first channel for a low gain, always on tone and the second for medium-to-heavy OD. Highly recommended!

BLACK VEHICLE BV-1V｜PRODUCTS｜Free The Tone

From a natural overdrive sound to a distorted sound, the

www.freethetone.com

 

[WRM]

These fit the criteria, but I have no personal experience (yet):

Dreamcatcher – Sushi Box FX

The Detective – Sushi Box FX