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Exar Tourbox Thread
- Thread starter Eric!
- Start date
I talked to Yakob on the phone this evening. He swears he will send the pedal packet out tomorrow, and that he was "not able" to send it out sooner.
His mom was the one that answered the phone...
Uh oh... Junior is grounded.
Me too, "Duty Now" is my favorite album of theirs. I didn't realize for a long time that the word eye was even in there, they sing it so fast.
The tourbox showed up today. Everything is in good condition, so we can get things rolling again. I should get it back in the mail for JimmyM Monday morning.
Here are my quick reviews:
Overall initial impression: the pedals are smaller than I expected. Kinda like a Boss wool sweater that went through the dryer. Not a lot smaller, but definitely noticeable. Seem solid, knobs have a quality feel to them. A little more contrast on the markings on the knobs would be nice so that you could see the settings on a dark stage. Power jack is the standard Boss type and on the top of the pedal. Yay!!! Wish the bottom was smooth to make velcro more easily attached. The battery door is on the bottom.
Moby Dick: nice sounding chorus, the blend and tone knobs make it versatile. Seemed to have a asymmetrical wobble in the chorus. It spent more time on one side of the wobble than the other, if that makes sense.
Bass Distortion: Reminded me a lot of my Keeley modded Boss Metal Distortion pedal. That's a compliment. Doesn't really do low overdrive, but that's not it's intention. I don't have much use for the tone but it was fun to play a bunch of power chords.
Octavium: I like octavers so I was looking forward to this one. I like the quality of the -1 Oct. More modern than an OC-2 maybe less fat, but more focused. The tone knob seemed to have two settings, left and right but that could have been the bass that I was using. The -2 is kinda worthless on bass. The +1 Oct didn't rock me like I was hoping. I think it's more aimed at guitar for an Octavia type of effect. On bass it just gave what sounded like a thinner distorted unison sound rather than an octave up. The -1 Octave sounded really good across the fingerboard but seemed especially phat around A-D on the A string. Especially Bb-C#.
Here are my quick reviews:
Overall initial impression: the pedals are smaller than I expected. Kinda like a Boss wool sweater that went through the dryer. Not a lot smaller, but definitely noticeable. Seem solid, knobs have a quality feel to them. A little more contrast on the markings on the knobs would be nice so that you could see the settings on a dark stage. Power jack is the standard Boss type and on the top of the pedal. Yay!!! Wish the bottom was smooth to make velcro more easily attached. The battery door is on the bottom.
Moby Dick: nice sounding chorus, the blend and tone knobs make it versatile. Seemed to have a asymmetrical wobble in the chorus. It spent more time on one side of the wobble than the other, if that makes sense.
Bass Distortion: Reminded me a lot of my Keeley modded Boss Metal Distortion pedal. That's a compliment. Doesn't really do low overdrive, but that's not it's intention. I don't have much use for the tone but it was fun to play a bunch of power chords.
Octavium: I like octavers so I was looking forward to this one. I like the quality of the -1 Oct. More modern than an OC-2 maybe less fat, but more focused. The tone knob seemed to have two settings, left and right but that could have been the bass that I was using. The -2 is kinda worthless on bass. The +1 Oct didn't rock me like I was hoping. I think it's more aimed at guitar for an Octavia type of effect. On bass it just gave what sounded like a thinner distorted unison sound rather than an octave up. The -1 Octave sounded really good across the fingerboard but seemed especially phat around A-D on the A string. Especially Bb-C#.
hi guys, i got the tourbox today, thanks, rich cybersnyder and bongo! didn't get a chance to mess with it, though, because today my wife bought me...
A BRAND NEW DANELECTRO DEAD-ON 58 LONGHORN BASS!!!
man, do i love this thing! spent the last few hours tweaking it out so i can use it on my gig tomorrow. unfortunately, it goes back in the closet after tomorrow. my wife's only letting me use it tomorrow because we're doing some pro shot video, and then it becomes a christmas present. and then i'll do the tourbox on sunday.
A BRAND NEW DANELECTRO DEAD-ON 58 LONGHORN BASS!!!
man, do i love this thing! spent the last few hours tweaking it out so i can use it on my gig tomorrow. unfortunately, it goes back in the closet after tomorrow. my wife's only letting me use it tomorrow because we're doing some pro shot video, and then it becomes a christmas present. and then i'll do the tourbox on sunday.
ok, just had a little while to mess with the pedals. i was pleasantly surprised by the bass distortion. it'll get nasty but it'll also clean up for some milder stuff as well. won't do out and out fuzz, but it will get up into rat territory, though maybe not quite as authoratative as the rat. still, for someone looking for a versatile all around bass distortion, it isn't bad at all. really seems to shine at light to medium distortion. just watch out for using too much treble.
likewise for the moby dick chorus. not a fan of chorus, but this one is pretty good. it's more boss-like than tc-like, but it'll do the standard chorus sounds plus gets a decent wobble in the more extreme settings. a little pulsey at those settings, but not at the more "normal" settings. it's a good solid pedal.
wish i could say the same for the octavium. have to say this one didn't do much for me. side by side with my oc-2, i'd rather have the oc-2. it's more like the octave divider on my zoom b2...a little overwhelming with the low end, and not as much definition. it did, however, share the oc-2's penchant for bad tracking
build quality is very high, but the jacks seem a little stiff, and the pedals could be a little lighter. still, i wouldn't hesitate to do heavy roadwork with them...they definitely seem like they'll hold up.
i have a gig with a long soundcheck on friday so i'm going to try these pedals out there as well. probably not the chorus, though. not always easy to tell about pedals without context, so i'm hoping the octavium isn't quite as woofy on a gig as it is here.
likewise for the moby dick chorus. not a fan of chorus, but this one is pretty good. it's more boss-like than tc-like, but it'll do the standard chorus sounds plus gets a decent wobble in the more extreme settings. a little pulsey at those settings, but not at the more "normal" settings. it's a good solid pedal.
wish i could say the same for the octavium. have to say this one didn't do much for me. side by side with my oc-2, i'd rather have the oc-2. it's more like the octave divider on my zoom b2...a little overwhelming with the low end, and not as much definition. it did, however, share the oc-2's penchant for bad tracking
build quality is very high, but the jacks seem a little stiff, and the pedals could be a little lighter. still, i wouldn't hesitate to do heavy roadwork with them...they definitely seem like they'll hold up.
i have a gig with a long soundcheck on friday so i'm going to try these pedals out there as well. probably not the chorus, though. not always easy to tell about pedals without context, so i'm hoping the octavium isn't quite as woofy on a gig as it is here.
bongomania
Commercial User
Invalid Link Removed
i managed to throw something together with another computer to make a recording of these pedals. i really wanted to do that for bongo, and felt bummed about the other comp being down. apologies if there's any clipping or extraneous noise, but i did these quickly and not always with a humbucking bass, so any extraneous noise you hear is not from the pedals. they're actually dead quiet except a little expected noise with the distortion. all pedals were recorded straight in using a bypassed vt pedal as a di except for the first moby dick sample, where i used the vt for a clean boost to get the levels from a quieter bass up with everything else.
octavium:
1. "sledgehammer," octave down only, fender p lyte with p pickup, fingers
2. "i wish," clean + octave down, same bass, fingers
moby dick chorus:
3. "don't stop believin'", medium rate/depth, danelectro longhorn rear pickup, pick
4. "random line based on something i heard john davis do", dubstep wobble (or my "old dude who's never played dubstep" attempt at it), sx p with flats and tone knob rolled off, fingers
bass distortion
5. "white room," mild grind, jay turser beatle bass neck pickup, fingers
6. "hey hey my my", full on distortion, p lyte p pickup, pick
i left some noise on that sample so you could hear the noise floor with raging distortion. pretty darn quiet if you ask me.
please don't ask my settings...i just moved knobs till it sounded good and can't remember any of them
i managed to throw something together with another computer to make a recording of these pedals. i really wanted to do that for bongo, and felt bummed about the other comp being down. apologies if there's any clipping or extraneous noise, but i did these quickly and not always with a humbucking bass, so any extraneous noise you hear is not from the pedals. they're actually dead quiet except a little expected noise with the distortion. all pedals were recorded straight in using a bypassed vt pedal as a di except for the first moby dick sample, where i used the vt for a clean boost to get the levels from a quieter bass up with everything else.
octavium:
1. "sledgehammer," octave down only, fender p lyte with p pickup, fingers
2. "i wish," clean + octave down, same bass, fingers
moby dick chorus:
3. "don't stop believin'", medium rate/depth, danelectro longhorn rear pickup, pick
4. "random line based on something i heard john davis do", dubstep wobble (or my "old dude who's never played dubstep" attempt at it), sx p with flats and tone knob rolled off, fingers
bass distortion
5. "white room," mild grind, jay turser beatle bass neck pickup, fingers
6. "hey hey my my", full on distortion, p lyte p pickup, pick
i left some noise on that sample so you could hear the noise floor with raging distortion. pretty darn quiet if you ask me.
please don't ask my settings...i just moved knobs till it sounded good and can't remember any of them
bongomania
Commercial User
bongomania
Commercial User
bongomania
Commercial User
Yeah, no joke. Anyway Michael just now emailed to tell me the delay was caused by the holidays and a NYE gig, and that he should be ready to start trying the pedals now, and send them on in another week or so.
Anyway Michael just now emailed to tell me the delay was caused by the holidays and a NYE gig, and that he should be ready to start trying the pedals now, and send them on in another week or so.
Guys, I was not subscribed to this thread, so it was out of sight, out of mind. I'm subscribed now. Also, nobody either called or PM'ed me, so I didn't respond directly.
As Cyrus indicated, Jimmy mailed the Tourbox to me, and I received it just prior to being gone for the holidays. I was both gone for most of the holidays, and was then in tech rehearsals for a theatre show between Christmas and New Year's, so I simply did not get to spend any time with the pedals. I'm caught up now on work and should be able to check them out through the weekend.
As I mentioned to Cyrus, I'll be able to move the Tourbox along by Jan. 12 at the latest, maybe by this coming Monday.
Thanks for your patience- the Tourbox just showed up at a very busy time for me and the family.
As Cyrus indicated, Jimmy mailed the Tourbox to me, and I received it just prior to being gone for the holidays. I was both gone for most of the holidays, and was then in tech rehearsals for a theatre show between Christmas and New Year's, so I simply did not get to spend any time with the pedals. I'm caught up now on work and should be able to check them out through the weekend.
As I mentioned to Cyrus, I'll be able to move the Tourbox along by Jan. 12 at the latest, maybe by this coming Monday.
Thanks for your patience- the Tourbox just showed up at a very busy time for me and the family.
Okay, since I am holding up the next leg of the tour, I'm going to do some quick reviews as I have time today. First out was the EXAR Bass Distortion. Tip of the hat to Cyrus in advance for my use of the images from the OVNIFX website. (Cyrus, I can take them down and put my own up if you'd rather, but I'm saving time by using yours today.)
My test setup for these reviews is my favorite G&L L-2500, the sunburst, with DR Low Beams, running direct into one pedal at a time, into the Genz Shuttle 9.0 set flat across the face (every control at 12:00 except the master) and finally into the EA Wizzy M-Line cab. I checked the pedals with my two usual settings on the bass, combinations of either neck pickup soloed or both pickups selected, and passive preamp/active preamp with no treble boost. Mostly I used the standard G&L tone set, 80% on volume, treble, and bass pots.
Now, on to the review of the Bass Distortion:
Perhaps the nicest three things about this pedal is the fabulous footswitch, the mix control, and the sound quality.
I've never used a pedal that switched completely solidly, softly, and silently. I'm sure they are out there, but I I have not used one. This is a real treat, and it comes across as top quality.
The sound of my bass is the same with no audible difference when the pedal is bypassed. All it takes is a brief tweak with the level to set the engaged level equal to the bypass level, and voila! Of course, this could be set to kick in a huge boost for a distorted solo as well, but a lot of times I like to have the effected and bypass levels the same.
The dry/wet mix control is excellent. I liked adding in just a bit of distortion to the dry sound, which tames the fuzziness.
The two-band EQ is nice on this unit, so you can tweak the distorted tone, and it gets some fairly extreme variations of tone. It's nice to be able to roll off the highs, which is the principal way of shaping the sound of the distortion.
The basic distortion tone is a fairly generic crunch/fuzz. I'm not a connoisseur of bass distortions, leaning mostly toward overdrive sounds. This one does not impress me that much when it is predominating in the sound. I do like the basic effect sound when it's mixed in more subtly with the dry sound and the amount of distortion effect is kept down around 25% or so. It starts getting pretty maxed out starting at 50%.
The quality of construction is undeniably good, and the signal pass is excellent. I think I would buy one of these if it had a type control so that the basic effect could go from overdrive to fuzz to massive distortion. This pedal is very nice but it did not knock me out, mainly because of my predilection for overdrives over fuzzes.
My test setup for these reviews is my favorite G&L L-2500, the sunburst, with DR Low Beams, running direct into one pedal at a time, into the Genz Shuttle 9.0 set flat across the face (every control at 12:00 except the master) and finally into the EA Wizzy M-Line cab. I checked the pedals with my two usual settings on the bass, combinations of either neck pickup soloed or both pickups selected, and passive preamp/active preamp with no treble boost. Mostly I used the standard G&L tone set, 80% on volume, treble, and bass pots.
Now, on to the review of the Bass Distortion:
Perhaps the nicest three things about this pedal is the fabulous footswitch, the mix control, and the sound quality.
I've never used a pedal that switched completely solidly, softly, and silently. I'm sure they are out there, but I I have not used one. This is a real treat, and it comes across as top quality.
The sound of my bass is the same with no audible difference when the pedal is bypassed. All it takes is a brief tweak with the level to set the engaged level equal to the bypass level, and voila! Of course, this could be set to kick in a huge boost for a distorted solo as well, but a lot of times I like to have the effected and bypass levels the same.
The dry/wet mix control is excellent. I liked adding in just a bit of distortion to the dry sound, which tames the fuzziness.
The two-band EQ is nice on this unit, so you can tweak the distorted tone, and it gets some fairly extreme variations of tone. It's nice to be able to roll off the highs, which is the principal way of shaping the sound of the distortion.
The basic distortion tone is a fairly generic crunch/fuzz. I'm not a connoisseur of bass distortions, leaning mostly toward overdrive sounds. This one does not impress me that much when it is predominating in the sound. I do like the basic effect sound when it's mixed in more subtly with the dry sound and the amount of distortion effect is kept down around 25% or so. It starts getting pretty maxed out starting at 50%.
The quality of construction is undeniably good, and the signal pass is excellent. I think I would buy one of these if it had a type control so that the basic effect could go from overdrive to fuzz to massive distortion. This pedal is very nice but it did not knock me out, mainly because of my predilection for overdrives over fuzzes.
Next up was the Moby Dick. This pedal is a basic chorus, but it does what most bassists need a chorus to do. I liked it.
Once again, there's that great, solid construction and switching/bypass.
This pedal arrived with a weak battery, which tested at about 40% and in the red zone, and was not enough voltage to power up the pedal. I got my first experience at an EXAR battery change- easy! It took about 15 seconds. The battery cover snaps in and out and does not use a screw. The battery contacts are substantial copper pieces and snapping the battery into place took a tiny bit of effort, but it makes a solid contact. By the way, for the benefit of downstream Tourbox testers, I replaced the basic EverReady with a Duracell coppertop. (Cyrus, what kind of battery does EXAR include with the pedals?)
Now I was ready to play, and this pedal kept my attention quite a bit longer than did the Bass Distortion. Please note that I used the left (mono) output only. I did not test the stereo A/B output capability.
This pedal has four basic chorus controls - rate, depth, tone, and effect mix. None of the controls have any effect on the bypassed tone. I did not check that on the distortion unit.
It's easy to set the standard chorus parameters of rate and depth. A good starting point is rate at 12:00 and depth slightly less, like 11:00. With these controls at those settings, the tone at 12:00 and the effect level at 12:00, I had a very nice, thick, usable chorus tone. As the rate is increased, the depth has to be rolled back to prevent the usual chorus warbling which normally is not that usable. There was a very workable range of control with these two knobs.
Tone did not have any effect unless the Effect Level was set to something past minimum, and became increasingly prominent as Level is increased. This is intuitive after it's worked with for a bit. Tone does not work like a passive tone control on a bass. At minimum setting, there is still brightness in the sound, and at maximum, highs are not shrill. It subtly changes the overall sound. I thought it a very good implementation.
Effect level is not just a mix between dry and effected tone- it seems to do something more than that, but it's hard to describe.
The extremes are available through abuse of the depth control if rate is set to something past halfway, but can be mildly tamed with the Effect Level. It's still warbly, but it illustrates the usefulness of the control.
The G&L basses are known for their potentially massive output levels, and I tried to overdrive the input of the Moby Dick by selecting series mode and setting all three pots all the way up. To my surprise, the pedal tolerated this hot input very well. Along with the loud volume was a very pleasing amount of what sounded like even-order harmonics. To make sure the Shuttle wasn't responsible, I switched to a solid state Carvin PB-150 head which is clean and dry. I still heard the very nice harmonics. Adjusting the bass output downward, I was still able to attain some warm and pleasant sounds by judicious use of the Effect Level control. This one is fairly true to the tone of the bass, but it does introduce warmth in a pleasant way.
Again, this is a basic chorus, but if you need a chorus, I really think a lot of players would like this one. I got some warm, pretty and usable chorus. If I were going to buy a chorus, this one would be a definite contender.
I think at this point, I want to point out two things: I'm doing a quick check and review writeup of these pedals today, and I am not reading the instructions. I will read the instructions this weekend and see if there is something in them that I didn't come across in my first tests. Normally, I figure standard types of pedals have familiar controls, so reading instructions isn't or shouldn't be obligatory, unless the pedal features some non-standard tweaks in the control set.
If I have more time to set down with these pedals this weekend, I will add to these write-ups. I would also like to test them running into my TASCAM MP-BT1 Bass Trainer and listen though the earbuds.
Once again, there's that great, solid construction and switching/bypass.
This pedal arrived with a weak battery, which tested at about 40% and in the red zone, and was not enough voltage to power up the pedal. I got my first experience at an EXAR battery change- easy! It took about 15 seconds. The battery cover snaps in and out and does not use a screw. The battery contacts are substantial copper pieces and snapping the battery into place took a tiny bit of effort, but it makes a solid contact. By the way, for the benefit of downstream Tourbox testers, I replaced the basic EverReady with a Duracell coppertop. (Cyrus, what kind of battery does EXAR include with the pedals?)
Now I was ready to play, and this pedal kept my attention quite a bit longer than did the Bass Distortion. Please note that I used the left (mono) output only. I did not test the stereo A/B output capability.
This pedal has four basic chorus controls - rate, depth, tone, and effect mix. None of the controls have any effect on the bypassed tone. I did not check that on the distortion unit.
It's easy to set the standard chorus parameters of rate and depth. A good starting point is rate at 12:00 and depth slightly less, like 11:00. With these controls at those settings, the tone at 12:00 and the effect level at 12:00, I had a very nice, thick, usable chorus tone. As the rate is increased, the depth has to be rolled back to prevent the usual chorus warbling which normally is not that usable. There was a very workable range of control with these two knobs.
Tone did not have any effect unless the Effect Level was set to something past minimum, and became increasingly prominent as Level is increased. This is intuitive after it's worked with for a bit. Tone does not work like a passive tone control on a bass. At minimum setting, there is still brightness in the sound, and at maximum, highs are not shrill. It subtly changes the overall sound. I thought it a very good implementation.
Effect level is not just a mix between dry and effected tone- it seems to do something more than that, but it's hard to describe.
The extremes are available through abuse of the depth control if rate is set to something past halfway, but can be mildly tamed with the Effect Level. It's still warbly, but it illustrates the usefulness of the control.
The G&L basses are known for their potentially massive output levels, and I tried to overdrive the input of the Moby Dick by selecting series mode and setting all three pots all the way up. To my surprise, the pedal tolerated this hot input very well. Along with the loud volume was a very pleasing amount of what sounded like even-order harmonics. To make sure the Shuttle wasn't responsible, I switched to a solid state Carvin PB-150 head which is clean and dry. I still heard the very nice harmonics. Adjusting the bass output downward, I was still able to attain some warm and pleasant sounds by judicious use of the Effect Level control. This one is fairly true to the tone of the bass, but it does introduce warmth in a pleasant way.
Again, this is a basic chorus, but if you need a chorus, I really think a lot of players would like this one. I got some warm, pretty and usable chorus. If I were going to buy a chorus, this one would be a definite contender.
I think at this point, I want to point out two things: I'm doing a quick check and review writeup of these pedals today, and I am not reading the instructions. I will read the instructions this weekend and see if there is something in them that I didn't come across in my first tests. Normally, I figure standard types of pedals have familiar controls, so reading instructions isn't or shouldn't be obligatory, unless the pedal features some non-standard tweaks in the control set.
If I have more time to set down with these pedals this weekend, I will add to these write-ups. I would also like to test them running into my TASCAM MP-BT1 Bass Trainer and listen though the earbuds.
