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I Present the IdiotBox Effects's Blower Box
- Thread starter SirMjac28
- Start date
I have one in mine. I contacted him directly. Its a great mod. The BB hasnt left my board since I got it. Not once. That is saying a lot IMO.
Screw you guys. I haven't bought a pedal in over a year. And then I read (mostly) all 65 pages of this thread. However, I was pretty bummed to find the top jack/evil eyes version was replaced with the smaller side jack model. And I'm digging the current zombie/nuclear green version even less. So I sent Matt an email asking if he was ever going to run a batch of the older top jack boxes in the future. He replied within minutes saying he actually still had one(!) of the older cases laying around and if I was interested he'd put it together and send it to me. Payment immediately sent. So, like I said, screw you guys, this is all your fault. I don't even need a distortion pedal!
haha yeah, MAtt is really good like that. I have heard a couple guys say it took him forever to get back to them but I always thought he responded very quickly and has always been super cool with me. Some just slip through the cracks I suppose. Especially if youre getting hundreds of emails a day.
So anyway, I havent posted outside the Breeders in a long time. I wanted to post here to show some more love for my BB.
I have the John K FET boost in mine. I installed it in about half an hour. With a couple emails back and forth with John (he was very gracious about explaining some things to me thank God) about grounding. I suck at grounding haha. But I love the BB. Its the one dirt pedal that has stayed on my board since I got it. I dont use it all the time, but when I do, man does it make the song/part. I love the sag it has going on. I love its Rat qualities and I love how it rips right into the mix!! Brutal and smooth all at once.
I usually run mine like this
bass: around 2 oclock
treble: around 9 oclock
gain: usually around 2 oclock (right around the point it has that OD turning into dist)
output: to the room
Having that boost in it really helped me get it to where I wanted to be in the mix. I was having the same volume issues some others mentioned as well (I also have v1) and with that boost mod, it kills. No issues whatsoever with output. I used to keep the treble very low, almost off, but after I had it for a while I found that dialing some treble in helped me a lot in the mix. It may sound sorta shrill by myself, but in the mix it just sleights. My band is actually recording a track right now for another EP were putting out. One of the songs is called Bubble and I use the BB through the whole thing. Check it out below. Its live, but youll get the idea.
Exactly. I don't need wireless yet there's a G30 on my board. I don't technically need that Enabler either, or even that versatile MS-60B. But they ain't going anywhere.
Now, what else don't I need but will probably spend money on anyway... <starts clicking on many threads>
Now, what else don't I need but will probably spend money on anyway... <starts clicking on many threads>
Not really "johns" version. It simply has a boost imstalled. Same pedal. Just more powerful.
I suppose they are if Matt added more umpff to them.
JohnK just added a small clean boost to bump the output so it was more useable at lower gain. Matt caught on cause he was stalking this thread and made his new versions to have more output as well. So really no difference. Really cool when builders listen to stuff like that and make improvements. Lot of dudes can be stubborn or take forever to improve on their design.
My Blower Box has officially rejoined the main board. I always regretted taking it off, but it couldn't quite get what I was after at the time. A little amp and bass EQing, and it's perfect! Added a bit more mids to my bass (active), and then blended just a bit more bridge pickup into the blend knob for a bit more cut. Took away some bass, so I added more via bass,and voila! Blower Box is definitely back. It's not as nasally as I remember (which is good) and adds just a bit more "oomph" to my other effects. Currently I use it to "go to 11" as it were when my B3K and GK 800RB Pedal Sim need more push in certain parts of songs. AWESOME!
Here's a quick iphone clip running my Blower Box through my newly acquired Mesa Boogie 400+. So stoked on this combo. Absolutely massive sounding.
Warwick Vampyre NT4 w/ Glock preamp(slight bass and treble boost) > BB(Gain @ 11:00, Treble @ 9:30, Bass @ 2:00, Volume to unity-ish) > Channel 2 on the 400+(volume @ 3, Master @ 4, Treble @ 5, Bass @ 7, Mids @ 7) > Krank Basszilla cab.
(Pardon the shite playing)
Warwick Vampyre NT4 w/ Glock preamp(slight bass and treble boost) > BB(Gain @ 11:00, Treble @ 9:30, Bass @ 2:00, Volume to unity-ish) > Channel 2 on the 400+(volume @ 3, Master @ 4, Treble @ 5, Bass @ 7, Mids @ 7) > Krank Basszilla cab.
(Pardon the shite playing)
That is a seriously monstrous tone! Sounds like (at least on my speakers) you've got a really lush chorus running after the blower box. Stoked to get mine!
Just got my BB in from a fellow TB'er. Haven't really messed with it yet. Only hooked it up in my pedal chain. Those top mount inputs are really inconvenient when all of my other pedals are side inputs.
If you decide you like it enough to keep it, you could sell the one you just bought and get one of the new ones with the side mounts.
My pedalboard is mostly top mounts, so I prefer the old style box.
If you decide you like it enough to keep it, you could sell the one you just bought and get one of the new ones with the side mounts.
My pedalboard is mostly top mounts, so I prefer the old style box.
I've messed with it enough now to know that I'll keep it but I don't think I'm going to get over those top inputs.
If you or anyone else has a newer version with the side mounts, I'd trade straight up in a heartbeat. Especially if it's one of the greenish ones.
THERE! I knew it! I knew there was somebody in this world who actually preferred side mounts!
I honestly wouldn't care much but ALL of my other pedals are side input. Those top inputs have royally shaged the mojo of my pedal chain.
I got turned on to the BB from this thread. Had it about 2 months and did some recording with it. Copped the best overdriven recorded bass tone I've ever gotten. I'll post some links once the mastering is done, probably in a week or so. I see a lot of you guys griping over the treble but I think the EQ is perfect. The highs have great snap and clank without sounding like broken glass and the bass never gets too boomy. The huge gain range makes me wish I could justify having another on my board. I'll add that I rarely use it when I'm playing alone at quiet volumes (when I turn it on it makes me want to play super loud )
)
I don't understand the need for the mod on these to increase the output... OK you can't get unity volume with the gain at minimum, but I can nudge the gain up and get a 'clean' signal that's louder than bypassed with my v1. Are some of you running the gain at close to minimum, or do you want some volume boost available when you kick it on?
Sounds like the addition of the extra output stage causes a phase inversion too which could be problematic in some setups.
Sounds like the addition of the extra output stage causes a phase inversion too which could be problematic in some setups.
Just notice the "eyes" on my V1 aren't even! 1 is taller than the other! Anyway to fix it? Is it just as simple as opening up the box and pressing down? Don't want to mess anything up, but noticed this last night. Weird.
I know, that was my point - I have one of the old ones but don't think there is anything that needs to be solved unless you are trying to use it as a clean preamp with the gain all the way down!
Unless you were referring to the phase issue, in which case, awesome!
