I just contacted Mike to put my name down for one of these. He needs one more name before he will do the limited run. You just need to email his sales address.
C'mon all, who wants one?
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Lightning Boy Audio Thread
- Thread starter HoochfromP
- Start date
I just contacted Mike to put my name down for one of these. He needs one more name before he will do the limited run. You just need to email his sales address.
C'mon all, who wants one?
Just left a comment as well that I want one and got on the preorder for the 2020S...tried using scubaduba in the coupon code section but, no luck there. I should check his blogs out more often, though; good to see that 2020 has been kind to LBA.
I'm on the list! I hear good things about LBA. Looking forward to becoming a first-time customer.
I got my S today, looking forward to trying it out tonight.
jacoby75
Supporting Member
- Mar 11, 2010
- 5,661
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- Endorsing Artist: Mike Lull Custom Guitars, DR Strings
I also got my 2020S today. Only had maybe 10-15 minutes with it so far. I got it for those times I don't feel like lugging around the huge board that has my Broughton SSDI on it. (Not that this is in any way a replacement for the SSDI, nor is it supposed to be, but so there would still be something on my smaller board to fatten and sweeten up my tone.)
For those purposes, and for auditioning it tonight, my chain was:
Passive J5 > Broughton Solarian > Empress bass comp > Broughton Fliptop or SVPre > 2020s > Broughton Messenger headphone amp, bypassing the EQ and H/LPF of the Messenger
After a short trial, I can say that the 2020S is very subtle, but very sweet. I had to go back and forth with and without it in my chain several times to figure out what it was doing, and I'm still not entirely sure I know what it's doing or how to best describe it. Keep in mind that this is through a headphone amp. I think you'd be even harder-pressed to put your finger on the difference if you're using an actual amp and cab. But I'm sure there would be a difference.
Whether or not I can adequately describe the difference with it in my chain, I can say this much: I like my tone better with it than without it. What I think I can nail down at this point is that it shaves off some highs and ultra lows, but in a very pleasant way. You might say it "tames" the highs. And that's with me using a couple of other things in my chain that already cut highs, and only running the tone knob on my bass about 50%. It just makes things sound sweeter. Especially when playing on the G string, and particularly up high on the G string. (This next part is subjective: Fuller? Warmer, maybe?). I think a "tone sweetener" is the best way to describe it. And if I run it after my preamp pedals and run them hot, it distorts ever so slightly in a very pleasant way.
So far I'd say it's a keeper, and it definitely makes me want to try the original 2020.
For those purposes, and for auditioning it tonight, my chain was:
Passive J5 > Broughton Solarian > Empress bass comp > Broughton Fliptop or SVPre > 2020s > Broughton Messenger headphone amp, bypassing the EQ and H/LPF of the Messenger
After a short trial, I can say that the 2020S is very subtle, but very sweet. I had to go back and forth with and without it in my chain several times to figure out what it was doing, and I'm still not entirely sure I know what it's doing or how to best describe it. Keep in mind that this is through a headphone amp. I think you'd be even harder-pressed to put your finger on the difference if you're using an actual amp and cab. But I'm sure there would be a difference.
Whether or not I can adequately describe the difference with it in my chain, I can say this much: I like my tone better with it than without it. What I think I can nail down at this point is that it shaves off some highs and ultra lows, but in a very pleasant way. You might say it "tames" the highs. And that's with me using a couple of other things in my chain that already cut highs, and only running the tone knob on my bass about 50%. It just makes things sound sweeter. Especially when playing on the G string, and particularly up high on the G string. (This next part is subjective: Fuller? Warmer, maybe?). I think a "tone sweetener" is the best way to describe it. And if I run it after my preamp pedals and run them hot, it distorts ever so slightly in a very pleasant way.
So far I'd say it's a keeper, and it definitely makes me want to try the original 2020.
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You guys with the 2020S are making me want to try one.
jacoby75
Supporting Member
- Mar 11, 2010
- 5,661
- 10,716
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Mike Lull Custom Guitars, DR Strings
Here is a very quick take with and without the LBA 2020S. The only difference between them is with the 2020S in and out of the chain. And my fingers playing, of course. I'll let you guess which one has the 2020S.
Signal chain: Passive P with Lolar pickup and TI Jazz Flats -> Doc Lloyd PDR -> [LBA 2020S] -> NuX NBP-5
Signal chain: Passive P with Lolar pickup and TI Jazz Flats -> Doc Lloyd PDR -> [LBA 2020S] -> NuX NBP-5
Definitely a noticeable difference between the two tracks...looking forward to mine arriving tomorrow!
Thanks for posting this!
jacoby75
Supporting Member
- Mar 11, 2010
- 5,661
- 10,716
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Mike Lull Custom Guitars, DR Strings
The first one is with the 2020S! But I'm terrible at this game and am never right. So don't take my word for it.
@jacoby75 You need to try the 2020S with a passive P-bass plugged straight into it and then into whatever else you want to run in your chain. It is definitely not subtle, but it's certainly beautiful ran this way! I messed around with mine at home today and on the gig tonight. I will play around some more tomorrow and report back.
Hey guys, I have a TI Box for sale here. It sounds great, as we all know, but right after I purchased it I got a great deal on another Pre/DI I couldn’t pass up. So my DI needs are covered.
jacoby75
Supporting Member
- Mar 11, 2010
- 5,661
- 10,716
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Mike Lull Custom Guitars, DR Strings
I'll have to give that a shot, thanks. So far I've only tried it in the one spot after my preamps. I just assumed I'd want something that could push it volume-wise when needed, and I play primarily passive basses. But I'm looking forward to trying it out in different places in my chain.
jacoby75
Supporting Member
- Mar 11, 2010
- 5,661
- 10,716
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Mike Lull Custom Guitars, DR Strings
I decided to try the 2020S first in the chain ever so briefly this morning. Holy cow! What a difference! It's warm, punchy, and adds just the perfect amount of vintage flavor and harmonic distortion to my tone. I was blown away. I was not expecting that significant of a difference. Must be an impedance thing. I thought it would be less responsive plugging my passive j-bass straight into it and then running into everything else as opposed to hitting it later in the chain with preamps and the like, but the exact opposite was true. It offers way more of an "effect" when you plug your bass straight into it. I'm very impressed. Now I have two great options for flavor enhancement. Towards the end of my chain if I want just a tiny bit of "secret sauce,” or right up front for some fat, vintage tone. Fantastic! Thanks for the tip!
Hey, I'm glad you experimented! I like the 2020S straight up at the front as opposed to 2 of the 2020 OG versions. These are good everywhere in the chain, but it's definitely worth the effort to play around and see what you get with different combinations. I don't understand it at all, but I think you're right that it has something to do with impedances.
