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Lightning Boy Audio Thread
- Thread starter HoochfromP
- Start date
I don't find the cuts to have a significant audible impact, to where the EQ knobs need readjustment. They are more of a subtle sculpting. On the bass side, the cut trims a bit of the bass so that it is less boomy. I don't like a lot of treble in my bass tone, so the cut just helps tamper down any stray harmonics.
On guitar, the treble cut is more noticeable and prefer to have it off for a more natural sound. I also don't need to be as concerned with boomy bass on guitar, so I leave the bass cut off as well.
Below noon on the bass knob, you'll start feeling the effect of losing low end. Below three o'clock on the treble knob, you'll start noticing high end loss (more noticeable on guitar). That said, the tone controls are easy to work with and have good range. The bass can get boomier than I would want at max. You can't really get the treble too high, but it works well as a trim.
I will say it is pretty hard to make true point-to-point wiring look tidy. It inevitably starts looking like a rat's nest. Check out old Filmosound amps. That said, it is a cool technique.
If I was more concerned with tidiness and ease of future repairs, then turret or eyelet construction would certainly be appreciated. It doesn't look like there is enough room in the enclosures for that, though.
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I do agree, our eyes are quite used to full-PCB designs. Neat and tidy doesn't mean the same when you change technology.
Do you plan / have already used your board in a band situation ? I was really surprised with what i heard the first time i plugged the Nuvision in. No comparison for me with what the common rabbit hole thickener-mild od quest led me to try.
Do you plan / have already used your board in a band situation ? I was really surprised with what i heard the first time i plugged the Nuvision in. No comparison for me with what the common rabbit hole thickener-mild od quest led me to try.
I mostly play at home and do the occasional jam with friends, nowadays. I've played it at volume but even at bedroom levels I can tell it has some special-sauce thickening to the tone. As I've mentioned before, I didn't really jive with the NuVision on guitar (which is what I originally bought it for), so I'm glad I held on to it long enough to give it a shot for bass.
I really like the OP-2 compressor on bass. You can see my review here: Testing Compressors: Cali, Smoothie, Empress, Diamond, Keeley, FEA, Darkglass, Doc Lloyd, JHS & more
As mentioned earlier, I really like the changes in RevB which really make sense. Sounds great too. Now I need to get my hands on the NuVision. That looks awesome too.
As mentioned earlier, I really like the changes in RevB which really make sense. Sounds great too. Now I need to get my hands on the NuVision. That looks awesome too.
My pedals showed up today and WOW!!! Great stuff all the way around. The packaging is very cool and fits the retro vibe of the pedals. Each box was sized perfectly for the particular pedal and the enclosed LBA sticker, warranty card, and instructions were awesome...really nice personal touch from Mike saying thanks and explaining his passion for tube design and the details on each specific pedal.
I was able to spend some time with them on their own and then integrating with some of my other pedals and A/Bing them against other stuff. The NuVision was an immediate winner and would make for a great stand alone pedal...very warm, but plenty of growl and presence if wanted. The EQ on the NuVision is a James style EQ, so similar to the Baxandall EQ on my Broughton P15 though the filters really do some nice magic and boosting the bass and treble still maintains a lot of mids on the NuVision. The NuVision definitely can't drive a power amp by itself so use it going into the front end of something else.
An interesting comparison...I LOVE my Submarine pedal, but was anticipating the NuVision replacing that spot at the end of my pedal board chain because they both warm up the tone a bunch and the NuVisions filters make it a good option for going direct to FOH. The pedal really warms up drive pedals, so going at the end makes sense to me in a way. However, that darn Submarine is still so cool and magical in it's own way, so I'm going to keep it at the end of the chain with the NuVision going right in front of it.
Now for the Op-2 Comp...very nice! There is quite a range of tones available due to the way the blend knob and switches can combine. I liked the pedal on it's own right away, but then had to play around with it once I ran it with other pedals. So, once again...would make a killer stand alone pedal into the front of an amp to compress and warm up the signal. I initially liked the 3:1 ratio with blend towards the effected signal, but after playing around a bunch ended up with the 12:1 ratio and blend heavily favoring the clean signal. I love parallel compression on bass and on other instruments as well when I mix live sound, so the ability of this pedal to get that vibe is awesome. There is a ton of tubey flavor, so it doesn't feel like a dry and compressed signal smashed together, but rather a cohesive tube sound that sits really well.
For the sake of comparison I A/B'd it against my Doc Lloyd Photon Death Ray compressor. I can get a similar vibe going from both of them where the attack is heavily colored and brought forward, but the Op-2 is SOOO much warmer while still having plenty of definition. The Doc Lloyd is truly a special pedal and feels more clean and precise while still having a really nice coloration. Also, the Doc Lloyd runs on the standard 9V power as opposed to the 24V center positive power requirements of the Op-2. That said, I haven't played a compressor pedal that sounded as organic as this Op-2.
Also, kinda fun...that gutshot pic of an Op-2 I shared in my previous post was taken from LBA's facebook page and happens to be the exact pedal I received! The serial number on my NuVision is even lower, so it's not like Mike is pumping out a ton of these. Show me someone else doing point-to-point, high voltage tube pedals in compact enclosures...I really feel that these pedals are unique options and both work very well for bass guitar.
These pedals definitely transformed my entire rig into tube heaven and sound amazing. So, now the question is whether to strip other stuff off of my board and keep it small with these pedals, the Submarine and a dirt pedal or add more to it and set up my bigger board. I've been curiously paying attention to LBA for a while now and finally got the courage to take the jump. Now I need to try them out at higher volume levels in some band situations. Overall, I am impressed with these little pedals and really digging the sound quality. The coloration and saturation of these pedals is awesome and fun to dial in.
I was able to spend some time with them on their own and then integrating with some of my other pedals and A/Bing them against other stuff. The NuVision was an immediate winner and would make for a great stand alone pedal...very warm, but plenty of growl and presence if wanted. The EQ on the NuVision is a James style EQ, so similar to the Baxandall EQ on my Broughton P15 though the filters really do some nice magic and boosting the bass and treble still maintains a lot of mids on the NuVision. The NuVision definitely can't drive a power amp by itself so use it going into the front end of something else.
An interesting comparison...I LOVE my Submarine pedal, but was anticipating the NuVision replacing that spot at the end of my pedal board chain because they both warm up the tone a bunch and the NuVisions filters make it a good option for going direct to FOH. The pedal really warms up drive pedals, so going at the end makes sense to me in a way. However, that darn Submarine is still so cool and magical in it's own way, so I'm going to keep it at the end of the chain with the NuVision going right in front of it.
Now for the Op-2 Comp...very nice! There is quite a range of tones available due to the way the blend knob and switches can combine. I liked the pedal on it's own right away, but then had to play around with it once I ran it with other pedals. So, once again...would make a killer stand alone pedal into the front of an amp to compress and warm up the signal. I initially liked the 3:1 ratio with blend towards the effected signal, but after playing around a bunch ended up with the 12:1 ratio and blend heavily favoring the clean signal. I love parallel compression on bass and on other instruments as well when I mix live sound, so the ability of this pedal to get that vibe is awesome. There is a ton of tubey flavor, so it doesn't feel like a dry and compressed signal smashed together, but rather a cohesive tube sound that sits really well.
For the sake of comparison I A/B'd it against my Doc Lloyd Photon Death Ray compressor. I can get a similar vibe going from both of them where the attack is heavily colored and brought forward, but the Op-2 is SOOO much warmer while still having plenty of definition. The Doc Lloyd is truly a special pedal and feels more clean and precise while still having a really nice coloration. Also, the Doc Lloyd runs on the standard 9V power as opposed to the 24V center positive power requirements of the Op-2. That said, I haven't played a compressor pedal that sounded as organic as this Op-2.
Also, kinda fun...that gutshot pic of an Op-2 I shared in my previous post was taken from LBA's facebook page and happens to be the exact pedal I received! The serial number on my NuVision is even lower, so it's not like Mike is pumping out a ton of these. Show me someone else doing point-to-point, high voltage tube pedals in compact enclosures...I really feel that these pedals are unique options and both work very well for bass guitar.
These pedals definitely transformed my entire rig into tube heaven and sound amazing. So, now the question is whether to strip other stuff off of my board and keep it small with these pedals, the Submarine and a dirt pedal or add more to it and set up my bigger board. I've been curiously paying attention to LBA for a while now and finally got the courage to take the jump. Now I need to try them out at higher volume levels in some band situations. Overall, I am impressed with these little pedals and really digging the sound quality. The coloration and saturation of these pedals is awesome and fun to dial in.
Here is my latest and greatest:
Neaaaat !
Your review plus some comments on the Nuvision made me buy these pedals ! You should not be disappointed by the Nuvision flavors, it's a great pedal !
For me practice situations are where these pedals really shine - not used them live for the moment. I'm sorry i'm repeating myself but their headroom set them apart for me. I got here some pedals many users rave about. Their magic at home is tough to reproduce in a band situation, even if you dig in, or try EQing to add presence. For me headroom is the key there.
As for the comp, i think its best location is just before the preamp, whether you use only these in your sound, or after other pedals. Sounds great after the Nuvision !
Btw, what was sure to me the day i played these pedals is 1/ they're now part of my sound 2/ the rabbit-hole quest came to an end 3/ i got some pedals to sell. Keepers, and pure gold for bass players.
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Anyone have any bass demos of the NuVision? I tried the Thunder Knob with both a 12AU7 and 12DW7 and neither worked for me. Mike is such a cool guy that I'm interested in trying the NuVision, but don't want to waste more of his time if it doesn't work for me either.
Ken, what are you looking for exactly? The Nuvision is great! I used it as a stand alone pedal for two gigs this weekend and it was awesome. It definitely imparts a nice tube character.
Best I can describe it is a lot of clarity, yet slight tube breakup grit. I've been using a Darkglass Alpha-Omega in low gain mode and get what I consider some organic tube sounds, but keep thinking I can get more. Nothing has topped it yet for me, though. I got a Crazy Tube Circuits Planet B Plus, which was modeled after a 70s Orange OR120 and as nice as it is, it was frighteningly close to how I run my AO. Playing a Gibson Thunderbird might also affect results I get.
When I tried the Thunder Knob with a 12AU7, it was completely clean for me. No distortion whatsoever. I put in a 12DW7, which is a hybrid of 12AU7 and 12AX7, and after burn-in it was all warbly and muffled/blurry for me. No real note definition.
Okay, well...I don't know how to best describe the Nuvision. It's definitely not completely clean...has a lot of character to it. I play a P-bass with a Dimarzio Model P pickup that has a pretty hot output. I have to keep the gain on the Nuvision around 9 to 10 o'clock and there is some slight breakup at that level. It sounds fairly fat and warm and clear if playing near the neck, but if I play up towards the bridge the attack really starts to pop out in a cool tubey way. I guess I'm also setting the bass and treble knobs on the Nuvision at around 3 o'clock, so maybe it would clean up more if I wasn't pushing the EQ that hard. That said, it sounds really good just like that!
The Noble preamp is super nice and well made, but stays fairly clean and transparent. I like the character and the EQ of the Nuvision much more. You're not going to get sizzling highs or anything out of it though (not that I'm the best judge of that playing a P-bass with dead roundwounds through 15" cabs...lol).
Thanks. That's definitely encouraging. Definitely thinking of trying one out. I wonder if Mike would do the old raw metal, as opposed to the yellow.
It's pretty loud.
Great choice The Thunder Knob with 12AU7 will mainly work as a clean boost indeed. When used as a stand alone pedal, it won't add much breakup. I use it after the Nuvision and it works very differently, as the Thunder Knob is fed with hotter level if you decide so. If you push it, you get then more breakup, esp. with the Thunder switch engaged.
Anyway, you should not be disappointed with the Nuvision. Tube tones in a pedal is something you read quite often. What's sure is the Nuvision delivers !
The Thunder Knob with 12AU7 will mainly work as a clean boost indeed. When used as a stand alone pedal, it won't add much breakup. I use it after the Nuvision and it works very differently, as the Thunder Knob is fed with hotter level if you decide so. If you push it, you get then more breakup, esp. with the Thunder switch engaged. Anyway, you should not be disappointed with the Nuvision. Tube tones in a pedal is something you read quite often. What's sure is the Nuvision delivers !
It sure does! I only got to play around for a little while last night, but the NuVision definitely sounds like a tube amp. However, I'm not sure it's what I'm looking for. Not sure real tubes are, actually. There's something a little mushy and slow about it to me, and I'm not sure any of the settings can tighten that up. I've been using a Darkglass Alpha-Omega, which in low gain mode can sound quite "tubey." But its sound is very tight and immediate. The NuVision, besides the kind of mushiness, seems to have a slight delay. Is that just the nature of tubes? If so, solid state may be what I need.
I will confirm that the NuVision seems geared more towards a vintage 60s bass type of sound to my ears. I guess that can be a strength or weakness depending on what one is after. On my board, I go through the NuVision for when I want that squishier, tubby sound and switch to the RMI's eq for more modern tones.
Obviously, there are modern sounding tube amps, so tubes don't necessarily create a specific sound. It is all about how the circuit is designed around them. That said, the natural compression and sag tend to be things associated with a "tube" sound and more complicated to recreate with solid state. The more immediate and tight thing tends to come more easily with solid state (but I can also associate it with cold-biased tubes and SS rectifiers).
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