Limiter with Meatbox or Mantic Hulk.

[Sunset Shalom]

Limiters are very useful but they mainly help with volume spikes, as others have said that may not be the most helpful in this situation. Still plenty of great budget limiters out if you want to give it a try, I got the Alesis Nano Comp awhile back and have been very happy:

Lots of useful features for the 40-50$~ price. Stereo ins and outs, sidechain jack. Reduction and switchable in/out volume meters. Very wide ratio and threshole range, as well as soft/hard and peak/rms mode switches. Main downside is it's a micro rack unit, nice and compact but only has a little bypass switch on the front. I tend to just leave it on always though or unplug it.

 

[Mosfed]

The Meatbox has a TRS plug to split the signal. The lowest freqs go to a subwoofer and the other to my amp. This works best for me. No HPF required.

I wonder where the cross over is set?

 

[speedball3]

I wonder where the cross over is set?

The TRS output of the Meatbox is wet/dry, not a high/low frequency split.

From the DOD page:

Output(1) ¼” TRS (Tip = Octave+Sub, Ring = Dry, Sleeve = Ground)

Meatbox | Sub Synth

To the OP, IIRC, if you listen to Juan Alderante’s (Mars Volta (and more) bassist) experience, he would just blow speakers all the time with his MB. It might just be part of the territory if you don’t have FOH or dedicated sub support and you’re pushing the pedal+rig that hard. Part (most?) of the draw of these pedals is the rumble so I get your hesitance to buy a pedal that CUTS the rumble.... but it might still be worth the money for the broughton always on HPF just to see how it interacts and whether it helps or hurts your rig’s sound. How much are speaker replacements vs an HPF? Given the broughton pedals’ popularity, I’d guess it would be easily flipped if it’s not your cuppa tea. Good luck and let us know how you end up sorting it out!

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

The TRS output of the Meatbox is wet/dry, not a high/low frequency split.

From the DOD page:

Output(1) ¼” TRS (Tip = Octave+Sub, Ring = Dry, Sleeve = Ground)

Meatbox | Sub Synth

To the OP, IIRC, if you listen to Juan Alderante’s (Mars Volta (and more) bassist) experience, he would just blow speakers all the time with his MB. It might just be part of the territory if you don’t have FOH or dedicated sub support and you’re pushing the pedal+rig that hard. Part (most?) of the draw of these pedals is the rumble so I get your hesitance to buy a pedal that CUTS the rumble.... but it might still be worth the money for the broughton always on HPF just to see how it interacts and whether it helps or hurts your rig’s sound. How much are speaker replacements vs an HPF? Given the broughton pedals’ popularity, I’d guess it would be easily flipped if it’s not your cuppa tea. Good luck and let us know how you end up sorting it out!

Thank you for you reply. Very much appreciated.

 

[Bisounourse]

this is pretty much the standard these days. You’ll be surprised how high you can turn it up before it really messes with your octave and sub pedals.

https://www.broughtonaudio.com/product-page/high-pass-filter

Or an fDeck

hpftechllc

 

[Mosfed]

Or an fDeck

hpftechllc

I prefer the slopes on the Broughton and it has a wider range

 

[bassproduction]

yes, i have a hulk and a reissue meatbox. i have always had my MXR bass compressor on after all my pedals. id get a comp pedal that has LED feedback, very useful. good luck!

 

[adamaarts]

Compressor definitely helps and I would recommend one if you’re wanting to prevent damage or piss off FOH. Pretty much any regular compressor (non limiter) will work and still sound musical. I’ve used many but stand outs were cali76 CB, Accountant, and super symmetry. Even a dirt pedal can tame those super lows and even it out.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Compressor definitely helps and I would recommend one if you’re wanting to prevent damage or piss off FOH. Pretty much any regular compressor (non limiter) will work and still sound musical. I’ve used many but stand outs were cali76 CB, Accountant, and super symmetry. Even a dirt pedal can tame those super lows and even it out.

What made you like the Fairfield??
Not a huge fan of the Darkglass and the Cali is wayyyy out of my price range.

 

[adamaarts]

What made you like the Fairfield??
Not a huge fan of the Darkglass and the Cali is wayyyy out of my price range.

Fairfield was all about the tone. Compression was good, but I used it more for the slight drive/warmth it have on the lowest options. It is quite a noisy pedal so I always love and hate it at the same time.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Fairfield was all about the tone. Compression was good, but I used it more for the slight drive/warmth it have on the lowest options. It is quite a noisy pedal so I always love and hate it at the same time.

Yeah
..
.for me it's love hate with all comps

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Ok, plugged the Mantic Hulk first in the chain, then dirt , then VT bass. Natural compression of the dirt pedal and VT bass seem to do the trick.
Carefully adjusted gain structure and used a spectrum analyzer and this seems to “tame the HULK”
Will confirm results when I get to my rig on Thursday.

Thank you.