My Dirt Bender - Another Jounal

[el murdoque]

Hey, while we're bashing the Mantle, I want to add that While I really liked what they did with the bass and treble knobs,
I feel like having to choose is somewhat stupid. I want the Boost AND the cut, or at least the option thereof.

Basically all my boards are built like that. On the big one, it's the combo of the Broughton RFE and the Noble. On the Noble, I bosst bass and treble a lot, but the RFE holds against that with the filters cutting away the unwanted frequencies.
On the tiny board, it's all done within the Toolbox. Hard boost for the bass, but the HPF turned up to filter the mud, hard boost for the treble, but the LPF turned down to filter the noise.
On the metal board, it's spread over several devices and a bit different, because I'm mostly playing through a bass cabinet there, but the idea is the same - boost into filter.

That's what I came to like - and while the Mantle is capable of that, it only can do one thing at a time.
I guess the easy and obvious solution is to buy two of them. One for the boost and one for the filters.
Did anyone here already get two and can comment on how the gain stages stack?

 

[s_wood]

I’m a huge fan of the Tubedrv. Like most of you, I own too many dirt pedals and I’ve been through more than I can count. I’m wary of hyperbole, but I’ll just say it: the Tubedrv is probably the best always on like OD pedal I’ve ever used. It’s great by itself to warm up the signal chain slightly, and it’s really good that feeding other dry pedals, too. It’s pretty versatile, but El Murdoque explained it best when he wrote:

I've been around the block when it comes to dirt pedal and preamp setups. You sculpt the ultimate tone, so beautifully pronounced and accentuated, you want to get on your knees and weep. The equivalent of what the old masters in Rome did with marble. Sculptures that seem translucent, soft - so intricate they trick the eye, just for your ears this time. Then you feed your glorious new bedroom tone into the mix and get a slap in the face, a cold bucket of water over your head and that kid from the Simpsons pointing at you going "Haw-haw!".

The Tubedrv absolutely kills in a mix. As good as it sounds in my headphones when I’m practicing, the real value of this pedal cannot be appreciated until you hear it in a mix. My tongue really comes alive. This is one of the few pedals of any kind that I recommend without hesitation to anybody.

 

[el murdoque]

This is one of the few pedals of any kind that I recommend without hesitation to anybody.

Really, that's the whole point of that thing, isn't it?

It's a tube driven pedal that will make your rig sound a little better and make your instrument come a bit more alive in a busy mix.
Who would not want that?

 

[gillento]

….
I feel like having to choose is somewhat stupid. I want the Boost AND the cut, or at least the option .

+100000!!!
…..

I guess the easy and obvious solution is to buy two of them. One for the boost and one
Did anyone here already get two and can comment on how the gain stages stack?

Of course

 

[s_wood]

Really, that's the whole point of that thing, isn't it?

It's a tube driven pedal that will make your rig sound a little better and make your instrument come a bit more alive in a busy mix.
Who would not want that?

Just so! I’ve taken to placing it first in my signal chain (after my tuner) because it makes my chorus and envelope filters sound - dare I say it - more musical as well. It’s hard to overstate how good this pedal really is.

 

[gillento]

Speaking of „always on“ and „edge of breakup“ I think I am falling in love with the Broughton Fliptop pedal in a band mix setting again.

 

[davelowell2]

@el murdoque

Can we (I) see a pic of your board(s) as they are now? I’m mostly curious of your use of eq over the several devices. I understand your tonal goals, I think, and would like to see how you get there.

Thanks!

 

[Charlie Tuna]

Speaking of „always on“ and „edge of breakup“ I think I am falling in love with the Broughton Fliptop pedal in a band mix setting again.

I really liked the Fliptop, especially at the higher voltages. One of my favorites.

 

[sunbeast]

I really liked the Fliptop, especially at the higher voltages. One of my favorites.

I’m about to play my first gig with the Origin Fifteen as a pre- this is an African group where I usually just use a Smoothie comp, but have used the DCX as a preamp for the last half dozen shows. I brought the Fifteen to rehearsal and really dug it paired with the comp, even with some subtle audible saturation happening. I’m looking forward to seeing how it works out!

 

[el murdoque]

@el murdoque

Can we (I) see a pic of your board(s) as they are now? I’m mostly curious of your use of eq over the several devices. I understand your tonal goals, I think, and would like to see how you get there.

Thanks!

I don't have the metal board rigged up at the moment, but here is the big one.
Sorry, no glamour shots but very utilitarian ones in bad light.

This is the current state of the big board:

This is the top deck. Always on effects are (in that order) Cali76 - BigSky (just a hint of plate reverb as always on to give the IEM signal more of a roomy feel) into RFE into Noble. These are the knob settings I use, The only thing that changes is the position of the treble knob of the Noble, depending on the freshness of the strings. This setting is for my main player, the Le Fay Karlsson with Optima Flatwound strings that were installed in 2020. On most other basses I dial back to around noon.
The lower deck only holds two more pedals:

The knobs on the BB are a bit hard to make out, but the Gain is up three quarters and Treble and Bass are maxed.
Also, there is dog hair on my MC8. I apologize.

Here's a plot of the frequency response of my two main sounds, either the always on pedals alone or with the BDPG active.

And here are the knob settings for the wee one:

The unnamed pedal is a three knob BDPG. Since I need more gain on this one, the first two knobs are a bit past noon, only the tone knob is in the same position as it is on the four knob version - this is not because I like it better this way, this is simply to retain unity, with both knobs before noon, the signal would drop significantly. The threshold on the comp is set rather low because I played a low output bass into it. I do set the comp so playing with a light touch will barely trigger it, but medium playing will. as you might see, I use it as a limiter, so no dry signal and since I play low, the HPF is set to the highest frequency (so that more lows may pass without triggering it). Looking at the picture, I realize that I had experimented with the mids a bit.

Here's how I determine my knob positions:
HPF: I slowly turn it up while playing low, and listen to the unwanted rumble to disappear, listening closely to the weight of the notes. When the filter starts cutting into the meat I go back a notch and have my position.
The opposite goes for the bass knob. I start on full and then go back until it stops sounding boomy. If it's not sounding boomy at full, then full it is.

Treble and LPF feel a bit more complicated than bass and HPF. I usually double check the LPF with the dirtiest dirt sound I have to make sure there's no nasty sizzle passing. Then turn up the treble until I get to the point where all it does is further amplifying unwanted noise (finger noise, fret clank), or gets hissy.
At this point, a quick search begins.
There's a balance between the two knobs. I often raise the treble and lower the filter or vice versa to see if moving in that direciton makes the sound feel better or worse, and if it makes it better, I continue until it makes it worse.

For the mids, I do know that I have shortcomings in the area of 500-600 Hz. That's where the mids knob is set to (roughly).
My go-to setting is a little bit more of a boost than seen in the picture.I turn it way up, then slowly decrease it while playing until it stops sounding honky.

 

[Charlie Tuna]

I’m about to play my first gig with the Origin Fifteen as a pre- this is an African group where I usually just use a Smoothie comp, but have used the DCX as a preamp for the last half dozen shows. I brought the Fifteen to rehearsal and really dug it paired with the comp, even with some subtle audible saturation happening. I’m looking forward to seeing how it works out!

Any YT vids? Fela? Soukouss? Paul Simon? lol

 

[el murdoque]

I’m about to play my first gig with the Origin Fifteen as a pre- this is an African group where I usually just use a Smoothie comp, but have used the DCX as a preamp for the last half dozen shows. I brought the Fifteen to rehearsal and really dug it paired with the comp, even with some subtle audible saturation happening. I’m looking forward to seeing how it works out!

Have you played the Broughton SV-Pre and the Broughton Fliptop and the Origin Bassrig Super Vintage?

Would you say the difference between the SV-Pre and the Super Vintage is the same as the difference between the Fliptop and the Fifteen?
Because if it is it makes me shudder.

In my humble opinion, most SVT pedals try to capture that one sound the SVT is capable of. that rock sound. There's so much beef, it's impossible not to make a bad vegan joke. The SV-Pre feels like it's just doing that. And it does a great job of it. But the Origin captures the amp in its entirety and reflects the actual versatility of the amp past that one rock sound.

 

[sunbeast]

Have you played the Broughton SV-Pre and the Broughton Fliptop and the Origin Bassrig Super Vintage?

Would you say the difference between the SV-Pre and the Super Vintage is the same as the difference between the Fliptop and the Fifteen?
Because if it is it makes me shudder.

In my humble opinion, most SVT pedals try to capture that one sound the SVT is capable of. that rock sound. There's so much beef, it's impossible not to make a bad vegan joke. The SV-Pre feels like it's just doing that. And it does a great job of it. But the Origin captures the amp in its entirety and reflects the actual versatility of the amp past that one rock sound.

Unfortunately I haven’t tried the Broughton offerings, I have been comparing the Fifteen and the Super Vintage for the last month though and used the Super Vintage in my other band for its first gig last Friday which was a success for sure! It’s interesting because I had a couple SVTs back in my early 20s but mostly lost interest in Ampeg amps when I grabbed my first Mesa and have only recently gotten into them again. I have been using a Master Effects Super 300 for a bit but never tried another analog B15 pedal. My first impressions of the Fifteen made me immediately find a Super Vintage though, which definitely has left the Super 300 in the dust in most ways.

I suspect what you say is indeed the case- the Origin boxes really do an impressive job of amplifier emulation instead of just preamp emulation which is what most of the other Ampeg-influenced amp pedals (including the Super 300 and presumably the Broughton SV) are designed around. Of course the real attraction to an SVT or B-15 is beyond just the preamp, so the power amp emulation where most of the saturation comes into play on the Origin pedals is something very different (vs say cranking the Gain control on an SVT-CL amp or any of the hybrid Ampeg like the SVT 3 or 4 which I owned both of before my old SVT-CL). The preamp gain from an SVT-CL amp can sound pretty good IME, but is a very different sound than cranking a vintage SVT where most of the hair is from the power amp.

 

[sunbeast]

Any YT vids? Fela? Soukouss? Paul Simon? lol

Honestly I don’t have a lot of musical context for the band, and I’m mostly given free reign to do whatever as long as it grooves! The 3 main guys are from Togo and the bandleader plays both guitar and Kora, then the kit drummer and I are USAmericans. The bandleader used to lead a much more afrobeat-oriented band, but our band is more simple I guess west-African blues based and more improvisatory around simple song structures. There is some of the desert blues sound in some songs too. Part of me would love to have more context for the music, but also I like the idea of just playing what I hear in my head rather than what I hear in other people’s music.

I have an embarrassingly small amount of low quality video of this band, the bandleader is somewhat philosophically opposed to recordings like that and very much into the live band experience. Hopefully a friend tonight can get some footage so I can hear from the audience. We are very unrehearsed (less than an hour playing together since October), but sometimes that works to our advantage.

 

[el murdoque]

Unfortunately I haven’t tried the Broughton offerings, I have been comparing the Fifteen and the Super Vintage for the last month though and used the Super Vintage in my other band for its first gig last Friday which was a success for sure! It’s interesting because I had a couple SVTs back in my early 20s but mostly lost interest in Ampeg amps when I grabbed my first Mesa and have only recently gotten into them again. I have been using a Master Effects Super 300 for a bit but never tried another analog B15 pedal. My first impressions of the Fifteen made me immediately find a Super Vintage though, which definitely has left the Super 300 in the dust in most ways.

I suspect what you say is indeed the case- the Origin boxes really do an impressive job of amplifier emulation instead of just preamp emulation which is what most of the other Ampeg-influenced amp pedals (including the Super 300 and presumably the Broughton SV) are designed around. Of course the real attraction to an SVT or B-15 is beyond just the preamp, so the power amp emulation where most of the saturation comes into play on the Origin pedals is something very different (vs say cranking the Gain control on an SVT-CL amp or any of the hybrid Ampeg like the SVT 3 or 4 which I owned both of before my old SVT-CL). The preamp gain from an SVT-CL amp can sound pretty good IME, but is a very different sound than cranking a vintage SVT where most of the hair is from the power amp.

Yes, Origin did one better and aimed to emulate the whole amp. As I said, they went for the entire thing, not one particular sound. I do like the SVT, but I never liked and SVT pedals. That made me hesitate before buying the Super Vintage, but when I got it, I instantly liked it a lot.
Not only for the texture of the drive, but also because it truly is an amazing and versatile preamp pedal.

 

[davelowell2]

Very cool, thank you @el murdoque.

Is your Meatsmoke and FPT on the board not wired up?
How do you set the eq on those?

 

[el murdoque]

Very cool, thank you @el murdoque.

Is your Meatsmoke and FPT on the board not wired up?
How do you set the eq on those?

Those are on the metal board.
I'll post that when I set it up for playing next time, but I'm in the middle of something right now and can't properly do it just now.

 

[sunbeast]

Any YT vids? Fela? Soukouss? Paul Simon? lol

Any YT vids? Fela? Soukouss? Paul Simon? lol

Alright here’s a video from last night. We are usually pretty loose, but last night we felt a bit like a garage-Rock band. I don’t mind that though! I was pretty happy with the Origin Fifteen- my Godin bass can get pretty spikey (part of why I love that bass is how articulate it can be for a fretless, with a pronounced attack, but it can go too far if I’m not careful), and I felt liked it helped smooth and sweeten the edges nicely (my best descriptor for the Fifteen is “sweet” sounding in general, at least til you push to fuzz territory!). I had played around with using the DCX in that role but never really was convinced. I usually play totally clean in this band, but last night I had just a bit of hair on the notes and really liked how it felt. I also appreciate how I can pretty much use the whole range of the EQ without nastiness to get different sounds.

 

[jcburn]

@el murdoque - apologies in advance for a question whose answer is most likely already answered elsewhere here but did you buy the Disssid pedals directly from the maker's website? If so what was the purchasing experience like? I've only just become aware of this pedal maker via this thread and some of the designs and pedals look really interesting.

 

[Bleezar]

@el murdoque - apologies in advance for a question whose answer is most likely already answered elsewhere here but did you buy the Disssid pedals directly from the maker's website? If so what was the purchasing experience like? I've only just become aware of this pedal maker via this thread and some of the designs and pedals look really interesting.

I've bought a couple of units from him. Best thing to to is shooting an email and discuss your needs directly. Sometimes he works on news things that are not on the website, it is worth being updated ! As for the purchase experience, it was flawless and he kept me updated (one of the pedal was a first), quick and fast with very fair price, in regard of the quality of the work.