My Dirt Bender - Another Jounal

[el murdoque]

This thing arrived. I had it in the mail yesterday but I've been on a business trip all day and rushed home to make it to band practice and when I came home, I was done for.
Tonight, I finally found the time to give it a first test drive.

The very short version:
It's a magic tone sweetener that is capable of a low gain drive.

The slightly longer version:
I tried it early in my signal chain, where the bass output is not bumped up and the signal is not very hot. With the gain at minimum, you get a clean signal. With the gain at noon, you can detect a hint of hair if you listen closely and with the gain maxed the amount of dirt I get is what most overdrive pedals yield with the gain around 9-10 o'clock.
The taste & texture of the dirt has a hint of 100W speaker driven at 120W - it's very cranked amp feeling. The dynamics are great. The lows stay clean as long as you don't dig in. Double stops make it sing.
There's a two band EQ that has very useful highs, I can get a lot of definition back, but the sound result does not feel like a modern HiFi bass sound, but more like a crisp and precise old school vintage sound.
In that regard, it works fairly well with my flatwounds.
I ran out of time, so I could not deep dive into it. I do want to do that ASAP, though - I'm really looking forward to it.
I already understand why people run this as an always on pedal because "it tightens up the sound". It could be that there's not too much versatility in there, but if it does the one trick very very well, that's alright.



....side jacks, though.

 

[el murdoque]

A little more playing and a little reading later, some more on the BB.

The manual describes the EQ as a shelving one. Bass peaks at 90Hz and ends at 500Hz, treble starts at 800 Hz and peaks at 8kHz, both give you a 15dB boost or cut, the knobs have a center detent.
Turning the knobs, my taste says that Xotic has the haptics just right. You get enough friction so you should be able to transport your pedalboard without messing up the settings, but not enough that you might feel that they are stuck.

The foot switch choice on modern boutique pedals seems to gravitate towards clickless models, the BB has a more oldschool approach of a solid click model.

Back to the sound. I quickly learned that I like the pedal best with gain and treble maxed - YMMV if you're not using worn flats on a passive bass that's not that hot. However, plugging in a P bass with a hotter pickup
showed that this is still a pedal that maxes out at low gain drive, even my active Dingwall does not push it very far towards harder drive settings.

Playing solo, I arrived at maxing bass, treble and gain. Pleasant. The nature of the breakup really suits my ears - as I said, it feels like a cranked amp on the edge of losing it, barely keeping it together. The EQ settings will have to be tried in a band setup to see if the resulting mid scoop is too much, but my feeling tells me that it's fine the way it is. With the full bump of everything that can be bumped, the breakup is happening a bit easier, too.

I really like what I'm getting here. In comparison to the Origin DCX, which is surprisingly similar in many ways, (as long as you have the DCX set to EQ), the Origin feels like it is geared towards a more modern sound, where the BB has more of an oldschool-y vibe to it. For those that associate oldschool with farty lows and muffled highs, don't fret. I mean something that passed as super modern HiFi sounding in the late seventies compared to something that is super modern HiFi nowadays.
The Origin, from my point of view, feels like a surgical tool. I sense polished steel. The dynamic range is incredible, certainly among the best I ever played. The BB does not boast such range, but it goes from clean to crunchy. There is that certain something in there, that certain something that adds a bit of character that the Origin does not do. I sense no surgical steel. It's much rather that slightly musty couch that sits in the rehearsal room. Very comfy.

 

[sunbeast]

A little more playing and a little reading later, some more on the BB.

The manual describes the EQ as a shelving one. Bass peaks at 90Hz and ends at 500Hz, treble starts at 800 Hz and peaks at 8kHz, both give you a 15dB boost or cut, the knobs have a center detent.
Turning the knobs, my taste says that Xotic has the haptics just right. You get enough friction so you should be able to transport your pedalboard without messing up the settings, but not enough that you might feel that they are stuck.

The foot switch choice on modern boutique pedals seems to gravitate towards clickless models, the BB has a more oldschool approach of a solid click model.

Back to the sound. I quickly learned that I like the pedal best with gain and treble maxed - YMMV if you're not using worn flats on a passive bass that's not that hot. However, plugging in a P bass with a hotter pickup
showed that this is still a pedal that maxes out at low gain drive, even my active Dingwall does not push it very far towards harder drive settings.

Playing solo, I arrived at maxing bass, treble and gain. Pleasant. The nature of the breakup really suits my ears - as I said, it feels like a cranked amp on the edge of losing it, barely keeping it together. The EQ settings will have to be tried in a band setup to see if the resulting mid scoop is too much, but my feeling tells me that it's fine the way it is. With the full bump of everything that can be bumped, the breakup is happening a bit easier, too.

I really like what I'm getting here. In comparison to the Origin DCX, which is surprisingly similar in many ways, (as long as you have the DCX set to EQ), the Origin feels like it is geared towards a more modern sound, where the BB has more of an oldschool-y vibe to it. For those that associate oldschool with farty lows and muffled highs, don't fret. I mean something that passed as super modern HiFi sounding in the late seventies compared to something that is super modern HiFi nowadays.
The Origin, from my point of view, feels like a surgical tool. I sense polished steel. The dynamic range is incredible, certainly among the best I ever played. The BB does not boast such range, but it goes from clean to crunchy. There is that certain something in there, that certain something that adds a bit of character that the Origin does not do. I sense no surgical steel. It's much rather that slightly musty couch that sits in the rehearsal room. Very comfy.

I had a BB years ago, I believe before Darkglass existed, and remember liking it as a sort of colored boost into the tube amps I played at the time. I believe I sold it shortly after playing a DG B3K for the first time, as the attack boost of the DG really gave me what I wanted in front of an amp better than anything I’d tried before (which was most of the “bass” specific overdrive pedals made back then, and there weren’t very many!). I’d be curious to try a BB again now that my tastes have gotten notably milder, as it’s been so long I can hardly remember what it sounded like independent of the amplifier drive I was leaning on back then.

 

[el murdoque]

It certainly is no Darkglass pedal at all and it certainly is low gain. But I tried stacking it with the Jive and the results were great. Stacking with the Subspace was not as well - so it seems it's a bit hit and miss (as always).

 

[el murdoque]

Some movement in the east:
Reverb updated my purchase of the Piggy.
There is a tracking number now, but it does not track (yet).

 

[Stubb]

Did the Piggy ever show up?

 

[el murdoque]

Piggy has made it from Ukraine to German customs, apparently it has cleared both hurdles and was already released to be delivered soon!

A little more playing had me A/B testing the Saturn VI against the Xotic BB.

Either of those two would be the exact pedal that has me yelling 'Heureka!'.
An organic low gain overdrive that is capable of adding a magic sparkle on top to give some life back into my flats, not too aggressive but clearly audible in a mix with guitars and drums, very touch sensitive so it can live in front of the compressor and I can set the amount of dirt with playing dynamics.

A while back, I'd simply stuff it on my pedal board and live happily ever after.


But I had to decide to go on a Bender.
The BB has a litle more of a fat texture when played into the Jive, and it produces a bit more sizzle that won't be filtered out when engaging the BDPG. On top of that, the not-so-modern BB has a real switch instead of a soft touch one, which remains in the last state, while the Spaceman defaults to being off when powered up.

 

[el murdoque]

...had to hold that thought because the Postlady rang - she had a parcel with import fees to be collected.
From Kyiv.

...more on this later!

 

[el murdoque]

Time for a litttle recap.
Here are the pedals that were listed in this thread with a super short notice of what I think about them now:

1. Heather Brown Electronicals - The Blessed Mother.
Bought it because it's beautiful. Sold it because it's too dark for my application and lacks a bit of touch sensitivity.

2. Fuzzrocious Egg Sack:
Bought it because it was cheap. Sold it because it lacks controls.

3. Big Muff. Already had it, still have. This is a classic, but it's a fuzz.

4. Sushi Box FX Fluffy Kitten
Bought it when there was the first drop of 10 and I managed to snag one. It's too guitar-high-gain for my taste, but I have it on a shelf because it's sweet.

5. OBNE Haunt: Already had it when I started. Sold it because I found other fuzz pedals more to my liking.

6. Gamechanger Audio Plasma: Bought it because I dig that kind of weirdness. Sold it because it sounded terrible.

7. AMT O-Bass. Bought it because I quite liked the A-Bass. Sold it because it would distort unevenly, starting with the lows. Also, it's too small and wants 12V.

8. Sushi Box FX Smoke Signal (the first version). Bought it because I wanted a Meat Smoke forever. Sold it because it was a bit too much for me.

9. Way Huge Pork Loin: Bought it because I ran across a good offer. Sold it because it sounded a bit too artificial for my taste.

10. Crazy Tubes Locomotive. Bought it because tubes. Sold it because I could not really get myself to like the way it breaks up (the Sushi Box was way better in that regard).

11. SolidGoldFX Beta DLX. Bought it because someone made an offer I could not refuse. Sold it because it gave me a range of great tones that would sit very well with music I don't play.

12. One Control Silver Bee: Bought it because it was recommended to me in this thread. Sold it because I liked the Barbershop better.

13. Fairfield Barbershop: Bought it because it's a well loved pedal on TB. Sold it because I was stupid. I'd like another one in the future.

14. Sushi Box FX Underground Accelerator: Bought it as a preamp, found it's a great drive pedal. Sold it when I got the Hand Wired Underground Accelerator.

15. Damnation Audio MBD-2: Bought it from the US after lots of recommendations. Sold it because ... I can't recall. It's a great pedal!

16. Smallsound/Bigsound Mini. Bought it after a long search. Sold it because ... just joking. That thing is awesome. And a keeper.

17. Jam Pedals Lucydreamer Bass. Bought it because I liked the demos. Sold it because side jacks with stupid layout and a rather bland sound in comparison to my at-the-time favorites, the UA and the Mini.

18. Hudson Broadcast (24V?) Bought it because it drives a transformer. Sold it because it sounded kinda bland, too.

19. Sushi Box FX Handwired Underground Accelerator: Bought it because AWESOME! Still have it.

20. Spaceman Saturn VI. Came to my house on loan (unwanted and unasked for), was an instant love affair. Before I had to give it back, I got one of my own.

21. Broughton SV-Pre. Was on loan, too. Too beefy for my taste.

22. JPTR FX Jive. Bought it because I liked the demos, plus it's a local product. Still have it. I love how it can add saturation to the signal without much audible drive. It also can drastically change the nature of a low gain drive pedal running into it.

23. Southampton Fifth Gear: Bought it because it is a TB favorite. Sold it because I did not like it.

24. Wampler Belle. Fun little Pedal. Still have it.

25. Way Huge Pork&Pickle. Bought it in a bulk deal. Sold it because it is great, but not THAT great.

26. Boss ODR-3. Bought it because I wanted to try that oldschool vibe. Sold it because it's terrible.

27. Origin DCX Bass. Bought it because it's made by origin, geared for bass and capable of drive. Sold it because it's a little too surgical sounding, with it's party trick not really working with old flats.

28. Nobels ODR-1: Bought it because the Belle is supposed to be a copy of it. Liked it a lot! Sold it because the Belle and the Nobels are super close and I don't need both.

29. Spaceman Redstone: Bought it because on paper it's the perfect pedal for me. Sold it because it was terrible. I don't like Germanium diodes it seems.

30. CMC Audio Proto Type: Bought it because it has some fresh, new features. Sold it because it is too utilitarian in its approach. There is so much stuff in there that is geared to work, but little playfulness or magic.

31. Hamstead Subspace. Bought it because I felt like it. It's awesome. I still have it.

32. Xotic BB Bass Preamp: Bought it because I've seen it many times on boards that looked like their owners had taste. Did not disappoint. Only recently acquired, but I feel like I could get used to this one.

33. Noise Space Audio Piggy: Just in.


I've left out the dirt capable pedals that I bought for my Synth Sound Saga Jounal, but feel a bit perplexed that I've only given 33 pedals a run for their money. I would have estimated 50.

 

[el murdoque]

What I learned from this recap is that I seem to favor pedals that are capable of a low gain sound which is touch sensitive and adds treble content - either by the added harmonics or by some sort of active EQ.

But now, the Piggy. I gave it a test run. The control layout looks like a mix of the Barbershop and the Mini.
The manual claims that the EQ controls are the same as the Mini, with cut only bass and treble knobs that are pre/post. Instead of a bias, there is the sag knob (hello Barbershop) and the bias is fixed.

Having played it for half an hour, my first impression is not as I would have liked it to be. The Barbershop has that organic breakup that sounds a bit amp like, a bit expensive, something you could easily set to a low setting and leave on, to get just a hint of drive. The Mini has that huge versatility through the bias knob and the immense gain range that can do clean boost to full blown fuzz. The Piggy somehow fails to merge these into one brick of pure awesomeness, and sounds a bit dull at lower gain settings and a bit artificial at higher settings. There is a huge interaction between sag and gain and I'll have to experiment further with this, but on my test bench, I had the BB and the Saturn VI to A/B/C, and while both the BB and the Saturn felt not only natural, they both added definition through adding treble content, while the Piggy felt like a wet blanket was put over the speaker. I'll have to go on exploring further, but right now, I feel like I want more treble out of the pedal than it is able to provide. I don't have the Mini here for A/B testing, but shall bring it home tomorrow or Monday to pit them against each other. Right now I feel like it would be a pedal I'd favor to tame the top end of bright new roundwounds, but to get the sound of bright new roundwounds I'd have to install a set on a bass, which I'm not going to do.

 

[el murdoque]

@dedpool1052
You've been advertising the Belle Star time and again throughout this thread.
I finally came round to doing my homework and did a little reading. What I don't grasp is the tone control.
They describe it as a passive tone control which works like the Cut control on a Vox amp.
Yet, that knob has a center detent and is supposed to be flat in that position.
Could you be so kind and describe what that knob does?

 

[Nashrakh]

26. Boss ODR-3. Bought it because I wanted to try that oldschool vibe. Sold it because it's terrible.

This is funny to me, because I already sold that pedal myself. I just could NOT get it to sound like I want it to, and my EHX Hot Wax (Wax side) on max gain gives me a very similar but more usable vibe for the one nice tone I did manage to coax out the ODB. Also, the ODB is noisy as heck and has kind of an unpleasant metallic edge to it. Great in a metal band, I just couldn't see myself use it in any capacity in the future.

Now, that Xotic review of yours sounds like what I'm looking for in a pedal as well.

Which reminds me, have you ever considered the Joyo Orange Juice? It's a tiny, tiny pedal (albeit with side jacks) that I find gets some nice low gain tones (despite its reputation), though it can be noisy if you crank the volume.

 

[el murdoque]

This is funny to me, because I already sold that pedal myself. I just could NOT get it to sound like I want it to, and my EHX Hot Wax (Wax side) on max gain gives me a very similar but more usable vibe for the one nice tone I did manage to coax out the ODB. Also, the ODB is noisy as heck and has kind of an unpleasant metallic edge to it. Great in a metal band, I just couldn't see myself use it in any capacity in the future.

Now, that Xotic review of yours sounds like what I'm looking for in a pedal as well.

Which reminds me, have you ever considered the Joyo Orange Juice? It's a tiny, tiny pedal (albeit with side jacks) that I find gets some nice low gain tones (despite its reputation), though it can be noisy if you crank the volume.

The Boss is easily the worst pedal of those I tested. That is, the worst of those that work for bass.
I think my main complaints were the uneven texture of the drive (I think in my in depth review I wrote that instead of sandblasting the tone, this was gravel blasting it, with the odd fist-sized chunk) and the sheer amount of floor noise.


I googled that Joyo pedal and found the Amazon product page. On that very page, the first few reviews were in Japanese. I clicked on the 'Translate' button and that was a lot of fun. I'm still not sure if I want one, but thanks for that!

 

[Nashrakh]

I googled that Joyo pedal and found the Amazon product page. On that very page, the first few reviews were in Japanese. I clicked on the 'Translate' button and that was a lot of fun. I'm still not sure if I want one, but thanks for that!

I ordered mine from France (via Reverb - about 50€?), they seem to be kind of hard to come by in these parts of the world.

 

[el murdoque]

I thought that Thomann has the entire Joyo collection re-labeled with Harley Benton available, but it seems Joyo does even more ...

 

[sloppy_phil]

I love this jounal.

I would love it even more if an occasional sound clip found its way on here, too. While the verbal descriptions of the tones are both creative and visceral, nothing replaces what the earholes tell you.

You could play some "blind" clips, and see if us common folk could accurately identify which pedal is which. No doubt your schedule is completely open, for this kind of curated test-bench experience

 

[el murdoque]

I would need to devise some structure that makes this possible.

In theory, I should have everything needed. A Behringer Flow 8 mixer which is capable of passing on the signal via USB to a receiving device and a laptop with both USB port and Audacity installed.

I thought about parsing a lick into the looper and see if it's able to keep that through power cycles - then I could simply hook up the looper to the board and send you the odd sound clip via soundcloud.

Am I missing something vital?

 

[el murdoque]

....and would you lot require me to re-acquire all the pedals from the past to make clips?

 

[sloppy_phil]

@el murdoque If you can't re-purchase everything you've let go... then what's even the point? LOL. Kidding.

I was really thinking/suggesting the ones that have managed to make the cut and keep a place in your music room. If not necessarily on any particular board, or seeing any actual use.

And, from what you describe, that recording set-up seems perfectly fine! Not sure how the looper bit would work, as I have no experience using, or recording, loopers. But I trust your German-levels of precision, accuracy, and workmanship to see you through.

 

[JRMK]

Reading your BB review ... I might need to get one. I feel like it has been around forever and I never read bad thing about it, saw it on many boards. Its just the psychology of new products releases takes attention out of well trusted and proven champs like BB.