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My Dirt Bender - Another Jounal

#801
My total disinterest in any of the sports where a bunch of tattooed millionaires chase a ball left me a bit baffled at first, but the google-fu is strong in this one.
There is such a thing called the Dietmar Hopp Arena, but that is the old turf of the club, a sorry excuse for a football (soccer for the uncivil barbarians) place where third or fourth class clubs will host their games, with a max capacity of 6k and not even sidewalls.
They (Hoffenheim) actually play in the PreZero arena (which is located in the Dietmar-Hopp-Straße 1), and that thing houses 30k people while the whole of Sinsheim has 35k - so it's a close thing.

If I was to choose a club to root for, I don't have to think hard - it would be St. Pauli.
 
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#803
Having had a few beers at band practice, I had the right mix of ignorance and fearlessness to tackle the beast when I got home.

Imagine going to the stables, finding someone who works there and then point at a wild mustang and request to ride it.
They say: "But this horse has never been ridden!"
You say: "And I've never sat on a horse. It seems like a fair match".
The feeling when they let go of the bridles and the horse cannons off, with you on top, clinging to the pommel for sheer life, trying to learn all the relevant bits of horsemanship within the next second or two.

Imagine the grassy hill within the woods where the stables are beautifully located just at the side of a stream with water so clear you could fill it in bottles and sell it for a premium. Imagine the birdsong. Sounding like terror. Because the grass is not grass, but millions of snakes and the trees are actually on fire. All the wood and the stables are on fire. And the snakes are on fire and your horse is on fire and you are on fire.

Having had my fair share of liquid bravery, I decided for the manly way of doing this. I had forgotten basically everything I read in the manual, but instead of a quick refresher I tossed those sissy papers in the wind and decided to find out what the knobs and switches do by tinkering around with them. I was told to use a passive bass and turn down the volume lots to start. Good advice, which I luckily heeded.
They let go of the bridles and I shot off, riding on the back of the Bliss Factory, holding on to the knobs and switches, for dear life.

It was not as bad as the one where everything is on fire, though. I did not undestand a single thing I was doing, only that there are weird interactions happening with the knobs. They influence each other in meaningful ways I have yet to discover. I ended up with a sound that might be the result when you set your phaser from stun to kill and then repeatedly shoot an analog synthesizer. You could not really stop playing because the way the notes were choked at the end felt unnerving, and moving up and down the neck there was some fat warmth to be found. It was not cozy fat and warm. It was still rather threatening. I could see using that for synth setups, especially because it is quite brutal with the gain and you have a lot of range covered on the knob of your bass. There is a drastic increase in basically everything (pleasant and VERY unpleasant in equal measures), and there is a lot of it.
I am a bit stunned and at the loss for words now. I need to play it some more.
 
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#804
But on a different matter. I took out the big board tonight to band practice. On that board, I run the Xotic BB as the first dirt pedal at the beginning of the signal chain, but that pedal was sitting on the floor beside it, because experimentation had been happening. I popped the lid to put a dirt pedal in, and found the spot already occupied by the Blueberry, which I do not remember putting there. "You'll do just fine" I thought and closed the lid.
At band practice, I must say that the BJFe Blueberry makes my J style bass with the neck pickup soloed sound like a P bass with chromes that are about half a year old, played into an amp that hovers on the brink of breaking up. There is this hollowness I usually associate with P basses, and there are those mids that make it sit just right in the mix. The added harmonics simulate a bit of a dulled brightness, absolutely adding something pleasant up top, no artificial flavors to be found.
I really liked what that pedal did for me tonight. I could see it as an always on pedal in a rock setting.
 
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#809
@el murdoque Right, right. Sinsheim is roughly the same size as the stadium. It's Hoffenheim, the team of overpaid, over-tatted millionaires, who play there, and THEY have the tiny village (pop. 3,191). Forgot that DH had the cheek to name the academy ground after himself. So humble!

Were you using the Blueberry with the reggae band, or a different one? Are you even still doing the reggae thing? Feel like I haven't seen you mention them in a hot minute. Unless the band last night was them, in which case you *have* mentioned them in a hot minute...

If you are doing the reggae band still, you should bring the Snakes on Fire to that rehearsal. See how unhappy you make everyone!
 
#810
Yes, it was the reggae band, and yes, I brought the Blueberry there.

The Snakes On Fire would have been a nice thing to bring, but the benevolent/evil donor did explicitly warn me to not do that. After testing it, I can see that @sloppy_phil is the much more reasonable person. It would have been fun seeing their eyes pop out when the Snakes On Fire starts performing ear surgery through the IEM system.
 
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#811
Since I seem to spiral my way down into obscurity, it gets harder to find pedals worth considering.

However, I found a very old list at the bottom of a drawer in my mental filing cabinet. More than a decade ago, when I restarted the pedal business after abandoning it in the late 90s, I was aiming for a very simple setup for a rock band. I was dreaming of a pedal that could get me a very mild overdrive AND a solid drive, for a very simple setup.
Back then, my understanding of how dirt pedals work was not as extensive as it it now that I've had a few score of them, and I explicitly looked for one that had separate gain and master volume settings for each channel.
The one I found and liked a lot was this:
2SV3.3gs16.png


The Blackstone Appliances Mosfet Overdrive 2SV3.

I envisioned a setup that could actually do completely without a pedal board.
Just run the bass into the Blackstone and that into the amp.
Clean sound, slight dirt, full on dirt - all there.

And those knobs look like they won't be twisted when you toss it into the bag, plus the pedal has a certain aesthetic when placed on stage just like that.

Back then, I could not find any bass reviews and I shied away from buying it, because I would have to order it from the US, dealing with high shipping fees and import tax. This was a serious hit and miss scenario:
If the pedal is a miss, I'd have to take a massive hit to get rid of it again.
I was just starting out on the pedal thing and not willing to take such a risk.
I still had lots of reck back then.


Well, I'm happy to report that one of these has started meandering towards me - It will take a few weeks until I get my grubby hands on it, but since I've had it on my list for 10+ years, what are a few weeks?
 
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#812
I would like to inquire once more about Klon Centaur like devices, and here's a catalog of questions.
Josh Scott made an extensive Youtube video where he played an original, big silver box Centaur that was built as a bass specific drive pedal and therefore even rarer than the normal one against a KTR, and he even played bass.
What I learned from this video is that Josh Scott is a decent guitarist, but he's by no means a bass player and on top of that he prefers a bass sound so thin it makes Christian Bale in "the Machinist" look chubby.

8cbkxz.jpg


What I came to find out, but did not, was how the KTR sounds on bass.
Is it worth checking out a Centaur (should I find four grand lying around unused), a KTR or any of the very close copies that were intended for guitar?
What would be a good starting point? I'd like something that is as close to the original as possible, but will cater for bass playing.
Is it worth going down the K-Type road?
 
#813
el murdoque said:
Since I seem to spiral my way down into obscurity, it gets harder to find pedals worth considering.

However, I found a very old list at the bottom of a drawer in my mental filing cabinet. More than a decade ago, when I restarted the pedal business after abandoning it in the late 90s, I was aiming for a very simple setup for a rock band. I was dreaming of a pedal that could get me a very mild overdrive AND a solid drive, for a very simple setup.
Back then, my understanding of how dirt pedals work was not as extensive as it it now that I've had a few score of them, and I explicitly looked for one that had separate gain and master volume settings for each channel.
The one I found and liked a lot was this:
2SV3.3gs16.png


The Blackstone Appliances Mosfet Overdrive 2SV3.

I envisioned a setup that could actually do completely without a pedal board.
Just run the bass into the Blackstone and that into the amp.
Clean sound, slight dirt, full on dirt - all there.

And those knobs look like they won't be twisted when you toss it into the bag, plus the pedal has a certain aesthetic when placed on stage just like that.

Back then, I could not find any bass reviews and I shied away from buying it, because I would have to order it from the US, dealing with high shipping fees and import tax. This was a serious hit and miss scenario:
If the pedal is a miss, I'd have to take a massive hit to get rid of it again.
I was just starting out on the pedal thing and not willing to take such a risk.
I still had lots of reck back then.


Well, I'm happy to report that one of these has started meandering towards me - It will take a few weeks until I get my grubby hands on it, but since I've had it on my list for 10+ years, what are a few weeks?
Click to expand...
The Blackstone MOSFET is one that’s been on my radar for awhile (in large part because of the praises of @sifrancis over the years, who I tend to align with on lots of bass tone goals/opinions over the years) and with my current dirt needs getting more mild than the past I think I’ll probably grab one soon! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts
 
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#814
el murdoque said:
I would like to inquire once more about Klon Centaur like devices, and here's a catalog of questions.
Josh Scott made an extensive Youtube video where he played an original, big silver box Centaur that was built as a bass specific drive pedal and therefore even rarer than the normal one against a KTR, and he even played bass.
What I learned from this video is that Josh Scott is a decent guitarist, but he's by no means a bass player and on top of that he prefers a bass sound so thin it makes Christian Bale in "the Machinist" look chubby.

View attachment 5316758

What I came to find out, but did not, was how the KTR sounds on bass.
Is it worth checking out a Centaur (should I find four grand lying around unused), a KTR or any of the very close copies that were intended for guitar?
What would be a good starting point? I'd like something that is as close to the original as possible, but will cater for bass playing.
Is it worth going down the K-Type road?
Click to expand...

I stumbled across a new-to-me brand, via pic posted by someone about 4-6 weeks ago in (I think) either the “What’s Coming And Going?” thread, or maybe the long preamp reviews thread… far-eastern Canadian (Nova Scotia, P.E.I., or Newfoundland) named something like 2 or 3 initials after the builder’s name.

Some cool / weird stuff, and many versions of Klon clones including one for bass.

Not too pricey, offered a few custom options - maybe just visual - and claimed more well-known players (mostly guitarists) using his pedals than I’d expect given how obscure & niche the brand appeared.

That’s all I recall, hopefully correctly and of some help.
 
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#816
a stock klon or clone isn't useable on bass for me. the warm audio one has a bass switch that makes it a lot better. i also ended up making my own but re-voiced it for bass use.

upload_2024-1-25_9-41-41.jpeg


IMO the Blackstone Appliances mosfet OD sounds great with a bass.
 
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#818
I've been following this thread, quite an interesting read. It also gave me major GAS for a FPT. Any thoughts on how it plays with active basses? I've seen the Audio Kitchen demo and it sounds good on the active bass at the end, but always a good idea looking for some opinions before I take the plunge.
 
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