My preamp bender: A Journal.

[el murdoque]

Current state of affairs on that board:

Ripping off the Equinox freed up a lot of space, but I was actually missing just a hair to squeeze on one more pedal.
I sorted them, though - all the always-on pedals that never see foot switch action are in the top row now and those that will get trodden upon are in the lower row. The arrangement works only in exactly the way pictured. The tuner and BBBOD crowd the gap between them with the signal and power cables and this is the only way to populate the board that makes sense and fits all the pedals.
In the current setting, the various combinations of Blueberry, FPT and BDPG all work out really well for my taste and I'm happy with what I did here.

 

[sloppy_phil]

Current state of affairs on that board:

View attachment 5290805

Ripping off the Equinox freed up a lot of space, but I was actually missing just a hair to squeeze on one more pedal.
I sorted them, though - all the always-on pedals that never see foot switch action are in the top row now and those that will get trodden upon are in the lower row. The arrangement works only in exactly the way pictured. The tuner and BBBOD crowd the gap between them with the signal and power cables and this is the only way to populate the board that makes sense and fits all the pedals.
In the current setting, the various combinations of Blueberry, FPT and BDPG all work out really well for my taste and I'm happy with what I did here.

Looks very good! But where *is* the ever-present BDPG? Not seeing its, ah, distinctive artwork anywhere...

And, in my decidedly non-expert opinion, if the two pieces of gear in question do nothing for tonal colouration besides one providing a bump at 500hz and the other providing cut at 500hz, it (in theory) shouldn't matter what order they run. Practice and theory don't always line up, but I struggle to see why that wouldn't be the case here.

 

[el murdoque]

Looks very good! But where *is* the ever-present BDPG? Not seeing its, ah, distinctive artwork anywhere...

And, in my decidedly non-expert opinion, if the two pieces of gear in question do nothing for tonal colouration besides one providing a bump at 500hz and the other providing cut at 500hz, it (in theory) shouldn't matter what order they run. Practice and theory don't always line up, but I struggle to see why that wouldn't be the case here.

I got two of them. The one with the erm. . . Artwork is on the big board. The other one has a different kind of graphic design and is a three knob version. Maybe if you meditate on the description, you'll be able to spot it.

 

[StayLow]

Which brings me to a theoretical, and possibly very stupid question about EQ:

Given that every device operates well within their given limits (tone stays clean at all times), will it make a difference on the outcome if I run A into B or B into A?
Let's say pedal A has a baked in scoop at 500Hz and does a gentle low shelving boost,
and pedal B is set to counteract the scoop with a boost at 500Hz, plus it boosts around 1k for more definition.

Will there be an audible difference in playing A->B vs. B->A ?

Often, usually, perhaps inevitably(?), yes. Certainly if the pedals affect EQ.

Example: run a looped drum beat through the so-called “flat / neutral” drives. Then try two of them stacked.

 

[el murdoque]

Often, usually, perhaps inevitably(?), yes. Certainly if the pedals affect EQ.

Example: run a looped drum beat through the so-called “flat / neutral” drives. Then try two of them stacked.

That drive stacking has vastly different outcomes when you swap the order seems clear to me.

But when having everything clean, stacking the two EQ curves should, on paper, yield the same result, no?

 

[el murdoque]

To dust of this thread a bit:

I have a Broughton Studio One incoming.

When I borrowed and tried that pedal, it felt amazing - but I had no immediate need for it.
Now I came across an opportunity that was too good to pass up and I acquired one, which should arrive in a bit.

Which seems to bring me to the next project: A mini board.
The platform will either be a Pedaltrain Nano, or possibly a Nano+.

 

[kevmac]

Hey preamp pals,
It's been a while since I last posted here but as I see some things comfortably never change.I told myself I was done with the preamps pedal type thing,but look what forced me to give it a home.@el murdocque ,your new Broughton is a killer, I've had the gas for it for a long time.

 

[dedpool1052]

To dust of this thread a bit:

I have a Broughton Studio One incoming.

When I borrowed and tried that pedal, it felt amazing - but I had no immediate need for it.
Now I came across an opportunity that was too good to pass up and I acquired one, which should arrive in a bit.

Which seems to bring me to the next project: A mini board.
The platform will either be a Pedaltrain Nano, or possibly a Nano+.

The Studio One is great.
I too, came across one at a deal too good to pass up.

 

[el murdoque]

View attachment 5347995 Hey preamp pals,
It's been a while since I last posted here but as I see some things comfortably never change.I told myself I was done with the preamps pedal type thing,but look what forced me to give it a home.@el murdocque ,your new Broughton is a killer, I've had the gas for it for a long time.

For me personally, the Redstone was a huge disappointment.
On paper, it features a Fender tone stack with +6dB in the mids - and that was exactly what I was running for a long time, using two pedals (one with a Fender tone stack and one capable of boosting around 550-600Hz) so when I got the Redstone, I was expecting great things.
I absolutely hated how it sounds when it breaks up, though. I blame the Germanium diodes. Thinking back, I realized that I never liked any pedal that has Germanium diodes and I guess that is my personal problem with this particular pedal.

 

[el murdoque]

The Studio One is great.
I too, came across one at a deal too good to pass up.

I don't know why, but St. Joshua manages to get the EQ settings just right on all of his creations.

 

[Maxi Funkl]

The Studio One is great.
I too, came across one at a deal too good to pass up.

Next DROP I'm going after one got the SBM last drop Josh nailed that so no matter the price I want the big brother.

 

[dedpool1052]

Next DROP I'm going after one got the SBM last drop Josh nailed that so no matter the price I wNt the big brother.

I have both.
Got the SBM on the Christmas '22 drop.
Excellent.

 

[el murdoque]

Looking at the Studio One feels like someone sat down and actually thought about things from a bass player's perspective.
You get your MagicMojo button, the red gain knob that is meant to catch the Neve 1073 vibe.
You get your Low and High pass filtering.
You get a simple, yet super effective three band. Shelving lows and highs (boost hard and limit with the filter if you like) plus parametric mids.
1/4" out and XLR out - and to top it off, the pedal buffers and passes the input unaltered when switched off.

I've used two to three pedals in the past to capture what this does.

The Noble and the Broughton RFE offer more or less the same functionality (the Noble is always on, but who would want that beast to be on the board and not always on?) on paper.
True, the Magic Glitter the Noble supplies surpasses the S1, and the filter section of the RFE is more resonant,
but that combo takes up about three times the real estate and costs four times as much as a S1.

For me and what I learned on this journey, the S1 seems to be all the crucial functionality boiled down into a single pedal, with nothing extra that is not needed - bullseye.
Add a magic drive pedal and a comp, plus maybe a reverb (in my case

 

[sloppy_phil]

I believe, if you can live without the resonant bumps the RFE can provide at the cutoff frequencies, there isn't much the Noble/RFE combo does that the S1 cannot. I've always felt the "mojo" from the Noble is pretty subtle, and not a classic kind of tube saturation; going from that kind of vibe to the pushed Neve console sound isn't a million miles apart in my eyes/ears. And the saving on board real estate is pretty hard to argue with!

Does this mean a new Nano/small board Jounal is imminent?

 

[el murdoque]

I believe, if you can live without the resonant bumps the RFE can provide at the cutoff frequencies, there isn't much the Noble/RFE combo does that the S1 cannot. I've always felt the "mojo" from the Noble is pretty subtle, and not a classic kind of tube saturation; going from that kind of vibe to the pushed Neve console sound isn't a million miles apart in my eyes/ears. And the saving on board real estate is pretty hard to argue with!

I'm completely unable to figure out if this single paragraph contains multiple instances of high treason or blasphemy, or both.

Does this mean a new Nano/small board Jounal is imminent?

Is it a stupid thing to do so, if I already have two boards ready to go?

I do have a Nano with a Cioks Adam mounted underneath sitting around, gathering dust.

The Studio One is in the mail and should arrive later this week.
However, I don't have a tuner, a comp and would want some kind of reverb that has analog dry path and at least two settings to recall.

 

[OldShark]

If space is an issue, you might also try SushiBox's Nobelium, usually a DIY set, but currently Nathan is about to build some complete pedals...
(Note: I have neither used one of those myself.)

 

[Charlie Tuna]

 

[Maxi Funkl]

Looking at the Studio One feels like someone sat down and actually thought about things from a bass player's perspective.
You get your MagicMojo button, the red gain knob that is meant to catch the Neve 1073 vibe.
You get your Low and High pass filtering.
You get a simple, yet super effective three band. Shelving lows and highs (boost hard and limit with the filter if you like) plus parametric mids.
1/4" out and XLR out - and to top it off, the pedal buffers and passes the input unaltered when switched off.

I've used two to three pedals in the past to capture what this does.

The Noble and the Broughton RFE offer more or less the same functionality (the Noble is always on, but who would want that beast to be on the board and not always on?) on paper.
True, the Magic Glitter the Noble supplies surpasses the S1, and the filter section of the RFE is more resonant,
but that combo takes up about three times the real estate and costs four times as much as a S1.

For me and what I learned on this journey, the S1 seems to be all the crucial functionality boiled down into a single pedal, with nothing extra that is not needed - bullseye.
Add a magic drive pedal and a comp, plus maybe a reverb (in my case

Good lord You just Sold me I'll be S1 hunting for sure this year.

 

[kevmac]

For me personally, the Redstone was a huge disappointment.
On paper, it features a Fender tone stack with +6dB in the mids - and that was exactly what I was running for a long time, using two pedals (one with a Fender tone stack and one capable of boosting around 550-600Hz) so when I got the Redstone, I was expecting great things.
I absolutely hated how it sounds when it breaks up, though. I blame the Germanium diodes. Thinking back, I realized that I never liked any pedal that has Germanium diodes and I guess that is my personal problem with this particular pedal.

Fair enough.I was crazy for it at first,but I'll admit it's lost a bit of it's luster over time.I'm finding myself using less grit in my old age, using clean tone more and more.I search for the perfect round and fat tone though I question wether I'll ever be satisfied.Lately I have been gravitating towards my Bass Rigs (64 black especially) and my dark horse Sushi Box Sunday Driver (Sunn Model T)
It's distortion does it for me when I desire it. I really need to unload stuff and the Redstone possibly could find it's way on the list. Luck to ya'.

 

[sloppy_phil]

I'm completely unable to figure out if this single paragraph contains multiple instances of high treason or blasphemy, or both.

It's not likely to be a popular opinion 'round these parts, since the Noble is very well regarded, but I had a chance in 2022 to do a shootout of sorts. Went to a fancy schmancy studio in downtown Toronto for a session, and we had a LOT of toys to choose from. Went into a mic'd B-15, but for DI sounds, we had an Avalon U5, REDDI, Noble, a Radial JDI, and a $750,000 vintage Neve console to use!

Skipping over some of the details, to prevent this from becoming a long-winded story (and sorry, I don't have any sonic evidence to present to the table), the bottom line is that, it was completely impossible to distinguish one DI from the other as soon as we added drums, or even the mic'd B-15, to the mix. Forget the rest of the band! The only time we could discern *any* differences in tone was on the solo DI bass tracks. "We" being me, the band leader (vocals/keys), lead guitarist, and recording engineer. And in that fully naked context, yes, the Noble offered something the Avalon and Radial could not. In the end, we opted for the Avalon U5 with the B-15; it was the the sparkliest/cleanest of the DI's, and that worked lovely in conjunction with the vintage tube amp vibe of the Ampeg. Then we ran all of it through the Neve. Yummy!

Not trying to ruffle anyone's feathers; the Noble is a LOVELY piece of kit! But I think we can all, from time to time, get *very* precious about truly minute discrepancies in tone. Losing the forest for the (fake plastic) trees, if you will.