My preamp bender: A Journal.

[el murdoque]

my pen pal @Charlie Tuna seems to be a member of the Broughton Church. When that Super Stack came over, the parcel also yielded a Locust Star and the Resonant Filter Equalizer.

I forgot to take a photo, but let us agree on the fact that Mr. Broughton is rather focused on a clean circuit and high build quality and less ambitious when it comes to the outside of the pedals - so a stock photo will do ;-)

I must admit that I've never looked at this thing more than a second. I must further admit that this is because I had no clue what a resonant filter is and so I dismissed it. Silly me. I was asking around for a pedal that has a sweepable single EQ band for the mids and a HPF + LPF - which is exactly what this pedal does.
Compared to my Broughton HPF+LPF this sounds more lively because of the resonant thingy going on. A slight bump in the mids can be applied in such a natural and unobtrusive way that you don't really hear or feel it, until you switch the pedal off and instantly miss it.
Now I instantly miss not owning one of these myself and need to do something about it.

 

[Luke the Fluke]

I would say it’s a brilliant but imperfect preamp that does what I want it too and gives me some magic. I think it’s equally likey that for others it won’t be ‘it’ ….

 

[Luke the Fluke]

that Mr. Broughton is rather focused on a clean circuit and high build quality and less ambitious when it comes to the outside of the pedals - so a stock photo will do ;-)

as a graphic designer I like his stuff a lot, you get some right garbage on pedals - that looks classy and clean.

do I remover that you had a Vong filterung too? How did it compare to the Broughton equivalent?

 

[el murdoque]

as a graphic designer I like his stuff a lot, you get some right garbage on pedals - that looks classy and clean.

do I remover that you had a Vong filterung too? How did it compare to the Broughton equivalent?

The Vong is wired a bit differently and has a DI out, that's why I kept it - for building a small board on the fly, it's a great last-in-chain-pedal. I do think that a pedal that does HPF and LPF is a rather simple affair and if you use quality components and don't mess up the soldering, good enough is good enough and better will not yield better results because all it does is cut frequencies (and hopefully does not add noise). The Vong is a kit, and mine was built by a professional (the guy I bought it from hired a pro to build it because he himself lacked the abilities with a soldering iron). I'd say side by side they performed equally good and I could not really make out a difference.
I can sleep easier with the Broughton on my board, though - it's just a piece of mind thing. Mr. Broughton has a certain revered reputation.

However, that RFE - it IS a lot better. Boosting the treble at the cutoff frequency adds some presence that is sourly missed when compared to the HPF/LPF.

 

[el murdoque]

I need to do some more mad raving about that RFE.

What I did was removing the unit from my test bench and dropping it into my pedalboard into the position of the HPF/LPF. Those resonance thingies are doing their magic now. I can use the LPF as a cab sim to get the nasty sizzle from the overdrives eliminated, while the good sizzle gets a bit of a hump, making it more pronounced. Careful tuning lets me have some of the finger noise and more definition - yet still the unwanted part of the high end is gone. A/B'ed with the LPF, this feels like a blanket is lifted from the cabinet.
And then there's the slight mid boost around 600Hz. It is so unobtrusive. Not honky, not nasal, yet the bass sound feels as if there's more of it.

 

[el murdoque]

Small update on the RFE:
I will no longer refer to it as "the RFE".
In future posts, I will call it "my RFE".

 

[el murdoque]

So finally back to that Broughton Super Stack!
It has been long enough. I came round to rig that little test bench to check out the Super Stack alongside with two pedals that should have the same tonestack.
I played a bit around with those three and one thing was evident right from the start: The Super Stack has more highs than both Sushi Boxes. I started off by setting them all in my favorite position: Bass maxed, Mids maxed, Treble about 3/4.
I could not get my finger on what was happening and I did not have bass with roundwound strings handy, so I took an active 5 string with a fairly fresh set of TI flats and boosted the highs a bit, that gave me a bit of a zingy sound when playing with all pedals bypassed. I ended up with maxing the highs on the Sushi pedals, but they still would not produce the same amount the Super Stack does at 3/4. To get them sounding fairly similar, I had to back off further on the Super Stack.

When I had them in the same ballpark, I played around a bit.
UA adds harmonics on certain notes, even with the gain lowered, but it's rich.
SS has those highs going on. I'm not very keen on highs, but these are sweet.
PA sounds a bit muffled in comparison.

Turning knobs a bit more and I had a beautiful singing voice on the UA with my active 5er, it sounded almost a bit like a fretless.
With the SS, I got that organic feel, the only way I can describe it is that you think you can hear the wood vibrating in the bass tone.
PA was a bit outclassed by now.

I'll play around a bit more when I get the next evening off, but right now I'm kind of glad that the Super Stack is only on loan and I'll have to return it eventually. Since these are made of Unobtanium, I won't have to experiment with one of them in my signal chain - because I really liked it tonight.

 

[kevmac]

Thank you for that suggestion. One Control is available over here, and it's not even expensive. I'll carelessly toss one into the shopping cart with my next order and see what happens.

I owned 3 One Control preamps.I've kept The 360 Blue and sold both the Silver Peg,a good pedal but redundant for me and the Crimson Red.The Red was a nothing burger imthers on this forum have noted that they couldn't hear a difference on or off,saying it's a glorified EQ if that.The 360 is more responsive and has that Acoustic old school vibe.I wouldn't waste the time or cash on the Red.Just my opinion.

 

[el murdoque]

I owned 3 One Control preamps.I've kept The 360 Blue and sold both the Silver Peg,a good pedal but redundant for me and the Crimson Red.The Red was a nothing burger imthers on this forum have noted that they couldn't hear a difference on or off,saying it's a glorified EQ if that.The 360 is more responsive and has that Acoustic old school vibe.I wouldn't waste the time or cash on the Red.Just my opinion.

I'm not a huge fan of the V4B or the Acoustic 360, so I don't really know If I'll like their pedal reproductions. . .

 

[kevmac]

I'm not a huge fan of the V4B or the Acoustic 360, so I don't really know If I'll like their pedal reproductions. . .

I mean they're ok for the price but one could do better by spending a little more.Not a bad introduction to preamps though there's much better out there.

 

[el murdoque]

I ripped the PA and the UA from the testing bench and placed the HWUA there to try it against the Super Stack.

The one thing that bugged me from the start was that the Super Stack only has a volume control instead of a gain/master team. But the SS is meant to run clean, so there's really no need to have both.
Judging merely from the clean sound, I'd put the SS a league ahead of the old Particle Accelerator.
I'd even put it ahead of the Underground Accelerator.

Now Super Stack against Hand Wired Underground Accelerator is a nice comparison.
The Super Stack has a little something when you play clean. The details are outstanding and the highs are, for want of a better word, sweet.
The HWUA otoh has nicer lows. More authority, a bit raspier and dryer, but not without warmth.
Also, the HWUA is an absolute killer as a drive pedal. You want the sound of a tube amp pushed hard?

I've played a ton of pedals that claim that sound.
I also drank a ton of mojitos across western Europe.
Then I ran into that small Cuban restaurant in Hamburg, Germany where the barkeep served me a drink that made me realize that each and every single mojito of my life up to that point has been a blatant lie.
THIS was the real stuff. That place has closed down since and I'm lucky that this thread is about bass preamps and not about rum based cocktails.
That Sushi box effortlessly offering a range from normal to strained with slight overtones and tube compression to full overdrive and everything in between right at your fingertips and each and every stage is a credible sound - to be honest, I want a rock band now, where I can use that pedal as an always on.

I think one could justify having both the Super Stack and the HWUA on a board because they can sound quite differently, even though they have a range of common ground where they are near identical.

The Sushi Box has two advantages: 1. Size and 2. It runs off 9-12V, the Super Stack requires 12V.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

I ripped the PA and the UA from the testing bench and placed the HWUA there to try it against the Super Stack.

The one thing that bugged me from the start was that the Super Stack only has a volume control instead of a gain/master team. But the SS is meant to run clean, so there's really no need to have both.
Judging merely from the clean sound, I'd put the SS a league ahead of the old Particle Accelerator.
I'd even put it ahead of the Underground Accelerator.

Now Super Stack against Hand Wired Underground Accelerator is a nice comparison.
The Super Stack has a little something when you play clean. The details are outstanding and the highs are, for want of a better word, sweet.
The HWUA otoh has nicer lows. More authority, a bit raspier and dryer, but not without warmth.
Also, the HWUA is an absolute killer as a drive pedal. You want the sound of a tube amp pushed hard?

I've played a ton of pedals that claim that sound.
I also drank a ton of mojitos across western Europe.
Then I ran into that small Cuban restaurant in Hamburg, Germany where the barkeep served me a drink that made me realize that each and every single mojito of my life up to that point has been a blatant lie.
THIS was the real stuff. That place has closed down since and I'm lucky that this thread is about bass preamps and not about rum based cocktails.
That Sushi box effortlessly offering a range from normal to strained with slight overtones and tube compression to full overdrive and everything in between right at your fingertips and each and every stage is a credible sound - to be honest, I want a rock band now, where I can use that pedal as an always on.

I think one could justify having both the Super Stack and the HWUA on a board because they can sound quite differently, even though they have a range of common ground where they are near identical.

The Sushi Box has two advantages: 1. Size and 2. It runs off 9-12V, the Super Stack requires 12V.

Can the UA get a lot of gain/dirt?
Or just moderately?

 

[el murdoque]

Can the UA get a lot of gain/dirt?
Or just moderately?

It certainly has quite a bit on tap - but think of it more of a tube driven bass amps preamp.
I have played low gain OD pedals that could do less dirt, but I would place its capabilities into the realms of overdrive pedals.
The tonestack is killing it there. You have that massive bass boost available, should you want it.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

It certainly has quite a bit on tap - but think of it more of a tube driven bass amps preamp.
I have played low gain OD pedals that could do less dirt, but I would place its capabilities into the realms of overdrive pedals.
The tonestack is killing it there. You have that massive bass boost available, should you want it.

So it can get into “svt” dirt territory?
(I know not the same sound at all, just as a reference point)

 

[el murdoque]

I only have first hand experience with a vintage SVT, one of those that only had a volume knob. That thing got way too loud for everyone in a 1000ft radius before serious breakup was happening. I can't really comment on how grindy they can get.

IMHO, tube bass amps are meant for those singing overtones and mild to medium amounts of overdrive. If you want more than that, you need to hit them with a pedal.
The UA certainly gets you into that territory and even a bit further, but I personally don't dig the sound of a dimed UA.

 

[el murdoque]

On my personal list of Alembic inspired preamps that I wanted to try, two amps remained elusive.
The Dexter's Lab The Preamp, and the FMC Retrobass.
When I ran across the former in a local ad, I came to the realization that I'm quite happy with my current situation.
I have my preamps together and zero need for another one, especially when we're talking about taking a swig from the more-of-the-same bucket. I've had quite a few F-2B clones and absolutely no need to dive any further into that particular rabbit hole.

Well. Between discovering the preamp and having that moment of realization, a bit of time passed. You know, neurons firing, transmitter fluids transmitting, some quantum possibly involved here and there - a brain is kind of an organic computer, after all. When information reaches the inbox, the CPU has to crunch it and all that.
While my meat CPU was busily working towards the conclusion that I don't need more Alembic style preamp pedals, my fingers were even busier, making sure that thing is snagged up and on the way before the brain can tell them to stop.

 

[jcburn]

Talkbass should have a laughing emoji alongside the Like button for that last post!!!

 

[el murdoque]

...and what a nice setup my last post was for this one right here:

In the Sushi Box thread, Mr. Box posted this picture of a gorgeous blacked out Particle Accelerator

It's a one-of-a-kind handwired model, apparently with some components a little cheaper than the 'true' handwired pedals, so it hovers somewhere between SMD and handwired.
Which means this is not only the only blacked out PA, but it also is the BEST Particle Accelerator there is, since that pedal was discontinued before the handwired option was introduced to the world (my words, not the words of Sushi Box FX). Let that sink in!

I carelessly offered to take it off Mr. Box' hands should he ever decide to part with it, and as sheer luck would have it, there can be no better point in time to hand a drowning man a bucket of water.

Money changed hands. Black Beauty is inbound!



Anyone interested in offloading their F-2B clone pedal? I got a run here.

 

[bassbrad]

@el murdoque that stealth PA looks uber sexy but I will stand pat with my mini tube Particle Accelerator and Slampegg Bee duo and UAs for now.
I am interested in the Venus X for modern tones and the updated JCE2 for rocking blues tones.

 

[el murdoque]

@el murdoque that stealth PA looks uber sexy but I will stand pat with my mini tube Particle Accelerator and Slampegg Bee duo and UAs for now.
I am interested in the Venus X for modern tones and the updated JCE2 for rocking blues tones.

I'll test the black HWPA against my mini tube PA and report back. My old PA unit either turned microphonic or has been all along and I only discovered it at some point.

In my current setup, my HWUA is acting as my drive pedal and there is nothing that can get this tone. I recently broke out the SS/BS Mini and put it on the board, but that pedal's clipping sounds artificial to me now.
It's much better in a mix, but when playing solo, the HWUA is leagues ahead.