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New "organ" pedal - EHX B9

#221
Yeah when I was researching the Lex and the Organizer I picked them both up with the intent of returning one but they sound great together. I am gonna mess around some more but I think I will wind up keeping the lex and either the B9 or the Organizer.
 
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#222
mam1862 said:
Ok just got mine and gave it about a 45 minute trial. I think the tracking on the lower register is pretty good. What I don't like is the click that I hear on every setting except number one which is the fat and full sound. After messing around for half the time by itself I then did a comparison with my EQD Organizer. The B9 IMO was better. Here's the kicker. Since I have the luxury of also having the Stymon Lex I compared each with it. Tracking and sound again IMO very good and actually better than Organizer. Bottom line to me is without the Lex either pedal is ok. With the Lex you get a very good and realistic organ sound. I won't have anymore time to mess with around until Sunday. I will try to add to this quick review.
Click to expand...

I turn the click knob all the way down and the only one that still clicks is I think the cathedral mode (could be wrong, but the rest don't click when the knob is turned down).

I have to say this is the most fun pedal I've ever played with. It's not perfect, for some reason the low A / G# warbles on the tracking if held for more than a second, and sometimes there are weird artifacts that sound like a low bitrate mp3. But there are some very useable tones in there if you persist. Running a fuzz into it sounds great too! Favourite mode is currently the Jazz; it blends very well with the dry signal just making everything sound fat and infinitely sustained, yet still quite subtle until you hit a chord.
 
#223
@mam1862 - I would be very grateful if you could give a sense of what the Lex adds. They will be shipping my B9 out of Germany on Wed-Thursday so if I am going to add a Lex, now would be the time to do it! I am assuming that you didn't like the modulation the B9 added. Did you then keep the mod knob all the way down and use the Lex for that purpose? Or was it a mix of the two?

Many many thanks.
 
#225
Mosfed said:
@mam1862 - I would be very grateful if you could give a sense of what the Lex adds. They will be shipping my B9 out of Germany on Wed-Thursday so if I am going to add a Lex, now would be the time to do it! I am assuming that you didn't like the modulation the B9 added. Did you then keep the mod knob all the way down and use the Lex for that purpose? Or was it a mix of the two?

Many many thanks.
Click to expand...


To answer your question I added the Lex because I liked the added sound and control it gave the Organizer. The rotary sound to me is real good. I do not have any experience with the DLS or any of the other rotary pedals out there but I would imagine that they would add basically the same effect. To answer your second question I need to get some more play time in with the B9 before I make a decision. As far as adjusting the Lex I just left it where it was set. I will have some time tomorrow to play around.
 
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#228
I tried what you said regarding the click knob and that seemed to work. After some more time messing with each pedal individually and with the Lex, I am going to keep the B9 and sell the Organizer. As I said in an earlier post the Organizer sounds good but the B9 has just a little bit more flavor.

To answer Mosfed's earlier question regarding the modulation on the B9. I have it set at 12:00 on the B9. I then tweaked the Lex to a sound that I prefer. I still like the fat and full setting the best on the B9 and the Jazz one second.
 
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#231
Mosfed said:
That sounds so much better than 99.9% of pedals that are supposed to do the same thing that I am absolutely shocked.

Amazing.... Absolutely amazing.

At this point I will buy one no question
Click to expand...

I grew up with a Hammond organ in the house, my folks both played...and most of the groups I played with
professionally had Hammonds...I think this pedal sounds great. I was impressed with it's tracking ability.
And the different sounds available seem to cover all the basses, no pun intended. Yep...I wannna.
 
#232
Ric5 said:
I found this demo online ...

Click to expand...


I was surprised at how much the clicks come through on certain settings even though he has the click all the way down.

BTW - I am pretty close to pulling the trigger on the Lex. One question came up - I was planning on putting the B9 right at the front of the effects chain. Would you put the Lex with it? Or more towards the end where I would put modulation? I am guessing I am pretty much only going to use them together but you never know.
 
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#233
Well, I've sold mine to a guitarist. I couldn't make it produce anything like the bass sounds I hear from, e.g., Jimmy Smith or Robert Walter

BigBeatNut said:
Well, it's arrived and I've played it for maybe 30 mins.

My objectives for this pedal are probably a lot different to everyone elses here ... I want to do B3 style bass lines, I've wanted to for a long time. I have no need for a full-on B3 sound.

That said, I have mixed feelings about this pedal right now, I'm not very convinced by the sound I'm getting, but I haven't really played with EQ yet.

Tracking is problematic low down. For sustained notes, your low playable limit is about C (above open E). Below that you get a bit of warbling or stuttering. For a quick walking line you might get down to D (above open B) but it has to be quick and you may need a compressor to even out the weak lows.

It doesn't really like flats. I guess it's using the harmonic content of the input signal, you get a richer sound with rounds.

Preset 9 ('Bell') is weird. The bell or piano note added seems to be a major third interval, and I think it's flat. I really need to revisit that ... maybe get audacity to zero in on the exact frequency.

CAVEAT: as I said I've only played with it for 30 mins or so, my opinions may change when I settle down with it, find the bass it likes the best and tweak the EQ some.
Click to expand...
 
#235
Question for current owners or folks who had and sold one:

Does this thing add ANY noise or hiss when bypassed?

Due to my setup, it will most likely end up at the front of my signal chain....UNLESS I want to redo all of my patches and gain settings. Thanks.
 
#236
It does add some noise if you daisy chain it, typical with many digital pedals. On some modes there tends to be a faint background organ note drone if you don't use it on an isolated power supply. Fortunately one is included in the box!
 
#237
Thomann were supposed to get them today...and they didn't.

ARRRRGH!

Since I play both guitar and bass in this new project I figure I can put it wherever it works best. Sounds like it might be better for guitar. Bummer - I would have liked to use more for walking organ bass lines! I am going to wait on the Lex until I have the unit. We'll see from there.
 
#238
Mosfed said:
Thomann were supposed to get them today...and they didn't.

ARRRRGH!

Since I play both guitar and bass in this new project I figure I can put it wherever it works best. Sounds like it might be better for guitar. Bummer - I would have liked to use more for walking organ bass lines! I am going to wait on the Lex until I have the unit. We'll see from there.
Click to expand...

And then last night I get a late shipping notice from Thomann! Should be here by Tuesday! Along with my Heistercamp guitar straps. Can't wait.
 
#239
two things:

1. has anyone tried this with an octave up pedal? I imagine it would work well, that way. Since it is voiced to track with higher register anyway.

2. and for regular bass, how about running an EQ before it and boosting the highs and transients? (or some sort of "presence" effect) Seems like it might help with some of the lower notes which don't track so well?
 
#240
Well I got mine today.

And it's white! Is everyone else's white? All the pictures I saw were black.

Messed around for about 30 minutes on bass and 30 minutes on guitar. And I was expecting to like it more on guitar. Ran it straight to my amp in both cases. Had it at the Very front of the chain but didn't use it in conjunction with any other pedals. I have an MXR stereo chorus that I am curious to try with it as it has a decent Leslie mode. Just to see if I want to get something like the lex or not.

In the end, I actually preferred it on bass. It was a little shrill on guitar where the bass sounds I could get were exactly what I was looking for. Full deep rich, great sustain. I found it tracked well all the way down the neck but it has a few more issue holding sustain for a long time as you get down into the lower notes. The modes seem pretty evenly split btwn what works well for bass and what works well for guitar. The last mode - bell organ - is useless on guitar but simply amazing on bass. I have never heard a tone like that. Ever. I quickly noticed that the more I thought about playing and phrasing things as though I was on a keyboard, the more it sounded right.

Many many many useful tones. To be honest, it is pretty much as good as I could have hoped when I saw the video for the first time. And that is saying quite a bit.
 

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