- Feb 16, 2008
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- John K Custom Basses
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New Origin Effects DCX Bass
- Thread starter Derek Williams
- Start date
My setup has always been pretty simple - an always-on compressor first just to smooth things out a bit, an OD/boost to add a little grit on some songs, and a DI with CAB sim set to clean on the edge of growl. My play a P-bass with flats in a classic rock cover band. My old setup was Empress Bass Compressor > TC Electronics Spark > Tech 21 VT Bass DI. About a month ago I swapped the VT Bass for the OE BassRig and was so impressed I swapped out the Empress for the OE Cali 76 - also a huge improvement for me. Coincidently the DCX Bass came out right after that! I've had my DCX a day now and am really happy with it. With the drive set pretty low it does a great job of taking the BassRig from a clean/growl to a nice OD sound. As others have mentioned, the notes stay clear and it doesn't just fizz out. I will say that to my ears I can get a pretty similar sound with the BassRig itself, but I'm not gonna do a bunch of knob fiddling during a live gig.
Do you still feel like you need a compressor or does the DCX do some mild “grabbing of the note for you”?
thanks
That is a really good question that I've asked myself as well
The Empress compressor I used to use was so transparent I got to the point where I didn't think I really needed it. The Cali76 "thickens up the gravy" in a much more obvious way. To my ears, the DCX doesn't really compress very much so I still like the Cali76 before it and I like the 'color" it gives, certainly the DCX itself wouldn't do the job if you like a lot of compression. That said I have yet to try my new rig with the band, so will have a better idea after practice next week.
This is the exact core tone setup that I'm looking to get just need a bassrig and DCX
I’m at a very similar place with my setup. I actually think the DCX plus SV sounds better than just the SV on its own, though. I kick the SV in and out, while leaving the cabsim on at all times, for that crunchy, amp-like character and drive when I want it, and leave the rest on for my clean sound.
It’s an always-on “more good” button. The EQ curve it applies is so pleasing and functional that I took my Empress Para EQ II Deluxe off my board. Combined with the DCX, it’s the exact sort of “direct to console” clean tone I’ve been chasing.
Does the cab sim in the BassRig only work via DI?
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wow and i was looking to get the para as well for that purpose and run it before the dcx.
Just picked one up. It’s pretty dang great. I’m using this as an always on slight bit of grit that acts as my LowGain Drive that I can throw my fuzz into for some stack when need be. I use the BassRig64 and this pushes that extremely well.
Call me Crazy but I have it in the FX Loop of my HX Stomp so I can still use some of the drives there and stack this. The other side of my FXLoop has the bass Rig at the end. I rarely go stereo so this allows me to swap out the Bass Rig with an Ampeg SVT 4 to handle some of that slight grit and chime for some of our heavier sets. But I don’t know if I’ll need to swap preamps out as much now with this. Good to know I have the option. But this is a pretty excellent drive pedal, stacks very nicely with some of the drives in the stomp but allows me to dial back the sizzle a bit.
Call me Crazy but I have it in the FX Loop of my HX Stomp so I can still use some of the drives there and stack this. The other side of my FXLoop has the bass Rig at the end. I rarely go stereo so this allows me to swap out the Bass Rig with an Ampeg SVT 4 to handle some of that slight grit and chime for some of our heavier sets. But I don’t know if I’ll need to swap preamps out as much now with this. Good to know I have the option. But this is a pretty excellent drive pedal, stacks very nicely with some of the drives in the stomp but allows me to dial back the sizzle a bit.
Yes. There’s amp-out EQ to tailor the high end, but the fantastic cabsim is only on the DI out.
It’s still a fantastic EQ. But I find, with the SV, SBM, DCX, and the EQ/Color switch on the Empress Bass Comp, I can slot right into the mix and sound great with nothing else. The only twiddling I do is switch between the 2.5 kHz boost (for more definition) and the 500 Hz cut (for a more round tone) on the Bass Comp.
While I got the pedals off the Dual lock to wire the DCX into the rig I might as well try moving it around the chain. And since you all are the only people that would probably care about this as much as I would I will share my findings here. The DCX Bass adds some nice warm tube Characteristics and really assists in selling the Bassrig as an Ampless Amp. The following was tested in EQ mode:
Bass > Tuner > SA EQ2 (ch 1. Bass Guitar EQ) > CALI76 > OC3 > C4 synth > SA Aftershock > EQ2 (ch 2. to tame drives) > HX STOMP
FX Loop 1 - DCX Bass, FX Loop 2 - CB Warped Vinyl > Bass Rig 64.
First, I tried it right after the tuner B4 the Cali 76. Not a full replacement for the full channel EQ of the EQ2. But I am able to cut the LF a pleasing amount (Chromes and Fender PV pickups are very thick sounding) But sounds like BUTTER with LaBella's.
Second, After the Cali get a nice thump going through, just the TWO effects alone are good enough for most Clean tones dialing up the LF and HF adds some hair to the Bass Rig. DCX adds some grit to the whole shebang, very nice sound (add the BassRig 64 with the Cab Sim and its a great and highly usable Classic 60's sound.
Third, it's current position in the Loop of the Stomp. the AS can run stereo into the Stomp where it gets summed to mono at the FX block. DCX sounded great across all 3 EQ flavors. This allows the physical and the digital drives to be fed into the DCX Bass. Tames the Digital sizzle on some of the Distortion pedals ( I like running the Teemah at the moment in Parallel) so far with a pick and rounds its a highly usable hard rock bass tone. Highly Usable
Fourth, put the Cali 76 After the DCX in the Loop. Most of you on here like Comps after Drives so had to try that here too. Lost a little bit of the thump in the attack when using some of the effects earlier in the chain but I can be a little more liberal with the gain staging of effects this way. Highly Usable
I can effectively take the Ch2 portion of the EQ2 out of the chain now since thats basically what the DCX is doing with less precision. and its allowed me to remove a high and low pass I had on in the stomp too. Gonna have to try this with one of the digital amps now to see how that handles it.
Bass > Tuner > SA EQ2 (ch 1. Bass Guitar EQ) > CALI76 > OC3 > C4 synth > SA Aftershock > EQ2 (ch 2. to tame drives) > HX STOMP
FX Loop 1 - DCX Bass, FX Loop 2 - CB Warped Vinyl > Bass Rig 64.
First, I tried it right after the tuner B4 the Cali 76. Not a full replacement for the full channel EQ of the EQ2. But I am able to cut the LF a pleasing amount (Chromes and Fender PV pickups are very thick sounding) But sounds like BUTTER with LaBella's.
Second, After the Cali get a nice thump going through, just the TWO effects alone are good enough for most Clean tones dialing up the LF and HF adds some hair to the Bass Rig. DCX adds some grit to the whole shebang, very nice sound (add the BassRig 64 with the Cab Sim and its a great and highly usable Classic 60's sound.
Third, it's current position in the Loop of the Stomp. the AS can run stereo into the Stomp where it gets summed to mono at the FX block. DCX sounded great across all 3 EQ flavors. This allows the physical and the digital drives to be fed into the DCX Bass. Tames the Digital sizzle on some of the Distortion pedals ( I like running the Teemah at the moment in Parallel) so far with a pick and rounds its a highly usable hard rock bass tone. Highly Usable
Fourth, put the Cali 76 After the DCX in the Loop. Most of you on here like Comps after Drives so had to try that here too. Lost a little bit of the thump in the attack when using some of the effects earlier in the chain but I can be a little more liberal with the gain staging of effects this way. Highly Usable
I can effectively take the Ch2 portion of the EQ2 out of the chain now since thats basically what the DCX is doing with less precision. and its allowed me to remove a high and low pass I had on in the stomp too. Gonna have to try this with one of the digital amps now to see how that handles it.
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Okay, so the next test to see how it interacted with the digital pedals/SVT Sim inside the HX Stomp.
I used an SVT Bright and tried to match some of the SuperVintage settings from the Ian Allison sample settings video. I can put an 8x10 cab sim/IR after the amp to sort of get close to the mojo of the SV with the cab sim on the DI. Very Very Close. I feel like I have to dig in a little harder to get the amp grit out of the Stomp that I hear in the video. But it’s pretty bang on. even with the HF Cranked it doesn’t get as sizzly as the Example in video but it’s pretty close. Adding an additional light gain pushes it to the finish line. I’m actually loving having this after fuzzes because it allows me to add some thickness back in to a fuzz’s Low End without needing a clean blend. And any adjustments if needed are now a
Quick knob away vs having to do that on the amp sim side of things.
I still want to pick up a Super Vintage when my local shop gets more in stock since it sounds pretty bang on. But the HX Stomp does a pretty convincing job getting you to that ampeg sound. There’s a slight low mid boost that I feel like I’m missing in comparison but nothing an EQ couldn’t fix.
we’re in the studio this weekend so I’ll try and record some examples of what I’m talking about if I have some time.
I used an SVT Bright and tried to match some of the SuperVintage settings from the Ian Allison sample settings video. I can put an 8x10 cab sim/IR after the amp to sort of get close to the mojo of the SV with the cab sim on the DI. Very Very Close. I feel like I have to dig in a little harder to get the amp grit out of the Stomp that I hear in the video. But it’s pretty bang on. even with the HF Cranked it doesn’t get as sizzly as the Example in video but it’s pretty close. Adding an additional light gain pushes it to the finish line. I’m actually loving having this after fuzzes because it allows me to add some thickness back in to a fuzz’s Low End without needing a clean blend. And any adjustments if needed are now a
Quick knob away vs having to do that on the amp sim side of things.
I still want to pick up a Super Vintage when my local shop gets more in stock since it sounds pretty bang on. But the HX Stomp does a pretty convincing job getting you to that ampeg sound. There’s a slight low mid boost that I feel like I’m missing in comparison but nothing an EQ couldn’t fix.
we’re in the studio this weekend so I’ll try and record some examples of what I’m talking about if I have some time.
Tried as best as I could but they just looked the best together. Thankfully, I had enough space underneath to allow for this. The utility of the DCX was just what I needed to make quick EQ adjustments to the dirts and drives, on the fly. And where I have it in the Stomp FX loop, it’s a great tone shaper, and at the flick of a switch has sort of a Timmy thing hapoening. Guess that’s why I liked it from the start.
DCX on the way. After all the feedback here I'm excited to try it!
