Origin Effects BassRig Ampeg B15 Fliptop recreation

[Renno]

So I ordered a SVT to compare the two of them and I cannot make my mind up. I can only afford to keep one (unless someone wants to send me the )

It will only be used for clean sounds. Both sound great through DI. Not tried with amp yet.

Any suggestions ?

So after playing both for an hour through IEM

I would say the B15 is warmer but the SVT has more bite, even on the lower settings. I think the B15 would sit nicely in the mix but the SVT would be grabbing the audience by the balls.

Still need to go through the amp and full set up

Still undecided

 

[sunbeast]

Yes, for clarity I have the empress adjusted so that the gain reduction is delayed to allow an emphasized note attack.

I no longer have a Cali76, but I have a hard time believing it would offer enough more attack than the Empress to justify the added expense in your case. All I could suggest is playing around with lower Drive settings and/or dropping the Bass control on the Fifteen when driving it which tightens the response up significantly since the EQ is pre-Drive.

 

[sunbeast]

So after playing both for an hour through IEM

I would say the B15 is warmer but the SVT has more bite, even on the lower settings. I think the B15 would sit nicely in the mix but the SVT would be grabbing the audience by the balls.

Still need to go through the amp and full set up

Still undecided

I wish I had a Super Vintage to compare as well!

 

[Renno]

I wish I had a Super Vintage to compare as well!

SVT arrived today and luckily in the UK, we have some good payment and return options. I’ll only be keeping one to run alongside my Mesa d800+ and Mesa 2x12 cab

 

[grubdumpling]

The fifteen does compress realistically so I haven’t found a god way to use compression ahead of it that doesn’t limit the responsiveness. If you need sustain you could put it after (complications with cabsim xlr notwithstanding).

As for the synth they generally need full frequency range to sound right and the 15 reduces that range, so there may not be a solution with the 15 on.

I no longer have a Cali76, but I have a hard time believing it would offer enough more attack than the Empress to justify the added expense in your case. All I could suggest is playing around with lower Drive settings and/or dropping the Bass control on the Fifteen when driving it which tightens the response up significantly since the EQ is pre-Drive.

Ok, I've had a bunch more time now to dial things in, and have settled into a very happy relationship with the BR15. It really does like to be the only thing in the chain, at least to my ears. I will use it alone as my standard "almost everything" tone, with minor tweaks depending on the level of drive. For the few songs I need to use synth or switch back and forth between synth and normal bass tone (like the original tears for fears version of mad world) I want a more modern sound anyway, and all who know the empress comp can attest to it's fantastic tone when used like a comp and preamp with the colour switch engaged. An added bonus that I did not forsee when considering the BR15, keeping the cabsim active really does a fantastic job of polishing off the comp-chorus, and the comp-synth-chorus sounds for me.

Thanks to both of you for the advice, I've really had a hard time getting away from the BDDI... and now that I found something that surpasses the sound I use from the BDDi and also adds an independant cabsim close to my heart (I only use 15s), I think @Origin_Effects has finally helped me move on from an old pedal that was never really a problem, but wasn't exactly inspiring.

I love these moments.

 

[agrestic_sound]

Any comparisons yet with the Fliptop, Punchline or Linden?

Although in the B15 category, I do realize that the Linden is cleaner by nature and does not have a cab sim, so maybe not a fair comparison at all.

 

[grubdumpling]

Oh geez... I just dialed in the Empress Bass Compressor through the BassRig15 cabsim to sound exactly like my preferred setting of the BassRig15, but with just a little more punch. edit: and a bit more sustain.

Try this at home if any of your have these two pedals:

BassRig15 - blend at max, treble at 10 o'clock, turn drive up until just before notes high on the fretboard go from saturation to break up, then turn the bass up until just before notes played low of the fretboard start to break up, then reassess both.

Empress Comp will be harder to dial in for one's particular bass because look at all those knobs... But for me and a mustang with flats, input 2 o'clock, output up to unity gain, attack dimed, release noon, mix full on, sidechain 10 o'clock, 4:1 compression and colour set to scooped.

I have to admit right now I am in love with the tone of the Empress comp into the Bassrig15 cab sim... it's not very authentic, but man is it good.

edit: revision - i have the comp set a little higher than unity gain, as is the BassRig15, and the Comp needs to be played a little closer to the neck to round it out fully.

 

[Renno]

SVT arrived today and luckily in the UK, we have some good payment and return options. I’ll only be keeping one to run alongside my Mesa d800+ and Mesa 2x12 cab

Been testing them both this morning with the Mesa rig and have to say it’s very tight.
The SVT is slightly brighter and I think gives it the winning option, especially with the additional EQ and horn cut switch.

 

[Renno]

Been testing them both this morning with the Mesa rig and have to say it’s very tight.
The SVT is slightly brighter and I think gives it the winning option, especially with the additional EQ and horn cut switch.

If you were just going FOH & IEM, both are good enough for this

For me, I will be going both amp and DI FOH, mixing it up with room sizes etc. gives me the luxury to play both and then just use bassrig as preamp too.

On the basis of using both at the same time, the SVT wins for me, especially with the dirty spitty Zvex

 

[FenderP]

Any comparisons yet with the Fliptop, Punchline or Linden?

Although in the B15 category, I do realize that the Linden is cleaner by nature and does not have a cab sim, so maybe not a fair comparison at all.

Full disclosure: I've yet to try the BassRig Fifteen. I'm looking forward to giving it a whirl soon.

That said, I've tried a lot of the B-15 "clones" - Slampegg Bee Pre, Broughton Fliptop and P15, LowEnd True Voice, the Linden (as part of a chain; it's just EQ so not really an emulation per se, VT Bass, and a few others I can't remember). The only one that got really close to my ears was the P15. I hated the Fliptop. Some were better than others, and most did not have any kind of cab. My problem with most of the emulations - pedal or not - is they didn't simulate the power section. This seems to have that.

I've listened to some of the Fifteen clips online and it sounds pretty good and seems to behave like a real B-15. Is it the most tonally flexible? No. A B-15 is something you love or you don't. I owned a '63 B-15N for close to 30 years, so that sound is imprinted in my head. In the right context, there's nothing better in my opinion.

 

[projectapollo]

Church today. FOH preferred cab sim off.

 

[txhawaii]

SVT arrived today and luckily in the UK, we have some good payment and return options. I’ll only be keeping one to run alongside my Mesa d800+ and Mesa 2x12 cab

so how do you justify having the pedal running through the mesa and cab? how do you run it? thru the effects loop? doesn't the mesa and cab color your results? I thought the pedal would only be pure if you ran it straight into a board or into a FRFR speaker? there are several here that say the mesa d800 can easily sound like a b15.

 

[kenny ames]

On the fence about picking up a Fifteen.

$600 is a lot of coin for a pedal.

I love the idea of the ‘64, but ultimately the SV beat it out for definition and clarity. Tracking and live.

Having not laid hands on a Fifteen yet, I’m wondering how different the Fifteen and the ‘64 are? I understand the differences technically, but just wondering sonically.

Usually run the SV with just the 1/4” out. No cab sim.

Lastly, how does the Fifteen stack up against the Broughton P-15?

Love to hear anyone’s thoughts who have owned some of these pedals.

Many thanks!

 

[FenderP]

The P-15, which I liked, did not emulate the power section. Just the preamp. I paired it with something else to get that (see one of my past posts about this). The BassRig is tip to tail which is one reason I am going to give it a whirl.

 

[FenderP]

As for the 64 vs either Ampeg, they are different tone stacks. I prefer Ampeg to Fender's, but I can also use a Fender tone stack if that is all I have available to me.

 

[kenny ames]

The P-15, which I liked, did not emulate the power section. Just the preamp. I paired it with something else to get that (see one of my past posts about this). The BassRig is tip to tail which is one reason I am going to give it a whirl.

Right on. All the classic bass amps were either paired with a cabinet or there was a speaker built into the enclosure.

Either way a speaker(s) were part of the equation.

Which is why many pre-amps/pedal come up short, IMO.

Have liked many things I’ve heard of folks using the P-15.

 

[kenny ames]

As for the 64 vs either Ampeg, they are different tone stacks. I prefer Ampeg to Fender's, but I can also use a Fender tone stack if that is all I have available to me.

I get the different tone stacks and think they’re both valid. P bass vs J bass.

Would love to know how the Fifteen compares against the SV and ‘64 as Ive those two for reference.

Thanks for your replies.

 

[fclefgeoff]

Here’s my thoughts…
I’ve owned the ‘64 and SV in the past and now own the Fifteen. IMO, the Fifteen does clean tones and edge of break-up the best. The SV did driven sounds the best. I wanted to love The ‘64, but I felt the clean tones were a bit lacking and driven tones were too dark/hairy. However, I did enjoy the differences in the black/tweed switch. I also prefer that the cab sim can be turned off on the Fifteen.

 

[projectapollo]

Here’s my thoughts…
I’ve owned the ‘64 and SV in the past and now own the Fifteen. IMO, the Fifteen does clean tones and edge of break-up the best. The SV did driven sounds the best. I wanted to love The ‘64, but I felt the clean tones were a bit lacking and driven tones were too dark/hairy. However, I did enjoy the differences in the black/tweed switch. I also prefer that the cab sim can be turned off on the Fifteen.

I've owned all three and agree with this 100%. I would add that the SV cab sim is the most pleasing, IME.

 

[FenderP]

Right on. All the classic bass amps were either paired with a cabinet or there was a speaker built into the enclosure.

Either way a speaker(s) wee part of the equation.

Which is why many pre-amps/pedal come up short, IMO.

Have liked many things I’ve heard of folks using the P-15.

It's why I stopped trying to emulate a B-15 - I did it so many ways (example: power amp, power tube sim, P-15 ... and that didn't have a speaker sim).

From a preamp perspective, the P-15 got very close. One note: the output was HOT. Recording with it was not always fun for engineers.