Great DIY job. I wish I the knowledge to do this... What about the enclosures : do you paint them yourself and what do you use for the labelling (waterslide decals or clear stickers)
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overdrive/fuzz quest part 2
- Thread starter johnk_10
- Start date
- Feb 16, 2008
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- John K Custom Basses
I buy the enclosures already powder-coated with the exception of the natural polished aluminum ones.
on most of them I use a brother p-touch labeler, and on a few others I use waterslide decals and clearcoat them.
on most of them I use a brother p-touch labeler, and on a few others I use waterslide decals and clearcoat them.
Well, I don't have an original ALembic F2B to compare with. However, I can say hat it is kind of what you would expect. For me, it has more lows, adds a nice roundedness to the tone. great EQ. I highly recommend it. Works very well on both my rack setup and my PJB amp. Lots of boost on tap as well. It is greta with the Verellen preamp too. I have not tried it on an all tube amp yet but I am sure it will sound great on that too.
- Feb 16, 2008
- 21,240
- 23,633
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- John K Custom Basses
also keep in mind that, just like the original, it's basically flat with the bass and treble controls nearly fully counterclockwise and the middle control fully clockwise with the bright switch off.
- Feb 16, 2008
- 21,240
- 23,633
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- John K Custom Basses
Hey guys...a little confused here (I have no experience with the Alembic). If it's flat with the middle control fully clockwise, how is it that you have it set "bumped on mids"? Seems like there's no way to do that. Unless you're saying flat treble as in 12:00 and bumped mids and bass at 1 or 2:00...but then that would seem extremely scooped according to John's explanation of the controls. Sorry, I must be missing something here (haven't had my coffee yet).
There really is no mid-bump setting with the Fender tone stack. Most basses and cabs have tons of mids already, so this is not usually a problem. There are many people who don't like this type of tone stack. I for one, get along with it fine. But I also have an EWS BMC on my pedal board. This is really an excellent pedal. I can add mid-emphasis in just the right spot for my tone goals. It covers a very wide range of mid frequencies and the Q/filter is awesome regardless of what mid-point I choose. That is pretty amazing IME. I put it at the end of the chain, just before the preamp. (The preamp is a Meatsmoke 2 channel version with fender-like tone stacks BTW). The best part of the BMC, compared to the Empress para-eq, which I also have, it that it is really easy to use. The Empress requires a lot more fiddling. I can get the sound I want with the BMC in a couple of seconds.
I will let John answer with actual specifics, but I can hear a mid bump if I crank the mids enough. The signal goes through my Enabler at the end so I can always bump up mids there or on another pre or on whatever amp I use.
I did just try it with the LB-30 and it really works well there. I changed it around a bit because it was before the cali76tx in the chain, next to the Orange pre, but I moved it after the cali so it becomes more usable for me. Between that and the Bajo Mos, I will be able to get a lot of mileage out of my setup.
- Feb 16, 2008
- 21,240
- 23,633
- Disclosures
- John K Custom Basses
there's a slight mid bump, but not much. it's exactly like a fender showman preamp (which is same as an F2B). what I like about F2B's is that they just smoothly round out the low end aming it sound fat, without sounding dark and wooly, and the highs are clean and clear, not harsh and spikey.
- Feb 16, 2008
- 21,240
- 23,633
- Disclosures
- John K Custom Basses
BTW, I finally got around to boxing up a few more:
Himmelstrutz Gramps:
Frantone Bassweet (with added mid control):
Skreddy Mayonaise MKIII:
Zvex Distortron (modded for bass and with NO 'crackle okay' on the drive control):
Himmelstrutz Gramps:
Frantone Bassweet (with added mid control):
Skreddy Mayonaise MKIII:
Zvex Distortron (modded for bass and with NO 'crackle okay' on the drive control):
Ahh, ok. I did a little reading on the F2B and Alembic says it's closest to flat at 2-10-2 (bass-mid-treble)...but that there isn't really a flat. So it makes sense that it can sound as if it has some more mid presence somewhere when there isn't really a flat setting (and at 0-10-0, you'd basically have a mid-bump).
Anyway, thanks for the responses - your description makes it sound really sweet and rich.
- Feb 16, 2008
- 21,240
- 23,633
- Disclosures
- John K Custom Basses
just got the Zvex basstortion in.
I A/B'd it against the modded Distortron clone that i built and it sounds identical to it, but is also capable of a few more tones.
I probably shouldn't have bought it since the Distortron clone does everything (and more), but the Basstortion does sound really nice.
I A/B'd it against the modded Distortron clone that i built and it sounds identical to it, but is also capable of a few more tones.
I probably shouldn't have bought it since the Distortron clone does everything (and more), but the Basstortion does sound really nice.
I was thinking about an Empress -- not just for mid control, but adding presence up top. Never used that or the BMC, but this the first I've seen the Empress referred to as fiddly... I'm sorting out other aspects of my rig, still, so maybe I should wait on adding an EQ pedal.
The Empress is a very good piece of kit. It if very flexible and works well for fine tuning your sound. But it has 4 toggles, three knobs, and two foot switches. So getting that sound takes a whole lot more effort than the BMC which has two knobs and a foot switch. The BMC is a better choice if you want to change your sound on the fly. The Empress is better if you want to setup your sound and leave it alone. If you are looking for tone shaping, you may also want to the fromel shape eq.
I'm also interested in the BMC. I have an active Pedulla Thunderbass with the standard tone knob, similar to a fender precision tone knob and want to know if the BMC will work well with an active bass. I know it says on the site it is great for a two band eq. If I roll the knob counter clockwise more bass less treble and clockwise more treble less bass. Thoughts?
I really liked the Bassweet. Kind of a "spitty" fuzz. If you like that one, the Lo-Tone Fuzz is an awesome low gain fuzz IMO.
And as always, great looking work John.
And as always, great looking work John.
