Quilter Bass Block

[Hypercaffium]

Anybody using the Olympic preamp by Shift Line into the BB800?
Do you run it in the active input of the BB800 ore use the Line in?
This would be a devastating combination for pretty much anything, I guess.

 

[Agosix]

I run it into the passive with an active bass with the Quilter gain at 9. It's great!

 

[Hypercaffium]

I run it into the passive with an active bass with the Quilter gain at 9. It's great!

Wow. That should sound... "clicky" I guess? I tried running my BDDI into the passive input of the BB800 with the gain on 7 and the built-in compressor was very in your face. I liked the tone but I prefer to have a more open and dynamic sound. I like to hear the compression only when digging hard, honestly.
How much dirty can be the Olympic by itself?

 

[John D Harris]

With V2 available keep an eye out for used V1 Lindens. Once my V2 arrives and I do the comparison my V1 will probably be up on the FS forum. I love my V1 I just wanted the smaller footprint.

Please post your impressions when you've had a chance to compare the V1 & V2 Linden with the BB800.

 

[John D Harris]

Anybody using the Olympic preamp by Shift Line into the BB800?
Do you run it in the active input of the BB800 ore use the Line in?
This would be a devastating combination for pretty much anything, I guess.

Also, has anyone compared the Olympic preamp to the Linden EQ through the BB800?

 

[Agosix]

Wow. That should sound... "clicky" I guess? I tried running my BDDI into the passive input of the BB800 with the gain on 7 and the built-in compressor was very in your face. I liked the tone but I prefer to have a more open and dynamic sound. I like to hear the compression only when digging hard, honestly.
How much dirty can be the Olympic by itself?

I use it clean and it gets into Monique sound territory and the combo of BB800 and Olympic is a great alternative at a lower cost to the Monique 700 (both are great). Haven't really experimented with overdrive cause I rely on pedal like Omicron and a few others but that one suits me for now. Ill have to experiment the overdrive dirt on the Olympic at some point. The click tone you mention can easily be adjusted by eq mainly eq on the olympic and flat on the BB800 (noon).

 

[Hypercaffium]

The click tone you mention can easily be adjusted by eq mainly eq on the olympic and flat on the BB800 (noon).

The "click" comes from the BB800 built-in limiter squashing the signal beyond threshold. Using the passive input with an active bass (or preamp) sends a hot signal that triggers the compression easier compared to the active input which is padded. Some people do that on purpose because it sounds good, I've done it for a while and even get rid of my compressor pedal, but eventually ended up using the active input with preamps.
About preamps, I'm in the market for a tube preamp so I'll post some questions in the dedicated topics, feel free to post your suggestions there or here, since I'm planning to run the preamp straight into my BB800.

 

[Agosix]

The "click" comes from the BB800 built-in limiter squashing the signal beyond threshold. Using the passive input with an active bass (or preamp) sends a hot signal that triggers the compression easier compared to the active input which is padded. Some people do that on purpose because it sounds good, I've done it for a while and even get rid of my compressor pedal, but eventually ended up using the active input with preamps.
About preamps, I'm in the market for a tube preamp so I'll post some questions in the dedicated topics, feel free to post your suggestions there or here, since I'm planning to run the preamp straight into my BB800.

Ok I see what you mean by click.

 

[Hypercaffium]

Yesterday I ordered a Le Bass preamp and I'm planning to run it straight into the BB800.
Since the pedal it's tube driven and should provide its own dirt and compression, I'd prefer to run it into the Line in of the BB800, which bypass completely both EQ and limiter. In this way, the BB800 would work as a pure power amp, letting do all the EQ and gain work to the Le Bass.
I have a couple of questions:
- Which cable should I get to connect the Le Bass to the BB800 using the Line in?
- Which output of the preamp should I use?
XLR usually goes to the FOH, so I guess it's better to use the 1/4 output into the BB800?
In this case I should get a 1/4 to XLR (male) cable like this. Maybe 1/4 TRS to XLR male?

- When something is connected to the BB800's Line in, do the XLR out in the amp still works? Does it amplify the signal affected by the external preamp or not?
Thanks.

 

[kasbrey]

Yesterday I ordered a Le Bass preamp and I'm planning to run it straight into the BB800.
Since the pedal it's tube driven and should provide its own dirt and compression, I'd prefer to run it into the Line in of the BB800, which bypass completely both EQ and limiter. In this way, the BB800 would work as a pure power amp, letting do all the EQ and gain work to the Le Bass.
I have a couple of questions:
- Which cable should I get to connect the Le Bass to the BB800 using the Line in?
- Which output of the preamp should I use?
XLR usually goes to the FOH, so I guess it's better to use the 1/4 output into the BB800?
In this case I should get a 1/4 to XLR (male) cable like this. Maybe 1/4 TRS to XLR male?
View attachment 3268503
- When something is connected to the BB800's Line in, do the XLR out in the amp still works? Does it amplify the signal affected by the external preamp or not?
Thanks.

Sorry for answering everything you're posting today or at least attempting but I have both the Le Bass and the Quilter too.
I use an ordinary XLR male to XLR female so that I can take advantage of the cab sim which is only available on the XLR out and headphones. If you use a 1/4" to XLR you get more gain but the Le Bass has enough gain on the DI out to run the BB800. As I've mentioned before to you I really like the cab sim when using channel B on the Le Bass but either method will work.

 

[Hypercaffium]

So you run the Le Bass speaker emulation into a real speaker?
I'd prefer to go 1/4>Line In when using a cab and use the XLR out on the Le Bass for FOH. At least in that situation.
At home, I'd rather go XLR>mixer>active monitors to take advantage of the cab sim when practicing.

How do you control the gain on both 1/4 and XLR outputs of the Le Bass? It depends on where the "level" knobs are set for each channel?

 

[kasbrey]

So you run the Le Bass speaker emulation into a real speaker?
I'd prefer to go 1/4>Line In when using a cab and use the XLR out on the Le Bass for FOH. At least in that situation.
At home, I'd rather go XLR>mixer>active monitors to take advantage of the cab sim when practicing.

How do you control the gain on both 1/4 and XLR outputs of the Le Bass? It depends on where the "level" knobs are set for each channel?

I have FRFR speaker cabs (TKS) so I either use a cab sim or Broughton HPF to emulate a regular cab.
You can't control the gain of the 1/4" and XLR separately. They both respond to the gain/level controls.

 

[Hypercaffium]

In your situation I'd do the exact same thing, maybe with something like the Torpedo in the FX loop of the Le Bass. Broughton HPF works well too, I guess.
Forgive my inexperience, but why do you need the BB800 for your setup? You can go instrument>Le Bass>FRFR cab, right?
In my situation (instrument>preamp>amp>cabinet) I'd prefer to use the 1/4 output of the Le Bass and use the XLR out on the Le Bass for FOH.

 

[kasbrey]

In your situation I'd do the exact same thing, maybe with something like the Torpedo in the FX loop of the Le Bass. Broughton HPF works well too, I guess.
Forgive my inexperience, but why do you need the BB800 for your setup? You can go instrument>Le Bass>FRFR cab, right?
In my situation (instrument>preamp>amp>cabinet) I'd prefer to use the 1/4 output of the Le Bass and use the XLR out on the Le Bass for FOH.

I need the BB800 because the TKS1126 cabs aren't powered.

 

[Real Soon]

Yesterday I ordered a Le Bass preamp and I'm planning to run it straight into the BB800.
Since the pedal it's tube driven and should provide its own dirt and compression, I'd prefer to run it into the Line in of the BB800, which bypass completely both EQ and limiter. In this way, the BB800 would work as a pure power amp, letting do all the EQ and gain work to the Le Bass.
I have a couple of questions:
- Which cable should I get to connect the Le Bass to the BB800 using the Line in?
- Which output of the preamp should I use?
XLR usually goes to the FOH, so I guess it's better to use the 1/4 output into the BB800?
In this case I should get a 1/4 to XLR (male) cable like this. Maybe 1/4 TRS to XLR male?
View attachment 3268503
- When something is connected to the BB800's Line in, do the XLR out in the amp still works? Does it amplify the signal affected by the external preamp or not?
Thanks.

While I like cool gear, I'm a simple guy. I have a pedalboard capped with a Le Bass at the end, and I just go Le Bass Output to Quilter Input...reinforced by the fact that my Le Bass has a noisy XLR output, at least noisy enough to be trouble in studio settings, and I'm persnickety. So I don't use it. And since the way the Le Bass shapes things is different from how the Quilter does, I'm fine with letting it be there in case I need its particular sonic sculpting.

In fact, I'm big on multi EQ & compression staging, and use those same techniques when mixing audio. Done right, it's where some real magic happens! Anyway....

The Quilter's XLR output is post-EQ line out, so as long as the sound engineer trusts me, I can send my finished tone to the house. But if I leave the EQ knobs flat, so far I haven't detected a difference between that and bypassing via XLR connection, tone-wise.


As far as gain control and limiter triggering, for most passive basses at dimed level, I understand it's around the 1:00 position that the signal level starts to touch the limiter. Actives are a little harder to gauge (assuming using the active bass input, too), but that behavior can be replicated. Still, it doesn't get hardcore till around 3:00 in my setup, so again, I'm cool with letting it be.

Maybe I'm not picky enough there? Heh...but I figure I got the Quilter not for its size or wattage, but for its unique response and tone control characteristics. So much so that I figured out how to replicate its limiter stage on my compressor pedal for when I'm in an ampless situation.




That got long, sorry. If you really want to bypass the Quilter going to house, I'd check your Le Bass's XLR out in a quiet setting and see if there's noise and/or enough noise to warrant concern. Me personally, I wholeheartedly recommend letting the Quilter handle line out to FOH, which you can do whether you engage or bypass its preamp circuit. If your Le Bass XLR is noisy, we're in a sad gang together, but the 1/4" out is nice and quiet. Actually, impressively so.

 

[Hypercaffium]

Thanks for the tip. I've had some problems with my order so I ended up buying an Olympic tube preamp instead of the LB.
I'll test it with my BB800 as soon as it arrives.

 

[TrevorOfDoom]

Maybe I'm not picky enough there? Heh...but I figure I got the Quilter not for its size or wattage, but for its unique response and tone control characteristics. So much so that I figured out how to replicate its limiter stage on my compressor pedal for when I'm in an ampless situation.

Because my Quilter lives in my pedalboard case with my pedals, I use it as a DI whenever I'm in an ampless situation.
So you might be able to ditch your compressor pedal altogether.

 

[groovaholic]

Picked up a used BB800 from GC today.

Rehearsal tomorrow, and a show on Saturday depending* on how rehearsal sounds — then I should have a good sense of how it works for me.

*Edit: we’re playing the show regardless, my use of the Quilter AT that show will depend on how I get along with it tomorrow.

 

[Mushroo]

I've been playing "pedalboard tetris" trying to put together a small pedalboard designed specifically to compliment the BB800. No disrespect to the Quilter, but there are a few nice-to-have features that would dovetail nicely with the BB800's minimalism. I started making a "wish list" for my pedalboard:

1. Pre-master XLR DI
2. Traditional Bass/Mid/Treble EQ
3. Real tubes
4. Overdrive
   
5. Cab sim

After a few rounds of buying/selling/trading pedals, I thought, hmmm, why not ditch the pedalboard altogether, and find a tube preamp in the same half-rack format as the BB800?

(Arkham Abyss was the runner-up, but they are currently out of stock.)

And the full stack "Quilter sandwich":

 

[Jeff Elkins]

Picked up a used BB800 from GC today.

Rehearsal tomorrow, and a show on Saturday depending* on how rehearsal sounds — my use of the Quilter AT that show will depend on how I get along with it tomorrow.

Would love a gig report!

I was just noticing that we have three BB800’s available in the classifieds for the best prices available on the web. Offering a bump for them! I love mine, which I use for both electric and upright.