I'm dying to hear the Cali. Is it a pretty authentic 1176 flavor? Tracks from your session would be better than pics!
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Retrospec SqueezeBox & JuiceBox Owners
- Thread starter GuzBaas
- Start date
I'm dying to hear the Cali. Is it a pretty authentic 1176 flavor? Tracks from your session would be better than pics!
Just posting up here to add a little Retrospec love. I've had both the REDDI and Squeezebox for about a week now.. A/B'n them through my live rig (Berg HG310/Handbox R400) and tracking the DI's of both... in addition to the R-400 DI and putting them all through the paces etc. and I thought I'd share my some quick thoughts. I'm not going into Scubaduba detail here as I agree with much of his findings! Just throwing my 2 cents out there.
First off; that the REDDI is an amazing sounding DI. It really sets the bar for that "colored" DI, B15ish tube tone. I love every bit of it. It's very thick and detailed sounding and really does thicken up the thinness found on my G string especially... I could use this DI ALL DAY LONG. With that, my only gripe is that the Thru jack is out of the DI circuit making it only (practically) usable in a FOH/DAW recording type situation. We've all heard this complaint before, I know. For me, an additional 1/4" line level out in parallel with the XLR out would make it MUCH more versatile, hence my foray with the Squeezebox. That said, I do understand the the Reddi's form follows its intended function and it does that extremely well!
The Squeezebox on the other hand, while being immediately satisfying to play through as well... took a bit more knob twisting to get in a similar tonal ballpark as the Reddi through the DI (expected). Honestly, I was a bit surprised how similar I was able to get the two to sound (engaging the tone and comp) especially given it's natural tube cleanliness, sans transformer etc. It's a fair bit more transparent than I expected. Through my experimentation, I was able to dial in a VERY similar tone to the Reddi... albeit a little cleaner and a little less colored and round sounding which the Reddi does very well. However, with the use of that tone knob, combined with the ability to engage an amazing sounding and versatile optical compressor, the Squeezebox brings a very hefty, wonderfully toneful package to the table! This flexibility of the Squeezebox is what really makes it a great piece of kit IMHO. All that, combined with the ability to use it in your live signal chain AND send out a killer DI to FOH, OR simply bring it in your gig bag to a recording session is really very impressive!
Thanks to @Dee-man for hooking me up with this one. I am looking forward to having the Squeezebox be a mainstay in my chain and a see what great things come out of this box in a live setting with my band. Kudos to Retrospec for creating something so useful for me and many other bassists! good times indeed
First off; that the REDDI is an amazing sounding DI. It really sets the bar for that "colored" DI, B15ish tube tone. I love every bit of it. It's very thick and detailed sounding and really does thicken up the thinness found on my G string especially... I could use this DI ALL DAY LONG. With that, my only gripe is that the Thru jack is out of the DI circuit making it only (practically) usable in a FOH/DAW recording type situation. We've all heard this complaint before, I know. For me, an additional 1/4" line level out in parallel with the XLR out would make it MUCH more versatile, hence my foray with the Squeezebox. That said, I do understand the the Reddi's form follows its intended function and it does that extremely well!
The Squeezebox on the other hand, while being immediately satisfying to play through as well... took a bit more knob twisting to get in a similar tonal ballpark as the Reddi through the DI (expected). Honestly, I was a bit surprised how similar I was able to get the two to sound (engaging the tone and comp) especially given it's natural tube cleanliness, sans transformer etc. It's a fair bit more transparent than I expected. Through my experimentation, I was able to dial in a VERY similar tone to the Reddi... albeit a little cleaner and a little less colored and round sounding which the Reddi does very well. However, with the use of that tone knob, combined with the ability to engage an amazing sounding and versatile optical compressor, the Squeezebox brings a very hefty, wonderfully toneful package to the table! This flexibility of the Squeezebox is what really makes it a great piece of kit IMHO. All that, combined with the ability to use it in your live signal chain AND send out a killer DI to FOH, OR simply bring it in your gig bag to a recording session is really very impressive!
Thanks to @Dee-man for hooking me up with this one. I am looking forward to having the Squeezebox be a mainstay in my chain and a see what great things come out of this box in a live setting with my band. Kudos to Retrospec for creating something so useful for me and many other bassists! good times indeed
Mine should be here this week... I've moved the Cali 76 to my guitar board. From what I hear, this is far better for bass.
The one that all serious guitar players swear by...
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What is the origin of that evaluation ? You may be underwhelmed by the difference specifically for bass.
Hmm. Well, I wouldn’t say that is the de facto Origin Cali76 model all guitarists swear by. And I wouldn’t say the Retrospec Squeezebox is far better for bass. Not sure where that vibe is coming from. Different, yes. But better. Maybe, maybe not. Depends what you are going for and what functionality matters most.
For one, it prevents me from having to move the compressor from one board to another.
I have used the Squeeze box as a stand-alone as a DI in a session a little while ago and I was pleased with it. My goal is to put this in front of my Noble to add a little more presence.
We'll see...
A lot of gigging guitarists that I work with in the Atlanta metro area have it on the board. I can honestly say that it does what I need it to do and can tell the difference when I'm on a guitar gig. They were a driver to inspiring me to add it to my guitar rig.
I've had a 1st gen squeezebox for 25 or 30 years or however long they've been out. Use it for bass and guitar. I think it's great but I've never trialed a bunch of compressors.
Live, (bass) 1/4" to amp, balanced to FOH. Never a complaint on that. Recording, when home I go out the 1/4" into a RNDI into Apollo interface, , when at someone else's studio, usually just out the 1/4" into DI/splitter.
I can't make meaningful comparisons to 1176 types, having only ever played around with plugins of.....and that on top of a signal already affected by the squeezebox.
With guitar, it's always on as well, but no DI, just 1/4" to amp, mic'd cab.
Real nice on both, and probably vocals too.
Live, (bass) 1/4" to amp, balanced to FOH. Never a complaint on that. Recording, when home I go out the 1/4" into a RNDI into Apollo interface, , when at someone else's studio, usually just out the 1/4" into DI/splitter.
I can't make meaningful comparisons to 1176 types, having only ever played around with plugins of.....and that on top of a signal already affected by the squeezebox.
With guitar, it's always on as well, but no DI, just 1/4" to amp, mic'd cab.
Real nice on both, and probably vocals too.
I did a recording session with my Retrospec Squeezebox last night. I went direct from the Retrospect to the board. I had it set up more like a limiter, hitting the tubes just hard enough to get a little bit of harmonic overtones. I got a lot of compliments on the tone. I played a 5 string with flats.
Been doing lots of recording. Guitars and bass tracked through Squeezebox albeit different threshold settings.
I sure can't complain. On bass I'm always playing a five string with 20+ year old flats. Gooey and warm.
Nice to hear of another user. For what I perceive as the quality of the unit, I don't necessarily hear much from others employing this device.
I sure can't complain. On bass I'm always playing a five string with 20+ year old flats. Gooey and warm.
Nice to hear of another user. For what I perceive as the quality of the unit, I don't necessarily hear much from others employing this device.
For the past few yeas they were talking about re-launching the Retrospec. I had great hopes. The Jukebox and Squeeze box were pretty awesome.
It finally looks like their website is down. This may be a product of the past. I don't have any plans to get rid of mine anytime soon. I love my Noble, but sometimes this just fits the bill for a project.
I haven't been in touch with them for quite a few years. Retrospec was a one man operation - Ken McKim. Design, final build and testing. Check out his considerable resume of experience.
The marketing of the reissue of the Squeezbox was done by another very experienced, talented individual. However, some months after the Squeezbox was re-introduced, after 14 years of players asking for a re-issue, the marketing person experienced a serious family misfortune that necessarily consumed the focus of his efforts. Things pretty much ground to a halt at that point.
I can't overstate the positive commitment both of these individuals made to the re-issue of the Squeezbox. The professionalism, commitment to absolutely superlative customer service, well beyond anything I have ever experienced, and just being genuinely good people was beyond unusual.
I'm perhaps overly critical in dealing with providers and service people, but these folks definitely went way above and beyond. A very unfortunate loss.
The marketing of the reissue of the Squeezbox was done by another very experienced, talented individual. However, some months after the Squeezbox was re-introduced, after 14 years of players asking for a re-issue, the marketing person experienced a serious family misfortune that necessarily consumed the focus of his efforts. Things pretty much ground to a halt at that point.
I can't overstate the positive commitment both of these individuals made to the re-issue of the Squeezbox. The professionalism, commitment to absolutely superlative customer service, well beyond anything I have ever experienced, and just being genuinely good people was beyond unusual.
I'm perhaps overly critical in dealing with providers and service people, but these folks definitely went way above and beyond. A very unfortunate loss.
