If it helps, there is some high end roll off, which might take some edge off of the high grind lead tone that you like on your board.
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Solid Gold FX Beta drive? Anyone playing one?
- Thread starter sunfighter
- Start date
If it helps, there is some high end roll off, which might take some edge off of the high grind lead tone that you like on your board.
I'm so glad folks are digging this so much. SGFX make some really great stuff. It's nice to see they've got what looks like a winner here. I don't think it's a tone that works for me, but it definitely is pleasing to the ear.
I can confirm some high end roll off as well. It is not extreme but you can definitely hear it.
Yes to high end roll off and a slight low mid bump. I happen to like that character very much but I can see where many wouldn't be into it.
I don't think it's possible to have a "vintage" or "warm" overdrive that doesn't roll off some high end. That's a standard component of that sound.
All of the things you wished the SFT would have been? That.
But seriously, it doesn't do the same thing as the SFT, which emulates a certain sound and dynamic, and it doesn't have the same tonestack, obv. The Beta doesn't fart out at all like the SFT, or get squishy. As an overdrive it has a better response overall and at all settings, unlike the SFT.
My favorite setting so far is:
Tone dimed
Drive 1:00
Level 10:00
Adds a tiny volume boost to my pbass. Makes a great low-mid grind and starts getting dirtier the harder I play. With my attack, on this setting I can go from almost no overdrive to a mid gain overdrive. I really love this pedal.
Tone dimed
Drive 1:00
Level 10:00
Adds a tiny volume boost to my pbass. Makes a great low-mid grind and starts getting dirtier the harder I play. With my attack, on this setting I can go from almost no overdrive to a mid gain overdrive. I really love this pedal.
Thanks man! I took your settings and ran them into a Barbershop with the gain at 3:00 and the sag at 11:00. Holy sh!t that is pure bliss with the Barbershop as a boost on top of it.
Yes, that is a good review. My only issue with the Beta so far is that I am not sure where I want to put it in my chain. I have it replacing my Pork Loin in one of my parallel loops right now but I almost want to put after the Blender and into the main chain near my Micro Red Dragon, it's that good.
I like his reviews. It is a good review and he says pretty much everything I couldn't say about this pedal... 
I haven't played one, but from all of the clips I've heard it aims for a tube type compression and overdrive sound, somewhat similar to a Blueberry or to a lesser degree Catalinbread SFT (someone with experience pls correct me). Is there anything you find "missing" in the Fat Drive that you would look for in another pedal?
Thanks for the reply, Jumblemind. I don't find anything missing, just always after the elusive perfect tone. I really liked the audio clips of the Bate a few pages ago. That got me thinking, hmmmm, does the Beta have something additional to offer? Especially with the praise it has received. One thing with the Fat Drive I did find was that I could not get it to go from clean to driven. There was always too much drive. I wanted to get just barely a gnarl, but it was always too much. Too hot a signal going into the Fat Drive was the issue. But I couldn't lower the signal going into it except by lowering the volume out on my bass. In the end, I modified the Fat Drive so when engaged the input level gets lowered a bit to get a clean sound and the tone from it but not driven or of course driven if gain is increased. So, in all I'm curious to opinions comparing the two. It's always difficult to judge clips of pedals and compare pedals on different setups, players, recording technique etc.
Thanks......
I found the Blueberry to be similar in getting too gainy too fast for my taste; and most other tube drive emulating pedals seem to go from fat warm to overclipping really quickly. Neither is the case with this pedal, which is much of what makes folks say it's usable throughout the full sweep of its knobs (and you can see in the vid above when he has the gain dimed). Just barely a gnarl is the Beta's specialty. I don't have an active bass, but I have fed it with other overdrives, and it handles input gain well in those cases.
Yeah, I keep the gain on my BJFE Blueberry between 7 and 9 o'clock and would certainly turn it lower sometimes if I could.
