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the best bass overdrive/distorsion?!!-darkglass electronics b3k

#521
kenstee said:
If you haven't already you ought to try a set of D'Addario Chromes.......
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I use Labella's, cuz they, um, sound like flats are supposed to sound. I have Chromes on my 5 string jazz, but it stays home as it doesn't fit the feel of my current project. Chromes are nicely balanced between roundwound twang and flatwound thud. I'd definitely recommend using them with a B3K.
 
#522
Darkglass said:
Hey! At high gain settings, with he Attack Boost switched on there will be some hiss, this is perfectly normal.
A power supply with isolated outputs is recommendable if you have many pedals (4 or more I'd say).



Yup that's it! haha thanks mate!

Sorry for not replying sooner, I've been in bed for the last few days with a pretty nasty flu :(.

Thanks everyone for the kind words and comments!

Regards.

Doug.
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Oh man, I hope you feel better. Seems like this 'flu' bug is going coast to coast in the states, and what with all the flights between here and Europe, well... health is no longer a provincial issue.

Take care. :)
 
#523
jewbageled said:
Well, my goodness. This is quite the trendy pedal.
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The B3K may not wind up being standard pedalboard fare for everyone, but I'm convinced it's more than just a flavor of the month. I've tried quite a few overdrives now (15-16 I think) and the Darkglass really is a top shelf overdrive. I knew Doug had something when my first thought about it was that it sounds surprisingly like my '74 V4B when overdriving the tubes.

Also if it helps... Mine's currently on a Dunlop Brick, but I've also powered it with a 1-Spot and I haven't had noise problems with either power source.

5sg.
 
#524
fivestringgecko said:
The B3K may not wind up being standard pedalboard fare for everyone, I'm convinced it's more than just a flavor of the month. I've tried quite a few overdrives now (15-16 I think) and the Darkglass really is a top shelf overdrive. I knew Doug had something when my first thought about it was that it sounds surprisingly like my '74 V4B when overdriving the tubes.

5sg.
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+1

The B3K is my favorite overdrive pedal of all time. I also agree about sounding like overdriven tubes...it's the closest I've found to that sound in a stompbox. I played a show last night with it on the entire time. Grind for dayzzz.
 
#526
DeltaPhoenix said:
On that note, is anyone using the B3K into a tube head (surely somebody is)? If so, thoughts on it.
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Interesting... Hadn't thought about that, actually. If no one has already, I could try my B3K into my V4B, but I'm out of town for another week or so. I can certainly give it a shot when I get home. Don't know if that would help?

5sg.
 
#527
fivestringgecko said:
Interesting... Hadn't thought about that, actually. If no one has already, I could try my B3K into my V4B, but I'm out of town for another week or so. I can certainly give it a shot when I get home. Don't know if that would help?

5sg.
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I mean an Overdrive is an Overdrive period, right. If I am playing with my amp clean, then stomp on the B3K, my signal is going to be overdriven.
I mean, maybe that makes the "tube character" of the pedal redundant, maybe it sounds great....
I should have my B3K by Saturday (I think), I'll report back.
I play my amp mainly clean-ish and get my dirt from pedals. I figured this may be good for a "grindy" sound. I mean in all honesty, I have had more of a "grind" sound from solid state amps. Tube amps sound great but the OD is definately smoother and creamier straight from the amp.
 
#528
DeltaPhoenix said:
I have a B3K on the way, again. I have switched amps since I last owned one and am excited to see how it goes with the B3K into my Orange ad200b. On that note, is anyone using the B3K into a tube head (surely somebody is)? If so, thoughts on it.
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I'm using it with a V-4B and I like it ... a lot. I had this moment last rehersal (first time with the B3K) where I play a intro solo for about half a minute and the sound was so thick, crisp and in your face, and our guitar player was just starring in disbelief - wouldn't trade this moment :D
 
#530
DeltaPhoenix said:
I have a B3K on the way, again. I have switched amps since I last owned one and am excited to see how it goes with the B3K into my Orange ad200b. On that note, is anyone using the B3K into a tube head (surely somebody is)? If so, thoughts on it.
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I've had my B3K for a month now. I use mine with an SVT and a Pignose B100vh. Awesome with both. I thought the B3K might bump my Valvedrive off my board and save me some space... Now I run the B3K into the Valvedrive with the VD set like treble boosted 2nd channel.
 
#532
Just got a b3k today and have been playing with it for several hours. Blew off my daily chores to play with the new toy. I ran it into my Peavey Basic 40 combo, which is about as sterile-sounding a solid state amp as I've ever heard, and the pedal sounds pretty good. Running my Westone and my Ric through it, the pedal seems to exaggerate the part of the tone that makes each bass sound different; the Westone's harsher 80's Japanese tone really comes out, the Ric really sounds more "ric-ish". Lots of balls added to the sound. I have used other OD pedals, and didn't care much for them, but this one really sounds good. Can't wait to run it into my Ampeg Portaflex rig.

It came in a nice box, but there are no instructions, warranty card, or any other documentation with it. Is this normal?
 
#533
Spectrum said:
Just got a b3k today and have been playing with it for several hours. Blew off my daily chores to play with the new toy. I ran it into my Peavey Basic 40 combo, which is about as sterile-sounding a solid state amp as I've ever heard, and the pedal sounds pretty good. Running my Westone and my Ric through it, the pedal seems to exaggerate the part of the tone that makes each bass sound different; the Westone's harsher 80's Japanese tone really comes out, the Ric really sounds more "ric-ish". Lots of balls added to the sound. I have used other OD pedals, and didn't care much for them, but this one really sounds good. Can't wait to run it into my Ampeg Portaflex rig.

It came in a nice box, but there are no instructions, warranty card, or any other documentation with it. Is this normal?
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Yeah no goodies but a cool box :-)
 
#534
Spectrum said:
Can't wait to run it into my Ampeg Portaflex rig.
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Got to wring this thing out at practice tonight, running my Ric 4003 through the b3k into an Ampeg pf500 and a 210 Portaflex cabinet. Absolute heaven. When I played a riff my guitarist's eyes bugged out and he got a big grin on his face. "That's reminds me of the first time I fell in love with the sound of a bass!" he said.

The Portaflex amps sound great without effects when you crank the gain, and so I wasn't really using an OD pedal because the amp sounds better on its own. But the b3k adds so much and keeps the bottom end while making the whole sound brighter and fuller.

Good job, Doug.
 
#537
Received my b3k Tuesday from Effect Boutique, thanks to both. This is a work of art! Lots of tones in this lil black box. After resolving the power source hum, I was in drive heaven! Versatile! Running a bongo 5 into b3 into a radial bassbone. Sounding great! Great work darkglass team!
 
#538
I've had my B3K for a while now and it's made itself a permanent part of my pedal board.

Between my 550 Spyder, Xotic BB and B3K I can cop many, many different flavours of growl, grit, grind, roar and downright mean.

EDIT: The main reason I'm pleased with my dirt setup is because all of my main sounds and variations of overdrive/gain all sound very natural and different basses retain their own character. The B3K is the best high gain overdrive I've had the pleasure of using that, while having its own distinct voice, manages to be somehow transparent, possibly due to a mix of the pedal's deep and bright voicing and the clean blend.
 

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