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

[DeltaPhoenix]

I just thought I should report back about using my B3K with my Orange AD200B tube amp...LOVE IT! I have always been more of a fuzz guy. I have caught myself saying I could do a gig with just my B3K and a few modulation pedals. I am not about to give up my Fuzz pedals at all, but the B3K has stepped in and now has a hefty work load.

 

[Anarchyok]

My B3K arrived today - so excited! Sounded great at home, but really shone at rehearsal tonight in a band context. I'm using it as a warm low gain od, like a pushed tube amp tone. Gave me exactly what I was after. This pedal is holy grail for me, and delivered beyond the hype it has here. Worth every dollar I spent on it.

 

[Darkglass]

Is there a way to have the b7k connected directly to the PA, and be able to turn the "dirt" on and off?

Hey mate! Not on the fly, but of turning the Blend knob will do so.
But the B7K approaches bass as a 1 channel bass preamp. As versatile as we could make it, but one channel.

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!

Wow thanks mate!
I did use a lot of an artistic approach towards designing it!
Thanks for the kind words .

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.

Wow! Thanks dude!

Funny that, I'm currently suffering from flu and there's a lot of it going around locally at the moment.

Yeah, a lots of friends from all around the world are getting ill, strange.

I just thought I should report back about using my B3K with my Orange AD200B tube amp...LOVE IT! I have always been more of a fuzz guy. I have caught myself saying I could do a gig with just my B3K and a few modulation pedals. I am not about to give up my Fuzz pedals at all, but the B3K has stepped in and now has a hefty work load.

Wow Delta! Nice to have you back! Thanks for the continuos support!

My B3K arrived today - so excited! Sounded great at home, but really shone at rehearsal tonight in a band context. I'm using it as a warm low gain od, like a pushed tube amp tone. Gave me exactly what I was after. This pedal is holy grail for me, and delivered beyond the hype it has here. Worth every dollar I spent on it.

Thank you for the nice comments!

Sorry everyone for not being able to post that much, but we've been so busy!
I've been collaborating very closely with someone all of you know!
The future looks limitless and we should have some very interesting announcements coming soon!

Have a nice weekend!

Doug.

 

[scHism]

Just received my Darkglass B3K.

Was not able to sleep, aural heaven at it's finest.

Thanks Doug and Jeff from nelldenmusic.com for bringing the Darkglass pedals here.

 

[Darkglass]

Just received my Darkglass B3K.

Was not able to sleep, aural heaven at it's finest.

Thanks Doug and Jeff from nelldenmusic.com for bringing the Darkglass pedals here.

Thanks for the words dude!

Jeff is the man! We're very happy to have such a great dealer in the Philippines!

Nice weekend.

Doug.

 

[ysand]

Hey mate! Not on the fly, but of turning the Blend knob will do so.
But the B7K approaches bass as a 1 channel bass preamp. As versatile as we could make it, but one channel.

Thanks for the reply!
I did order the b7k, seems to be perfect for what I'm looking for

 

[Josh Pelican]

I still need to try one of these. Alex Webster used one during the recording of "Torture" and he claimed it was the heaviest tone he's had to date. Very intriguing.

 

[Zapp]

you new owners that are confident: post some tubes!! i've heard/seen most on youtube now playing.... not quite sold yet

 

[smeet]

Doug, I'm loving the B3K, but I have a question. I like to use it for the overall sound it gives me, but I want it to remain clean, like on your B7K clip. I can do this, but only if I pluck the strings VERY lightly. Otherwise, I get some hi frequency crunch and breakup on the note attacks. Other than turning the volume down on my bass (which I don't like to do), is there a trim pot or other setting that I can change so I can get a completely clean attack?

My settings: drive all the way down, blend at noon, level at 2:00, attack off, and grunt on Fat.

 

[Darkglass]

Doug, I'm loving the B3K, but I have a question. I like to use it for the overall sound it gives me, but I want it to remain clean, like on your B7K clip. I can do this, but only if I pluck the strings VERY lightly. Otherwise, I get some hi frequency crunch and breakup on the note attacks. Other than turning the volume down on my bass (which I don't like to do), is there a trim pot or other setting that I can change so I can get a completely clean attack?

My settings: drive all the way down, blend at noon, level at 2:00, attack off, and grunt on Fat.

Hey dude!
Thanks for the comment: There's no trimmers or any other internal controls, so the only thing that could help besides lowering you bass' volume and plucking softly is to feed the B3K with higher voltage (12VDC).
This would raise the "break up" threshold, so you could pluck harder without having as much overdrive.

Hope this helps!

Regards, Doug.

 

[smeet]

Hey dude!
Thanks for the comment: There's no trimmers or any other internal controls, so the only thing that could help besides lowering you bass' volume and plucking softly is to feed the B3K with higher voltage (12VDC).
This would raise the "break up" threshold, so you could pluck harder without having as much overdrive.

Hope this helps!

Regards, Doug.

I'm already running it at 12v, that helped a little but I would like it even cleaner. I wonder if the breakup I'm getting is a bug or something, it sounds a bit different from when I turn up the drive (higher frequency, almost like a crackle). Maybe I should make a recording and send it to you and you can tell me if it sounds right to you?

 

[Darkglass]

I'm already running it at 12v, that helped a little but I would like it even cleaner. I wonder if the breakup I'm getting is a bug or something, it sounds a bit different from when I turn up the drive (higher frequency, almost like a crackle). Maybe I should make a recording and send it to you and you can tell me if it sounds right to you?

Feel free to send me anything dude! I'll be more than glad to help out.

What bass are you using it with? I noticed that with my Lakland is very hard to get clean tones, is like it starts from mild crunch/overdrive onwards... with my Fender Jazzbass DLX V is much cleaner... is just a matter of outputs!

Regards

Doug.

 

[smeet]

Feel free to send me anything dude! I'll be more than glad to help out.

What bass are you using it with? I noticed that with my Lakland is very hard to get clean tones, is like it starts from mild crunch/overdrive onwards... with my Fender Jazzbass DLX V is much cleaner... is just a matter of outputs!

Regards

Doug.

OK, thanks, I'll record something when I get a chance.

I'm using it with a Nordstrand NJ5 with Big Single pickups and a Nordstrand 3-band pre. It's not a super hot bass, and I get the crunch even in passive mode (although less).

 

[Darkglass]

OK, thanks, I'll record something when I get a chance.

I'm using it with a Nordstrand NJ5 with Big Single pickups and a Nordstrand 3-band pre. It's not a super hot bass, and I get the crunch even in passive mode (although less).

Great... well the pedal was designed for dirt anyways.
Actually one of the most challenging aspects of bass gear designing is the huge dynamic range between different instruments' output levels...

Send me that sample whenever you want: douglas (@) darkglasselectronics . com!

Regards and happy may day!

Doug.

 

[smeet]

Great... well the pedal was designed for dirt anyways.

Yeah, I know I'm not using it in the expected way, but I love the overall effect the pedal has on the dynamics and eq. I like the dirt a lot too, but I want my "always on" tone to be almost completely clean. It's *almost* there, but not quite. I wish it had two settings for the drive, it would be perfect if I could get a clean and distorted setting out of the pedal with a stomp!

Actually one of the most challenging aspects of bass gear designing is the huge dynamic range between different instruments' output levels...

Send me that sample whenever you want: douglas (@) darkglasselectronics . com!

Regards and happy may day!

Doug.

Thanks!

 

[madrob]

So after all the rave reviews I placed an order and got a b3k in the mail last night. Results................total dissapointment. The pedal seems to bleed off all the low end leaving a thin, treble sound. I'll play around with it some more to see if I can get some usable sounds out of it but for now I'm very dissapointed especially considering it cost my $309 CDN!!!!!

 

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

The pedal seems to bleed off all the low end leaving a thin, treble sound.

Not my experience. I think you should spend some more time exploring it until you find what you are looking for.

 

[mcnach]

So after all the rave reviews I placed an order and got a b3k in the mail last night. Results................total dissapointment. The pedal seems to bleed off all the low end leaving a thin, treble sound. I'll play around with it some more to see if I can get some usable sounds out of it but for now I'm very dissapointed especially considering it cost my $309 CDN!!!!!

I can understand some people love the sound, And others don't... but thin trebly sound is not something I would associate with this pedal. Not even close!

Are you using it by itself, or blended with something else?

In my experience that pedal has tons of bottom end and definition. That's why I bought one. Thin? I'm surprised you can sound thin, to be honest.

 

[dharmashawn]

I can understand some people love the sound, And others don't... but thin trebly sound is not something I would associate with this pedal. Not even close!

Are you using it by itself, or blended with something else?

In my experience that pedal has tons of bottom end and definition. That's why I bought one. Thin? I'm surprised you can sound thin, to be honest.

Yup +1

 

[eyeballkid]

im kinda with madrob, I found it to be thinner than any OD or Fuzz I currently have. I thought I dismissed it too soon and went and bought one a second time. And yup.. too thin. The only setting that didnt sound thin was the obvious "fat" setting, but that was all mid scoop sounding, which I hate unless VERY tastefully done. I dont think the pedal is a "disappointment" like he said, cos ive been around long enough to see that what is one man's holy grail is just a plain ol cup to someone else. The tones are really cool, and satisfying, if only they had a little more of the heft of my original tone. Obviously the B3K hit a win with some, just not what Im looking for.