The Sushi Box FX Secret Society

[EastDakota]

Just watched the fabulous "Biggest Bass D.I. Shootout Ever" from Janek Gwizdala, I sent him a With Bass In Mind edition Finally v2 and audibly giggled when he said "I don’t think there’s really anything else that comes close to it on the market."

I've had people ask me in the past how it feels to get excluded from conversations about "high-end" gear like Noble and REDDI because of how inexpensive my stuff is, and why I don't focus on high-dollar items to get more clout. The simple reason is that I don't want to. Is my $250 tube D.I. the absolute best sounding thing in the universe? Maybe not. But I firmly believe that it is by far the best sounding thing in anything close to that price range.

When I first started playing guitar (I didn't start on bass), my parents didn't seem to take it seriously and it was considered a phase I would grow out of, so they didn't want to invest in it. I got a hand-me-down acoustic and eventually the cheapest electric and the cheapest amp. If I wanted something nicer, I had to get it myself. I was frustrated that no matter how much I practiced I never seemed to sound good. Would getting a $5000 guitar and a $2000 amp make me a better musician? Of course not. But it would have inspired me to work harder because I would have been able to hear the difference in sound. "Tone is in the fingers" is a great thing to say to people that already have at least mid-grade gear, but for a 12 year-old kid with hand-me-downs and a broken amplifier, it doesn't matter how good your fingers are if the gear isn't doing its job.

So when I design my products, I'm not thinking about how to maximize profits. I'm not using "mojo" components or NOS tubes. I'm using things that I can source reliably and build consistently and quickly. At my day job we call this "design for manufacturability". I value my time both in building and designing, as well as the time and experience it's taken to get me to this level, so I charge what I have to in order to make it worth my time, but I try to keep things priced reasonably because I want EVERYONE to be able to afford it. I believe in my designs and I will always take the same level of care that I believe every "boutique" builder does on every single unit I build, but my goal has always been to be "budget boutique". I don't want to undervalue the work of builders that make high-dollar items, they spend a lot of time on their builds and they make amazing products, but it doesn't have to be high-cost in order to be high-quality.

Anyway. There's my rant for the day. Check out Janek's shootout, it's a fun watch.

As a fairly new cult member, I do hope you're able to stick at the quality vs. budget point you're at, because as he said in the shootout there's really nothing that compares at the price point. There's 3? other tube pre's/DI's in the shootout if I'm counting right and they're all around $1k new?

I wanted a dual-purpose guitar/bass preamp, and I ended up picking the UA as that would let me hit Fender-y tones on guitar and serve as either a standalone preamp or warm up my Ampeg for bass. There's simply no one else that makes a good dual-instrument preamp at that price point, and definitely not with a tube at the actual voltages it should be run at. Thinking about some brands that come close... there's a bunch now (e.g., Victory and Friedman) that have their nice tube preamps but they cost twice as much and don't usually have bass in mind, EAE has a couple great dual-instrument preamps like the Model Fet but those also cost more and lack toobiness, or your SansAmp of choice can work for guitar but again costs similar or more and no tube warmth.

Thinking back to the sales chart post, because I think it's somewhat related here, but I really think the thing limiting sales on some of those is very simply a lack of youtube demos. You have the products dialed in, and the prices are amazing for the quality, but it's surprisingly hard to find what they all sound like. When I was first looking at buying, that was the thing that led me towards the smaller form pedals vs. taking a shot at some of the larger / two-channel preamps. Now that I actually have the UA and I know that it does what I was hoping, yeah I probably should have just gotten a Dreamcatcher for that second channel or maybe have taken a shot at a Bassdude, but it's tough to make that jump initially without a demo.

I guess my points are that you could probably charge more (but I'm glad you don't!), more high quality youtube demos = more sales, and on the 2nd point I feel like you're going to see some massive growth as more demos like this shootout get out there. PS: Grand Slampegg when

 

[LSM07]

I just bought a second Finally in the current iteration. In case the Horde will clear the shelves after that video

I might cave and get one as well. Been trying to hold out for the G Slampegg but we all know that GAS is usually terminal.

Also side note, been using my HW UA to practice upright, the quirky tonestack actually makes it easy to do a bass cut in my boomy basement. The clarity of the circuit is very nice for upright too. Will try it on a gig when I get a chance and will post results.

 

[Parzival]

Because the most popular demos are mostly paid demos now, would bet the folks that are getting the most demos are either mega manufacturers that have economies of scale or the ones where you can tell they spent on marketing because of the price.
Not to derail, but I’ve become pretty jaded with the paid demos. They always let you know they are paid, but that it doesn’t affect the review. Then they studio it up, tell you that you MUST have this pedal, and I have never seen a single one of them ever, ever say, you know what, this pedal is not good.
All that to say, I can understand the lack of big review vids for the Sushi stuff.

 

[bassbrad]

I fully support @Sushi Box FX with my hard earned money and feel that it compares favorably to pieces that cost 2, 3 or even 4 times more.
I have 11 SB pedals in constant use and will hopefully add more as time allows. My V1 Finally with a Jensen transformer beats all my other DIs including an RNDI, JDI and Countryman Type 85.

 

[mobeme23]

Just watched the fabulous "Biggest Bass D.I. Shootout Ever" from Janek Gwizdala, I sent him a With Bass In Mind edition Finally v2 and audibly giggled when he said "I don’t think there’s really anything else that comes close to it on the market."

I've had people ask me in the past how it feels to get excluded from conversations about "high-end" gear like Noble and REDDI because of how inexpensive my stuff is, and why I don't focus on high-dollar items to get more clout. The simple reason is that I don't want to. Is my $250 tube D.I. the absolute best sounding thing in the universe? Maybe not. But I firmly believe that it is by far the best sounding thing in anything close to that price range.

When I first started playing guitar (I didn't start on bass), my parents didn't seem to take it seriously and it was considered a phase I would grow out of, so they didn't want to invest in it. I got a hand-me-down acoustic and eventually the cheapest electric and the cheapest amp. If I wanted something nicer, I had to get it myself. I was frustrated that no matter how much I practiced I never seemed to sound good. Would getting a $5000 guitar and a $2000 amp make me a better musician? Of course not. But it would have inspired me to work harder because I would have been able to hear the difference in sound. "Tone is in the fingers" is a great thing to say to people that already have at least mid-grade gear, but for a 12 year-old kid with hand-me-downs and a broken amplifier, it doesn't matter how good your fingers are if the gear isn't doing its job.

So when I design my products, I'm not thinking about how to maximize profits. I'm not using "mojo" components or NOS tubes. I'm using things that I can source reliably and build consistently and quickly. At my day job we call this "design for manufacturability". I value my time both in building and designing, as well as the time and experience it's taken to get me to this level, so I charge what I have to in order to make it worth my time, but I try to keep things priced reasonably because I want EVERYONE to be able to afford it. I believe in my designs and I will always take the same level of care that I believe every "boutique" builder does on every single unit I build, but my goal has always been to be "budget boutique". I don't want to undervalue the work of builders that make high-dollar items, they spend a lot of time on their builds and they make amazing products, but it doesn't have to be high-cost in order to be high-quality.

Anyway. There's my rant for the day. Check out Janek's shootout, it's a fun watch.

one of the many reasons why i am such a big fan of your gear is your dedication to maintain the integrity of your offerings, while also keeping a very fluid relationship with your customers regarding their real-time needs.

these days, it seems harder than ever to find manufacturers who are willing to maintain this level of integrity and authenticity.

thank you for your service!!

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Thinking back to the sales chart post, because I think it's somewhat related here, but I really think the thing limiting sales on some of those is very simply a lack of youtube demos.

PS: Grand Slampegg when

Thank you for your thoughts, and demos are something I want to get more of. I've had a few people do demos for me either for free or in exchange for a free pedal and they have all been enjoyable, but none of them have completely captured what I want them to, and I don't want to ask too much because these people are basically doing me a favor so I don't want to nicromanage them.

I did a demo myself for Venus Z, and while it wasn't mindblowing, I think it was at least useful, and at the bare minimum I want "useful if a bit boring" demos for all of my pedals.

Grand Slampegg will happen when I'm good and ready for it to happen.

And also when boards come back from the factory.

 

[4Mal]

Back at the Sushi Bar with a new to me Nobelium. Wow! This thing is cool. got very close to pulling the trigger on the Venus z and may down the road a bit... After recovering from a Shaw Tube Injector and the Nobelium...

My IEM gig is kinda upending my preamp situation...

 

[laklandplayer]

The With Bass In Mind edition Finally is identical to the "stock" Finally v2. The only difference is that it ships with a 12AU7 instead of a 12AX7. The circuit is exactly the same.

I may go back to the stock version eventually, but probably not any time soon as I've had a steady stream (literally at least two per day) of orders for the With Bass In Mind edition.

I replaced the 12AX7 in my original Finally w/ Lightning Boy with a 12AU7 and it made all the difference.
I use it all of the time and audio engineers love it! Never a problem with noise, hum or distortion.
The best DI anywhere at any price..

 

[GR7G5TER]

I replaced the 12AX7 in my original Finally w/ Lightning Boy with a 12AU7 and it made all the difference.
I use it all of the time and audio engineers love it! Never a problem with noise, hum or distortion.
The best DI anywhere at any price..

I was just looking at ordering a 12AU7 to roll into my Space Heater as it has way too much gain for what i am using it for, then I remembered I've got a set of tubes to as i need to re-valve my Ampeg PF50T and that has a AU7, so I'm gonna try that before i buy one for the SH. Thinking of going NOS if i like it.

 

[LSM07]

Thank you for your thoughts, and demos are something I want to get more of. I've had a few people do demos for me either for free or in exchange for a free pedal and they have all been enjoyable, but none of them have completely captured what I want them to, and I don't want to ask too much because these people are basically doing me a favor so I don't want to nicromanage them.

I did a demo myself for Venus Z, and while it wasn't mindblowing, I think it was at least useful, and at the bare minimum I want "useful if a bit boring" demos for all of my pedals.

Grand Slampegg will happen when I'm good and ready for it to happen.

And also when boards come back from the factory.

View attachment 5436132

Will you consider doing optional high impedance inputs for the G Slampegg like you are doing for the Venus Z? Or would that be too much hassle?

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Will you consider doing optional high impedance inputs for the G Slampegg like you are doing for the Venus Z? Or would that be too much hassle?

Absolutely. It will have a stock input impedance of 5.6Meg, but upping that to 10Meg would not be difficult.

 

[EastDakota]

Because the most popular demos are mostly paid demos now, would bet the folks that are getting the most demos are either mega manufacturers that have economies of scale or the ones where you can tell they spent on marketing because of the price.
Not to derail, but I’ve become pretty jaded with the paid demos. They always let you know they are paid, but that it doesn’t affect the review. Then they studio it up, tell you that you MUST have this pedal, and I have never seen a single one of them ever, ever say, you know what, this pedal is not good.
All that to say, I can understand the lack of big review vids for the Sushi stuff.

I wasn't necessarily talking about paid demos but that's a very good point.

Thank you for your thoughts, and demos are something I want to get more of. I've had a few people do demos for me either for free or in exchange for a free pedal and they have all been enjoyable, but none of them have completely captured what I want them to, and I don't want to ask too much because these people are basically doing me a favor so I don't want to nicromanage them.

I did a demo myself for Venus Z, and while it wasn't mindblowing, I think it was at least useful, and at the bare minimum I want "useful if a bit boring" demos for all of my pedals.

Grand Slampegg will happen when I'm good and ready for it to happen.

And also when boards come back from the factory.

View attachment 5436132

Honestly I think the Venus Z demo is pretty close to perfect; it shows you exactly what it does and how it sounds in a really succinct way.

 

[Parzival]

I replaced the 12AX7 in my original Finally w/ Lightning Boy with a 12AU7 and it made all the difference.
I use it all of the time and audio engineers love it! Never a problem with noise, hum or distortion.
The best DI anywhere at any price..

I love the 12ax7 in mine. About 90% of Talkbass are always talking about finding that always on low gain drive pedal that provides just a touch of grit and grind. I found it and it doubles as a killer DI with a HPF.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

I love the 12ax7 in mine. About 90% of Talkbass are always talking about finding that always on low gain drive pedal that provides just a touch of grit and grind. I found it and it doubles as a killer DI with a HPF.

 

[andare]

Just watched the fabulous "Biggest Bass D.I. Shootout Ever" from Janek Gwizdala, I sent him a With Bass In Mind edition Finally v2 and audibly giggled when he said "I don’t think there’s really anything else that comes close to it on the market."

I've had people ask me in the past how it feels to get excluded from conversations about "high-end" gear like Noble and REDDI because of how inexpensive my stuff is, and why I don't focus on high-dollar items to get more clout. The simple reason is that I don't want to. Is my $250 tube D.I. the absolute best sounding thing in the universe? Maybe not. But I firmly believe that it is by far the best sounding thing in anything close to that price range.

When I first started playing guitar (I didn't start on bass), my parents didn't seem to take it seriously and it was considered a phase I would grow out of, so they didn't want to invest in it. I got a hand-me-down acoustic and eventually the cheapest electric and the cheapest amp. If I wanted something nicer, I had to get it myself. I was frustrated that no matter how much I practiced I never seemed to sound good. Would getting a $5000 guitar and a $2000 amp make me a better musician? Of course not. But it would have inspired me to work harder because I would have been able to hear the difference in sound. "Tone is in the fingers" is a great thing to say to people that already have at least mid-grade gear, but for a 12 year-old kid with hand-me-downs and a broken amplifier, it doesn't matter how good your fingers are if the gear isn't doing its job.

So when I design my products, I'm not thinking about how to maximize profits. I'm not using "mojo" components or NOS tubes. I'm using things that I can source reliably and build consistently and quickly. At my day job we call this "design for manufacturability". I value my time both in building and designing, as well as the time and experience it's taken to get me to this level, so I charge what I have to in order to make it worth my time, but I try to keep things priced reasonably because I want EVERYONE to be able to afford it. I believe in my designs and I will always take the same level of care that I believe every "boutique" builder does on every single unit I build, but my goal has always been to be "budget boutique". I don't want to undervalue the work of builders that make high-dollar items, they spend a lot of time on their builds and they make amazing products, but it doesn't have to be high-cost in order to be high-quality.

Anyway. There's my rant for the day. Check out Janek's shootout, it's a fun watch.

Janek couldn't have given better praise to the Finally. Well deserved. Just listening in the mix, when he switches from the JDI (super clean) to the Finally, it's amazing how the tube character comes through. It sounds FAT.
I wonder how overdriven the 12AU7 can get. I'm not interested in full-blown bass OD, I just want some grit.

 

[RobD_BritBass]

Well my Finally saved the day last night during the show, keyboard player's DI box started playing up, so while the scene was going on above our heads I managed to get him plugged into the finally and the swap the xlr into it, switch the speakons on the back of my amp so I was running in mono and be ready in time for the next song.
Not only does it sound amazing, but it has connections laid out in the right place to make it super easily accessible (something I hadn't really thought about in that much detail until last night)

 

[RobD_BritBass]

Just watched the fabulous "Biggest Bass D.I. Shootout Ever" from Janek Gwizdala, I sent him a With Bass In Mind edition Finally v2 and audibly giggled when he said "I don’t think there’s really anything else that comes close to it on the market."

I've had people ask me in the past how it feels to get excluded from conversations about "high-end" gear like Noble and REDDI because of how inexpensive my stuff is, and why I don't focus on high-dollar items to get more clout. The simple reason is that I don't want to. Is my $250 tube D.I. the absolute best sounding thing in the universe? Maybe not. But I firmly believe that it is by far the best sounding thing in anything close to that price range.

When I first started playing guitar (I didn't start on bass), my parents didn't seem to take it seriously and it was considered a phase I would grow out of, so they didn't want to invest in it. I got a hand-me-down acoustic and eventually the cheapest electric and the cheapest amp. If I wanted something nicer, I had to get it myself. I was frustrated that no matter how much I practiced I never seemed to sound good. Would getting a $5000 guitar and a $2000 amp make me a better musician? Of course not. But it would have inspired me to work harder because I would have been able to hear the difference in sound. "Tone is in the fingers" is a great thing to say to people that already have at least mid-grade gear, but for a 12 year-old kid with hand-me-downs and a broken amplifier, it doesn't matter how good your fingers are if the gear isn't doing its job.

So when I design my products, I'm not thinking about how to maximize profits. I'm not using "mojo" components or NOS tubes. I'm using things that I can source reliably and build consistently and quickly. At my day job we call this "design for manufacturability". I value my time both in building and designing, as well as the time and experience it's taken to get me to this level, so I charge what I have to in order to make it worth my time, but I try to keep things priced reasonably because I want EVERYONE to be able to afford it. I believe in my designs and I will always take the same level of care that I believe every "boutique" builder does on every single unit I build, but my goal has always been to be "budget boutique". I don't want to undervalue the work of builders that make high-dollar items, they spend a lot of time on their builds and they make amazing products, but it doesn't have to be high-cost in order to be high-quality.

And this is what I really love about your approach to all of this, it really speaks to who you are as a person. You could easily charge 50% more (please don't) for your products and I don't think anyone would question the value for money at all. You could rush out a product that's 95% there and call it done, but reading your posts on here and seeing how much you've worked to refine each and every one of the things you make that's clearly not the way you do things.
I hope Janek's video gets you a whole lot of extra (manageable) business because you deserve it!

 

[_Tay_]

I was just looking at ordering a 12AU7 to roll into my Space Heater as it has way too much gain for what i am using it for, then I remembered I've got a set of tubes to as i need to re-valve my Ampeg PF50T and that has a AU7, so I'm gonna try that before i buy one for the SH. Thinking of going NOS if i like it.

Can you let us know how it sounds with the au7 Gr7g5ter?? I have Space heater and thinking of doing the same.

 

[GR7G5TER]

Can you let us know how it sounds with the au7 Gr7g5ter?? I have Space heater and thinking of doing the same.

You can just call me Greg, it's easier to type!!

I will do mate, it's my B'day on Wednesday and I can't see any better way than to do some tube rolling and finally (pun intended)get the Ampeg sorted as well.

If I like what I'm hearing then possibly looking at Brimar NOS (they seem to get a lot of love especially from Phil at Effectrode) and price wise they are comparable to JJ tubes. The PF50 set I have are from Mike Hill (developed the Marshall 2203!) which I'm 99% sure are JJs that have been extensively tested. Deduced from the fact that they have said that their valves are made in Slovakia.

@Sushi Box FX are these valves suitable for the SH? You searched for 12au7 - Langrex

 

[Sushi Box FX]

You can just call me Greg, it's easier to type!!

I will do mate, it's my B'day on Wednesday and I can't see any better way than to do some tube rolling and finally (pun intended)get the Ampeg sorted as well.

If I like what I'm hearing then possibly looking at Brimar NOS (they seem to get a lot of love especially from Phil at Effectrode) and price wise they are comparable to JJ tubes. The PF50 set I have are from Mike Hill (developed the Marshall 2203!) which I'm 99% sure are JJs that have been extensively tested. Deduced from the fact that they have said that their valves are made in Slovakia.

@Sushi Box FX are these valves suitable for the SH? You searched for 12au7 - Langrex

Yup, those should work a treat. I've used NOS Sylvania in a couple personal builds, they're excellent.