The Sushi Box FX Secret Society

[extreme]

I gigged my Slampegg for the first time tonight (stupid COVID). I didn't love the pedal at home, but I also haven't played a lot at home recently and I know that on the gig in the mix is better anyhow. I also had my Fliptop pedal with me. I love the Fliptop, but I was playing through an old 2x15" cab and didn't really need the cab sim, etc. as that cab is already wonky response and pretty wooly. So, I ended up using the Slampegg all night and liking it!

I will agree with others...there is plenty of low end on tap. I wish I could've messed around with settings more, but it was on the gig with people into the music. I did mess around with the switches a bit and tweaked the EQ as the night went on. I will say that for my purposes I chose the mini-tube version because I like that it runs on 9V and I can use stand-alone or on a nano board and not have to be tied to my larger board with fancy power supply if I want to use the pedal. I also don't see myself rolling tubes or getting sucked into that...how Nate designed it is fine by me!

I am a B-15N nerd, so I will say that through a hi fi cab or a direct IEM situation I would for sure prefer the Fliptop, but for live use through 15" speakers and a typical bass rig the Slampegg is awesome and the switches can give it some nice clarity that is a bit harder to pull out of the Fliptop. I am really excited for my Particle Accelerator and I may like it even more for live work...time will tell as it's on the way!

You people that need the X versions and want to deal with 12V, more power to you! I'll be over here digging these mini-tube 9V versions. I have some other pre pedals I am anxious to compare these to on the gig, so I'm glad that one of my weekly gigs is going to resume again this next week (stupid COVID).

 

[NKBassman]

If anyone is interested I'll be moving a bunch


I have only spent a few minutes with each but, the Dr Watson is very good. I have a custom Verellen amp with a DR 405 channel, the pedal does a good job of replicating that in pedasl form. The eq is good, the od is exceptional. i REALLY LIKE this one and plan pn spending a few hours with it tomorrow.

The Sunnday Drive has an amazing od, worth the price as an od alone. The eq is extremely subtle til i figured out the mids and presence are where the magic is. The bass and treble are not what you expect in a standard bass and treble, but when you push the mids and presence past noon the majic happens. I'll be honest at first I thought the pedal wasnt working right, but once you get used to using the mids and presence, THEN the bass and treble it all comes together. There is enough bass, so no worries....

Dang, and here I was considering changing my January Wattson build slot to a Deep Dish. I think I'll keep the Wattson in the queue.

 

[bassjam]

Dang, and here I was considering changing my January Wattson build slot to a Deep Dish. I think I'll keep the Wattson in the queue.

I want a Wattson also. Putting my board together now and not sure what’s making the cut yet..... But from the sound clips, I totally dig the Wattson!

 

[DirtyDuke]

Dang, and here I was considering changing my January Wattson build slot to a Deep Dish. I think I'll keep the Wattson in the queue.

I may be selling mine as I have the Verellen with the Dr405 channel. Let me know if you want it

 

[Kelly robinson]

Hi SB - Was kinda curious as to your opinion of the Noble . I know you got it in order to take a look inside but I wondered what you thought of it sonically . It certainly gets a lot of love here and used ones definitely , go very quickly and w/o much of a markdown . No need to rush an answer to this since I know you are really busy but whenever you do get some time I’d love to see what you thought - thanks , Kelly

 

[munkeyfish]

So I have to re-record the loop every time my kids play in the basement because they like to step on footswitches, and they also like to play with knobs.

Usually when I record demos I keep my bass EQ right down the middle and I use both pickups for a generally neutral sound. Well I just ran down to look at my bass and the pickup blend was all the way to bridge, so that would explain the added brightness and clarity. Original Slampegg was recorded with equal neck/bridge blend, Slampegg X was all on the bridge. I can't promise it will happen tonight on account of new year's, but I will get a new demo recorded that should sound more like the original for a fair comparison.

And since I just realized this, for anyone in the january batch that is on the fence about original Slampegg vs X I'll extend the deadline to Jan 4 for making changes to orders, so I ll try to get a demo ASAP and you'll have through the weekend to decide.

Thanks for this. I'm looking forward to the re-recordings now. Part of me was wondering if I should keep it original vs. X. Maybe after hearing the re-recordings, I may switch back? I'll know for sure right away.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Hi SB - Was kinda curious as to your opinion of the Noble . I know you got it in order to take a look inside but I wondered what you thought of it sonically . It certainly gets a lot of love here and used ones definitely , go very quickly and w/o much of a markdown . No need to rush an answer to this since I know you are really busy but whenever you do get some time I’d love to see what you thought - thanks , Kelly

Sure thing. So I did actually plug it in before I took it all apart (I don't always). I'm not sure what I was expecting, but with a pricetag like that and with the way people talk about it I guess I was hoping to be completely blown away, and I wasn't. Don't get me wrong, it sounded very good. I ran my bass through it and out the DI into my interface and got excellent usable tone. But I couldn't help feeling like I wanted a little more flavor to it. I get that transparent is a very desirable thing, you want the rest of your rig to really shine through it, but I was expecting something to completely change my tone, which isn't really what Noble does.

The build quality and craftsmanship is exquisite, the attention to detail is fantastic, and if this is the kind of thing you need in your rig then it is absolutely worth the price. But it's not the piece for me, so whatever I end up building will not be a clone of the Noble, but will instead be "inspired by" it.

 

[Rich48]

Sure thing. So I did actually plug it in before I took it all apart (I don't always). I'm not sure what I was expecting, but with a pricetag like that and with the way people talk about it I guess I was hoping to be completely blown away, and I wasn't. Don't get me wrong, it sounded very good. I ran my bass through it and out the DI into my interface and got excellent usable tone. But I couldn't help feeling like I wanted a little more flavor to it. I get that transparent is a very desirable thing, you want the rest of your rig to really shine through it, but I was expecting something to completely change my tone, which isn't really what Noble does.

The build quality and craftsmanship is exquisite, the attention to detail is fantastic, and if this is the kind of thing you need in your rig then it is absolutely worth the price. But it's not the piece for me, so whatever I end up building will not be a clone of the Noble, but will instead be "inspired by" it.

What I’m hoping you come up with is a DI that would work well used in conjunction with your other preamps like the Slampegg and PA. That way most of your tone would come from the preamp.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

What I’m hoping you come up with is a DI that would work well used in conjunction with your other preamps like the Slampegg and PA. That way most of your tone would come from the preamp.

That's pretty much the plan. I still don't have my DI transformers (with how long it took for them to respond to me I probably shouldn't have paid for them) but when I do I'm planning to try a PA DI to see how that goes, and based on how the preamp responds to the DI transformer it wouldn't be hard to make it work with a different preamp, or indeed to make a standalone DI box that would work with any preamp.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Alright, so I went to re-record the Slampegg X demos, and to make sure I had things right I pulled up the recordings of the original Slampegg demos, and I cannot figure out what I did. I'm running the same bass, the same pickups, the same strings, what should be the same EQ settings, into the same IR with the same patch, and it's coming out way brighter and punchier. I'm not complaining personally, the sound I have right now is great, but it makes it hard to compare Slampegg to Slampegg X and PA to PA X.

So I guess I'm going to be building a regular Slampegg and a regular PA tonight for demo recording purposes. I haven't made my order yet for the January batch so hopefully I have enough parts, then I'll get new recordings for everything I guess. So apparently this is why I should keep at least one of everything on hand at all times

 

[FenderP]

Alright, so I went to re-record the Slampegg X demos, and to make sure I had things right I pulled up the recordings of the original Slampegg demos, and I cannot figure out what I did. I'm running the same bass, the same pickups, the same strings, what should be the same EQ settings, into the same IR with the same patch, and it's coming out way brighter and punchier. I'm not complaining personally, the sound I have right now is great, but it makes it hard to compare Slampegg to Slampegg X and PA to PA X.

So I guess I'm going to be building a regular Slampegg and a regular PA tonight for demo recording purposes. I haven't made my order yet for the January batch so hopefully I have enough parts, then I'll get new recordings for everything I guess. So apparently this is why I should keep at least one of everything on hand at all times

I'm planning on doing a comparison at some point after I get the Twin, so if you want to hold off ...

 

[Sushi Box FX]

I'm planning on doing a comparison at some point after I get the Twin, so if you want to hold off ...

And I figured you would, but I really want people to hear the differences ASAP so they can decide for their january orders, which I'm trying to cut off changes for as soon as is reasonable. I will need to build Slampeggs and PAs for the batch anyway, I'll just have one of each ready early.

 

[Kelly robinson]

Hey SB - Thanks very much for the Noble thoughts . I am not surprised it is on the transparent side of things . Bass players with expensive gear are likely to prefer transparency so their gear and playing skills come thru sans any added coloring . Then as needed they can adjust with pedals or bass type to get the tone needed . I think that is some of the appeal of the Edison too as it seems to simply be a fairly neutral tone sweetener to my ears anyway . I’m really looking forward to the “ Westinghouse “ and whatever other gems you develop this year . ... Kelly

 

[labeledbass]

I may be selling mine as I have the Verellen with the Dr405 channel. Let me know if you want it

I'm really happy to hear this, your impressions on the PA is what brought me to the brand, and after hearing the YouTube posted a bit back on the Dr. Watson I couldn't resist. There's just something about it that isn't around anymore, very interactive drive. If you still have it I'll take a shot, I have one on order but it's out a little bit

 

[FenderP]

My Cioks cable arrived so I'll have enough juice for when the Slampegg Twin arrives this week. Now hopefully that GE 12AX7 will arrive, too ...

 

[1983L2000]

I'm really happy to hear this, your impressions on the PA is what brought me to the brand, and after hearing the YouTube posted a bit back on the Dr. Watson I couldn't resist. There's just something about it that isn't around anymore, very interactive drive. If you still have it I'll take a shot, I have one on order but it's out a little bit

I may be selling mine as I have the Verellen with the Dr405 channel. Let me know if you want it

I’m interested too!

 

[DirtyDuke]

Shoot me a pm.

 

[labeledbass]

Shoot me a pm.

You know what, he's about to build mine - someone else snatch this up, I'd really have a week or two with yours and then I'd have two. Great seller though

 

[1983L2000]

Shoot me a pm.

Pm sent...

 

[macmanlou]

I'm running the same bass, the same pickups, the same strings, what should be the same EQ settings, into the same IR with the same patch, and it's coming out way brighter and punchier.

I wonder if the 9V - 12V difference in power supply voltage has anything to do with it?

I like the difference myself. Folks who would like to mitigate the brightness/punchiness of the X might roll the 12AX7 for a 12AT7 or even a 12AY7.