The Sushi Box FX Secret Society

[rcmbass]

Can anyone please share the main tonal differences between the Elementary and the UA? I understand they’re modeled after different amps, but what real world discernible differences are there? Mr. Sushi please chime in as well. I’m searching for clean and fat with no overdrive/distortion.
@Sushi Box FX

No question, Neptunium. Adjustable DI, EQ, a separate adjustable amp line out.

 

[lomo]

Can anyone please share the main tonal differences between the Elementary and the UA? I understand they’re modeled after different amps, but what real world discernible differences are there? Mr. Sushi please chime in as well. I’m searching for clean and fat with no overdrive/distortion.
@Sushi Box FX

This REEAAAALLLLY needs to be a sticky:

TSC in the web

Use the simulator to see how the freq response curves differ. Select HiWatt for the Elementary (or now DC'ed Detective) and Fender 3 band for the UA (or DC'ed Dreamcatcher). UA can be set flat with mids maxed to 10 and bass/treble at 0. Elementary can't get truly flat. IME Elementary excels at upper midrange clarity/ grind. Both can be set clean or driven into heavy OD. UA excels at lows & low mids (like Alembic).

 

[davelowell2]

For the sake of general knowledge and buyer beware stuff, are we going to find out the builder? PM me if you want to keep it quiet, and I will, but I’d sure like to know and steer clear…

I mean, I guess it’s possible that the original builder, who it’s said is “serious”, didn’t do those mods, though?

 

[jbybj]

I’ve made 15-20 of these. Those extra wires and board are NOT stock. My guess is someone attempted to mod in some way? Return for sure.View attachment 7407108

I’ve only bought a few one-off builds from Reverb, always dependent upon a gut shot.

 

[ilovesteak]

Grand Slampegg was designed to run clean. My first prototype just copied the B-15N preamp exactly, but I didn't like the way it behaved with the D.I., and since that was the main design goal I had to make some changes to the circuit to get a sound I was happy with. So it isn't exactly a B-15N preamp as much as it is "inspired by" the B-15N.

Thanks for the answer. That makes sense and approaching it as just a DI it’s definitely fantastic

 

[Sushi Box FX]

No question, Neptunium. Adjustable DI, EQ, a separate adjustable amp line out.

All Nobeliums built by me also have those features. So if you're looking at a Nobelium build that doesn't have the little black knob on the side for XLR volume, I didn't build it.

 

[Justin Keoni]

All Nobeliums built by me also have those features. So if you're looking at a Nobelium build that doesn't have the little black knob on the side for XLR volume, I didn't build it.

Can you please share your thoughts on real world tonal differences between the UA and the Elementary? I’m looking for fat and clean. Thanks in advance!

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Can you please share your thoughts on real world tonal differences between the UA and the Elementary? I’m looking for fat and clean. Thanks in advance!

It's a tricky one. I would say they're similar from a distance with some subtleties up close. Personally as a player I prefer UA when I want to go completely clean (I literally have one built into a bass as an onboard pre) and Elementary when I want a bit of an edge on it. Both can be fat, both can be clean, just slightly different flavors. This is how I like to use them:

My favorite UA settings:

• Gain - 9:00
• Bass - 12:00
• Mids - full CW
• Treble - 12:00

My favorite Elementary settings:

• Gain - full CW
• Bass - full CW
• Mids - full CW
• Treble - full CW

Please note that these are my personal preference. Elementary can be run clean, and UA can be run dirty, and there are people out there that use either one for either tone, it really comes down to your preference.

 

[_Tay_]

I’ve made 15-20 of these. Those extra wires and board are NOT stock. My guess is someone attempted to mod in some way? Return for sure.View attachment 7407108

The mad thing is guitar centre actually took this as a trade in for something?? Mind boggles

 

[p12bassnut]

Nathan, could you please list here again what the EQ Flat settings are on both the UA and the Elementary, probably in this massive thread somehere but.......

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Nathan, could you please list here again what the EQ Flat settings are on both the UA and the Elementary, probably in this massive thread somehere but.......

UA - Treble and bass full CCW, mids full CW
Elementary - there is no real flat setting, it has a more or less perpetual mids hump. There was a post at some point giving an almost flat setting, but I don't remember what it was.

 

[lomo]

Nathan, could you please list here again what the EQ Flat settings are on both the UA and the Elementary, probably in this massive thread somehere but.......

This web simulator is your friend. It allows you to play with the Elementary (HiWatt) and UA (Fender) tone stacks and see how they affect freq response.

TSC in the web

 

[Doug Bright]

Everyone has to start somewhere so I don't want to be too hard on the builder, but Nobelium is not a beginner project and I don't know how anyone in good conscience could sell something that looks like that.

Guitar Center sold it as a Sushi Box Nobelium.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Guitar Center sold it as a Sushi Box Nobelium.

Only 25 actual Sushi Box Nobeliums exist in the world, and they are all matte black (aside from one sparkly pink one), have a separate XLR volume on the side, have a pink backlit logo, and have a small black "happy little sushi roll" in the corner of the faceplate on top. On the inside, they have a black circuit board instead of purple. If anyone says they have a Sushi Box Nobelium that is missing these features, it was not built by me.

 

[Tassieviking]

I mean, I guess it’s possible that the original builder, who it’s said is “serious”, didn’t do those mods, though?

If you look closely you will see that the small PCB's that the tubes are mounted on are mounted in the wrong position, the header pins are back to front.
The XLR transformer PCB is populated on the wrong side of the PCB so it would never work.
The XLR transformer is completely missing, never installed from the looks of it.
There should only be 6 wires from the top of the PCB to the plugs on the top of the box, IN, OUT, DC power.
All these items would have been made by the original builder, and that is only the most obvious faults in there.
If this is the standard the original builder is capable off then they should never touch anything that has high voltage in it, and most probably not even something powered by batteries.

 

[rickdog]

It's a tricky one. I would say they're similar from a distance with some subtleties up close. Personally as a player I prefer UA when I want to go completely clean (I literally have one built into a bass as an onboard pre) and Elementary when I want a bit of an edge on it. Both can be fat, both can be clean, just slightly different flavors. This is how I like to use them:

My favorite UA settings:

• Gain - 9:00
• Bass - 12:00
• Mids - full CW
• Treble - 12:00

My favorite Elementary settings:

• Gain - full CW
• Bass - full CW
• Mids - full CW
• Treble - full CW

Please note that these are my personal preference. Elementary can be run clean, and UA can be run dirty, and there are people out there that use either one for either tone, it really comes down to your preference.

Yikes! If I dimed everything on my UA like you do on your Elementary it would be over the top distortion! Does Elementary have a different gain structure? Or is serious crunch what you want to get from it?

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Yikes! If I dimed everything on my UA like you do on your Elementary it would be over the top distortion! Does Elementary have a different gain structure? Or is serious crunch what you want to get from it?

Oh diming everything on Elementary does get pretty distorty, and I should have clarified that this is most commonly just when I'm playing by myself. When I'm playing for practical purposes with a band I keep the Elementary gain around 12:00 for some decent drive without going over the top.

 

[s_wood]

UA - Treble and bass full CCW, mids full CW
Elementary - there is no real flat setting, it has a more or less perpetual mids hump. There was a post at some point giving an almost flat setting, but I don't remember what it was.

 

[s_wood]

Here is that post about Elementary and fall EQ

I'm a huge fan of the Elementary and Detective, both of which are based on the HiWatt DR-103 preamp. The HiWatt tone stack is an unusual one, and it's impossible to get it completely flat... so ditto with the Elementary and Detective. But following Senior Sushi's guidance, I used a white noise generator and Audacity's Plot Spectrum Tool I found that flattest settings that I could.

First is with bass/mid/treble at 11-5-9 (using clock face terminology). 5 means mids fully clockwise...dimed...turned all the way up. Pretty flat until 1K, with a roughly 2 db boost above that.

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Next is 12-5-9. You can see that boosting the bass just a bit has the effect of scooping the mids by roughly 2 2b because the highs remain boosted.

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Last is 12-5-8. Highs are slightly reduced.
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Some takeaways... 1. The mids will be scooped unless the mid control is at 5. 2. The treble control is very powerful. - anything over 8 boosts the treble. 3. I have too much time on my hands.

And…

Here's 11-5-7 There is still a peak above 1K, but it's reduced in amplitude to less than 2 db, which means it's barely audible.
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[EastDakota]

Here is that post about Elementary and fall EQ

I'm a huge fan of the Elementary and Detective, both of which are based on the HiWatt DR-103 preamp. The HiWatt tone stack is an unusual one, and it's impossible to get it completely flat... so ditto with the Elementary and Detective. But following Senior Sushi's guidance, I used a white noise generator and Audacity's Plot Spectrum Tool I found that flattest settings that I could.

First is with bass/mid/treble at 11-5-9 (using clock face terminology). 5 means mids fully clockwise...dimed...turned all the way up. Pretty flat until 1K, with a roughly 2 db boost above that.

.Invalid Link Removed

Next is 12-5-9. You can see that boosting the bass just a bit has the effect of scooping the mids by roughly 2 2b because the highs remain boosted.

Invalid Link Removed

Last is 12-5-8. Highs are slightly reduced.
Invalid Link Removed

Some takeaways... 1. The mids will be scooped unless the mid control is at 5. 2. The treble control is very powerful. - anything over 8 boosts the treble. 3. I have too much time on my hands.

And…

Here's 11-5-7 There is still a peak above 1K, but it's reduced in amplitude to less than 2 db, which means it's barely audible.
Invalid Link Removed

That bump around 1-2k keeps tempting me into getting one of these... exactly what I add with an EQ boost anyway.