The Sushi Box FX Secret Society

[NKBassman]

I've got a few PMs now regarding my thoughts on the London Underground, and have to apologize for not posting more of a review here yet. I've been absolutely slammed at work and with home renos with some tight deadlines coming up soon. Basically crushing every single hour of every day, evening, and weekend until I pass out on the couch every night. It's not ideal, and when I have had time to play I've had to prioritize tracking for a couple of music projects I have on the go.

Once our builder moves in and takes over the kitchen I'll have a bit more time to noodle around on the LU and my incoming Dr Wattson and Westinghouse as well. Sit tight and I'll post some coherent thoughts in a few more weeks. What I can say is that the LU really does sound like a tube preamp (go figure). I've only really played with it set clean so far, but it has a nice fat "round" bloom to the notes that sounds fantastic with my P bass w/ flats. Fantastic, but just not quite right for the stuff I'm recording right now. I think in general I've found that I'm just not super into Fender tone stacks. I want to spend some more time with it before I make any rash decisions, but I think I should anticipate a Slampegg and/or SBVT in my future.

What I really want to do though is get my old 60W Garnet tube slave amp / power amp out from the garage and try the Sushis as a true preamp in front of that.

 

[letsgethandsome]

So I noodled around more with the Slampegg, the Particle Accelerator X and my Grizzly Bear into the CabZone LE. The biggest (and for me huge) difference is that awesome tube grunt when I dig in on the SB effects. The Grizzly cannot emulate that.

Love the Grizzly, but for a much lower price and similar high quality you can get a tube-driven Sushi Box pedal. I don’t know why you wouldn’t.

I agree… I’ve been playing my London Underground a lot the last few days and switching back-and-forth between it and a couple of (very nice) non-tube pre pedals. The LU sounds fantastic and very natural sounding. Dead simple to dial-in. I’ve been trying to think about what I wanted to say about it and I just keep coming back to the very basic, and that is simply that it sounds great for my needs. Compared to the other non-sushi preamp pedals I just feel like there’s an effortless fullness to the sound. Out of a preamp pedal I want a nice full sound with a little bit of break up when I dig in and I can get that all day long and the LU

 

[willsellout]

Had a bit of time to spend today with my LU and the Slampegg. The Slampegg speaks to me a bit more than the LU. Both sound great but I'm only keeping one which at this point looks like the Slampegg...It really does nail what I think of when I think Ampeg.

 

[letsgethandsome]

I agree… I’ve been playing my London Underground a lot the last few days and switching back-and-forth between it and a couple of (very nice) non-tube pre pedals. The LU sounds fantastic and very natural sounding. Dead simple to dial-in. I’ve been trying to think about what I wanted to say about it and I just keep coming back to the very basic, and that is simply that it sounds great for my needs. Compared to the other non-sushi preamp pedals I just feel like there’s an effortless fullness to the sound. Out of a preamp pedal I want a nice full sound with a little bit of break up when I dig in and I can get that all day long and the LU

I will also add this is currently the only Sushi pedal I have tried and I am very excited to check out some other offerings. Slampegg X, Dr Watson X, Westinghouse, SpaceHeater....

 

[Pedalnetics]

I swear someone in this thread asked about my LightningBoy 2020 vs the new 2020S I got, but I can't find the posts.
So long story short, both my 2020 & 2020S are in the classifieds

Maybe it's just me, but through my Genzler BA15-3, Sennheiser HD280's, or Beyerdynamic DT770's, I hear no worthwhile difference when either the 2020 or 2020S are in my signal chain. Which is funny, I did have a deep-dive hearing test a few months ago to try and source my migrains, and I passed it with better-than-expected results for age.

Oh well, guess fancy 1:1 transformers aren't my thing. That or something else on my board makes the difference unnoticeable (HPF/LPF, drives, etc) which I have zero reason to run 2020's outside my board.

 

[jbybj]

So, I’ve been reading this thread for all of its short life. As appealing as Sushibox is, I simply didn’t have the the need or desire to add more redundancy to my preamp stable. This happens more and more often in recent years, as awesome as a potential acquisition may be, it’s likely no more awesome than the options I already own.
Then the Westinghouse was born, and I started to visualize ways I might actually use it. I took the plunge. April orders bring May deliveries.
Once you take the plunge, you get wet. So, when I saw an “old school” side jack, mini tube London Underground, looking adorable in some sexy orange finish in the classifieds, I reminded myself that I don’t yet have any Orange amp emulation in my collection. All this is to say, that even if you don’t need or want something, if you work hard at it, you can overcome any obstacle.

 

[krfoss]

So, I’ve been reading this thread for all of its short life. As appealing as Sushibox is, I simply didn’t have the the need or desire to add more redundancy to my preamp stable. This happens more and more often in recent years, as awesome as a potential acquisition may be, it’s likely no more awesome than the options I already own.
Then the Westinghouse was born, and I started to visualize ways I might actually use it. I took the plunge. April orders bring May deliveries.
Once you take the plunge, you get wet. So, when I saw an “old school” side jack, mini tube London Underground, looking adorable in some sexy orange finish in the classifieds, I reminded myself that I don’t yet have any Orange amp emulation in my collection. All this is to say, that even if you don’t need or want something, if you work hard at it, you can overcome any obstacle.

You're not better than us....

 

[jbybj]

You're not better than us....

That all depends, define “us”.

 

[krfoss]

That all depends, define “us”.

Those of us with little to no self control...

 

[labeledbass]

So, I’ve been reading this thread for all of its short life. As appealing as Sushibox is, I simply didn’t have the the need or desire to add more redundancy to my preamp stable. This happens more and more often in recent years, as awesome as a potential acquisition may be, it’s likely no more awesome than the options I already own.
Then the Westinghouse was born, and I started to visualize ways I might actually use it. I took the plunge. April orders bring May deliveries.
Once you take the plunge, you get wet. So, when I saw an “old school” side jack, mini tube London Underground, looking adorable in some sexy orange finish in the classifieds, I reminded myself that I don’t yet have any Orange amp emulation in my collection. All this is to say, that even if you don’t need or want something, if you work hard at it, you can overcome any obstacle.

Thank you for saving me 145$s - I too stared down the barrel of the gun for a few

 

[jbybj]

Those of us with little to no self control...

No, not better, just later in the cycle. I enjoyed over 15 years of severe GAS, that was never denied. How do you think I got to this point. Eventually, other limiting factors come into play. I know it may feel like GAS is endless, and to a degree, this is true, but the upside to settling down into fewer acquisitions, is that I have drawers and closets and cases brimming with cool toys. Sometimes it’s years before a pedal or bass comes back up in the rotation, it’s just like it was new!

 

[krfoss]

No, not better, just later in the cycle. I enjoyed over 15 years of severe GAS, that was never denied. How do you think I got to this point. Eventually, other limiting factors come into play. I know it may feel like GAS is endless, and to a degree, this is true, but the upside to settling down into fewer acquisitions, is that I have drawers and closets and cases brimming with cool toys. Sometimes it’s years before a pedal or bass comes back up in the rotation, it’s just like it was new!

I'm nearing the end of gas myself. I have two sushi boxes coming as a challenge to two pedals I currently have. The sushi boxes are smaller, which I want, but if my current pedals sound better, I'm fine not keeping them. I'm also done with basses and settled on two. Sure, if I won the lottery of buy a smith, but that's not gonna happen.

The end of the gas road is bittersweet.

 

[TodaysTomSawyer]

I'm impressed with the Slampegg X. Nathan does excellent work. I've used it every day since I've had it and its already at home on my board. I swapped out cabs so I could run it through an Ampeg 4x10 for fun. It sounds thick and each note sounds authoritative

I don't use a lot of preamps in my chain and I wanted the Slampegg for that role and its working out like I'd hoped. Dialing back the Treble and flipping the HI switch seems to open it up a little more at the end of the chain. I really like the warmth and feel it adds to everything.... I have a spot for the WestingHouse but I'm ordering more Sushi!

 

[kranahan]

I'm nearing the end of gas myself. I have two sushi boxes coming as a challenge to two pedals I currently have. The sushi boxes are smaller, which I want, but if my current pedals sound better, I'm fine not keeping them. I'm also done with basses and settled on two. Sure, if I won the lottery of buy a smith, but that's not gonna happen.

The end of the gas road is bittersweet.

GAS only ends when you die. Whether it be pedals, phones or cars, you will carry the GAS burden until the bitter end!

 

[krfoss]

GAS only ends when you die. Whether it be pedals, phones or cars, you will carry the GAS burden until the bitter end!

The first step is admitting it.

 

[BunchyMutt]

I swear someone in this thread asked about my LightningBoy 2020 vs the new 2020S I got, but I can't find the posts.
So long story short, both my 2020 & 2020S are in the classifieds

Maybe it's just me, but through my Genzler BA15-3, Sennheiser HD280's, or Beyerdynamic DT770's, I hear no worthwhile difference when either the 2020 or 2020S are in my signal chain. Which is funny, I did have a deep-dive hearing test a few months ago to try and source my migrains, and I passed it with better-than-expected results for age.

Oh well, guess fancy 1:1 transformers aren't my thing. That or something else on my board makes the difference unnoticeable (HPF/LPF, drives, etc) which I have zero reason to run 2020's outside my board.

That was probably me. Thanks for the update and I hope the cause of your migraines is taken care of

 

[Pedalnetics]

I hope the cause of your migraines is taken care of

Nope, not at all docs/neurologists/neurosurgeons are all at a loss, they literally classified/coded it as "daily recurring migraines". My response was "Uh, yeah. Thats why I came to see YOU".

So a daily preventative prescription, with emergency "aborter" drugs if it gets too bad. I don't know which is worse some days, the headache or the side effects

 

[MascisMan]

Nope, not at all docs/neurologists/neurosurgeons are all at a loss, they literally classified/coded it as "daily recurring migraines". My response was "Uh, yeah. Thats why I came to see YOU".

So a daily preventative prescription, with emergency "aborter" drugs if it gets too bad. I don't know which is worse some days, the headache or the side effects

Not sure if this will help, but, my wife started getting severe sustained headaches that would last for days. The cause was electrolyte deficiency. So she started drinking Pedialyte fairly often and also using those hydration powder packs.

Knocked out the headaches like magic.

 

[Pedalnetics]

Not sure if this will help, but, my wife started getting severe sustained headaches that would last for days. The cause was electrolyte deficiency. So she started drinking Pedialyte fairly often and also using those hydration powder packs.

Knocked out the headaches like magic.

I've done fasting, caffeine avoidance, caffeine overload, diet changes, exercise changes, daily blood draws w/ symptoms charting, genetic testing, multiple MRI's looking for changes over weeks/months, CT scan, hearing testing/audiologist consult, cardiologist consult, neurosurgeon consult, neurologist consult, other-prescription-changes, and I'm sure more that I'm forgetting at this point (memory issues = side effect, yay!); it's been about 18months, at this point I just wince when they hit and move on with my day ignoring it the best I can

End of the day I'm healthy otherwise, happily employed, happily married, and my boss knows about it all and let's me take time off as needed without question because he knows I'll make it up in double when I can (remote IT work makes that do-able).

That, and I get a steady stream of pedals to play with

 

[Pedalnetics]

Oh and @Btbp I got Robot Butterfly audio samples. Just reviewing them to make sure they sound alright, I just fed Sushi's loop through them.
The arpeggio didn't work so well, I'll have to re-record that one with less-notes-playing.