The Sushi Box FX Secret Society

[Sushi Box FX]

Very nice packaging. Which transformer did you go with (if you mentioned it already I forget)?

I went with the Jensen on this one, solely because I have more of them lying on hand.

I think he said in the photo was the Jensen. Hard to go wrong with that... I have a LBA TIBox and it's excellent as well. I think either would be just fine. Win-Win.

I'd be curious what the other side of the box looks like too -- Does this thing have knobs that do things or strictly a DI?

It has Gain and Level knobs, a Ground Lift switch and a PreOut/DryOut switch for the 1/4" output. Forgot to get that picture, I can get it later today.

Is there much audible sonic difference between the two transformer options?

Honestly no, they're super close. I think the Lightning Boy sounds a tiny bit better, but I'm not sure if I'm actually hearing differences because they're there, or because I want to hear them They're super similar sounding, both are excellent. So the board can handle either one, but I'll probably end up with whichever one I can get cheaper. I think one to one the price is pretty similar between the two, but I'll have to talk to Lightning Boy about quantity discounts to see if he can match or beat Jensen's.

 

[NKBassman]

I went with the Jensen on this one, solely because I have more of them lying on hand.


It has Gain and Level knobs, a Ground Lift switch and a PreOut/DryOut switch for the 1/4" output. Forgot to get that picture, I can get it later today.


Honestly no, they're super close. I think the Lightning Boy sounds a tiny bit better, but I'm not sure if I'm actually hearing differences because they're there, or because I want to hear them They're super similar sounding, both are excellent. So the board can handle either one, but I'll probably end up with whichever one I can get cheaper. I think one to one the price is pretty similar between the two, but I'll have to talk to Lightning Boy about quantity discounts to see if he can match or beat Jensen's.

Cool cool. One less thing for me to overthink to the Nth degree.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Oh and also I just finished my Meatsmoke preamp board layout today, so that's ready to order now. Just want to get the Sashimi Fuzz design updated then I'll get the order placed.

 

[NKBassman]

Oh and also I just finished my Meatsmoke preamp board layout today, so that's ready to order now. Just want to get the Sashimi Fuzz design updated then I'll get the order placed.

Is your "Brisket" pre 1:1 clone of the Meatsmoke? Or more "inspired by"?

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Is your "Brisket" pre 1:1 clone of the Meatsmoke? Or more "inspired by"?

Starting with 1:1 clone, just with a couple minor changes to make things easier for me:

• 9-12VDC input feeding SMPS instead of 115VAC input feeding transformer
• 9-12V stepped up to 24V instead of 300V stepped down to 24V for op-amp
• TL072 instead of TL062 op-amp in the record out section

I think that's it.

 

[NKBassman]

Starting with 1:1 clone, just with a couple minor changes to make things easier for me:

• 9-12VDC input feeding SMPS instead of 115VAC input feeding transformer
• 9-12V stepped up to 24V instead of 300V stepped down to 24V for op-amp
• TL072 instead of TL062 op-amp in the record out section

I think that's it.

Oh you're doing the cab sim record out too! very cool.
If I didn't already have a 300W Meatsmoke head...

 

[letsgethandsome]

Starting with 1:1 clone, just with a couple minor changes to make things easier for me:

• 9-12VDC input feeding SMPS instead of 115VAC input feeding transformer
• 9-12V stepped up to 24V instead of 300V stepped down to 24V for op-amp
• TL072 instead of TL062 op-amp in the record out section

I think that's it.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUdge that sounds freaking awesome.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Oh you're doing the cab sim record out too! very cool.
If I didn't already have a 300W Meatsmoke head...

Hopefully the head is built a lot better than this preamp. I think "appalling" is the best adjective I could use to describe the innards. It sounds great, but as soon as I opened it up I puked. Redesigning it without all the reliability and frankly safety issues is more or less a public service. I've heard Verellen builds amazing amps, but I'm really glad he stopped building this pedal.

And I should clarify I'm not just bashing the competition, I will give credit where credit is due. I've opened up Kingsley, Effectrode, Noble, and Broughton pedals and they are all amazing, well-designed and well-built.

The Meatsmoke preamp looks like it was casually thrown together with spare parts on a hacked up circuit board and a mile of wire.

 

[NKBassman]

Hopefully the head is built a lot better than this preamp. I think "appalling" is the best adjective I could use to describe the innards. It sounds great, but as soon as I opened it up I puked. Redesigning it without all the reliability and frankly safety issues is more or less a public service. I've heard Verellen builds amazing amps, but I'm really glad he stopped building this pedal.

And I should clarify I'm not just bashing the competition, I will give credit where credit is due. I've opened up Kingsley, Effectrode, Noble, and Broughton pedals and they are all amazing, well-designed and well-built.

The Meatsmoke preamp looks like it was casually thrown together with spare parts on a hacked up circuit board and a mile of wire.

I'm honestly surprised to hear this, but I've got no reason to doubt your assessment either. I had a Meatsmoke rackmount pre first, a LONG time ago when he first announced them via Kickstarter. I'm pretty sure I peaked inside at one point and I seem to recall it looked really tidy. I liked the tone well enough that I sold the pre and bought the amp. My amp head is similarly tidy and solid, though it's also been a few years since I had it opened up. Maybe the pedal pres were a hack job, I dunno. I also don't design circuit boards for a living, so take my assessment with a grain of salt.

 

[moon-bass]

Starting with 1:1 clone, just with a couple minor changes to make things easier for me:

• 9-12VDC input feeding SMPS instead of 115VAC input feeding transformer
• 9-12V stepped up to 24V instead of 300V stepped down to 24V for op-amp
• TL072 instead of TL062 op-amp in the record out section

I think that's it.

Pouring GAS on the fire, I see. Yeah, I'm gonna need this!

 

[Sushi Box FX]

I'm honestly surprised to hear this, but I've got no reason to doubt your assessment either. I had a Meatsmoke rackmount pre first, a LONG time ago when he first announced them via Kickstarter. I'm pretty sure I peaked inside at one point and I seem to recall it looked really tidy. I liked the tone well enough that I sold the pre and bought the amp. My amp head is similarly tidy and solid, though it's also been a few years since I had it opened up. Maybe the pedal pres were a hack job, I dunno. I also don't design circuit boards for a living, so take my assessment with a grain of salt.

Yeah I saw some gutshots of one of the rackmount units when I was first looking into this and they looked good. They didn't look anything like this:

Looking at the pictures again made me upset and I had written a super long post about it, but I deleted it since I try not to speak negatively about manufacturers, especially since I have heard nothing but good things about Verellen amplifiers. But for something around the same price point as a Noble I was very surprised at the quality I saw.

 

[Rodrigo Silva]

I was listening to some Slampegg samples on sushiboxfx.com and I noticed the tube starting to breakup with gain at 12:00. Is this because the pedal was using 9v? Will I have more clean headroom at 12v? Could I possibly switch to a different tube to achieve this?

 

[Sushi Box FX]

I was listening to some Slampegg samples on sushiboxfx.com and I noticed the tube starting to breakup with gain at 12:00. Is this because the pedal was using 9v? Will I have more clean headroom at 12v? Could I possibly switch to a different tube to achieve this?

This question comes up a lot, @Sonicblaze do we have that in the FAQ?

So the voltage supplied to the tube plates is regulated at approximately 235V regardless of the input voltage. You can feed it 9V or 15V, the tube will still get 235V. The tube doesn't see the input voltage directly so changing the input voltage won't affect the sound of the circuit in any way.

 

[Moody Tuner]

I got my Underground Accelerator the other day. Haven’t had a chance to try it through an amp but it sounds incredible going direct into my audio interface. The tone controls are very accommodating and it absolutely fattened up what is normal a ‘meh’ direct tone. You could absolutely track direct with this pedal. I’m looking forward to playing more with the gain knob when I can run it through an amp. Now I have to find room for it on my board. I just upgraded to a bigger board too!!! It will have to live off to the side or I’ll need to make a tough decision. I don’t like running pedals off my board so something will probably have to go. Sometimes I feel like I should just run with two boards: one all dirt and ore amps and the other modulation and time effects.

 

[Rodrigo Silva]

This question comes up a lot, @Sonicblaze do we have that in the FAQ?

So the voltage supplied to the tube plates is regulated at approximately 235V regardless of the input voltage. You can feed it 9V or 15V, the tube will still get 235V. The tube doesn't see the input voltage directly so changing the input voltage won't affect the sound of the circuit in any way.

Thank you for the explanation!

 

[moon-bass]

I got my Underground Accelerator the other day. Haven’t had a chance to try it through an amp but it sounds incredible going direct into my audio interface. The tone controls are very accommodating and it absolutely fattened up what is normal a ‘meh’ direct tone. You could absolutely track direct with this pedal. I’m looking forward to playing more with the gain knob when I can run it through an amp. Now I have to find room for it on my board. I just upgraded to a bigger board too!!! It will have to live off to the side or I’ll need to make a tough decision. I don’t like running pedals off my board so something will probably have to go. Sometimes I feel like I should just run with two boards: one all dirt and ore amps and the other modulation and time effects.

I ended up creating three boards, and I just got another one in the mail because baord #2 got too small ...

 

[bassbrad]

@Sushi Box FX still waiting for the full frontal for Finally!

 

[Sushi Box FX]

@Sushi Box FX still waiting for the full frontal for Finally!

Right, sorry, my wife lured me upstairs with soda and popcorn and the next thing I knew I was watching a movie nowhere near my workshop.

So the PreOut/DryOut switch was removed because I did it wrong, but you get the idea of what it will look like. I'm considering fixing the design and sending the revised board out with my next order so I can offer it in October. It's basically a Space Heater plus a transformer and a couple switches, so it would be a low risk design. Thoughts?

 

[bassbrad]

Right, sorry, my wife lured me upstairs with soda and popcorn and the next thing I knew I was watching a movie nowhere near my workshop.

So the PreOut/DryOut switch was removed because I did it wrong, but you get the idea of what it will look like. I'm considering fixing the design and sending the revised board out with my next order so I can offer it in October. It's basically a Space Heater plus a transformer and a couple switches, so it would be a low risk design. Thoughts?

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Movie & snack time with the wife is always allowed, in fact I recommend it!

I am loving it!! This will be on my Christmas List for Absolutely Sure!

 

[j5eugene]

It's basically a Space Heater plus a transformer and a couple switches, so it would be a low risk design. Thoughts?

Excellent imho! Also if you add hpf (even if just fixed at 30-40 Hz) it would be my dream pedal)