The Sushi Box FX Secret Society

[Sushi Box FX]

I'm borrowing a hand wired Space Heater.
Is it supposed to have THAT MUCH output?
In order to get a bit of distortion, the gain control needs to be nearly full up and with the volume knob nearly off, it is still a much hotter signal than normal. No way to get unity gain to use it on different songs. Or maybe I'm doing something wrong??
Bass is a Stingray and last night was a SWR SM400 into a GB 2x12.

Sorry it took me a bit to get to this, it's been a day.

If it's a regular production HW Space Heater it will have an internal trimpot so you can tame the output without leaving the volume pot all the way off. If it's one of the special edition HW Space Heaters the output is fixed. The point at which it actually distorts for either one (and Finally, and frankly UA while we're at it) depends completely on what tube you're using.

Filter selects two variations of an analog speaker emulation that only affects the Rec Out. Level affects both outputs. Softer or louder.

FWIW, I adore the Smoke Signal, especially after the mod to the Blue channel, but I ignore the record out. Rec Out mutes when the pedal is bypassed, and I dislike the filter immensely. Out behaves normally, without the filter, and sounds spectacular.

I'm also not a big fan of the recording output. Part of me wants to put an IR in there, part of me just wants to throw the whole thing away and make room in the lineup for something completely different.

I'm a decent engineer, but I often feel like I really need a manager to be telling me what to do. Being responsible for decision making is hard

 

[jbybj]

Sorry it took me a bit to get to this, it's been a day.

If it's a regular production HW Space Heater it will have an internal trimpot so you can tame the output without leaving the volume pot all the way off. If it's one of the special edition HW Space Heaters the output is fixed. The point at which it actually distorts for either one (and Finally, and frankly UA while we're at it) depends completely on what tube you're using.


I'm also not a big fan of the recording output. Part of me wants to put an IR in there, part of me just wants to throw the whole thing away and make room in the lineup for something completely different.

I'm a decent engineer, but I often feel like I really need a manager to be telling me what to do. Being responsible for decision making is hard

I think it would be a shame for the Smoke Signal to go away completely. I really like the channel switching, and the character of the different channels. I think you should find something interesting to do with the space being taken up by the filter and record out. Or maybe just make it smaller without.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

I think it would be a shame for the Smoke Signal to go away completely. I really like the channel switching, and the character of the different channels. I think you should find something interesting to do with the space being taken up by the filter and record out. Or maybe just make it smaller without.

I would love to make Smoke Signal smaller, but it's the 10 pots that makes it as big as it is, not the extra output

 

[Nuage420]

I would love to make Smoke Signal smaller, but it's the 10 pots that makes it as big as it is, not the extra output

@jbybj A simple noise gate?

 

[Sushi Box FX]

@jbybj A simple noise gate?

You know someone gave me a schematic a while ago for a simple noise gate for tube circuits, and I never tried it out. I should really do that. I'll see if I could dig that up, that would be fun to experiment with.

This is where my manager would say "no, you have a huge list of things to do all the time and it's only getting longer, you need to stop adding to it yourself."

NOW HIRING: Sushi Box FX engineering manager

Job duties: tell Nathan "no" on a daily basis to keep him on track.

 

[Nuage420]

This is where my manager would say "no, you have a huge list of things to do all the time and it's only getting longer, you need to stop adding to it yourself."

NOW HIRING: Sushi Box FX engineering manager

Not interested in that gig at all. Well kinda, if I was retired. For now I'll be a stereotypical needy customer suggesting things like adding a noise gate to the Smoke Signal instead of scraping one of the sickest two channel pre amps ever made.

 

[Roxbororob]

"Nathan, you have a huge list of things to do all the time and it's only getting longer, you need to stop adding to it yourself."

Quote edited for emphasis

 

[SemiDriven]

You know someone gave me a schematic a while ago for a simple noise gate for tube circuits, and I never tried it out. I should really do that. I'll see if I could dig that up, that would be fun to experiment with.

This is where my manager would say "Go for it! Ain't nothing wrong with having some fun along the way!"

Quote edited for the betterment of TTPF (Tube Technology in Pedal Format).

 

[Roxbororob]

All joking aside, senior Sushi has a family first, a business to maintain and his personal well being to take care of.

Don't want to step out of line and be a party pooper but...

Nathan, you seem like a great guy with lots of innovative ideas that can probably satisfy all our needs (wants) and your products are up there with the best. But I've seen too many burnouts in my time to miss the signs. Take care of yourself and your family.

I'll go off and join the grumpy old farts club now...

 

[lomo]

In all aspects of the human experience, balance is the hardest point to reach.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

All joking aside, senior Sushi has a family first, a business to maintain and his personal well being to take care of.

Don't want to step out of line and be a party pooper but...

Nathan, you seem like a great guy with lots of innovative ideas that can probably satisfy all our needs (wants) and your products are up there with the best. But I've seen too many burnouts in my time to miss the signs. Take care of yourself and your family.

I'll go off and join the grumpy old farts club now...

I appreciate it, I certainly do try. When my wife is in her home office working the kids know to leave her alone, but when daddy is in the workshop it's free game for hanging out. I should probably sleep more, so my personal balance is a little off, but I would probably sleep the same amount whether I'm building pedals or not. I do feel like my work-family balance is pretty solid, my wife and kids know that I love working on pedals, but I will drop whatever I'm doing anytime day or night if they need me.

 

[Crawforde]

Maintaining that balance can be difficult when you really get into your work.
I used to draw a hard line, no work after this time,…
Then wake up in the middle of the night to take notes, get stuff done, chase ideas …
For me it was better to just try and stay mindful, but hard and strict rules of separation were often counterproductive.

 

[cavemanbass]

I don’t use a noise gate, never liked the way they cut off the initial transient when opening (or add a click if the gate is really fast). To me, there is no such thing as a simple noise gate that is also useable…. IMO / YMMV.
Fwiw I use a Malekko sneak attack on occasion, it ends up doing double duty as envelope modifier and noise gate. But it’s definitely not simple.
My vote for SS would be
1. Add H/LPF
Or
2. Add xlr out
Or
3. Remove record out and filter switch and call it a day. Iirc there is also a level switch that I never use….

 

[Sushi Box FX]

I don’t use a noise gate, never liked the way they cut off the initial transient when opening (or add a click if the gate is really fast). To me, there is no such thing as a simple noise gate that is also useable…. IMO / YMMV.
Fwiw I use a Malekko sneak attack on occasion, it ends up doing double duty as envelope modifier and noise gate. But it’s definitely not simple.
My vote for SS would be
1. Add H/LPF
Or
2. Add xlr out
Or
3. Remove record out and filter switch and call it a day. Iirc there is also a level switch that I never use….

I would generally agree, but tubes make things magical. If you want a good-sounding simple solid-state preamp, you're looking at dozens of components in the audio section. Space Heater has 8. A solid-state noise gate requires A LOT of components to do a good job, often specialized and hard-to-find components. A tube noise gate is like 4 components that can be added into any tube preamp.

As for Smoke Signal, my HPF/LPF prototype is in production right now, I will of course let everyone know how it goes. Not sure what it will get added to, but we'll see how it goes and how it plays with other things.

XLR out is unlikely, that by itself takes a considerable amount of space in the box, and I'm not sure there's room in Smoke Signal without changing box size.

EDIT: the schematic I was sent years ago was the Peavey JSX, one of the few high gain guitar tube amps with a built-in noise gate. I haven't tried it personally, but I've heard it works well. I'll try it out.

 

[cavemanbass]

I would generally agree, but tubes make things magical. If you want a good-sounding simple solid-state preamp, you're looking at dozens of components in the audio section. Space Heater has 8. A solid-state noise gate requires A LOT of components to do a good job, often specialized and hard-to-find components. A tube noise gate is like 4 components that can be added into any tube preamp.

As for Smoke Signal, my HPF/LPF prototype is in production right now, I will of course let everyone know how it goes. Not sure what it will get added to, but we'll see how it goes and how it plays with other things.

XLR out is unlikely, that by itself takes a considerable amount of space in the box, and I'm not sure there's room in Smoke Signal without changing box size.

EDIT: the schematic I was sent years ago was the Peavey JSX, one of the few high gain guitar tube amps with a built-in noise gate. I haven't tried it personally, but I've heard it works well. I'll try it out.

Thank you for the detailed explanation, and you’re absolutely right I’ve never tried a tube based noise gate. Would love to be proven wrong on this!

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Thank you for the detailed explanation, and you’re absolutely right I’ve never tried a tube based noise gate. Would love to be proven wrong on this!

Same and same I already have like 4 designs pending fabrication, so adding another would slow down the rest, so I'll make it wait until another time. But I will absolutely be trying it out.

 

[Nuage420]

I would generally agree, but tubes make things magical. If you want a good-sounding simple solid-state preamp, you're looking at dozens of components in the audio section. Space Heater has 8. A solid-state noise gate requires A LOT of components to do a good job, often specialized and hard-to-find components. A tube noise gate is like 4 components that can be added into any tube preamp.

As for Smoke Signal, my HPF/LPF prototype is in production right now, I will of course let everyone know how it goes. Not sure what it will get added to, but we'll see how it goes and how it plays with other things.

XLR out is unlikely, that by itself takes a considerable amount of space in the box, and I'm not sure there's room in Smoke Signal without changing box size.

EDIT: the schematic I was sent years ago was the Peavey JSX, one of the few high gain guitar tube amps with a built-in noise gate. I haven't tried it personally, but I've heard it works well. I'll try it out.

So that hybrid amp with the smoke Signal Channels, LPF and HPF, noise gate, and 800 watts is a thing that's happening?

Will it be a Luv Boat still? Or Mixed Signals?

 

[bassbrad]

I don’t use a noise gate, never liked the way they cut off the initial transient when opening (or add a click if the gate is really fast). To me, there is no such thing as a simple noise gate that is also useable…. IMO / YMMV.
Fwiw I use a Malekko sneak attack on occasion, it ends up doing double duty as envelope modifier and noise gate. But it’s definitely not simple.
My vote for SS would be
1. Add H/LPF
Or
2. Add xlr out
Or
3. Remove record out and filter switch and call it a day. Iirc there is also a level switch that I never use….

Thank you for the detailed explanation, and you’re absolutely right I’ve never tried a tube based noise gate. Would love to be proven wrong on this!

Keep in mind those are legacy features of the origin of the SS pedal that @Sushi Box FX has never really been strongly in favor of but stayed true to the original design. After the Verellen Meatsmoke was discontinued and the company closed there were many requests for @Sushi Box FX to do a recreation which resulted in the SS, later updated in the SS Blue or SS2. What will be the end result remains to be seen, for now those of us fortunate to have a version shall enjoy the tones and regret not a thing.

- How much? - None at all.

Noise gates are indeed complex beasts whether included in a pedal or an amplifier, IMHO one of the best is the ZNR found in Zoom pedals, dig it.

 

[Nuage420]

I let my SS with UA mod go as part of a trade for a limited edition amp I've been after for a few years. I very much regret it but am excited as hell for the next version of it. Especially if it's possibly going to be in amp form

 

[Sushi Box FX]

So that hybrid amp with the smoke Signal Channels, LPF and HPF, noise gate, and 800 watts is a thing that's happening?

Will it be a Luv Boat still? Or Mixed Signals?

Lol I have no idea what's going to happen to my amp idea. I haven't ordered the power amp parts yet to play with it, it was just an idea floating around in my head that rises to the surface every now and again.