The Sushi Box FX Secret Society

[bassbrad]

I do favor the combination of PA into Finally for recording but have not really liked doubling up the tubeness otherwise, ymmv. I am aware that my experience is contrary to the prevailing consensus that more tubes = more better. On my main pedal board I have a HWUA next to last and that is plenty.

For recording I run the PA and Finally just barely saturated, still mostly clean although I recently replaced the Finally with a MORE for some sessions.

 

[Hasty]

Yup. I also have a DC4 under there, but the DC7 takes all the tube pedals and the 4 handles the whammy, wireless, and A/B loop switcher.

Sigh... when I bought my DC10 years ago I thought to myself... "This is the last power supply I'll ever need to buy". Now I'm off down this tube pedal rabbit hole and wishing every outlet had the same flexibility and power as the DC7.

However that DC10 and DC5 Link combined is an absolute work horse of a power supply combo and was a marvelous purchase at the time. It's still an amazing power supply if you don't need more than 400mA per slot.

 

[Zbysek]

question for all you sushi heads:
i just received my new Space Heater and it is MASSIVE!
heaps of headroom and gain, and it adds so much depth to my signal.


i had originally thought it would replace my older model particle accelerator, but when i had both on, it unlocked some new tones that i had not heard before. So my plan is to keep both pedals and find the best spot for them in my chain.

currently i have my space heater early in my signal to be able to add some mild to big breakup as needed. but i feel like the space heater is so massive that it is hitting the rest of my chain with too much saturation, making it really hard to tame the front end.

my PA is currently at the very end of my chain, feeding my Mesa Subway DI.

i am planning to swap the PA with the space heater tonight to see how this changes the setup.

i'll probably not get as much breakup from the PA, but i will have more flexible tone shaping early in my chain. And having the space heater right in front of my DI will hopefully allow me to still utilize the tone shaping of the DI, but with all the extra juice on tap from the space heater to boost and breakup my post-effects tone.

since i am fairly new to the tube preamp game, i am wondering if i am going in the right direction, and/or if any of you more experienced heads can offer suggestions for how you would use the combo of a PA and space heater in your chain....?

thanks!

I would not stack them. There is one tube preamp (Space heater) always on my board. In case I get another tube preamp, I would put it on a different board or switch between them...

 

[mobeme23]

I do favor the combination of PA into Finally for recording but have not really liked doubling up the tubeness otherwise, ymmv. I am aware that my experience is contrary to the prevailing consensus that more tubes = more better. On my main pedal board I have a HWUA next to last and that is plenty.
View attachment 4847146
For recording I run the PA and Finally just barely saturated, still mostly clean although I recently replaced the Finally with a MORE for some sessions.

thanks! yeah, i noticed the extreme saturation with both pedals engaged. i was wondering if there is such a thing as too much tubeness. i am still very early along in the process (just received the space heater yesterday), so i am bound and determined to find a happy balance with both pedals on my board.

i was really amazed at the amount of power coming through the space heater. it might end up being a good lesson in restraint for me.

 

[JDLowEnd]

thanks! yeah, i noticed the extreme saturation with both pedals engaged. i was wondering if there is such a thing as too much tubeness. i am still very early along in the process (just received the space heater yesterday), so i am bound and determined to find a happy balance with both pedals on my board.

i was really amazed at the amount of power coming through the space heater. it might end up being a good lesson in restraint for me.

I had a similar issue as I could not figure out where my space heater should go, I ended up getting a Finally and it made life easier, I can't say you have the same situation, but I gave up my broughton messenger for the Finally and could not be happier!

 

[Sushi Box FX]

question for all you sushi heads:
i just received my new Space Heater and it is MASSIVE!
heaps of headroom and gain, and it adds so much depth to my signal.


i had originally thought it would replace my older model particle accelerator, but when i had both on, it unlocked some new tones that i had not heard before. So my plan is to keep both pedals and find the best spot for them in my chain.

currently i have my space heater early in my signal to be able to add some mild to big breakup as needed. but i feel like the space heater is so massive that it is hitting the rest of my chain with too much saturation, making it really hard to tame the front end.

my PA is currently at the very end of my chain, feeding my Mesa Subway DI.

i am planning to swap the PA with the space heater tonight to see how this changes the setup.

i'll probably not get as much breakup from the PA, but i will have more flexible tone shaping early in my chain. And having the space heater right in front of my DI will hopefully allow me to still utilize the tone shaping of the DI, but with all the extra juice on tap from the space heater to boost and breakup my post-effects tone.

since i am fairly new to the tube preamp game, i am wondering if i am going in the right direction, and/or if any of you more experienced heads can offer suggestions for how you would use the combo of a PA and space heater in your chain....?

thanks!

Since this is the kind of thing I think about a lot (I really like tubes), I can give my opinion.

I would probably run Space Heater before Particle Accelerator, as that will get you pretty close to how an actual amp would be staged. Keep the Level on the SH around noon, Gain on the PA around noon (or maybe a little less on both), then use the SH Gain knob as your gain control and the PA Master control as your master volume, and consider it one higher-gain preamp. Gets you a more complex and thicker gain tone from the SH pushing the front end, but still doesn't overwhelm everything down the road if you keep the SH gain under control. Pretty good start to an ampless rig in my opinion.

 

[eeyorebass]

i was really amazed at the amount of power coming through the space heater. it might end up being a good lesson in restraint for me.

Where do you have the internal trim pot on the SH set? You can tame it's output that way, too.

 

[mobeme23]

Since this is the kind of thing I think about a lot (I really like tubes), I can give my opinion.

I would probably run Space Heater before Particle Accelerator, as that will get you pretty close to how an actual amp would be staged. Keep the Level on the SH around noon, Gain on the PA around noon (or maybe a little less on both), then use the SH Gain knob as your gain control and the PA Master control as your master volume, and consider it one higher-gain preamp. Gets you a more complex and thicker gain tone from the SH pushing the front end, but still doesn't overwhelm everything down the road if you keep the SH gain under control. Pretty good start to an ampless rig in my opinion.

this is great advice.
i will tinker around with this later
i really do like the idea of pairing these two pedals to compliment each other.
but it is a lot of power to try to reign in!!

 

[mobeme23]

Where do you have the internal trim pot on the SH set? You can tame it's output that way, too.

i have not checked yet, so it is set at the original level.
i will check this before further delving. it might be a good idea for me to dial it back a bit for my current setup.
thanks for the recommendation.

 

[Zbysek]

i noticed the extreme saturation with both pedals engaged. i was wondering if there is such a thing as too much tubeness.

There is such a thing, IMHO. Too much tube saturation might deprive your sound of attack. You want to retain attack in your signal. If there is no attack, your bass sound will be lost in the mix.

That's one of the reasons why I started thinking about paralel processing...

 

[mobeme23]

There is such a thing, IMHO. Too much tube saturation might deprive your sound of attack. You want to retain attack in your signal. If there is no attack, you bass sound will be lost in the mix.

That's one of the reasons why I started thinking about paralel processing...

That was my observation from last night’s session; loss of attack and definition at higher settings. In my head, I’m guessing there is a way to dial everything in while retaining attack and definition. But I see why parallel processing would help control the saturation.

I am really looking forward to exploring all of the options though.

 

[Zbysek]

That was my observation from last night’s session; loss of attack and definition at higher settings.

Exactly.

In my head, I’m guessing there is a way to dial everything in while retaining attack and definition.

My experience so far has been that the way to retain attack is to avoid higher gain settings.

But I see why parallel processing would help control the saturation.

I wouldn't say it helps to control saturation... I would say it allows higher gain setting without loss of attack.

I have started a thread to discuss my plan to use Space Heater to overdrive some frequencies (mids) while keeping other frequencies (bass and treble) clean:

Distorted mids (only)

Feel free to join and comment!

I am really looking forward to exploring all of the options though.

It's an exciting journey, isn't it?

 

[lomo]

Well thought out compression can also accentuate attack. If I had to use only 3 pedals, they would be my Broughton HPF, Empress or Diamond comp and UA.

 

[mobeme23]

Exactly.



My experience so far has been that the way to retain attack is to avoid higher gain settings.



I wouldn't say it helps to control saturation... I would say it allows higher gain setting without loss of attack.

I have started a thread to discuss my plan to use Space Heater to overdrive some frequencies (mids) while keeping other frequencies (bass and treble) clean:

Distorted mids (only)

Feel free to join and comment!



It's an exciting journey, isn't it?

thanks for all the great advice!
i will check out the thread.

 

[mobeme23]

Well thought out compression can also accentuate attack. If I had to use only 3 pedals, they would be my Broughton HPF, Empress or Diamond comp and UA.

yes. my Diamond Jr. behaves completely differently with my SH in the mix now.
these tube pedals are teaching me so much about my signal path.
i am rethinking all of my previous decisions, and i couldn't be happier about it!

 

[lomo]

yes. my Diamond Jr. behaves completely differently with my SH in the mix now.
these tube pedals are teaching me so much about my signal path.
i am rethinking all of my previous decisions, and i couldn't be happier about it!

Yep....and then there are the differences between comp before tube pre, comp after tube pre and comp on both sides of tube pre.

 

[SemiDriven]

Got all my Sushi Box pedals modified to the Polarity Protection Fix!

One casualty. My Underground Accelerator is non-functioning.

Attached is a gut shot. I based the changed wire connection on the Early X-Series Pedal. Perhaps the wire connection should be based on another pedal?

 

[Pedalnetics]

Got all my Sushi Box pedals modified to the Polarity Protection Fix!

One casualty. My Underground Accelerator is non-functioning.

Attached is a gut shot. I based the changed wire connection on the Early X-Series Pedal. Perhaps the wire connection should be based on another pedal?

I believe you shorted power to ground. Someone (@Sushi Box FX) doesn't always use the same color wire for the same purpose, and your power ground is red and your 9vdc is black, which is opposite of the colors in the photos. @Sushi Box FX probably should put that in the doc: pay attention to pins and pads, not wire colors.

So you took the 9vdc line, and tied it to ground. Move that wire back, move your red power jack wire over to ground. You should have moved the left pad, not the right.

 

[CH Design]

Got all my Sushi Box pedals modified to the Polarity Protection Fix!

One casualty. My Underground Accelerator is non-functioning.

Attached is a gut shot. I based the changed wire connection on the Early X-Series Pedal. Perhaps the wire connection should be based on another pedal?

On another, and completely unhelpful note, what's with the little dip switches? I've never heard anyone mention those before. What to they do?

 

[Pedalnetics]

On another, and completely unhelpful note, what's with the little dip switches? I've never heard anyone mention those before. What to they do?

Input buffer (IB), and output buffer (OB); two switches per due to signal+ground paths