The Sushi Box FX Secret Society

[bassbrad]

I know the HW / SMD comparison has been beaten to death… but.. general consensus is the HW sounds “bigger”- comparing the UA SMD with a HW SH, I’m not hearing it fellas. Anyone want to elaborate?
I guess I’m trying to say is it like saying you have a MIA bass as opposed to a MIJ when tone wise they are the same but the MIA is a luxury.

I have an initial order UA and a later gen HW UA with the bypass that I was able to compare as a more apple to apple comparison on my pedalboard, I use a set of headphones and DAC for the comparison. With the OEM tubes there is a not subtle improvement in depth and clarity and a bit more character to the saturation. Much of the differences are really heard in combination with other effects ~ dirts have more depth and color; my synths and envelopes have more detail; octaves have more girth and sparkle. In headphones or on studio monitors the difference can be heard but on a normal bass rig not so much.

Once you hear the difference you cannot unhear it but for me it is not a make or break difference. While I appreciate the difference of a HW @Sushi Box FX ~ IMHO SMD are really fine enough, the HW was a splurge that I will likely not make again leaving more $ for more sushi.

FWIW @Sushi Box FX is one of the few builders that even offers a (more) Hand Wired option on some models for those that desire a more premium product on what is already a very unique and well designed product line at a more than fair price. I say (more) Hand Wired as much of the assembly is done by hand already.

 

[eeyorebass]

@_Tay_ I have a Finally ( same gain stage as SH ) and a MORE and will say they both have a similar function as far as gain go but MORE has a richness and complexity that the simpler circuit does not have. You will probably dig the added je ne sais quois of the MORE.

View attachment 4931113

If someone doesn't do much recording, would you say the same thing? Descriptions like this make me want a MORE, but then I worry it would be too subtle if only heard through a standard bass cab.

 

[Jeff Kissell]

If someone doesn't do much recording, would you say the same thing? Descriptions like this make me want a MORE, but then I worry it would be too subtle if only heard through a standard bass cab.

My take is the More is not subtle… it’s also not distorted or broken. It can get very saturated though.

 

[jaibeau]

If someone doesn't do much recording, would you say the same thing? Descriptions like this make me want a MORE, but then I worry it would be too subtle if only heard through a standard bass cab.

Human nature. If you like it, you want more!

 

[bassbrad]

Comparing a Space Heater to the MORE is both a Quality and Quantity difference that you should have no problem hearing.... To me it is almost like comparing Instant Mashed Potatoes to Real Mashed Potatoes with Butter and Horseradish and Chives and Parsley with just a hint of Onion and Garlic, Salt and Pepper. Instant Mashed might be okay for a Wednesday but not for a Friday, Saturday or special occasion.



FWIW I hear Instant Mashed Potatoes can be used as a pesticide, so there is that.

 

[jaibeau]

If someone doesn't do much recording, would you say the same thing? Descriptions like this make me want a MORE, but then I worry it would be too subtle if only heard through a standard bass cab.

My first SB to try was a more. I don’t know if it was SMD or HW. But, I personally didn’t hear much difference on or off. Now, with that being said, I decided to buy a UA and after getting used to it through “my” rig, I was hooked. I would probably appreciate the more now. But brings me back to the original SMD vs HW question…, I personally don’t get the hype enough to justify it, but that’s me. Recording? Maybe so, but Im just using live.

 

[lomo]

I have SMD and HW UA, an SMD SH, a More and a Glass Butterfly. The enhanced richness of tone that comes from More, or the clean channel of GB, or the subtle difference between HW and SMD UA, in my experience, are all undeniable when recorded/quietly listening in a controlled environment, but will not matter in a live band situation, at least not while playing rock/blues.......I love all my SB pedals, but after adding 2 distorted guitars and drums.......the subtleties at the sonic edges are lost and unimportant IMHO. A carefully recorded mix, or a live situation that's less sonically crowded without much background noise is obviously another story. YMMV.

 

[Deleted member 360599]

FWIW I hear Instant Mashed Potatoes can be used as a pesticide, so there is that.

Lol because the flakes expand in a rodent and they cannot vomit them out b cause they expand too much.

 

[jaibeau]

Ve

I have SMD and HW UA, an SMD SH, a More and a Glass Butterfly. The enhanced richness of tone that comes from More, or the clean channel of GB, or the subtle difference between HW and SMD UA, in my experience, are all undeniable when recorded/quietly listening in a controlled environment, but will not matter in a live band situation, at least not while playing rock/blues.......I love all my SB pedals, but after adding 2 distorted guitars and drums.......the subtleties at the sonic edges are lost and unimportant IMHO. A carefully recorded mix, or a live situation that's less sonically crowded without much background noise is obviously another story. YMMV.

Very well put. 100%

 

[JackFawkes]

I know the HW / SMD comparison has been beaten to death… but.. general consensus is the HW sounds “bigger”- comparing the UA SMD with a HW SH, I’m not hearing it fellas. Anyone want to elaborate?
I guess I’m trying to say is it like saying you have a MIA bass as opposed to a MIJ when tone wise they are the same but the MIA is a luxury.

I compared an SMD Slampegg to a HW Slampegg and with my gear the difference was so subtle that I honestly couldn't consistently tell which was which in an A/B test. In the end I kept the SMD model because it sounded the same and didn't require me to use an extra buffer pedal to place nice with my equipment like the HW seemed to sometimes need.
(Though to be fair, I think Nathan later tweaked the design of the HW Slampegg's input impedance to make it work better without needing an additional buffer)

Jack

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Got another HWUA for the garage sale, this one is in the prismatic cosmos (dealer's choice for nov-dec) finish.

https://www.sushiboxfx.com/product/underground-accelerator-hw-prismatic-cosmos/

 

[lomo]

Got another HWUA for the garage sale, this one is in the prismatic cosmos (dealer's choice for nov-dec) finish.

Underground Accelerator (HW prismatic cosmos) – Sushi Box FX

Nice! If I had to pair down to only 1 box of sushi, it'd be a UA.

 

[CH Design]

Nice! If I had to pair down to only 1 box of sushi, it'd be a UA.

You haven’t tried an Elementary… yet.

 

[letsgethandsome]

Got another HWUA for the garage sale, this one is in the prismatic cosmos (dealer's choice for nov-dec) finish.

Underground Accelerator (HW prismatic cosmos) – Sushi Box FX

That's gorgeous! And sold... haha

 

[lomo]

You haven’t tried an Elementary… yet.

LOL

 

[jbybj]

I’ve avoided the Underground Accelerator long enough. Time to succumb.

 

[el murdoque]

Okay, I've hit a weird problem.
I rewired my board today, to introduce a Hologram Microcosm into it. I tried it in a test bench setup before, sitting on top of the other pedals and getting power from the board, which was fine.

Now that all the wires are run, when I switch on the board, everything seems fine.
At some point, a load of noise (like long wave radio through a distortion and a flanger) hits me.
I think three possible suspects might be involved.
1. The HWUA
2. The Morningstar ML-5
3. The Hologram Microcosm

Here's what happens: I switch around through the loops, everything is fine. At some point, the noise comes up.
The noise will immediately disappear when I switch off the HWUA. If I switch off the loop in which the HWUA resides but leave the loop of the Hologram on, the noise stays. From the moment the noise is on, any combination of loops that has the Hologram in it will produce the noise.

The noise is predominant and the bass sound is very distorted and buried within the noise - so it's more than a lot of background noise.

I can't make any sense of it. Help?

 

[Pedalnetics]

Okay, I've hit a weird problem.
I rewired my board today, to introduce a Hologram Microcosm into it. I tried it in a test bench setup before, sitting on top of the other pedals and getting power from the board, which was fine.

Now that all the wires are run, when I switch on the board, everything seems fine.
At some point, a load of noise (like long wave radio through a distortion and a flanger) hits me.
I think three possible suspects might be involved.
1. The HWUA
2. The Morningstar ML-5
3. The Hologram Microcosm

Here's what happens: I switch around through the loops, everything is fine. At some point, the noise comes up.
The noise will immediately disappear when I switch off the HWUA. If I switch off the loop in which the HWUA resides but leave the loop of the Hologram on, the noise stays. From the moment the noise is on, any combination of loops that has the Hologram in it will produce the noise.

The noise is predominant and the bass sound is very distorted and buried within the noise - so it's more than a lot of background noise.

I can't make any sense of it. Help?

When you turn off the HWUA loop but leave Microcosm, and continue to hear the noise, what happens if you pull the 9vdc from the HWUA to completely kill it?

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Okay, I've hit a weird problem.
I rewired my board today, to introduce a Hologram Microcosm into it. I tried it in a test bench setup before, sitting on top of the other pedals and getting power from the board, which was fine.

Now that all the wires are run, when I switch on the board, everything seems fine.
At some point, a load of noise (like long wave radio through a distortion and a flanger) hits me.
I think three possible suspects might be involved.
1. The HWUA
2. The Morningstar ML-5
3. The Hologram Microcosm

Here's what happens: I switch around through the loops, everything is fine. At some point, the noise comes up.
The noise will immediately disappear when I switch off the HWUA. If I switch off the loop in which the HWUA resides but leave the loop of the Hologram on, the noise stays. From the moment the noise is on, any combination of loops that has the Hologram in it will produce the noise.

The noise is predominant and the bass sound is very distorted and buried within the noise - so it's more than a lot of background noise.

I can't make any sense of it. Help?

First of all I have to admit some minor jealousy, the Microcosm looks like a super cool pedal.

Does you HWUA have the polarity mod done? It looks like you ordered it before I was aware of the issue, and with the Microcosm being another pedal that pulls a fair amount of current (the user manual says 400mA minimum for the power supply) I could see that being a potential problem with the UA's polarity protection.

Aside from that interested in the answer to @Pedalnetics' question, if the UA loop has been bypassed and the noise remains, if removing power from the UA stops the noise.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

On a completely unrelated note, I'm not ready to open up ordering for the February batch, but as I alluded to in the December livestream I've spent the last couple weeks working on "stock" SMD pedals to keep on hand for those that aren't interested in handwired builds and/or custom options and would rather get something right away without waiting.

Currently every pedal I offer is in stock with the exception of Lab Rat and the revised JC Emerald, I hope to have some of those available in the next week or so.

I wasn't planning on announcing this for another day or two, but someone already got in and placed an order without being told about it, so I figured the secret society has the right to know now.