The Sushi Box FX Secret Society

[TonyP-]

Congratulations to @Sushi Box FX and @TonyP- for your creation and pending release of the Venus X and Godspeed as you journey and show at NAMM.

I do agree with @johnk_10 that a ground lift is essential, cannot count the number of times that remedied issues with PA systems, especially on most 'consumer' boards that to not have a ground lift. @TonyP- might have missed encountering as he usually is in pro situations.

Thank You Brad...Man, when I went thought the EQ after coming back this weekend and plugged into 3.2.1 (yes that is the real version number lol) It was smiling ear to ear and poor Nathan, I made him listen to me play over the phone...lol

Brad, you are correct I'm usually in a pretty professional environment. I wish you where are at the show, I would like to meet you.

 

[TonyP-]

I was asked about the cab sim...All I'm going to say is that its based off a modern-ish 410.

"You can tame the dragon, but you cannot make a kitty into a lion."

 

[TonyP-]

@laklandplayer Check out TonyP's profile The tone stack design will become more clear...

What are you insinuating @4Mal
Its close but with a SushiBox spin.

 

[TonyP-]

Yeah that's exactly how I was thinking about it in the beginning. I'm generally not a fan of signature pedals because they generally don't match my idea of tone. I agree that Tony is a MONSTER player but his sound is generally away from what I pursue. However as a visual consumer... when I was looking at how it was laid out in the "final" iteration I was already thinking about how I could probably dial in my tone with what I saw on that pedal... plus the DI and the dry out are just nice options that really elevate this concept. In my mind it was elevating the Finally (which is an awesome pedal) into another cool tube pre/DI with a cabsim and potentially some nice eq options.

First off Thank You @Hasty

You are correct, my first thought was to cater to the modern tone and something that reacts quickly, BUT could be mellowed out either with the second channel or EQ options. There are times when I actually do need more of a pseudo SVT type tone and the Venus can cop that.
I might be a bit repetitive here, but for people that might have not read my post from months back I just want to point out a feature that you pointed out that is a must for me and that is the "dry" signal. The cheapest DIs have a pass through and yet so many amp companies that make a preamp pedals do not do it. For example Nordstrand, Trickfish Minnow and I believe (not a %100 sure) but the new Bergantino. In my mind I'm like "Why ?". On that note alone, I could not use any of those other preamps live if I have my own backline.

A week from tonight, there will be several bassists getting together for a 'Bass Hang' pre NAMM with some very respectable names in the industry. The focus being the "Venus X". A couple of these guys will be doing future videos on it.

It will be a night of Tacos, Tequila, Coffee, the latest basses from Devon and a bunch of geekdom.

 

[laklandplayer]

The eq is active (a 1st for an S-Box) ....and an FX loop looks like it could go......maybe right between the snooker table and hot tub (JK, couldn't resist).

For space an fx loop could be achieved with a TRS jack using a TRS plug to a 2 - 1/4" mono (1 send /1 return) "Y" patch cable.

 

[eeyorebass]

Ground or earth is not the real issue, the hum when connecting to a PA system is due to a polarity difference between signals. see the attached for a better detailed answer.
Forum

Yes, if your only ground is through the DI, you don’t want your ground lift on.

Thanks!! And, you're both absolutely correct. I was thinking of my own experiences (always with an amp) as I typed, and needed the nudge to consider all the scenarios. Makes perfect sense. I appreciate you taking the time to help.

 

[eeyorebass]

I was asked about the cab sim...All I'm going to say is that its based off a modern-ish 410.

"You can tame the dragon, but you cannot make a kitty into a lion."

I'm assuming this modern-ish 410 has a tweeter. How is the cab sim at taming the high end of OD and distortion pedals?

Thanks!!

 

[Hasty]

It will be a night of Tacos, Tequila, Coffee, the latest basses from Devon and a bunch of geekdom.

As someone who counts the things on this list as some of my favorites… I heartily endorse this activity.

I’ve got two Devon basses and they’re my all time favorites, they pair incredibly well with SushiBox pedals. Guessing you’ll get to play with his new hot swap preamp system and 6 string. How awesome.

 

[TonyP-]

I'm assuming this modern-ish 410 has a tweeter. How is the cab sim at taming the high end of OD and distortion pedals?

Thanks!!

Its does have a tweeter and its not overwhelming. Let me play more with that to be able to give you an accurate answer.

 

[Ryan L.]

I’ll be a buyer/owner of a Venus X as soon as they become available. Based on years of reading Tony’s posts on the forums here, I’m pretty positive I gravitate towards very similar tonal goals, so if this preamp represents that, it’ll be right up my alley.

Definitely looking forward to its release!

 

[stefaniw80401]

If there were a phase switch on the Venus DI, that would make it very desirable for us DB players. Also if the input impedance were at least 10Mohms for the various piezo pickups we use.

 

[mikeGJ]

If there were a phase switch on the Venus DI, that would make it very desirable for us DB players. Also if the input impedance were at least 10Mohms for the various piezo pickups we use.

Venus is a design by and for TonyP- and Nathan, more guitar oriented than bass. Future designs or "V2" might include other features, but this one is close to finished.

 

[Hasty]

If there were a phase switch on the Venus DI, that would make it very desirable for us DB players. Also if the input impedance were at least 10Mohms for the various piezo pickups we use.

I was actually in the process of building up a buffer/phase inverter... then I discovered that SaturnWorks already makes one (in a tiny 190A enclosure) so I had them build me one with a 10M input. Should be here this week sometime. I specifically bought it with the plan to use it with my UA. If it works as anticipated then it's $50 well spent and I can use it with any preamp I want to.

 

[laklandplayer]

If there were a phase switch on the Venus DI, that would make it very desirable for us DB players. Also if the input impedance were at least 10Mohms for the various piezo pickups we use.

There are a lot of great preamps vying for that $500.00 space. A phase switch makes sense even if you were using it with acoustic guitar too. I don't know if the 10M input is a big deal, most of us use a pre with our pickups, I use a small Fishman preamp with my Full Circle and that fixes it. But I really can't hear a difference when using the FS without the preamp either. The Radial Bassbone bass preamp has the 10M switch input and a 180 phase switch is suited for acoustic bass.
SB seems to making the initial Venus to suit one player's particular taste preference so, in that regard, it will have limited appeal to people wanting that sound... I wish them luck.

 

[DrHooper]

more guitar oriented than bass

I'd think Tony might have something to say about this^

 

[_Tay_]

There are a lot of great preamps vying for that $500.00 space. A phase switch makes sense even if you were using it with acoustic guitar too. I don't know if the 10M input is a big deal, most of us use a pre with our pickups, I use a small Fishman preamp with my Full Circle and that fixes it. But I really can't hear a difference when using the FS without the preamp either. The Radial Bassbone bass preamp has the 10M switch input and a 180 phase switch is suited for acoustic bass.
SB seems to making the initial Venus to suit one player's particular taste preference so, in that regard, it will have limited appeal to people wanting that sound... I wish them luck.

If you read this thread back a page though Nathan says his taste in tone is very different to Tony's and this new active EQ that has been designed is quite versatile in getting decent, different tones.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Venus is a design by and for TonyP- and Nathan, more guitar oriented than bass.

I assumed you meant that it was designed more for bass guitar than upright bass, which would be correct, but it's certainly designed for bass, not guitar. It doesn't sound bad on guitar, it's usable, but it's 100% designed as a bass preamp.

There are a lot of great preamps vying for that $500.00 space. A phase switch makes sense even if you were using it with acoustic guitar too. I don't know if the 10M input is a big deal, most of us use a pre with our pickups, I use a small Fishman preamp with my Full Circle and that fixes it. But I really can't hear a difference when using the FS without the preamp either. The Radial Bassbone bass preamp has the 10M switch input and a 180 phase switch is suited for acoustic bass.
SB seems to making the initial Venus to suit one player's particular taste preference so, in that regard, it will have limited appeal to people wanting that sound... I wish them luck.

The Venus X is more or less designed to be Tony's signature pedal. I nudged it this way and that every now and then (it was originally going to be a solid-state preamp, then a solid-state preamp with a tube boost section, then finally a tube preamp with active EQ), but it's true it was designed to suit Tony's needs. As I mentioned above though, I'm a very different player than Tony. I'm nowhere near as established or experienced, but my ears prefer a very different sound to Tony's, and with the flexibility of the design I am able to get the sound I want. This is not a one-trick pony.

That being said as I mentioned it was designed more toward electric bass than acoustic or upright, so it doesn't include a 10MΩ input impedance option or a phase inversion. Frankly I would prefer to do a completely separate preamp that catered specifically to acoustic and upright as they are different enough and tend to have different enough goals that designing one unit that's 100% perfect for every single use case is going to be impractical.

 

[Hasty]

Frankly I would prefer to do a completely separate preamp that catered specifically to acoustic and upright as they are different enough and tend to have different enough goals that designing one unit that's 100% perfect for every single use case is going to be impractical.

if I might humbly throw this out there…

A More with two 1/4” inputs with phase inversion, an XLR input with 48v phantom power, an HPF, and an XLR out would be the most perfect thing ever created.

I wouldn’t complain if it had a Bax tonestack and a B15 cab sim either.

Edited to add… it can be a big enclosure too. The DB is already huge so we’re used to carrying stuff.

 

[eeyorebass]

...designing one unit that's 100% perfect for every single use case is going to be impossible.

fixed it for you.

 

[Hasty]

fixed it for you.

True story