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The Sushi Box FX Secret Society

Do I put the UA after or before my diamond comp?

if you put it before your compressor, the overdrive will be much more Touch Sensitive. If you want to always have pretty much the same degree of tube saturation, then the compressor would be better placed before the preamp. Best to take your time, trying both at a variety of settings.
 
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Do I put the UA after or before my diamond comp?
I run my compressor first, because I want consistency for my style of playing (Jazz). Once I get the UA tone where I want it, it needs to stay exactly there. I still get the dynamics I want, but it keeps my tone clean enough that I don't have to worry about things getting out of control (from a tonal perspective). Ironically(?) I prefer the 12AX7 in the UA, but I like the 12AU7 in my space heater. I think that's because I like the 12AX7 interaction with the tone stack.
 
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I'm going to try a JJ ECC83MG in my Elementary to see if it provides a bit of mid boost.
I really loved what that tube did in my original UA, great alternative voice. Aside from the nice mid bump it changed the saturation response giving me more clean control. Still has the same lows but it seemed to open up the highs in a very nice way, perfect for getting the fretless tone I like.
 
Personally run my compressor before the UA, but it's a multiband (FEA DB-CL) that is mostly compressing the lows (I tend to hit hard and the fat dropped A and D strings can sometimes overpower the skinny ones in the low frequencies), so the UA is still hit with a mostly dynamic signal. I think I'd have the UA first in the chain if I was playing a standard tuned 4.
 
Question for anyone that has a UA and Elementary ...
According to the online TSC, setting the Elementary up to Bass: 5.4, Mids: 1.6 and Treble:1.2 gets you a frequency curve very close to the UA at Bass: 5, MIds: 10 and Treble: 5. There are some other differences in the circuits, but I'm wondering how similar, or not, they can sound.
 
A question for Sushi Box FX:

What is the max gain factor of my Glass Butterfly's dry side (stock tubes)? Is the gain factor determined exclusively by the volume knob or does the wet/dry mix change it?
Thanks
The gain is determined exclusively by the volume knob, the mix knob doesn't change the amount of outout gain on tap. I'll have to dig through files and do the math, I don't remember offhand.
 
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I'm going to try a JJ ECC83MG in my Elementary to see if it provides a bit of mid boost.

So I feel like now the Elementary has a bit more bite in the upper mid range with the mid pot cranked compared to the standard 12ax7 installed. So far I like it.
I want to add that I was able to put both the SpaceHeater and Elementary on my board without any high pitched whine issues previously experienced, by putting my tuner between the two. Perhaps it provides a buffer. Anyhow- I'm enjoying having both tube preamps active on the board.