Alright, so I'm not a super-pro touring the world and getting paid fat stacks to rock the masses with my bass skills. I'm a dude who loves playing bass - jamming with buddies and playing at church. Our church has a "house" pedalboard consisting of an MXR compressor and SansAmp BDDI. It's OK, but not my favorite. I'm not great at dialing in a compressor and the MXR just seems noisy no matter what I try, and that's the same for everyone who has used it there. Maybe a defective pedal or something? I dunno. It looks like it's been dragged behind a pickup truck down a farm road for miles, so there's no telling what it's been through or what's going on inside. The SansAmp is... you know what a SansAmp sounds like.
I was looking for something with a little more tonal control to be able to dial in upper and lower mids properly, and the 5 band EQ of the Transit B appealed to me on that front. I also liked the idea of a simple to use split-band compressor. I don't really use overdrive very much, but it's always a nice option, I guess. I don't really have any special affection for the TE "sound" and the pre-shape filter button, but I don't mind that it is there. I read tons of reviews elsewhere and here on TalkBass. This, the Badwater, a few Darkglass pedals, the GK Plex, the Radial Bassbone, and a few others were in the running, but I decided to get the Trace because of the good price, mostly good reviews, all of the features I wanted (plus extras) and what seemed to be solid build quality.
I've had it for about 4 months now, and it has FAR exceeded my expectations. The regular sound guy at church (who runs a concert production business and knows his stuff) has been really impressed with it. He's getting a super clean, strong signal that is making his life easier, and he is loving the sounds I am sending. He told me that on Sundays when I play, he just runs my signal straight through with no EQ, whereas he usually has to massage things a bit.
A different guy ran sound yesterday and he told me he left the EQ flat as well, but added a little more compression at the board. I was playing my 5 string LEJ P/MMan bass with an 18v pre yesterday, and it is SMOKIN' hot. I usually play 4 strings, but when I was digging in on the extra-low stuff in practice this morning he said I was peaking the channel a bit, so that's when he added some more compression on his end.
I LOVE the split-band compressor! Easy enough for a dope like me to use to GREAT effect! I don't use a ton of compression, but it does a great job of keeping me from falling out of the mix when I pull back on my attack, while still allowing me to keep dynamic for builds and really pushing during driving sections, etc. Speaking of, the overdrive is actually pretty nice! Bonus! I don't use it much, but I keep it dialed in pretty mildly and have used it a couple times. The gain-matching that's built into the pedal is a really sweet bonus. If you are a person who also uses their distortion/OD as a volume boost, this will NOT work well for you.
The 5 band EQ is simply phenomenal. The EQ points are exactly where I would want them. Having control of 3 bands of mids is just fantastic! The previous Sunday I played my new Aerodyne Special Jazz and it's just a little thin on the low end. Boosting the lows and low mids fattened things right up and made the J a monster. A traditional 3 band would have pushed too much of the center-mids and made it a bit more nasal than I would have wanted. With this EQ I can get exactly what I want, without having to boost any of what I don't want.
The tuner is great as well. The mute/tune switch is silent in operation (it's surprising how many tuners do NOT have silent on/off!) and the tuner reads quickly and accurately, including my 5 strings. The LEDs indicating the note are large and easy to see, as well are the rings surrounding each knob which are used to indicate sharp/flat/in-tune.
I think this is a REALLY well-designed and smartly-engineered pedal. It's nice and hefty with a solid metal case (aluminum, maybe?), high quality switches, and smoothly operating knobs/pots. Ins and outs are plentiful and more than I need, but the flexibility is great. It's a great pedal at any cost, but at this price, it's an ABSOLUTE STEAL at the current $300 price, imho. At MINIMUM, this is 5 separate pedals in one (DI, EQ, Tuner, Compressor, Overdrive), but they are actually GOOD.
I have two things I wish I could change on this pedal. First, when in tuner mode, the center knob lights up red when you are in tune, and the knobs on either corresponding side light up green to show if you are sharp or flat. This seems counterintuitive. Green should be lit up for proper pitch, and red for out of tune, as in nearly every other tuner on the planet.
Second, I wish the knobs used were a little different, and maybe had a bit of a skirt at the bottom of the knob with a marking/line to show position, not unlike some top hat knobs or similar. On stage, it's nearly impossible for me to see where things are set without kneeling down to look more closely. Granted, this is not something I really adjust on the fly, but it's still an annoyance. Settings can get bumped when packing/unpacking or moving around the stage, and it's hard to just tell at-a-glance if anything is out of whack with this pedal.
Yes, you could get more precise control of some effects by getting dedicated, fancy pedals for each effect. Each of those might cost more than this whole pedal, as well! For high-quality and ease of use, grab-and-go simplicity, this thing is just what I needed. I appreciate the nice carrying bag with room for cables, power supplies, etc. I am still impressed with how much I love this thing. It is a fantastic value. I highly recommend it if you are looking to either simplify a giant pedalboard down to the necessities, or if you are looking to step up to your first integrated preamp solution.
Does any else have or has anyone else used/tried this pedal? What are your thoughts?
I'm glad to answer any questions as well.
I was looking for something with a little more tonal control to be able to dial in upper and lower mids properly, and the 5 band EQ of the Transit B appealed to me on that front. I also liked the idea of a simple to use split-band compressor. I don't really use overdrive very much, but it's always a nice option, I guess. I don't really have any special affection for the TE "sound" and the pre-shape filter button, but I don't mind that it is there. I read tons of reviews elsewhere and here on TalkBass. This, the Badwater, a few Darkglass pedals, the GK Plex, the Radial Bassbone, and a few others were in the running, but I decided to get the Trace because of the good price, mostly good reviews, all of the features I wanted (plus extras) and what seemed to be solid build quality.
I've had it for about 4 months now, and it has FAR exceeded my expectations. The regular sound guy at church (who runs a concert production business and knows his stuff) has been really impressed with it. He's getting a super clean, strong signal that is making his life easier, and he is loving the sounds I am sending. He told me that on Sundays when I play, he just runs my signal straight through with no EQ, whereas he usually has to massage things a bit.
A different guy ran sound yesterday and he told me he left the EQ flat as well, but added a little more compression at the board. I was playing my 5 string LEJ P/MMan bass with an 18v pre yesterday, and it is SMOKIN' hot. I usually play 4 strings, but when I was digging in on the extra-low stuff in practice this morning he said I was peaking the channel a bit, so that's when he added some more compression on his end.
I LOVE the split-band compressor! Easy enough for a dope like me to use to GREAT effect! I don't use a ton of compression, but it does a great job of keeping me from falling out of the mix when I pull back on my attack, while still allowing me to keep dynamic for builds and really pushing during driving sections, etc. Speaking of, the overdrive is actually pretty nice! Bonus! I don't use it much, but I keep it dialed in pretty mildly and have used it a couple times. The gain-matching that's built into the pedal is a really sweet bonus. If you are a person who also uses their distortion/OD as a volume boost, this will NOT work well for you.
The 5 band EQ is simply phenomenal. The EQ points are exactly where I would want them. Having control of 3 bands of mids is just fantastic! The previous Sunday I played my new Aerodyne Special Jazz and it's just a little thin on the low end. Boosting the lows and low mids fattened things right up and made the J a monster. A traditional 3 band would have pushed too much of the center-mids and made it a bit more nasal than I would have wanted. With this EQ I can get exactly what I want, without having to boost any of what I don't want.
The tuner is great as well. The mute/tune switch is silent in operation (it's surprising how many tuners do NOT have silent on/off!) and the tuner reads quickly and accurately, including my 5 strings. The LEDs indicating the note are large and easy to see, as well are the rings surrounding each knob which are used to indicate sharp/flat/in-tune.
I think this is a REALLY well-designed and smartly-engineered pedal. It's nice and hefty with a solid metal case (aluminum, maybe?), high quality switches, and smoothly operating knobs/pots. Ins and outs are plentiful and more than I need, but the flexibility is great. It's a great pedal at any cost, but at this price, it's an ABSOLUTE STEAL at the current $300 price, imho. At MINIMUM, this is 5 separate pedals in one (DI, EQ, Tuner, Compressor, Overdrive), but they are actually GOOD.
I have two things I wish I could change on this pedal. First, when in tuner mode, the center knob lights up red when you are in tune, and the knobs on either corresponding side light up green to show if you are sharp or flat. This seems counterintuitive. Green should be lit up for proper pitch, and red for out of tune, as in nearly every other tuner on the planet.
Second, I wish the knobs used were a little different, and maybe had a bit of a skirt at the bottom of the knob with a marking/line to show position, not unlike some top hat knobs or similar. On stage, it's nearly impossible for me to see where things are set without kneeling down to look more closely. Granted, this is not something I really adjust on the fly, but it's still an annoyance. Settings can get bumped when packing/unpacking or moving around the stage, and it's hard to just tell at-a-glance if anything is out of whack with this pedal.Yes, you could get more precise control of some effects by getting dedicated, fancy pedals for each effect. Each of those might cost more than this whole pedal, as well! For high-quality and ease of use, grab-and-go simplicity, this thing is just what I needed. I appreciate the nice carrying bag with room for cables, power supplies, etc. I am still impressed with how much I love this thing. It is a fantastic value. I highly recommend it if you are looking to either simplify a giant pedalboard down to the necessities, or if you are looking to step up to your first integrated preamp solution.
Does any else have or has anyone else used/tried this pedal? What are your thoughts?
I'm glad to answer any questions as well.
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-- but didn't see anything about this question: Is there a way of looping in an extra pedal? I know there is no effects loop per se, but is there a work around to make this happen? I like my Transit B, but I'd like it even more if it was possible to do this. 
