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What the...Darkglass Vintage Microtubes?!?!

#721
bludog said:
I just put my Ezekial 25:17 clone (from Danno) after it last night and it's the $h!t. Would be curious about putting it before the VMT. Have a Submarine coming soon that I am going to try after both, which I think is going to make it all sound even better.

Just got my VMT yesterday. Less then an hour with it and I could immediately tell it's a winner... but you all already know that, I guess. :)
Click to expand...

That combo sounds monstrous!
Thanks for the feedback.

Nice Saturday everybody!
 
#722
So now, just out of curiosity and as a question to those who've tried both/all:

How does the VMT compare to the B3K/B7K? How do they differ, what are their similarities and in which different fields do you apply them?

Can you even compare them this way?

Plus: With the EQ and all. Can the B7K approximate the Vintage or is it just "a different sound"?
 
#723
IMO the VMT is has a lot more of a "warmer" feel to it. It obviously doesn't have the EQ abilities of the 7. I've never used the 3. But I think the drive on the 7 is just a tad more crunchier or, driven, if you will than the VMT. I know when I had the VMT I was trying to dial a grit tone in that would really stand out and sort of claw through the mix. I couldn't really get it to do that. It may just have been my bad ability with knob tweaking with it. Plus I only had it for 3 days and jammed with it live once before returning for the 7. I think now that I have the 7 though, Id be able to find a tone together with VMT to my taste. The VMT is a wonderful pedal. I didn't spend enough time with it. I was expecting a raunchier sort of flavor from it. But IMO it was built for a more subtle kind of drive, not an in your face tare your head off distortion. If you want a sort of always there, subtle yet gritty flavor, I think the VMT would probably be it. But if you want straight distortion and overdrive that kicks the snot out of your ears and makes people go my God what is that sound??!! Then the 7 and or 3 are the ones for you. Just my opinions.
 
#724
gregmon79 said:
If you want a sort of always there, subtle yet gritty flavor, I think the VMT would probably be it. But if you want straight distortion and overdrive that kicks the snot out of your ears and makes people go my God what is that sound??!! Then the 7 and or 3 are the ones for you.
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Well, since I sometimes want both and can't get the curiosity out my system, I'll probably have to try for myself. :-)

(Since I'm selling a bunch of other stuff it will be like nothing ever happened, right?)
 
#725
I've whittled down my overdrive replacement to a Darkglass B3K or an Owen Electronics Bass Bomb Driver. At the moment; it's looking like its going to be the Bass Bomb. They're close in price and appear to have similar performance potentials, but the Bass Bomb seems to have that little bit more (triode/pentode tubed, rugged chassis, dual channelled, internal power supply to daisy chain other pedals off,)
 
#729
Just got a B7K to compare/contrast with my Vintage. Unlike a comment I read somewhere on here, I am not able to approximate that sweet midrange drive of the Vintage using the B7K. The B7K even with extreme EQ tends more to a scooped grittiness and can't quite dial in that focus of the Vintage that sits so well in my band (you can dial out the scoop and the grittiness, but at the expense of its fantastic character). I think it is a matter of not using any Clean Blend on the Vintage for the tone I like, whereas I really prefer the B7K with some clean blended in (it tends to be TOO gritty for me without). They are both fantastic pedals though, and for the moment they will both be keepers, as honestly I've not had another drive pedal that can do what either does as well as they do. Wish there were a preamp/EQ-laden version of the Vintage- I'd be all over that!
 
#732
sunbeast said:
Just got a B7K to compare/contrast with my Vintage. Unlike a comment I read somewhere on here, I am not able to approximate that sweet midrange drive of the Vintage using the B7K. The B7K even with extreme EQ tends more to a scooped grittiness and can't quite dial in that focus of the Vintage that sits so well in my band (you can dial out the scoop and the grittiness, but at the expense of its fantastic character). I think it is a matter of not using any Clean Blend on the Vintage for the tone I like, whereas I really prefer the B7K with some clean blended in (it tends to be TOO gritty for me without). They are both fantastic pedals though, and for the moment they will both be keepers, as honestly I've not had another drive pedal that can do what either does as well as they do. Wish there were a preamp/EQ-laden version of the Vintage- I'd be all over that!
Click to expand...

You sir, are making my waiting harder. Sounds like the EXACT thing I need, plus, the EXACT thoughts on how B3K worked for me, and why I'd prefer vmt. It's been 2 weeks since I ordered mine, and I can't wait for it to arrive :D
 
#733
Digging this thing more and more. At first the VMT seems like it's not doing much, that it's too subtle and the various combinations of knob settings aren't covering a lot of ground other than nailing some serious old tube amp sounds. Then you start playing with other people, and combining it with other pedals, and that subtleness starts to shine. There's a whole range of tweaking in that narrow space the VMT covers that let's you get an exact tube sound out of your own tone. I was even getting nice harmonics the other night at some settings. It also pushes other pedals very well, made my fuzz really cut in a band mix.
 
#734
I just sent this as a private msg to the dude from Darkglass on here, but maybe one of you guys can help in the meantime.

I received a new vintage microtubes from bass direct in the UK yesterday.
I just tried it and there is a lot of medium to highpitched hum coming back through the speaker which gets louder when I increase the level on the pedal.
Is this normal? I have just tried it on its own with a cheap 9v power supply into my bass amp. Would this be the problem? Would the noise be eliminated if I used something like a T-Rex fuel tank junior which has isolation.

It is a great sounding pedal but I couldn't play live with this level of noise. I would send it back and ask for another if it was faulty.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
#740
Have to say, this thing slays in a live mix. I had a typical wedding gig last night where we play all kinds of genres throughout the night: jazz, motown, oldies, 80s pop, indie rock, etc. And as typical, we were in a room that wasn't designed with live music in mind, so acoustics were a bit of a challenge. And as usual I was in a mix with two guitar players and a drummer that gets excited and hits the drums hard at times. Rig was a Squier CV 60s P (upgraded pots and whatnot) > Markbass LMTube > Avatar B210 neo.

I wanted to put the VMT through the paces, and with a quick twist of a knob, I was able to make it work for any and all of the situations. Sometimes I wanted to give a warm tube sound to the old school tunes, sometimes to give flavor to the rock tunes. It really stood out as an overdrive for the songs that need distortion, because unlike other pedals I've had that lose definition when I hit the strings hard, the VMT pushes right along without any losses or peaks.
 

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