BBE Bmax-T

[SisterAbdullahX]

Anyone out there got a BBE Bmax-T? Would like to hear some thoughts....

[6stringbassist]

I had the solid state version for a while, they're well made but the EQ is very weird, all of the controls interact with one another.

I wasn't too keen on the compressor either.

I just bought a Demeter which is fantastic.

[SisterAbdullahX]

[quote name='6stringbassist' post='109834' date='Dec 27 2007, 12:26 PM']I had the solid state version for a while, they're well made but the EQ is very weird, all of the controls interact with one another.

I wasn't too keen on the compressor either.

I just bought a Demeter which is fantastic.[/quote]
Thank you for that my friend.

[warwickhunt]

I had the Bmax-T for a short while!

I had no problem with the inherent flat tone and there was plenty scope to alter it BUT I'm mega picky when it comes to extraneous noise and the BBE has just a degree of hiss that was irritating... to me. I do have to stress that I have very high expectations and can't abide any noise (other than the racket I make). I've heard loads of peoples rigs and they seem to think a background hum is acceptable, not me. Just my observation but something to consider.

I should stress that the noise didn't get any louder when you turned up the wick and it wasn't detectable at gigging volume but I just knew it was there! The guy who bought it from me was over the moon and didn't even mention the 'noise'.

[SisterAbdullahX]

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='110012' date='Dec 27 2007, 08:00 PM']I had the Bmax-T for a short while!

I had no problem with the inherent flat tone and there was plenty scope to alter it BUT I'm mega picky when it comes to extraneous noise and the BBE has just a degree of hiss that was irritating... to me. I do have to stress that I have very high expectations and can't abide any noise (other than the racket I make). I've heard loads of peoples rigs and they seem to think a background hum is acceptable, not me. Just my observation but something to consider.

I should stress that the noise didn't get any louder when you turned up the wick and it wasn't detectable at gigging volume but I just knew it was there! The guy who bought it from me was over the moon and didn't even mention the 'noise'.[/quote]
Thanks for that. Other than the noise were you happy with it? You say the tone was inherintly flat? Did you experience any problems with the eq and comp, and was the BBE process feature of any use? Removing the noise from the equation would you recommend buying one?

[6stringbassist]

Yeah, mine was a bit hissy as well.

I really, personally anyway, couldn't find a use for the BBE process, it just made the sound 'boomy', and somewhat artificial.

Flat on them is 10-2-10 from bass to treble, or thereabouts anyway, they're a bit like the Alembic, bass and treble are mostly cut only, and mids are mostly boost only, I found it very hard to get a nice 'scooped' sound.

If you check on talkbass, I found a good thread which showed peoples settings.

[jwbassman]

Hi there

I currently use one of these in my gigging rig (I've also got a Demeter in my studio rack, more about that later)...

I'm very happy with it - I'd agree that the controls do take a little getting use to but nothing a bit of trial and error can't solve. I find the compressor useful in certain situations but don't use it all the time, the sonic maximiser sounds really good to my ears but I guess this will depend on your eq settings.

I've had a number of excellent comments from the guys in the band since introducing this into my rig so I'm happy I did the right thing.

Dave (OBBM) did a mod on mine to reduce the input gain as it was distorting unintentionally when I was using my active bass - this is a kown problem and easily solved (if you know what your doing, thanks Dave), I'm sure he will happily answer any question you have, I believe he used to use one of these too. Oh and another thing, change the valve in it, the stock ones are ok but Dave also suggsted a Philip 5157 (lower gain valve to help with the initial problem) which made it sound really really warm, I've since put a Mullard in it as according to those in the know these are the daddy of all valves. Following some direct comparisons I can safely say the sound is so much better that the stock valve.

As I said previously I'm very happy with mine and would probably replace it if anything happened to it.

A quick word on the Demeter, IMO it's generally brighter than the BBE - but they are two different animals, I really like the Presence option on the Demeter (it has 2 valves) and the controls mean you can get pretty much any sound you want from it. I've contemplated using it in my gig rig rather than the BBE but to me it just somehow seems more at home in the studio.


Hope this helps, feel free to drop me a PM to discuss some more...

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='SisterAbdullahX' post='110032' date='Dec 27 2007, 08:46 PM']Thanks for that. Other than the noise were you happy with it? You say the tone was inherintly flat? Did you experience any problems with the eq and comp, and was the BBE process feature of any use? Removing the noise from the equation would you recommend buying one?[/quote]

Sorry when I said the tone was flat I meant that I left everything in the 12:00 (straight) up position. If, as has been pointed out, that the controls all set to the mid position 'isn't' true flat then I was quite happy with that (non) flat setting anyway

No problems with the EQ or the comp and I found that the unit lacked something if you didn't use the BBE process (possibly as it would have been designed around the user buying/using it for that reason).

If the noise (again I stress that I am picky) can be reduced or eliminated then I personally think that for the price it's a decent unit and worth trying.

[obbm]

Yes I had a BMAX-T for a couple of years.

Many of the popular tube pre-amps are are all based on the original Fender Bassman design and have the same EQ circuit with almost the same value components. These include the BMAX-T, Alembic F1X, Alembic F2X, Trace V-type (1U stand alone and the V4,V6,V8) and so on. This EQ allows you to boost-only treble and bass, and cut-only the mid. Because the EQ curves overlap there is an interaction between the three controls. As mentioned already, flat response is with the bass and treble on about 2 and with mid on 10. If you put all the controls at 12 O'clock then you get a conventional mid-scoop response. They all differ with regard to how their gain stages.

The BMAX-T has a high gain first stage and this was it's problem, especially with an active bass, and with any degree of bass boost on the instrument. BBE after much pressure introduced a simple modification to lower the first stage gain. As jwbassman said I also swapped out the high gain 12AX7 for a much nicer Philips 5751.

The one advantage that the BMAX-T has over all the others is the swept parametric controls which can be really useful in difficult situations.

I hardly used the compressor so can't comment.

The BBE process "did what it said on the tin" and cleaned and fattened up the signal although adjsuting it seemed to make little difference to the overall effect.

I sometimes regret having sold my BMAX-T and given the chance might buy one again.

[SisterAbdullahX]

[quote name='6stringbassist' post='110038' date='Dec 27 2007, 09:01 PM']Yeah, mine was a bit hissy as well.

I really, personally anyway, couldn't find a use for the BBE process, it just made the sound 'boomy', and somewhat artificial.

Flat on them is 10-2-10 from bass to treble, or thereabouts anyway, they're a bit like the Alembic, bass and treble are mostly cut only, and mids are mostly boost only, I found it very hard to get a nice 'scooped' sound.

If you check on talkbass, I found a good thread which showed peoples settings.[/quote]
Thanks again.

[SisterAbdullahX]

[quote name='jwbassman' post='110175' date='Dec 28 2007, 12:24 PM']Hi there

I currently use one of these in my gigging rig (I've also got a Demeter in my studio rack, more about that later)...

I'm very happy with it - I'd agree that the controls do take a little getting use to but nothing a bit of trial and error can't solve. I find the compressor useful in certain situations but don't use it all the time, the sonic maximiser sounds really good to my ears but I guess this will depend on your eq settings.

I've had a number of excellent comments from the guys in the band since introducing this into my rig so I'm happy I did the right thing.

Dave (OBBM) did a mod on mine to reduce the input gain as it was distorting unintentionally when I was using my active bass - this is a kown problem and easily solved (if you know what your doing, thanks Dave), I'm sure he will happily answer any question you have, I believe he used to use one of these too. Oh and another thing, change the valve in it, the stock ones are ok but Dave also suggsted a Philip 5157 (lower gain valve to help with the initial problem) which made it sound really really warm, I've since put a Mullard in it as according to those in the know these are the daddy of all valves. Following some direct comparisons I can safely say the sound is so much better that the stock valve.

As I said previously I'm very happy with mine and would probably replace it if anything happened to it.

A quick word on the Demeter, IMO it's generally brighter than the BBE - but they are two different animals, I really like the Presence option on the Demeter (it has 2 valves) and the controls mean you can get pretty much any sound you want from it. I've contemplated using it in my gig rig rather than the BBE but to me it just somehow seems more at home in the studio.


Hope this helps, feel free to drop me a PM to discuss some more...[/quote]Thanks for the help.

[SisterAbdullahX]

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='110177' date='Dec 28 2007, 12:31 PM']Sorry when I said the tone was flat I meant that I left everything in the 12:00 (straight) up position. If, as has been pointed out, that the controls all set to the mid position 'isn't' true flat then I was quite happy with that (non) flat setting anyway

No problems with the EQ or the comp and I found that the unit lacked something if you didn't use the BBE process (possibly as it would have been designed around the user buying/using it for that reason).

If the noise (again I stress that I am picky) can be reduced or eliminated then I personally think that for the price it's a decent unit and worth trying.[/quote]
Cheers