mcnach Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I am looking to add a "warmer" to my pedal board. What is a warmer? Something that will "warm up" the sound a little bit, getting a bit, and I mean a bit only, of overdrive. The type of overdrive that sounds rather clean once mixed in a band context, warm, creamy. It may stay on all the time, in certain situations (I play in 3 bands, so my board is not very complex but it does contain a few varied elements). Or I may use it as a soft overdrive sometimes bringing the gain a bit higher. So yes, an overdrive pedal that is able to give me arange of low gain overdriven sounds, reasonably transparent: I don't want it to affect the overall EQ too much, just add overdrive. I have various noise boxes to deal with "filth" (currently in use: Ashdown Hyperdrive and Darkglass B3K), what I am after now is something low gain, warm and transparent. I have been reading and listening to soundclips, and I'm in between two boxes right now: 1) DHA VT-1 2) Xotic Bass BB Both appear to be good at what I want. The DHA has an attractive price (and a blue led!!! ;-)) but I wish it were smaller, and the power supply is not standard: it appears I can run it at 9V rather than 12V ok, but I need to get a cable to invert the polarity and the plug is smaller than standard. I'd rather not add yet another power supply to my board. The Xotic is perfect in terms of power requirements for my board, and has a small footprint. The price is twice that of the DHA 'though. Neither of them come up for sale used very often, so I am going to have to make a decision and buy a new one to try. I would love to hear from owners of either of these boxes and their experiences. Any reason they prefer one over the other? I have considered other pedals. The Barber LTD SR looks good, but it's not exactly what I am after, I think. The EBS Valvedrive is very attractive despite its large footprint... but the clips I have heard are quite overdriven, so I am not sure how good it is at low gain sounds. In addition, it seems quite tall and I don't think it will fit in my board. Catalinbread SFT did not sound appealing. Way Huge Pork Loin sounds interesting, but more as a general overdrive than a specific transparentish very low gain overdrive "warmer". The objective is to get a very creamy fingerstyle funky sound from my Stingray & Jazz (bridge pickup mostly). Any and all ideas most welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichF Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 (edited) had a DHA VT2, great pedal. Traded it in for a new SFX micro red dragon, which is excellent. I think Clarky has gone for a custom red dragon too. I would recommend looking at Max's pedals. Edited January 20, 2012 by RichF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I am not excane Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Xotic BB gets my vote. Simple, SMALL, and sounds great. Just a touch of warmth or a whole lotta grind - it covers it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monckyman Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I found the DHA VT1 perfect for tubing up my markbass 2. Really subtle warmth and harmonics, with a bit of grind when needed. They do come up here one just went for £50. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 I just ordered the VT-1. Well, it has a blue led!!!! I had to have it!!! But I'm keeping an eye open for a used Xotic Bass BB, as it does sound interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 You won`t regret the VT1. It`s great at warming up a solid state amp, and providing that "just breaking up" sound, that doesn`t get noticed in the mix, but you can hear when the bass is soloed. I`ve tried many pedals to get that sound - and bizarrely in the end found I didn`t want it - but the VT1 was by far the best at the job that I found. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 well, it looks like I would also have a Xotic Bass BB coming soon, that another BCer is selling me. No blue leds on this one, 'though. Would be good to try the VT-1 and BB side by side and in the end choose the onl I like best. Although, knowing me, I would probably find a reason to keep both! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 Xotic Bass BB arrived and was tested last night. I'm quite impressed by this little pedal. It has a subtle but clear midrange bump, but I could use the bass/treble EQ to equalise the tone pretty well between the bypass and effected sound with my Jazz bass. A bit of midrange bump is actually not a bad thing, when it comes to definition, 'though. It can get pretty overdriven sounds, and even at max it sounds good. But my favourite part is with the gain set soemwhere within the first third of its range. That's where I get from no noticeable overdrive to just a small amount of grit, fattening up the sound. Pretty good! and I love just how small it is. I wonder how the DHA VT1 will compare to this when I get it. It must be pretty good if it wants to earn a place in my board, after the BB's performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethFlatlands Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 The VT-1 is a different beast from the sounds of it, adds a nice tube warmth until around the halfway mark where it starts breaking up. Nice grind at the upper end of the gain knob without ever getting really distorted. The input and level controls let you get a nice balance between on/off and the bright switch is really useful at adding a bit more top end, not too much though. I'm sorted for overdrive but the Xotic does sound good from what you've said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamfist Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I'll be interested to hear about your comparison of the two. I'm currently after much the same type of low gain drive pedal to warm up my little Mark. I also have a DHA VT1 on order, and just picked up a Hartke Bass attack from this board. I was very impressed by the (brief) showing of the low gain tones on the Hartke in this vid ... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C91FNiALTFY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C91FNiALTFY[/url] . Listen at about 2:04. The BB is definately also on my radar though. I loved my guitar BB pre-amp in my guitar playing days. If the Bass one is as good then it will be hard to beat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethFlatlands Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 So it's all you damn people with your VT1's on order holding up my DI! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cloff Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Not very well known outside The Netherlands, but a Technophobia Analog Audio Solution (T.A.A.S) Basscreamer blend might do it for you. Here is the link to his website: [url="http://technophobia.co.nr/"]http://technophobia.co.nr/[/url]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle psychosis Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 (edited) Have you tried a sansamp bddi? Very good at that grindy tubey overdrive thing. I just bought one to use as a practice tool / di and its pretty cool... (however I'm also eyeing up the dha di-eq because im not actually a massive user of overdriven bass sounds). Edited February 2, 2012 by uncle psychosis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted February 3, 2012 Author Share Posted February 3, 2012 No, I never tried one. It looks like a great piece of kit, but the clips I heard did not sound like the kind of thing I was after. I really don't want a clearly overdriven sound, but just a bit of "grit and fat". The Xotic does it, I'm happy to say. At least at home, I have not had the chance to try it with the band. The more clearly overdriven sound is also pretty good, which is a bonus, as I was not looking for that. If the DHA is at least as good as the Xotic at the very low gain warm sound, I might keep both, so between them and the Darkglass BK3 I have my overdrive requirements covered Still waiting for the DHA. It has been a bit under two weeks now I think, so I still have a bit more to wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 DHA VT-1 arrived yesterday. Still smelling of fresh paint, warm from the oven I only got to do a quick trial at home, so I can't give a verdict... but first impressions are good. Not a big fan of the heavily overdriven sound (but then I rarely am), however there is a wide range of "barely overdriven" sounds achievable here. Looking very promising. My first impression is that THIS one (the DHA VT1) is perfect as an "always on" type of soft, very soft overdrive, that i was looking for. Then use the Xotic BB to add a layer of OD on top for mild overdrive, and the Darkglass B3K for heavier sounds. But I have to experiment with the placement of effects... BB before VT1 or after? Hmmm... Neighbours, beware, it's going to be a noisy weekend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted February 24, 2012 Author Share Posted February 24, 2012 Ok, I tried it at rehearsal last night. All I can say is I'm very happy with it and I want another, or possibly a VT-2. Pity they are so large, but they really sound nice. The "almost clean" range of sounds is very good. It works very well to warm up the bass sound (last night using my new G&L L2000). But the clearly overdriven sounds are nice too. I didn't like it as much at home, low volume and small practice amp. But with the band it was really nice. I prefer the VT-1 to the Xotic Bass BB (which is, nevertheless, very nice too), the question for me now is whether I can afford the extra space on my board and substitute the Xotic with another VT-1 or perhaps a VT2. Hmmm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatback Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 +1 for the VT-1. Also, why not try other valves in it? I replaced the ecc83 with an 81, and it was to my ears even smoother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted February 24, 2012 Author Share Posted February 24, 2012 [quote name='fatback' timestamp='1330094008' post='1552633'] +1 for the VT-1. Also, why not try other valves in it? I replaced the ecc83 with an 81, and it was to my ears even smoother. [/quote] that's the same as the 12AU7 or the 12AT7, isn't it? I did that ages ago in a guitar amp (I tried a 12AU7) and the result was very pleasing. These valves are not expensive, so yes, it must be worth trying a couple of different types and see what the result is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatback Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Yes that's the 12AT7. Good fun experimenting with these things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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