Goodbye Animato, hello Darkglass?

[dalehernando]

Morning!

Just after a bit of feedback really. I have a Human Gear Animato, however I think it may be time to move it along and sell up. My sound has changed since I bought it and it's just not what I am after anymore.

I've read a lot about the Darkglass B7K, some really great things. Before I take the jump, sell the Animato and buy a Darkglass is there anything else I should be looking at?

Look forward to hearing any ideas you guys have!

Cheers,
Dale

[chrismuzz]

Will you need the EQ and the DI on the B7K? If not, you will probably be fine with the B3K, which still has Tone, Blend, and the all important Grunt switch! As always, I would suggest getting the Darkglass pedal before selling your Animato just in case you don't like it as much. I'd also recommend at least trying out an Ashdown Lomenzo Hyperdrive. They're a lot cheaper, and actually very good at what they do. They only distort a selectable frequency band in the midrange. Pretty cool! Not quite the same as Darkglass' offerings but definitely worth a go.

[hamfist]

I'd second the recommendation of a Lomenzo Hyperdrive. It is very, very good at what it does, if it's the sound you are looking for.
As for Darkglass, what tones are you looking for ? If you want a "modern" slightly scooper, cutting, metal-type drive then the B3K is the best there is. For a more traditional, vintage OD, then I'd go for the brand new Darkglass Vintage. We don't actually have them in the UK yet, but they are on the way. The soundclips are awesome.

[Ant]

the B3k is a total monster, i used to have an animato and find this better in every way, although sometimes i still want that "distortion" sound whilst the darkglass is more of a gnarly overdrive, so now i also have a Fuzzrocious rat tail for different sounds.

the new Darkglass vintage looks awesome, and can get cleaner when compared to the B3k, but that all depends how much you need?

[dalehernando]

Thanks for the replies! I will check out the Ashdown Lomenzo Hyperdrive, interesting you mention the B3K instead of the b7k, I don't think I would need to D.I so that might be a good option!

'Gnarly Overdrive' sounds like the perfect description of what I want!

[tonyquipment]

Animato .. Is this the overpriced yellow dirt box from Japan?

What does it do differently from others ????

[bartelby]

[quote name='tonyquipment' timestamp='1363691821' post='2015828']
Animato .. Is this the overpriced yellow dirt box from Japan?

What does it do differently from others ????
[/quote]

I'm going to guess someone famous uses one...

[tonyquipment]

Understood but many famous people use a DS1 which I would never expect to pay £400 for!!!

[Ant]

[quote name='tonyquipment' timestamp='1363691821' post='2015828']
Animato .. Is this the overpriced yellow dirt box from Japan?

What does it do differently from others ????
[/quote]

nothing too special about it really, Chris Wolstenholme from Muse uses one so everyone goes wild for it, i sold mine for an incredible profit, and i still sold it for less than other people have... bonkers.

it sounded pretty rat-esque to me

[chrismuzz]

[quote name='hernandoitwt' timestamp='1363686153' post='2015664']
'Gnarly Overdrive' sounds like the perfect description of what I want!
[/quote]

Marshall Jackhammers can go very gnarly too! They don't have a clean blend, but they do have a 2 band EQ and an adjustable mid 'contour' (ie scoop). You can pick them up for around £30 used! I actually use mine after my SansAmp and Ashdown pedals on a very low gain setting to kind of smooth everything over.. But I used to use it on a higher setting with boosted treble to get a distorted metallic clank.

[Kev]

They are very different pedals..,in that the Darkglass is a trebely metal-like overdriven sound with tons of low end and the Animato is a nasal distortion with a unfortunate lack of low end.

[Left Foot]

^ going by that, theres only one winner!

[dalehernando]

Thanks for all your replies. The Animato has definitely been made 'famous' by the fact Christopher Wolstenholme uses them, I heard he collects them too.

I think the best bet might be to put it on eBay and advertise it on muse forums!

Cheers guys!

[bartelby]

[quote name='tonyquipment' timestamp='1363694361' post='2015885']
Understood but many famous people use a DS1 which I would never expect to pay £400 for!!!


[/quote]

If it was a rare pedal then people would pay that.
Bear in mind the Animato is 500 Euros new

[Ant]

yeah it's 500 euros new NOW, no way was it that price from japan in the past, i got one second hand for 100 quid from japan years ago, and the new price was higher than that but nowhere near the price of the current ones

[horrorshowbass]

ive got a digitech hardwire cm2 for musey distortion sounds e.g. hyper music, newborn. cost less than £50 for ex display model off ebay.
sounds great, according to muse expert on talkbass (Kaputsport), it isn't a million miles off the Animato (either btw is a Turbo Rat).
Pedal has low and high switches and keeps good bit of low end so shouldnt be problem.
If it was me, id get the B3K and sell the Animato and pick up the Hardwire. just my opinion tho:)
hope this helps

[V2factoryman]

Interesting thread. I've never bothered with any kind of effect but have recently been learning a lot of Muse tracks purely because I enjoy them so much! I was thinking about investing in a pedal to get the sound a bit more authentic and bring some variation to what I can do in gigs (in context with the songs of course!). Do you recommend ferreting about for a Digitech hardwire cm2? I'll look it up in a minute, but do I need anything else to make it work effectively e.g. you suggest above getting the B3K as well?

I play through a SVT 6 Pro teamed with Mesa and Epifani 2 x 10s? Thanks.

[Mark_Bass]

That BK7 sounds pretty darn gnarly on the samples, it may be the one to replace my BassBlow Torch

[horrorshowbass]

[quote name='V2factoryman' timestamp='1364390504' post='2025782']
Interesting thread. I've never bothered with any kind of effect but have recently been learning a lot of Muse tracks purely because I enjoy them so much! I was thinking about investing in a pedal to get the sound a bit more authentic and bring some variation to what I can do in gigs (in context with the songs of course!). Do you recommend ferreting about for a Digitech hardwire cm2? I'll look it up in a minute, but do I need anything else to make it work effectively e.g. you suggest above getting the B3K as well?

I play through a SVT 6 Pro teamed with Mesa and Epifani 2 x 10s? Thanks.
[/quote]


sorry V2factoryman, i only just spotted this thread again.
i dont think you need the Darkglass to get Musey sounds no, although I haven't got one so can't be certain of that.
I only commented on the Darkglass as it is one of my dream buys but it'll be a while before i get one
heres a vid of Muse via Darkglass,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSB_-ZxTDXA

I know Chris uses a Boss LS2 to mix in some dry signal with his Animato and other pedals, he always has that clean undercurrent for all his effects to keep the bottom end.
Im treading carefully here as I don't want to give advice that may lead to you purchasing a pedal you might not be happy with (ive done it tons of times).
all i can tell you is even through my pretty crap behringer combo (svaing up for new amp ), the Hardwire CM2 sounds great for Muse tunes e.g. dead star, darkshines and is a fraction of the price of an Animato. The Hardwire also gives a nice wee touch of grit if you want it so would be fairly versatile too although id say the Darkglass has a lot more tones in its arsenal.
Up to yourself man, the digitech is fairly cheap and i love it, id suggest hitting your local guitar store and giving it a go (theyre made for guitar and are at entry level price so id say most guitar stores would have them in stock). If you do decide to get one, make sure you search ebay (got mine for £20 cheaper than most sites)
Hope this helps, sorry bout delayed response
Michael

Edited March 24, 2014 by icastle
Link fixed.

[Guinness21]

amazing gear in that vid but I don't think the b3k sounds right for hysteria. it would be interesting to see a darkglass vintage pedal used to play hysteria. The b3k sounds very metallic - are either the b3k or b7k capable of producing a warmer, more classic-sounding overdrive?

[Sibob]

I have to say, blasphemous, but I don't get on with the B3K or B7K, like you say, very metallic and not too warm......or natural sounding to my ears. All harmonic distortion and no meat (without using a blend).
Gimme my Rat Tail any day

Si

[Guinness21]

a Rat Tail's distortion isn't it? Do you have any experience with the darkglass vmt?

[Sibob]

[quote name='Guinness21' timestamp='1387320274' post='2310782']
a Rat Tail's distortion isn't it? Do you have any experience with the darkglass vmt?
[/quote]

Distortion, overdrive, the only real difference is saturation.
I've only played the B7K, and I wouldn't hurry back to it, but the VMT is meant to be more warm and 'tube-like'....hence the name I guess.

Si

[Kev]

The Vintage did very little for me, found it to be a very 'ordinary' overdrive, if that makes sense. Plenty of pedals doing similar things out there for a lot less money, not the same impact as the B3K for me.

[GremlinAndy]

And yet I bought a B3K, and didn't include it in my chain after several attempts to like it. Bought the Vintage, and it's the one pedal I wouldn't be without now.
If anyone is interested 'Oleg' the guy at 'U Sound' has cloned a Vintage and is selling them at about £110
http://www.u-sound.net/?id=61
It's a brand new pedal so I don't have first hand knowledge of how close it sounds myself. Might be worth a punt if you're a fan of the Vintage OD.