Do I go b3k or vintage microtubes?

[cana.dan]

All darkglass stuff is 10% off for may to celebrate their 5th anniversary. Really want a vintage deluxe to go with my b7k but I'd need to shift my regular vintage. Any takers?

[dannybuoy]

I didn't know you could run it at 12v, but I may give it a try if I can find confirmation it's safe to do so!

My Deluxe arrived this morning so I spent some time A/Bing it with the Vintage that Danbowskill's waiting for (sorry it had to be done, it will be posted to you first thing in the morning!). Bass at 1 o'clock, mid at noon and treble at 11 o'clock roughly matches the baked in EQ curve of the Vintage.

Through my Ashdown CTM15 the original Vintage still sounded the best - it's a perfect match for that amp and I found no need for any EQ adjustment beyond the Era control. I got the Deluxe eq'd as closely as I could but still preferred sound of the simpler pedal.

Through the much darker sounding Orange Terror Bass though, the Vintage sounded far too muddy and the Deluxe was just the ticket with the treble set to noon, giving it a slight boost over its little brother.

I'm keeping the Deluxe for now, but can easily see me downscaling to save cash and board space if I switch to a different amp setup in future.

Edited May 8, 2014 by dannybuoy

[danbowskill]

No worries, I'd have done the same.it mentions using 12 volt usage on their website

Edited May 8, 2014 by danbowskill

[Kev]

12v just gives it more headroom/less gain. I found it made the B7K and Vintage worse than with 9v, so I didn't try it again

[danbowskill]

Doubt I'd really need more headroom than it could give,so think I'll give the 12v a miss :-)

[Black Coffee]

[quote name='cana.dan' timestamp='1399582276' post='2445692']
All darkglass stuff is 10% off for may to celebrate their 5th anniversary.
[/quote]

Where did you hear this about the 10% off the pedals ?

[cana.dan]

Think it was Doug (the owner of Darkglass) over on TB who said it.

[bakerster135]

I'm very keen to try the VMT now, though I'm not sure I need it...I got sick of the character of the B3K pretty quickly, tried a B7K as I thought the eq would give me the versatility I needed, but I realised that I just don't like the nagging (and rather unnatural) sound of either unit...It just sounded like Meshuggah or something, whatever bass I put through it!

[dannybuoy]

Yeah, I had the same feeling. Meshuggah in a box. The Vintage is totally different though!

[Kev]

[quote name='bakerster135' timestamp='1400059882' post='2450238']
I'm very keen to try the VMT now, though I'm not sure I need it...I got sick of the character of the B3K pretty quickly, tried a B7K as I thought the eq would give me the versatility I needed, but I realised that I just don't like the nagging (and rather unnatural) sound of either unit...It just sounded like Meshuggah or something, whatever bass I put through it!
[/quote]

Its amazing how peoples opinions differ. Every bass I have put through it sounds completely different! I find it incredibly sensitive to the signal going in, not in an active/passive way either. I just love it!

[topheteatwo]

The VMT looks a great piece of kit but I don't know about Darkglass stuff, I know people who like it LOVE it, to my ears it just sounds so manufactured and fizzy. I know a guy who swears by Darkglass gear and I just can't get my head around the hype at all, but hey, that's just me!

Although, if I were to join some sort of hi-fi metal band, I'd probably get one to fit the sound, seems to me that's where a lot of their market is! Nolly lovers!

[bakerster135]

[quote name='topheteatwo' timestamp='1400157662' post='2451278']
The VMT looks a great piece of kit but I don't know about Darkglass stuff, I know people who like it LOVE it, to my ears it just sounds so manufactured and fizzy. I know a guy who swears by Darkglass gear and I just can't get my head around the hype at all, but hey, that's just me!

Although, if I were to join some sort of hi-fi metal band, I'd probably get one to fit the sound, seems to me that's where a lot of their market is! Nolly lovers!
[/quote]

Definitely this, I just could never get a very natural, organic sound out of the B3/7K. Maybe I just wasn't doing it right, though I tried probably every possible setting!...I did enjoy it for Takeshi Ueda moments, though none of my current bands have any particular need for those!

[dannybuoy]

I thought the same about the B3K, and drew similarities between Darkglass fanatics and Apple fanboys worshipping their iPhones. The Vintage changed my opinion though. It sounds more, er, 'vintage'.

[topheteatwo]

[quote name='bakerster135' timestamp='1400160215' post='2451310']
Definitely this, I just could never get a very natural, organic sound out of the B3/7K. Maybe I just wasn't doing it right, though I tried probably every possible setting!...I did enjoy it for Takeshi Ueda moments, though none of my current bands have any particular need for those!
[/quote]

Doesn't seem to be their thing! I think the Empress Metal does a far better job of a compressed metaly bass tone which is far more organic if you're looking for it.

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1400161525' post='2451327']
I thought the same about the B3K, and drew similarities between Darkglass fanatics and Apple fanboys worshipping their iPhones. The Vintage changed my opinion though. It sounds more, er, 'vintage'.
[/quote]

I love the idea of Darkglass releasing a phone "With the Era knob, you can go from Nokia 3310 to iPhone and everything in between in the twist of a knob!"

[bakerster135]

[quote name='topheteatwo' timestamp='1400161953' post='2451335']
I love the idea of Darkglass releasing a phone "With the Era knob, you can go from [s]Nokia 3310[/s] to iPhone and everything in between in the twist of a knob!"
[/quote]

* Motorola DynaTAC, "for the complete retro Zack Morris vibe!"