Opinions on Darkglass B3K

[AinsleyWalker]

So the B7K gets a lot of love, but how good is the B3K? In the future I'd like to replace my Rat with something a bit higher end. Not sure I need the B7K really as I have other drives I like to stack, just need an overdrive/distortion pedal that crunches while maintaining low end and the Darkglass offerings seem spot on.

[ProfFrink]

It's an acquired taste. And setting the knobs on it isn't entirely straightforward like some pedal (assuming there's a specific tone or tonal area you're actually aiming at). It took me a while but now I know how to dial it and I quite like it.

I'm not sure it's a RAT replacement... Why not keep both?

Why not check some YT videos? There are plenty out there. Some are quite good.

Edit: And to answer your Q more concretely: The b3k is supposed to be the exact same circuit as the b7k sans EQ and DI. If you have another EQ (like in your amp), I'm not sure you need the 7.

Also note DG are now coming out with delux versions and with an amp that has this built-in.

Edited January 21, 2016 by ProfFrink

[danbowskill]

Like profFink said "its an acquired taste" ...I absolutely love mine set to a low distortion with plenty of blend in it as an always on pedal,it really makes your amp crisp up beautifully. Playing other effects into it is a real treat :-)
But at higher gain less blended distortion I'm not to keen on the sounds,plenty of bottom end just a bit to scooped n metallic sounding for me.all depends what your after?.

[Cameronj279]

I love mine if I'm honest. It is very grindy sounding but also really good for just adding a little bit of grit if you set it up right. It doesn't really do "warm" tones that well but that's not what I'm after with my sound so that doesn't bother me one bit.

As far as keeping the sound in a band mix goes/low end loss. I don't have any issues using mine with a band.

For an idea of it just adding a little bit of crunch - my Tesseract cover uses the B3K as well...ignore my shoddy playing

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMM8AHFc63A"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMM8AHFc63A[/url]

[AinsleyWalker]

Thanks for all the info!

[quote name='ProfFrink' timestamp='1453407666' post='2959324']
I'm not sure it's a RAT replacement... Why not keep both?
[/quote]

Well I have my Rat at a really low gain, and get close to the type of tone most people seem to use the Darkglass for. I have a Pork Loin after it which is used for a cleaner low end boost and when paired it gives me something close to a Karnivool tone. I think my uses for the Rat and the Darkglass would come into a territory that's too similar to really have them both. But I could see I guess

[Wooks79]

I've had a B3K for a long time, and at one point I decided it needed an upgrade to the B7K, so bought that as well.

I have stuck with the B3K on my board now, as I wasn't really using the B7K to EQ anything or get anything out of it that I didnt find possible with the B3K.

That's also the only thing that has stopped me having the new B7K Ultra on my board, but I'm still tempted in a way cos they look so nice!

I would be surprised if you ended up using a B3K and a Rat for similar sounds once you use a B3K I reckon, it has a kind of baked in sound all of its own, that some people love, some don't, but I very much do.

Is there nobody near you that has one you could try before you fork out the cash?

[AinsleyWalker]

[quote name='Wooks79' timestamp='1453410359' post='2959361']
I would be surprised if you ended up using a B3K and a Rat for similar sounds once you use a B3K I reckon, it has a kind of baked in sound all of its own, that some people love, some don't, but I very much do.

Is there nobody near you that has one you could try before you fork out the cash?
[/quote]


I guess I need to try it out for myself really to see what I think, I never seem to see it in any shops I go round, but I'll keep an eye out for sure

[danbowskill]

Buy secondhand,you will lose nothing bar postage costs if you don't like it :-) Always ones popping up on here. I'd recommend the newer version as the footswitch is closer to the bottom of the case ( more room to not knock the knobs).
It took me a little time to warm to it .........wouldn't be without it on now :-)

Edited January 21, 2016 by danbowskill

[nash]

What about the Catalibread Katzenkönig? That would be a good higher end rat replacement.

[IBWT]

A B3K is not a replacement for a RAT, it's much less fizzy, lower gain, and different texture overall. The B3K does not have much gain actually, most of the edgy sound is EQ to my ears.

I personally don't like the B3K much, I prefer a Sansamp VT to get that crispy tone (I don't play modern metal/djent so no extreme sounds).

Edited January 22, 2016 by IBWT

[roman_sub]

Kept the B3K, sold the B7K. Tighter sound, less knobs, and better EQs out there (IMO).

[Kev]

[quote name='roman_sub' timestamp='1453479776' post='2959916']
Kept the B3K, sold the B7K. Tighter sound, less knobs, and better EQs out there (IMO).
[/quote]

You are aware that, providing they were built in the same revision, the circuits are identical, so a flat EQ B7K in turn would sound just as tight as a B3K? The bells and whistles of the B7K all come after the drive circuit, with the EQ circuit flat they sound identical. This is based on experience and owning a B3K and B7K of the same revision at the same time.

RE EQ points, this is why I have a B7K Ultra on order. The extra mid frequency switches excite me

To echo others, the B3K could not replace a Rat, and visa versa. The latest revision of the B3K, with the attack cut switch, certainly warms it up, but without the EQ section it will always have that gritty dirt sound in any setting. Low end, the circuit in either iteration cannot be beaten IMO, the grunt switch set to Fat is about the bassiest drive I ever heard.

But in direct answer to your question, the B3K is good. Very good. The EQ points on a B7K however are perfectly tuned to the dirt sound and add an awful lot. In truth, I couldn't go back to a B3K now. Given B7Ks have now dropped to £220 new (this was the price of a B3K not so many years ago), if I had the cash I would grab a B7K, overkill or not

Edited January 22, 2016 by Kev

[bakerster135]

[quote name='IBWT' timestamp='1453478107' post='2959885']
A B3K is not a replacement for a RAT, it's much less fizzy
[/quote]

Ha! Are you serious!?...I've had two B3Ks, and it was the fizziness of the distortion that I couldn't stand.

My COG TK-421 (RAT clone) is not in the least bit fizzy.

[IBWT]

[quote name='bakerster135' timestamp='1453551156' post='2960449']
Ha! Are you serious!?...I've had two B3Ks, and it was the fizziness of the distortion that I couldn't stand.

My COG TK-421 (RAT clone) is not in the least bit fizzy.
[/quote]

Perhaps fizzy is not the word... harsh maybe? I used to own a Turbo RAT and this is the sound I remember from it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv0UoLQY2lg

It's more a distortion or fuzz than an overdrive, which is what the B3K is...

[dannybuoy]

[quote name='Cameronj279' timestamp='1453408636' post='2959339']
I love mine if I'm honest. It is very grindy sounding but also really good for just adding a little bit of grit if you set it up right. It doesn't really do "warm" tones that well but that's not what I'm after with my sound so that doesn't bother me one bit.

As far as keeping the sound in a band mix goes/low end loss. I don't have any issues using mine with a band.

For an idea of it just adding a little bit of crunch - my Tesseract cover uses the B3K as well...ignore my shoddy playing

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMM8AHFc63A"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMM8AHFc63A[/url]
[/quote]

These pedals definitely sound best with dual humbuckers, especially if they are both closer to the bridge and closer together than average. As evidenced by this clip, the Dingwall NG-2, and my Warwick Rockbass Standard Streamer!

[IBWT]

The B3K does indeed sound better with humbuckers, active pickups/preamp and/or pick. Most of the demos you'll see on Youtube have at least one of those.

[roman_sub]

[quote name='Kev' timestamp='1453505380' post='2960255']
You are aware that, providing they were built in the same revision, the circuits are identical, so a flat EQ B7K in turn would sound just as tight as a B3K? The bells and whistles of the B7K all come after the drive circuit, with the EQ circuit flat they sound identical. This is based on experience and owning a B3K and B7K of the same revision at the same time.
[/quote]
I owned an older B7K and a new B3K. Clearly YMMV

[dannybuoy]

I had an older B3K and newer B7K, kept the 3 as it sounded better with my active Warwick. I couldn't get them to sound exactly the same, even with all 4 EQ knobs at 11:00 which is the supposed flat setting.

[ratman]

I've just had a B3K on loan and I really liked it. The tone I preferred was a hint of drive blended in, and I used the switches to select treble/bass/both boosted to give some nice variation of flavours. I'm not normally a fan of the scooped sound but for me it worked well used subtly. There's a whole pallette of sounds accessable with this pedal, subtle bite to full-on drive, and I'll definitely be buying one of these sometime this year.