Sushi Box FX - Grand Slampegg

[Paddy777]

@JohnR - I’m interested in ordering one of these, how much did you have to pay on top of the purchase price to get it through customs? How are you finding it - how are you using it etc? 

[Quatschmacher]

1 minute ago, Paddy777 said:

@JohnR - I’m interested in ordering one of these, how much did you have to pay on top of the purchase price to get it through customs? How are you finding it - how are you using it etc? 

Customs duties and VAT on effects pedals is usually 22.5% of the declared price plus and admin fee of about £12. The exact amount depends on what the monthly HMRC exchange rate for the the month is - these are fixed in advance so you can look them up and get an exact calculation. 

[Paddy777]

12 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

Customs duties and VAT on effects pedals is usually 22.5% of the declared price plus and admin fee of about £12. The exact amount depends on what the monthly HMRC exchange rate for the the month is - these are fixed in advance so you can look them up and get an exact calculation. 

That’ll do me - I haven’t bought any pedals from abroad (I’ve got one coming from Italy next week but it seems to have just gone straight through customs - it was only €110 though) but I just wanted to be sure what I was paying. Not sure if I’ll use the Slampegg as a stand alone preamp or run something else like the Starlifter into it and use it more like a DI. 

[JohnR]

Mine was delivered with a customs sticker telling the post office not to deliver until they had taken a charge of £80. However, the postman just handed it over and I was never asked for payment. I'm guessing it fell through the net due to the Xmas rush. 

[simonlittle]

1 hour ago, JohnR said:

Mine was delivered with a customs sticker telling the post office not to deliver until they had taken a charge of £80. However, the postman just handed it over and I was never asked for payment. I'm guessing it fell through the net due to the Xmas rush. 

[Paddy777]

2 hours ago, JohnR said:

Mine was delivered with a customs sticker telling the post office not to deliver until they had taken a charge of £80. However, the postman just handed it over and I was never asked for payment. I'm guessing it fell through the net due to the Xmas rush. 

Happy days! I’ll not be so lucky, but at least I know what to expect, £80 is about what it came to using the calculation from @Quatschmacher anyway.
 

So at £400 would you say it’s worth the money? 

[JohnR]

24 minutes ago, Paddy777 said:

Happy days! I’ll not be so lucky, but at least I know what to expect, £80 is about what it came to using the calculation from @Quatschmacher anyway.
 

So at £400 would you say it’s worth the money? 

It's worth the money for me. I bought it with the intention of using it for valve warmth on a few old tunes but the beautiful harmonic content it adds to my tone means it has become an always on pedal. 

[Quatschmacher]

Just got one of these to loan from a very kind BCer and my initial impression is very favourable; nice warmth and squish. 

[Quatschmacher]

Is a bit of a shame there’s no gain control at all. My passive P is still hitting the tube quite hard. I’ve tried it running into it using a pedal where I can cut and boost the dry and it does make a difference. 

[ghostwheel]

4 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

Is a bit of a shame there’s no gain control at all. My passive P is still hitting the tube quite hard. I’ve tried it running into it using a pedal where I can cut and boost the dry and it does make a difference. 

FWIW, on the web, Nathan says the pedal is built after B-15N, so the Volume control placed between the first and the second gain stage actually is the gain control.

 

[Quatschmacher]

19 minutes ago, ghostwheel said:

FWIW, on the web, Nathan says the pedal is built after B-15N, so the Volume control placed between the first and the second gain stage actually is the gain control.

 

Have you read the blurb that Nathan posted that is quoted on the first post of this thread? He does state that it’s clean only (no gain).
 

Grand Slampegg: Also based on the Ampeg B-15N preamp but this time with a 6SL7 tube. I have modified the circuit on this one to stay clean no matter what, but it allows you get the B-15N clean tone LOUD which seems to be what most B-15 players want.

 

'it will not be able to break up by itself. Granted running another pedal into it and pushing the front end will still allow the 6SL7 to break up, but by itself it will just be clean.

Edited February 6 by Quatschmacher

[ghostwheel]

2 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

Have you read the blurb that Nathan posted that is quoted on the first post of this thread? He does state that it’s clean only (no gain).

 

Gain control is not necessarily supposed to overdrive the following gain stage (even in a guitar amp). It only controls the amplitude of the signal arriving at the input of the following gain stage.

As there is no schematic of this pedal available, I can only guess about the meaning of "clean only". It may be a voltage divider between the gain stages instead of the volume control potentiometer, the latter being the volume control of the output buffer. But even if is the case, nobody can guarantee that it cannot be overdriven with the help of some booster. So the statement is more likely to be some marketing bollocks  

If you've got an oscilloscope, you might like to open the pedal and find out which gain stage is being overdriven when you play your P-bass.

[GR7G5TER]

7 minutes ago, ghostwheel said:

 But even if is the case, nobody can guarantee that it cannot be overdriven with the help of some booster. So the statement is more likely to be some marketing bollocks  

 

 

"It will not be able to break up by itself. Granted running another pedal into it and pushing the front end will still allow the 6SL7 to break up, but by itself it will just be clean"

 

Curious where you think the marketing bollocks "guarantee" was given?

[Quatschmacher]

8 minutes ago, ghostwheel said:

Gain control is not necessarily supposed to overdrive the following gain stage (even in a guitar amp). It only controls the amplitude of the signal arriving at the input of the following gain stage.

As there is no schematic of this pedal available, I can only guess about the meaning of "clean only". It may be a voltage divider between the gain stages instead of the volume control potentiometer, the latter being the volume control of the output buffer. But even if is the case, nobody can guarantee that it cannot be overdriven with the help of some booster. So the statement is more likely to be some marketing bollocks  

If you've got an oscilloscope, you might like to open the pedal and find out which gain stage is being overdriven when you play your P-bass.

I think what was meant is that increasing the pedal’s volume knob doesn’t introduce any more overdrive. (Putting a hotter signal before the pedal does allow the tube to overdrive (which Nathan states in the text I quoted). Similarly, putting a quieter signal into the pedal tames it a bit.)

[ghostwheel]

2 minutes ago, GR7G5TER said:

 

"It will not be able to break up by itself. Granted running another pedal into it and pushing the front end will still allow the 6SL7 to break up, but by itself it will just be clean"

 

Curious where you think the marketing bollocks "guarantee" was given?

This is what I was speaking about: "He does state that it’s clean only (no gain)."

Your quote is no non-sense.

[GR7G5TER]

10 minutes ago, ghostwheel said:

This is what I was speaking about: "He does state that it’s clean only (no gain)."

Your quote is no non-sense.

 

What bass do you think will drive this pedal to be not clean then? Nathan states that it needs a pedal to overdrive this, what are your reasons for doubting this?

 

I'm curious what your direct experience with this pedal is?

[ghostwheel]

12 minutes ago, GR7G5TER said:

 

What bass do you think will drive this pedal to be not clean then? Nathan states that it needs a pedal to overdrive this, what are your reasons for doubting this?

 

I'm curious what your direct experience with this pedal is?

It is the phrase "clean only (no gain)" I was talking about. I haven't read the edited post of @Quatschmacher when I wrote about marketing bollocks. Mea culpa.

If the pedal is built after B-15N like Nathan states on his web-site, there should be a gain control. I can't imagine him not knowing that B-15N has got a potentiometer between the two gain stages in its preamp, which is a gain control also known as volume control (not to confuse with master volume control).

If the guess of @Quatschmacher (and partially of mine) is correct, there will only be some kind of master volume control labeled Volume. It would mean that there is some voltage divider between the gain stages, which doesn't allow the second gain stage being overdriven, provided that the input signal is sort of average. But it wouldn't make that much sense, in my humble opinion.

 

I have no experience with this pedal as I haven't got any. I simulated those circuits quite a lot to make one based on 12AX7 which would have frequency responses similar to original ones of Ampeg Heritage B-15 (there are two preamps: one from 1964 and another from 1968 (B-15N)).

 

I'm sorry if my posting were annoying and/or confusing.

[GR7G5TER]

19 hours ago, ghostwheel said:

It is the phrase "clean only (no gain)" I was talking about. I haven't read the edited post of @Quatschmacher when I wrote about marketing bollocks. Mea culpa.

If the pedal is built after B-15N like Nathan states on his web-site, there should be a gain control. I can't imagine him not knowing that B-15N has got a potentiometer between the two gain stages in its preamp, which is a gain control also known as volume control (not to confuse with master volume control).

If the guess of @Quatschmacher (and partially of mine) is correct, there will only be some kind of master volume control labeled Volume. It would mean that there is some voltage divider between the gain stages, which doesn't allow the second gain stage being overdriven, provided that the input signal is sort of average. But it wouldn't make that much sense, in my humble opinion.

 

I have no experience with this pedal as I haven't got any. I simulated those circuits quite a lot to make one based on 12AX7 which would have frequency responses similar to original ones of Ampeg Heritage B-15 (there are two preamps: one from 1964 and another from 1968 (B-15N)).

 

I'm sorry if my posting were annoying and/or confusing.

 

I appreciate your post.

 

My issue was you calling something marketing bollocks without substantiating your statement, which IMO was very clearly incorrect and you have now addressed. Thank you.

 

The GS is modeled after the B15 but it's obviously not an exact replica, moveover it's Nathan's take on that amp and it's a pedal Nathan designed to be a clean preamp and to utilise the 6SL7 tube. Before the release of this pedal ,Nathan sold a Slampegg Bee Pre. pedal, (now discontinued) that utilised a 12AX7, had a master Vol and Gain and would overdrive quite happily. Link below. All the feedback I've seen is that the GS is a major tonal upgrade and you can stick a boost of some description in front of it and the 6SL7 will break up very nicely (but that tone is not inherent in the pedal).

 

Slampegg Bee Pre

 

Peace 🕊️

[Quatschmacher]

I’ve played both versions and this newer one is giving me pleasure that the previous one didn’t.  I’m definitely getting one. Just want to sell a couple of pedals first to cover the cost of it. 

Edited February 7 by Quatschmacher

[GR7G5TER]

I'm honestly thinking that this might be my 50th birthday present to myself in the spring!

[HoorayForAnonyms]

17 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

I’ve played both versions and this newer one is giving me pleasure that the previous one didn’t.  I’m definitely getting one. Just want to sell a couple of pedals first to cover the cost of it. 

This is helpful. I’ve been eyeing up a Slampegg on Reverb but might opt for the Grand at some point based on your experience. 

[Paddy777]

2 hours ago, HoorayForAnonyms said:

This is helpful. I’ve been eyeing up a Slampegg on Reverb but might opt for the Grand at some point based on your experience. 

I’m the same - I think I’m going to order it the next time I have the money spare 

[Quatschmacher]

1 hour ago, Paddy777 said:

I’m the same - I think I’m going to order it the next time I have the money spare 

I’ve just sold a couple of pedals; once they safely arrive with their buyers I’ll get one. 

[Quatschmacher]

4 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

I’ve just sold a couple of pedals; once they safely arrive with their buyers I’ll get one. 

Oops, couldn’t wait!

[Quatschmacher]

9 hours ago, HoorayForAnonyms said:

This is helpful. I’ve been eyeing up a Slampegg on Reverb but might opt for the Grand at some point based on your experience. 

I also had issues with the standard version with ear-splitting oscillation at certain gain settings on the pedal/my bass’s passive tone control. No such problems on the Grand version. 

Edited February 8 by Quatschmacher