Roland Blues Cube 30. The clean channel is great - takes most pedals really well, and is way more varied with different guitars and pickups than any other amp I've got. The gain on it makes it super-flexible for anything from acoustic to break-up. Weirdly, if I put my guitars in order of "when the pickups cause an amp to break up" on any other amp, it seems completely different for this amp - which is kinda refreshing - it gives different guitars a bit more character and uniqueness. So far the gain channel is less interesting, and really doesn't like a lot of my gain pedals, but that's OK. I've only tried it at "bedroom" vol so far, so it will be interesting to see how the master vol being cranked affects that clean sound.
The absence of reverb means I've dusted off the Oceans 11 (my JHS Spring Tank sounds like the "delay posing as a reverb" it really is). With a bit of tweaking, it's OK, but not really the lush Fendery spring I'd like. The clean sound, the taking of pedals and the overall weight though are all winners for me, particularly having snagged it for the price of a re-tube on my LC30. A previous owner looks like they either rested lit cigs on it, or maybe pricked a finger changing strings during an extended BLOOZEJAM and bled acid over one end. Maybe both.
Re: Micro-reviews of Gear You Just Bought
252Poseidon Audio KR2 sub kick
Finally got to mixing w/ this for our Christmas song submission for Jon Solomon's 25-hour Christmas Marathon and I'm very pleased. If you have been interested in a sub kick in a more factory-looking case but raised an eyebrow at the price (and also don't care to mess w/ DIYing your own), there is finally a model that is affordable and sounds good. For what sub-kicks are, IMO they have been obscenely over-priced for a long time.
This is clearly someone's home brew project that they started a Reverb store for...but that's not such a thing. As a result, the housing is 3d printed but FWIW, it seems more solid than some of the other slightly-more-affordable sub kicks I have seen that have thin shells and broken housings due to the weight. Obviously not as robust as the Yamaha or Avantone clone, but also 1/3rd the price.
Sound really does exactly what you want it to do: captures the low fundamentals of bass instruments. It also seems to go a little higher in the frequency range than I was expecting - I tried using a bass speaker cabinet on a whim before and just got the lowest of lows & not much audio information that seemed usable. More rumble than anything. But if you're going for like an all-beef-no-attack sound out of your kick, this'll do it and goes up high enough in the spectrum to still be at least somewhat present on systems that do not have subs.
That being said, sub kicks are almost always combined with at least one other mics and I've seen many combos of this. For me, I did an SCD 6-inches from the batter head to capture the high-mids (first time I actually found this useful) and combined it w/ the sub kick and super super happy w/ the results. Very natural sound and not overly hyped/scooped. FYI, the kick I used does not have sound holes.
I know we are big on RYO here and you can probably do that for certainly less than $50 (if not closer to free since most of us probably have all the needed components lying around already), but this does have the benefit of being in a more professional-looking enclosure.
One note about the buying: I ordered the black enclosure but received one done in clear filament. Even though the transparent costs a couple bucks more, I would have preferred it just being all-black. Seller probably did not have any black models printed off and just said screw it & sent the transparent model so I wouldn't have to wait for a black one to be printed off. I don't care enough to gripe about it, but wanted to share that as you may want to reach out to the seller first in case you are hard-set on whatever color you choose because "your buddy ordered a black one and got a translucent one."
Finally got to mixing w/ this for our Christmas song submission for Jon Solomon's 25-hour Christmas Marathon and I'm very pleased. If you have been interested in a sub kick in a more factory-looking case but raised an eyebrow at the price (and also don't care to mess w/ DIYing your own), there is finally a model that is affordable and sounds good. For what sub-kicks are, IMO they have been obscenely over-priced for a long time.
This is clearly someone's home brew project that they started a Reverb store for...but that's not such a thing. As a result, the housing is 3d printed but FWIW, it seems more solid than some of the other slightly-more-affordable sub kicks I have seen that have thin shells and broken housings due to the weight. Obviously not as robust as the Yamaha or Avantone clone, but also 1/3rd the price.
Sound really does exactly what you want it to do: captures the low fundamentals of bass instruments. It also seems to go a little higher in the frequency range than I was expecting - I tried using a bass speaker cabinet on a whim before and just got the lowest of lows & not much audio information that seemed usable. More rumble than anything. But if you're going for like an all-beef-no-attack sound out of your kick, this'll do it and goes up high enough in the spectrum to still be at least somewhat present on systems that do not have subs.
That being said, sub kicks are almost always combined with at least one other mics and I've seen many combos of this. For me, I did an SCD 6-inches from the batter head to capture the high-mids (first time I actually found this useful) and combined it w/ the sub kick and super super happy w/ the results. Very natural sound and not overly hyped/scooped. FYI, the kick I used does not have sound holes.
I know we are big on RYO here and you can probably do that for certainly less than $50 (if not closer to free since most of us probably have all the needed components lying around already), but this does have the benefit of being in a more professional-looking enclosure.
One note about the buying: I ordered the black enclosure but received one done in clear filament. Even though the transparent costs a couple bucks more, I would have preferred it just being all-black. Seller probably did not have any black models printed off and just said screw it & sent the transparent model so I wouldn't have to wait for a black one to be printed off. I don't care enough to gripe about it, but wanted to share that as you may want to reach out to the seller first in case you are hard-set on whatever color you choose because "your buddy ordered a black one and got a translucent one."
Re: Micro-reviews of Gear You Just Bought
253Nice, I've been looking forward to your review of this! So how was mixing it with another mic? Do you use phase tools to dial it in or just by ear?Garth wrote: Wed Dec 21, 2022 8:44 am Poseidon Audio KR2 sub kick
Finally got to mixing w/ this for our Christmas song submission for Jon Solomon's 25-hour Christmas Marathon and I'm very pleased. If you have been interested in a sub kick in a more factory-looking case but raised an eyebrow at the price (and also don't care to mess w/ DIYing your own), there is finally a model that is affordable and sounds good. For what sub-kicks are, IMO they have been obscenely over-priced for a long time.
This is clearly someone's home brew project that they started a Reverb store for...but that's not such a thing. As a result, the housing is 3d printed but FWIW, it seems more solid than some of the other slightly-more-affordable sub kicks I have seen that have thin shells and broken housings due to the weight. Obviously not as robust as the Yamaha or Avantone clone, but also 1/3rd the price.
Sound really does exactly what you want it to do: captures the low fundamentals of bass instruments. It also seems to go a little higher in the frequency range than I was expecting - I tried using a bass speaker cabinet on a whim before and just got the lowest of lows & not much audio information that seemed usable. More rumble than anything. But if you're going for like an all-beef-no-attack sound out of your kick, this'll do it and goes up high enough in the spectrum to still be at least somewhat present on systems that do not have subs.
That being said, sub kicks are almost always combined with at least one other mics and I've seen many combos of this. For me, I did an SCD 6-inches from the batter head to capture the high-mids (first time I actually found this useful) and combined it w/ the sub kick and super super happy w/ the results. Very natural sound and not overly hyped/scooped. FYI, the kick I used does not have sound holes.
I know we are big on RYO here and you can probably do that for certainly less than $50 (if not closer to free since most of us probably have all the needed components lying around already), but this does have the benefit of being in a more professional-looking enclosure.
One note about the buying: I ordered the black enclosure but received one done in clear filament. Even though the transparent costs a couple bucks more, I would have preferred it just being all-black. Seller probably did not have any black models printed off and just said screw it & sent the transparent model so I wouldn't have to wait for a black one to be printed off. I don't care enough to gripe about it, but wanted to share that as you may want to reach out to the seller first in case you are hard-set on whatever color you choose because "your buddy ordered a black one and got a translucent one."
Re: Micro-reviews of Gear You Just Bought
254Mixed in w/ another mic was the way to go for me. The sub-kick got the very lows & quite a bit of low mids but to me sounded like it cut off naturally right where I normally scoop out anyway and then I did a high-pass on the beater mic up to about 1k I think for all the other presence and high-end info. I'm happy w/ the result but in fairness, I honestly just love having a new sound that I like after 20 years of putting up a D112 and done (not for lack of experimentation, just never liked any of my other forays into other techniques/mics that I liked as much). I can go down w/ some RTA at some point and see exactly what I'm getting at some point maybe after the holidays or while snowed in as forecasted. Might be good ear training/calibration anyway + double-checking that I'm not just talking out of my ass.ChudFusk wrote: Nice, I've been looking forward to your review of this! So how was mixing it with another mic? Do you use phase tools to dial it in or just by ear?
I am not familiar w/ phase tools & I'm not sure there are any that come standard w/ my old-ass version of Pro Tools, so usually what I do is this:
1.) Invert the waveform and listen. If it sounds better and good, stop
2.) zoom way in, look at the two waveforms side-by-side, scootch the later one until they look like they sorta match and listen. Fine tune as needed.
Re: Micro-reviews of Gear You Just Bought
255Cool! I did wind up doing an A/B between my two pro co rats (didn’t pull out my DIY rat with the metal can version of the lm308). First is the circa 2000 big box reissue, my first rat. It has the OP07. Always liked it, got me hooked. The second is my Dirty Rat circa 2008 modded with a diode switch to go between stock BAT46 diodes (marketed as germanium) and standard silicon diodes (I live both sounds). My favorite setting is basically the same on both, volume: whatever, filter: 8-9:30 depending on guitar, and distortion: around 2:00. For comparison I kept them both on silicon diodes.LBx wrote: Tue Dec 20, 2022 5:22 pmSo, eating my hat here... Found a good price locally on a reissue big box with the LM308 so I snagged it.LBx wrote: Mon Nov 14, 2022 6:31 pmIt's a White Light. Swapped an older Hoof for it.VaticanShotglass wrote: Sat Nov 12, 2022 10:11 pm
What EQD pedal?
Rats and LM308... I'm not sure. Been a while since I messed with it all. I still have a few LM308s (like two) from back when they weren't unaffordable. I've built and modded a few Rats. It's my favorite dirt pedal. Here's the thing, swapping between the LM308 and the OP07 now used by ProCo I recall telling a small difference. It's been too long to remember the details, but maybe a smidge more bass? Most of it can be compensated for by tweaking the knobs. I think a bigger difference happens between different particular rats. Rats have a part of the circuit that shapes the clipping and eq and is very sensitive to tweaks. It involves a few electrolytic caps, which have a pretty wide tolerance. Maybe that accounts for two Rats sounding different? I don't know. I just know one of my Rats sounds better than any I've played no matter which chip I put in it.
I think the measurable difference is meant to be the amount of sag with the volume up a certain amount. To me that's a desirable thing to play around with but not for everyone for sure. I assume some of the newer doom-y Rat knock-offs get there a variety of ways.
Difference is there no doubt. Kind of a grainer lower-fi break up compared to the "crisper" (?) OP07. It's slight but I noticed it straight away.
And they both sag just fine so a win/win with whatever ya got...
I still love the the big box. It’s nice and gritty, rad sounds on the full dial. Does get that cool saggy thing. It just doesn’t get the full bass of the modded dirty rat, which is my favorite stomp box. I do seem to recall the dirty rat having good bass before swapping to the LM308, so it could be cap variances. I do recall thinking it did sound different somehow nonetheless. It’s been over a decade since that swap though so I don’t remember how (I could swap again if I think to). With that big of a bass difference it is hard to say how much the chip is playing in my preference for the dirty rat. Based off memory I think my DIY rat falls somewhere between the two.
I should have one or two more LM308 chips around but I couldn’t find them last I looked, might have put them in a gift build without remembering. Bummer cause I sure as shit won’t pay an arm and a leg for something likely to be a fake. My primary interest is really just being a big nerd as I’ve built boxes with either chip that sounded great.
Re: Micro-reviews of Gear You Just Bought
256I built a rat a few years ago, socketed the opamp, and picked up a handful of different options from my local surplus shoppe to try out (a few each of OP07, LM308, LM208, the CAZ-whatever that JHS likes) - I honestly couldn't tell any meaningful difference between any of them, and they all sounded exactly like my old one w/ an old 308. If I squinted my ears I could maybe tell myself I was hearing something, but I was also maybe hearing similar differences between two individual OP07s and two LM308s so who knows... that said, I am ape-eared, and you may have ears of crystal.
I think the big box reissues probably sound the best because they look the coolest.
I think the big box reissues probably sound the best because they look the coolest.
Re: Micro-reviews of Gear You Just Bought
257I haven't tried the chips in the same pedal, but I've A/B'ed the following with 2 bandmates: new Rat2 (OP07), 1989 Rat2 (LM308), 1990s reissue "Vintage Rat" (LM308), 1986 black logo Rat (LM308), 1984 white logo Rat (LM308), 1982 big box Rat (LM308). They all sounded a little different. Everyone heard a difference. The vintage Rat2 sounded the most compressed. The new Rat2 with the OP07 sounded the most aggressive in the high end. The 1982 had the most low end (most noticeable on bass). The Reissue Vintage Rat had the most mids. The 1982/1984/1986 all sounded VERY similar. The reissue one was pretty close to those. The Rat2 pedals sounded more compressed.mdc wrote: Mon Dec 26, 2022 8:19 am I built a rat a few years ago, socketed the opamp, and picked up a handful of different options from my local surplus shoppe to try out (a few each of OP07, LM308, LM208, the CAZ-whatever that JHS likes) - I honestly couldn't tell any meaningful difference between any of them, and they all sounded exactly like my old one w/ an old 308. If I squinted my ears I could maybe tell myself I was hearing something, but I was also maybe hearing similar differences between two individual OP07s and two LM308s so who knows... that said, I am ape-eared, and you may have ears of crystal.
I think the big box reissues probably sound the best because they look the coolest.
My limited assessment. The OP07 sounds pretty similar with a slight difference in the high end. It's a tad more aggressive. BUT, I'm guessing the other part variance is producing as much or more of a difference in the sound. Would anyone hear a difference in a band situation? Absolutely not.
Re: Micro-reviews of Gear You Just Bought
258All of this is making me want the JHS Pack Rat.... I want all the Rats!
Re: Micro-reviews of Gear You Just Bought
259I cannot say enough good things about Chicago Stompworks Mr Vermin or Fuzzrocious Cat Tail or Cat King for sweet-sweet Rat sounds. Both have my ideal Rat tones for a good value.
guitar in - weaklungband.bandcamp.com/
Re: Micro-reviews of Gear You Just Bought
260+1 I have a Vermin and it sounds better than a couple other rats I’ve put it against, as good as a keeley modded one that I always loved.Owen wrote: Tue Dec 27, 2022 2:26 pm I cannot say enough good things about Chicago Stompworks Mr Vermin or Fuzzrocious Cat Tail or Cat King for sweet-sweet Rat sounds. Both have my ideal Rat tones for a good value.