Post your latest purchase!!

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psynthetic
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Re: Post your latest purchase!!

Post by psynthetic » Tue Jan 07, 2014 8:39 pm

EricK, thanks mate, i enjoyed that :) (I never imagined it being able to do things like those percussive sounds around 6 minutes, that's awesome stuff right there)
It definently add's a whole new world of variation.. I think something like that with tap tempo and patterns and such is a good match for the T3 and it's arps, note latch, etc. Could you see any use for a MF-101 LPF in addition to/instead of the 105 on a T3?
I haven't used either but i've noticed it's got an envelope follower on it.. thought it might be a good way to get some nice wet funky percy bass sounds happening.
I'm eagerly waiting for the EP-3 to be available in Australia to control the filter on the T3 via CV.. that way I can add some brights to the sound quickly (so for instance the MuRF has something to chew on) but still leave my control wheel on modulation or resonance or something.

Stiiiiiive (really not sure if that's the right amount of "i" 's, i just winged it :p )

Before I start I should make it clear that I'm not a guitar/bass player, so I don't have a lot of experience with pedals to compare to, but I am reasonably picky when I'm listening to an effect so hopefully this'll steer you true.

The B7K is a damn nice pedal. Construction quality feels up there with the Bass Big Muff, though the Muff is probably a bit heavier/sturdier over all (I honestly feel like I could stand on it)… but it definently doesn't feel flimsy.

The I/O is good, parallel out (clean), DI out, normal (wet) instrument out, ground lift.. One thing i don't like is that the power socket is on the side of the pedal next to the input jack rather than at the to end of the pedal.. Also, it's slightly noisier than the Big Muff I reckon, but I haven't done a lot of tests with the ground lift and keeping my cables away from power leads etc to see how much of it is avoidable, I should run it back into a DI box and get the signal back to a balanced line again really.. (EDIT: I just remembered the B7K (and the Bass Muff) have DI outputs on them anyway so, no, I don't need a DI box actually :lol: ) It's not invasively noisy by any means, but the noise that's there is in the very top end (if I turn down the treble knob on the EQ a touch is helps dull it a bit also..).

It's got blend and level knobs, so you can do a good job of tuning it up so there is no volume change when you turn it on (a must have IMO), the drive seems good, it adds a bit of firmness and breakup and responds well to playing dynamics also I think, though a bass player would be have an easier time sussing that out than I would I suppose.. and if you crank it right up it gets pretty absurd if that's your thing! 8)

The EQ doesn't have sweepable centre frequencies but the centre frequencies do seem to be thoughtfully placed, a scoop on the "Lo Mids" EQ knob on the B7K gives me exactly the result i imagined/hoped it would when I ordered it (takes out a lot of those nasal/boxy tones), the Hi Mids add some oomph into the presence range, the Treble is just for taking out "air" right up top and won't kill the oomph in your presence range if you wind it back.
The Low doesn't seem to add to much mud either, but being plugged into a Taurus, I never really turn this up, actually i've turned it down just a touch before just to compensate for a bit of a change in the bottom end once or twice (probably from some subtle compression from driving the pedal?). Usually it'll stay at 12 o'clock though. The "Grunt" switch with it's "Fat " "Thin" and "Raw" settings is really useful for getting right kind of distortion happening, though you could happily leave it on "Raw" forever.
(I used to leave it on "Thin" a lot so the bass stayed clean, but i've noticed that the B7K doesn't seem to cause any phasing or anything that causes the bottom end to drop out even on the "Fat" setting, which is really nice to see..)

The "Attack" switch on this box is excellent (kinda like SPL's transient designer in a stomp box), i pretty much leave the attack boost on whenever the pedal is on, only very very rarely have i heard it do something I didn't like and that was with a patch that already had ample attack.
Infact Id probably say that the effect of this pedal is mostly about the dynamics/attack part of your sound it doesn't add too much "distortion"/"grit" to the sustained portion of your signal until you start getting quite aggressive with your settings (Though it will EQ it nicely and give it a nice firmness that it didn't have before), but gives you a nice bit of punch/edge when you're playing lots of short notes, with a nice lick of tastefully subtle distortion/fuzz to go with it. (It can get pretty filthy with the right blend settings etc, but I haven't found much need for it with my synth stuff)
Combined with a bit of a scoop in the low mids from this thing and it can make a sound quite aggressive without being too obvious… calling the B7K a "preamp pedal" I think is a very apt description (Again, it can get pretty damn filthy, this is just how I use it, I like having two stages of distortion, when I want it really in your face I layer on the muff (this also lets me have the Muff tuned more moderately so I have two flavours of moderate distortion or a layered heavy in your face distortion), but you could set it up so this has a fairly fuzzy/filthy distortion no worries).

It also plays nicely with others, I sit it first in my pedal chain before the Bass Big Muff and it does a great job of making sure that the attack doesn't get lost when I flick the Muff on.. Also the muff seems to give off a bit more distortion/fuzz in the top end when the signal's been through the B7K first.. brings out any beating/phasing and stuff and fuzzes it up… again presumably because of the compression that happens when you drive the pedal.

Both the B7K and the Big Muff do pretty well across about 4 octaves, but I have noticed that if you open the filter up wide once you're in the 3rd octave and higher the results are a bit questionable, not "bleep" just not really earning their moneys worth up there, the synth itself is plenty dirty once the filters open (Taurus is Saw wave only though, so not sure about others).. I'd still describe them both as "full range" pedals.. but you probably wouldn't want too much content above 8-9kHz in your sound once you get up in the octaves, like, a big dirty filter sweep in the second octave or something is no problem, sounds great, but you wouldn't really appreciate it in the 4th octave for instance…. but to be honest, in the higher octaves, I don't really see a need for either of those two pedals anyway (but again maybe it's cause they don't do much up there..), they wouldn't be turned on so maybe that's a moot point.. You could definently get away with using them on a full range electric guitar rig for instance, but I don't see them being very useful for a big solo, just some crunchy rhythm chugging and such. So for that reason, I guess I don't see myself getting much use out of the B7K on a Little Phatty… but that's because I imagine myself using a little Phatty for mid range stuff not bass. If you were using the Phatty for Bass, i'd say it's worth a shot looking at some bass distortion pedals like the B7K, you'd get more versatility in shaping it than you do in the Sub Phatty for instance… But, all that being said… does the Phatty put out Instrument Level? Because the B7K is setup for guitar/instrument level outputs, it's not like the Moogerfoogers that'll accept line and instrument level.. so you'd need a re-amping box or something in that case…

It's also worth noting I think there is a bit of a natural frequency curve in both pedals that makes the T3 sound just a little bit more like a bass guitar.. but not in an unpleasant way.. as an example, on the right patch, especially something that emulates a bass guitar style sound (with it's beating and pulse envelopes the T3 seems really good at that..) you can hear that sort of bass guitar stringy quality around 600Hz, definently not a bad thing… doesn't show up on all patches either, but it's there. It shows up more if you turn the blend knob all the way to the right so you're just hearing the distortion circuit.

If a bass player with an unbalanced rig etc asked me "hey do you think I should try a B7K in my rig?" my answer would be straight out "yes and you will probably just leave it on forever once it's plugged in"… but in a balanced, low noise studio environment with synthesisers, a much wider freq range and stuff like that, it's a little more subjective.. the B7K isn't exactly a cheap pedal, but i'm definently happy with it for what I'm doing, it's added a lot of versatility to my Taurus and it's all at home on the floor where it should be. :D

I hope that gives you some insight.. speak up if you've got any more questions :D

EDIT: I did have some stuff in here about some popping I was getting the other day, but I've done some tests just and that was MIDI double triggering and causing things to act strangely, nothing to do with the stomp boxes
Also I tried moving some cables about and that helped with the noise in the B7K a little bit, whats left I suspect is normal for anything with a drive knob on it.
Last edited by psynthetic on Tue Jan 07, 2014 10:34 pm, edited 3 times in total.

psynthetic
Posts: 153
Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2012 3:26 am

Re: Post your latest purchase!!

Post by psynthetic » Tue Jan 07, 2014 10:05 pm

Actually.. I might try and post a video or audio clip soon (next day or two) so you guys can hear for yourselves ay?

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stiiiiiiive
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Re: Post your latest purchase!!

Post by stiiiiiiive » Fri Jan 10, 2014 3:04 am

Thanks for this complete, detailed testimonial Psynthetic :)

Indeed I use my Phatty most of the time for bass duties, which explains why I like the VT Bass and have interest in such bass character pedals.
About the level vs. instrument level, I feel I haven't had so much "problems" so far. Foogers and most EHX are quite open, they constitute a wide part of my pedal park. The only one I had obvious trouble with is the Carl Martin Headroom, whose springs can severely hsake if driven to hot.

A video or recording will definitely be welcome BTW!

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David Smyth
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Re: Post your latest purchase!!

Post by David Smyth » Mon Jan 13, 2014 1:51 am

So I may or may not have just snapped up a Voyager XL that popped up locally.. :oops:

Add that to my Phatty poly-chain and other Moog goodies and I don't think I'll be leaving the house!! :lol:

David.
NZ
Minimoog Voyager XL, Little Phatty Stage II + CV Output Mod, 2x Slim Phatty, Minitaur, MP-201, EP-2, 2x CP-251, MF-102, MF-104M, MF-107

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stiiiiiiive
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Re: Post your latest purchase!!

Post by stiiiiiiive » Mon Jan 13, 2014 5:32 am

Congrats!! :)

Reminds me of my bandmate yesterday:
My bandmate wrote:"I'm amongst those people who don't care about not going out on saturday night provided they can play music at home, are you too? I mean guys, leave me alone, I'm good!!"
:lol:

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noddyspuncture
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Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 7:57 pm

Re: Post your latest purchase!!

Post by noddyspuncture » Mon Jan 13, 2014 6:45 am

Image

I went for the dotcom sequencer in the end. Really wanted an original R.A.Moog one but after reading Kevin Lightner's opinions somewhere else here, it made sense. There are lots of those unobtainable IC's in the Moog 960... :(

Cheers,
Tom

EMwhite
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Re: Post your latest purchase!!

Post by EMwhite » Mon Jan 13, 2014 10:06 am

re: 960 you definitely did the right thing. Always buy the modern equivalent unless you are prepared to replace components (assuming they are available!) and the dot com 960 is really really good, includes the quirks (umm... features) of the original as well.

You'll even find hardcore Moog Modular owners with dot com 960s in their rig. Congrats, I've always wanted one but can never get the $$ together when I'm in the mood for one.

The sequential switch is a must, as a next purchase and luckily, very affordable.
'76 Minimoog, Taurus 3, Oberheim FVS + Son of 2-voice; Sequential ProOne; Juno 106; Moog Model 15; Kurzweil 250; Hammond M3; and a handful of Fender Basses Flickr!

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noddyspuncture
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Re: Post your latest purchase!!

Post by noddyspuncture » Mon Jan 13, 2014 11:19 am

Yes, thanks for the confirmation... I did also get the sequential switch and the trigger buss modules with the Q960...! My image link isn't working, but if you right-click and open the image/link in another window you'll see all three there.... :)

My next purchase would be the Q961 - but do I really need two, with only the one Q960...?
You see I notice the Moog 961 contains basically two of what the Q961 is...!?

Cheers,
Tom

EMwhite wrote:re: 960 you definitely did the right thing. Always buy the modern equivalent unless you are prepared to replace components (assuming they are available!) and the dot com 960 is really really good, includes the quirks (umm... features) of the original as well.

You'll even find hardcore Moog Modular owners with dot com 960s in their rig. Congrats, I've always wanted one but can never get the $$ together when I'm in the mood for one.

The sequential switch is a must, as a next purchase and luckily, very affordable.

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Vsyevolod
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Re: Post your latest purchase!!

Post by Vsyevolod » Mon Jan 13, 2014 4:12 pm

http://www.flickr.com/photos/103197652@ ... otostream/

Try using the URL instead of Img tab, at least you'll get a link posted...

Stephen




.

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GregAE
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Re: Post your latest purchase!!

Post by GregAE » Sat Jan 18, 2014 11:34 am

Speaking of the 960, I just picked up a Box 11 cab & Q963 Trigger bus to complete my Moog sequencer clone...

Image

Custom wood end cheeks will be added later... :-)

EricK
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Re: Post your latest purchase!!

Post by EricK » Sat Jan 18, 2014 12:18 pm

Okay those are some great pictures, and I don't know what is more awesome, the synth or the RA Moog sign.
I'd love to see some usage of those 701's
Support the Bob Moog Foundation:
https://moogfoundation.org/do-something-2/donate/

I think I hear the mothership coming.

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red
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Re: Post your latest purchase!!

Post by red » Wed Feb 05, 2014 10:29 am

moog coin


Image

collect 99 moog coins and get a sub-37 for free :mrgreen:
::red

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Voltor07
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Re: Post your latest purchase!!

Post by Voltor07 » Wed Feb 05, 2014 6:44 pm

Is the Moog coin the analog version of Bit Coin? :P
Minitaur, CP-251, EHX #1 Echo, EHX Space Drums/Crash Pads, QSC GX-3, Pyramid stereo power amp, Miracle Pianos, Walking Stick ribbon controller, Synthutron.com, 1983 Hammond organ, dot com modular.

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thealien666
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Re: Post your latest purchase!!

Post by thealien666 » Wed Feb 05, 2014 7:35 pm

You're saying that each Moog coin is worth $15 ? :mrgreen:
Moog Minimoog D (1975)
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fishman77
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Re: Post your latest purchase!!

Post by fishman77 » Wed Feb 05, 2014 7:37 pm

Some new stuff since my last post, but mostly showing off my newly repainted room and wall mounted keyboard rack. These are before wiring so it's a little messier now. I still need to hang stuff on walls and I have tracking lighting on order.

Image
Untitled by TheSolutionMusic, on Flickr
Image
Untitled by TheSolutionMusic, on Flickr
Adam Embree
www.thesolutionmusic.com

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