Mornats

My bass playing these days is confined to recording into my PC. After the untimely death of my MarkBass CMD121P combo I bought a Laney Digbeth preamp and Bias FX software. Loving the tones of the Digbeth and it's working out a treat for me. I'm having great fun using Bias FX on guitar but have found that a few effects are better as actual pedals, namely an overdrive and compressor. I have an overdrive for guitar and was looking for a compressor that I could use on both guitar and bass (current favourite is the Orange Kongpressor). However, I've seen a few people talk about the Zoom multi effects pedals - the B1 Four being the one that I started looking at. So I'm wondering whether buying a B1 Four for the compressor models would be just as good as buying a dedicated compressor and whether the other effects in there are an improvement over the effects in Bias Fx (which I find to be very good to my ears - way better than Guitar Rig and better than Amplitube). On my list of pedals I'd like to buy are a compressor (guitar and bass) and a Rat distortion (guitar) which the Zoom B1 Four has so the Zoom is certainly a contender for less than the price of the Orange Kongpressor I'm looking at. Even better at £50 used from Basschat too. Any thoughts on this? I'd rather pay a little more for a couple of good pedals is the quality isn't up to snuff on the Zoom as I don't need a ton of effects. The Bias FX software has a few good compressors in it but I want to compress before I hit any pedals on the way into the PC and I find that overdrive/distortion sounds better in a stomp box than in the computer.

It does a boost and a cut, depending on what you dial in on the dial. If you leave the dial flat (at 5) then flicking the mids switch does nothing as that frequency is set flat until you boost or cut it.

Lots of good info here: This includes graphs to show exactly which frequencies the switch sets. It applies to the lower mid eq knob only. Edit: as Baloney above says, it also effects the Q. I have one and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Is that just the tube channel with a bit of drive or do you have any of the EQ dialled in?

In case you couldn't find it:

I really like it. Loads of options for tweaking the tone and the drive has a lot of options at the lower levels of the drive and I like subtle so it works for me. The ability to mix the tube and FET modes opens up some more options too. The lower-mid frequency switch has 3 very usable settings and I like them all. This is the best sound-shaping feature on it in my opinion. The tilt feels like it would be really useful but has to be used very much in moderation as it can get extreme quickly. I wouldn't say it had a distinct signature sound like the Ampeg preamps have for example but I like the sound of my bass to shine through and it does that well. I tend to go into Ampeg amp sims in the computer if I want that sound anyway. Other things that are handy are the headphone out and aux in. I'm doing mostly practice late at night, and recording into the computer and it does the job very well for that. I've not used it live as I'm not playing live at the moment and my Markbass died on me so I have no amp! I actually bought this pedal as an amp replacement. It's solidly built and looks good. Oh, it has an FX loop too which I'm sure I will absolutely need one day but have no idea what for yet.

That's right, no cab sim on the Digbeth (I own one).

The Laney Digbeth would be a good option as you can switch between the FET (clean) preamp and the tube, and have the tube setup with some drive on it. The footswitch can be set to do a swap between the FET and tube or add the tube as a mix to the FET. For the former, you can set the volume for the FET and tube separately so you could match them easily. For the OP, it might be worth checking this video out, it's pretty good for a comparison of lots of preamp pedals in situ, being played in different genres, in a band mix with a focus on the bass:

Thanks, and wow, they don't even try hide that they're copying the DG pedals!

I'm interested in these DG clones... Any pointers on where to look for them? Any specific named ones to search for?

I've got the Digbeth and love it. Nice range of tone controls, and that drive can be quite subtle but can be pushed a bit too. Would have liked a compressor perhaps like some other preamps have but maybe that's something a dedicated pedal would be much better at.

Wow, does it even sound like a bass anymore going through that lot? Nice to see a slicer in there, I've been tempted...

You know what, this reminds me. I have a Zander Sono bass distortion pedal. It's a got a fuzz setting and a preamp setting. The fuzz works fine into the Digbeth but the preamp does not increase the output volume. It's like the Digbeth is evening out the input signal. I didn't mention it in my post above as I thought a preamp into a preamp was not something you'd usually do. Another thing, I just tried plugging my passive bass into the active output whilst troubleshooting the interference (which I think is PSU related) and there was no perceivable difference in output volume. So this again makes me think it's evening out the input. Maybe shoot their support team an email. I did over the weekend and got a reply early today (Monday) so they're pretty responsive.

Well, yesterday was my birthday so I was allowed to visit PMT for the first time in years and I tried out the Digbeth. I compared it to an EHX Battalion and much preferred the Digbeth. Loads of usable sounds and nice tweaks and I love how the tube drive gives a nice range near the lower end of distortion which is just what I wanted. Had a quick noodle at home with headphones plugged in and it sounds great, except I get a lot of what sounds like electrical interference when I touch the strings. Not sure how to target that. Not had a chance to plug it into my audio interface yet but will report back once I have. Question: is it possible to plug the Digbeth directly into a powered monitor (Yamaha HS7)? XLR from the pedal to XLR on the monitor is what I'm thinking.

I have one of these which has a preamp and fuzz that can be activated independently or combined. The rip control on the fuzz really does rip your sound up.

Yeah this is the level of geekery I was hoping for from Basschat.

Thanks for posting these graphs, they're really interesting. I'm still planning on getting a Digbeth and its main use will be to DI into my audio interface so it's good to see where the controls lie on the EQ graph as I'm used to tweaking EQs that way.

Love the look of these. I'd have kept the gold pickguard myself but seeing as I have a gold one on my P bass that's not surprising

That looks good value, thanks. I'm going to try and demo the Laney Digbeth before buying anything. For me, the sound of the Laney EQ, and the saturation of the tube drive emulation, plus the headphone out are winning over the extra drive options of the Sansamp. I'm interested in that slight overdrive saturation, just-about-breaking-up sound more than a distorted sound (I have a Zander Sono that can rip the sound to shreds if needed). But good to know that Sansamps are within my reach if I go second-hand, which I don't mind doing.

If I get to try one in my local PMT I'll report back to let you know what I think.

Yeah, whilst I like the Sansamp sound I don't always want to record with it so I like the idea of being able to start from clean and add to it from there. The Laney Digbeth seems to do this which is why it's top of my list at the moment.

Much better! It's around £211 so not much out of my budget and they also do a stage EQ version that's cut down but cheaper. I'll check it out.

Man that Fishman is fugly but I've heard they sound great. I also noticed that Laney have some other bass pedals out and I quite like that compressor...

Thanks for the input everyone, super useful This! I think this may be the one. It seems to have a focus on the EQ and the drive sounds really nice, with that nice tube amp harmonic breakup of the bass. Headphone and line in would actually be super useful too. Comes in at a penny under budget too haha. What I liked, as demoed in the Anderton's video below, is when they put it in bypass and you got the plain bass sound, then switched bypass off and the sound just sounded a bit better, and fuller. That's what I want! And an added plus, it looks like my local PMT have them in stock so I can try one.