Black Box ?

Billy McCombs · From: Bakersfield California, USA

Forum members with BB. Im getting lots of E mails from members wanting to know more about the BB. Because I have only had mine for a short time maybe some of you guys that have had yours for a while could tell us what you think? Billy
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78 Emmons PP,Great tone.82 Emmons SKH #56

Paul King · From: Gainesville, Texas, USA

Billy, I have had mine now for about three months. It took some time but now I ssee the benefits of it. Brad has made a great product and he knows what a steel should sound like, not like some of the manufactures out there today.

Ron Randall · From: Dallas, Texas, USA

The effect on the sound is subtle.
Don't strain your ears listening for it.
Just dial it in and play.

A few days or sessions later, remove it. Then you will know.

Larry Hamilton · From: Amarillo,Tx

What Ron just said. However it is quite adjustable. I have found under most circumstances, somewhere around the 2 o'clock position is my sweet spot. I have fould that if i dial in a good tone on my amp but would like to brighten or darken the "whole" tone just a little, just adjust the SGBB. I have been playing mine nearly 2 years and wouldn't play without it. At least until I decide to get a Revelation which has a SGBB built in.

Keep experimenting. Between the amp and the SGBB there are a lot off really good usable tones. This is reall cool because sometimes different venues require really dirrerent setting to get a good tone.

These are my observations that I have come across. Good luck.
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Keep pickin', Larry

Marlin Smoot · From: Kansas

I've had mine a while now, maybe 3+ years and it has #45 marked on the inside (I don't know if that means its the 45th one or not) but I remember getting one almost as soon as they came out.

I bought it without any Forum member input and not by the advice of any steel players I knew personally - I bought it from the marketing Brad did from his website.

I remember the first day I used it, I didn't think there was much to it, then after taking it on a job and two nights later, I finally dialed into a really sweet tone with the BB. It took a short time to understand it - but now I wouldn't want to play without it.

Its hard for me to put into words what it does, others have done a really good job of explaining that but I think it helps give you a nice studio like tone in a live setting, like your live sound is being mastered as you play - as in recording. Voiced for steel, even my Tele sounds good with it, almost the classic Class A sound with my Session 400/JBL when I have to use one amp for both guitars.

I recently put a new tube in it - a JJ 12AX7 - lt lasted about 10 hours before the BB uses up all the good juice from that tube - I went back to the 12AU7; a Ruby Tube and it calmed down and smoothed out and it still sounds great. The 12AX7 will burn faster in the BB - it will still work for a longer time than 10 hours but the chime/sparkle will leave that tube much quicker.
Your results may be different.

I think Brad has put together something special - and he's a steel player, I think that speaks volumes of him and his products.

Brad Sarno · From: St. Louis, MO USA

Billy,

There are a number of things I could say to describe what the BB does, but mainly what I'd say is that it sweetens and smooths the highs. What this means in practice is that it makes it much easier to EQ a steel to sound balanced. You can dial in a tone where your low strings are nice and clear without making the high strings too shrill or harsh. In a completely transistor setup, it's often very hard to find that balance. People will mellow their settings on their amp so the high strings are not harsh, but then they find that they've removed so much treble that the low strings now sound dull. The Black Box tube circuit lets you keep things bright and clear, but without the harshness that comes with transistors.

The BB does not re-voice or EQ your sound, it's actually a very high fidelity, flat response device. This makes is also very universal for pretty much any kind of instrument or audio signal, but it was definitely invented for steel guitar pickups.

Also, the variable impedance knob on the Black Box acts as a tone control for the pickup itself. This can also be very useful at getting the exact brightness response out of the pickup. This lets you use that control for the pickup, and then your amp tone controls are for the amp and speaker sound itself.

I do find this interesting. Many Black Box users comment not on how dramatic it is when they first hook it up, but instead they comment on how dramatic it is when they remove it. One tip for all BB users is to always let it warm up before you really audition how it sounds. You can use it right away because it's up and running in 15 seconds, but after 5 to 20 minutes with the tube fully hot, that's when it sounds its best.

Brad

Billy McCombs · From: Bakersfield California, USA

Brad, How do you like the way that I got the BB off of the floor? I like the way that Im able to use the tone knob as I please when Im playing with out bending over. Really like that BB! thanks
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78 Emmons PP,Great tone.82 Emmons SKH #56

Marc Jenkins · From: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Can anyone compare how the Black Box affects your steel's tone compared to a Matchbox?

Brad Sarno · From: St. Louis, MO USA

Billy,

I think that's pretty cool. The main reason I've avoided doing that, well two reasons, are that the original BB had no knob, and mainly because it's so darn heavy. A steel box with a 300 volt supply is just a heavy thing. But you know, the more and more I use that Vari-Z knob, the more it makes sense to do what you have there.

Lately I've been using the Revelation preamp, and not a Black Box since the Black Box is built into the Rev. With the Rev in a rack right next to me, I have easy access to that knob. But if I switched back to the BB with an amp, I'd miss that easy access. Kudos!

Brad

David Wren · From: Placerville, California, USA

I've had mine for almost two years now, and absolutly love it. The way I describe the change in sound to other steelers is: it's like that first chord you hit after replacing your 6 month old strings with new ones Smile

(Jagwires of course)
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Dave Wren
'96 Carter U12,7X7; 1936 7 string National; Line 6 HX Stomp; Quilter TT-15/TB202; Quilter "Steelaire"; DV Mark "GH 250"with 15" 1501 BW; Boss "Katana" 100 Head w/Line 6 Cab; Telonics VP.

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