OT - Sonic Maximisers

[Bungo]

OK - Apologies as this isn't EBMM related but I don't hang out anywhere else gear related so...

Just ordered a BBE Sonic Stomp without trying one as a bit of an experiment.

Anyone got any experience (good or bad) with this or other similar products?

Cheers.

 

[lock-ny]

Bungo I dont wanna kill it for you but its basically just an EQ, it does tighten up the sound and it will be fun for weeks, but after time youll see it takes something away as well, a good QG pedal will give you the same effect - I had one imn my rack for years and slowly It stopped getting used...

 

[pjc812]

The only amp I've heard this pedal muddy up was a Krank and a Gallien Krueger. It does wonders for any Marshall or Randall you can hook it into, as well as most solid state amplifiers. Run it through your effects loop, it does precious little in front of the amp. That's just been my experience with it.

 

[Dreamrycher]

I own the rack mounted maximizer and love it. It is just an elaborate tone control, but it ads the "sparkling" highs. I use it on both acoustic and electric tracks when recording. I have nothing but praises for the sonic maximizer.

 

[KISSMYBALLS]

i have a rack unit BBE also...they are nice...worth every penny!!!

 

[TonyEVH5150]

I've bought the Sonic Stomp. Still playing around with it. Trying to find its sweet spot in terms of settings and its placement in my pedal chain. I had a recommendation to put it first in the chain from someone, and I've tried it last in the chain. Still haven't found the sound I like out of it.

 

[shredderbetter]

I've been using the bbe's since late 80's the pedal is ok~ not as good as the rack mount it's NOT an eq unit at all it is a time alignment of the harmonic content on any audio signal I use them in my pa~+ 3 road rigs etc. What is does it tightens or retimes the harmonic output of the signal ~bass is a longer slowwer wave as opposed to treble a much quicker wave the bbe time delays and makes it so the sound reaches the power/ speaker at the sweet spot of time so they can be reproduced at the optimal time for both sound and power to be reproduced(unnoticable delay 2-3 ms) they take about 2 minutes to find the sweetspot(around 10-3) and then your set ,i used the pedal when it first came out I thought it was good but the rack is a bit nicer!
hope this helps!
JG

 

[Bungo]

Thanks folks.

Interesting that there are always conflicting opinions on almost everything.

No worries about 'killing it' for me. I'm old and wise enough now to know that most things are hit and miss anyway.

I'll give it a go. If it improves things - great. If I don't get on with it, it'll be back to the 'bay for it!

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

The Stoner has one that he uses with his 5150. From what I understand its like a loudness controll on a stereo system - sounds great for a bit, then it just sounds a bit false. But hey! Your milage may vary!

 

[moanjam]

i use a randall mts series rm4 modular preamp and a matching rt-250 poweramp (has a el34 and a 6l6 side) and i use rockman modules for fx in the fx loop (stereo chorus and stereo echo). after the rockmodules i run through an old bbe 422a sonic maximizer and let me tell you, when it's 'off', the sound coming from my setup is lifeless and there is no depth. when it's 'on', all the 'life' and 'depth' gets put back into the tone. i CANNOT LIVE without my bbe sonic maximizer in the fx loop! i'm that set on it. if you've ever seen curt mitchell's van halen 'learn to burn' videos, he has one and he demonstrates how when it's bypassed the sound just dies. if you've never seen that video you should check it out. btw, i also have a jvc tv (just a plain crt tv - not an hd or lcd or anything fancy like that - and it has a bbe sound switch on it - it's the same thing - i will not have the switch turned off - it's gotta be on!)

 

[MusicManJP6]

I tried a BBE pedal with my Mesa Roadster (Dual Rectifier) and it made it sound too processed. I had an EQ that would give the same results, but not sound processed. I sold the BBE two weeks after I bought it...

It sounded killer with my friend's Marshall though. The amp is the deciding factor apparently...