Boutique Gear: When did you fall for them?
- Thread starter ShredCow
- Start date
He put himself on the Blackstone waiting list.
bluepowder
New member
Is Visual Sound also Boutique :lol:
Looking at the route66 and jekyl and hyde....suggested by misse...wanted to know what u guys think.. :wink:
Looking at the route66 and jekyl and hyde....suggested by misse...wanted to know what u guys think.. :wink:
I'll try to post something up again. The clips on its own really don't show "much". When you hear it in comparison with other OD? light distortion pedals, you well a big difference. Like a blanket being taken off your amp you know? 
Cliché.
There's so much more dynamics here in this Blackstone. Period. Though, I would like to try the Eternity. Or HoneyBee. Or COT. Or OCD.
Cliché. There's so much more dynamics here in this Blackstone. Period. Though, I would like to try the Eternity. Or HoneyBee. Or COT. Or OCD.
bluepowder
New member
tried the jekyl and hyde sounded kickass to me but it was through that massive fender tube amp in g77...ps
G77 rocks...customer service 11/10
still...what do yall think
G77 rocks...customer service 11/10
still...what do yall think
bluepowder said:
i use the Jekyll and Hyde red - i find it has more than enough gain for me.
tone-wise, it's got very cutting distortion tones esp with the 'sharp' switch on (some might find it too harsh or sharp) but it suits hard rock and punk very well. with the 'sharp' switch off, it sounds a bit muddy with humbuckers - but you can tweak it with the tone control.
the EQ knob also allows you to do a 'mid-scoop' setting for thrashy metal tones but it does not perform this very well. i rely on an EQ pedal placed after the J&H for those kinda settings.
i dont use the Jekyll side of it as often, so i cant comment as much, but i can say it does its job fairly well. i keep the bass boost switch on all the time, sounds thin without it. i can get growling overdriven tones from the bridge pickup in my tele (texas specials), cleans up decently too.
i wouldnt dare compare the Jekyll side to a dedicated boutique overdrive pedal (blackstone is the word on all the SOFTies' lips now, hehe), but i think it should do better than most mainstream OD boxes (disclaimer: i have not really used other mainstream OD pedals, so dont take my word on this
)theblueark
New member
The blackstone is wide open. Very hifi.
The J&H overdrive side is a ts808 circuit.
If you like a tube amp with a tube rectifier being overdriven. When you hit a note or chord hard, it sags and compresses, then blooms out. If you want your notes to have focus at the mid frequencies. Then go for a tubescreamer.
If you like modern tones with little compression and a very open, controllable and predictable sound, go for the mosfet based overdrives like the blackstone and the super duper 2 in 1.
The tubescreamer is more in your face, punching you in one focused spot.
The blackstone is wide open outside the box, slapping you from every direction.
Myself I didn't like the blackstone at all when I tried it. I like my notes to squish and mumble and bloom. I like my chords to have focus. The blackstone just dirties up when you hit harder, but offers no change in the frequencies and compression. To me that's actually less 'organic'. 'Organic' to me means the tone has a life of it's own the note changes as I hit it and hold on to it till it dies.
The blackstone might be able to push a tube rectifier amp enough to make it sag more, that i'm not sure.
One thing for sure though, two guitarists using a blackstone-ish pedal in a band will cover a lot of space frequency wise, and you'll probably get kind of lost. Two guitarists with tubescreamers will give you the opposite effect in that the band will sound rather lowfi, coming from one direction. One of each gives a happy medium with the open guy creating an openess and the tubescreamer guy cutting through.
The J&H overdrive side is a ts808 circuit.
If you like a tube amp with a tube rectifier being overdriven. When you hit a note or chord hard, it sags and compresses, then blooms out. If you want your notes to have focus at the mid frequencies. Then go for a tubescreamer.
If you like modern tones with little compression and a very open, controllable and predictable sound, go for the mosfet based overdrives like the blackstone and the super duper 2 in 1.
The tubescreamer is more in your face, punching you in one focused spot.
The blackstone is wide open outside the box, slapping you from every direction.
Myself I didn't like the blackstone at all when I tried it. I like my notes to squish and mumble and bloom. I like my chords to have focus. The blackstone just dirties up when you hit harder, but offers no change in the frequencies and compression. To me that's actually less 'organic'. 'Organic' to me means the tone has a life of it's own the note changes as I hit it and hold on to it till it dies.
The blackstone might be able to push a tube rectifier amp enough to make it sag more, that i'm not sure.
One thing for sure though, two guitarists using a blackstone-ish pedal in a band will cover a lot of space frequency wise, and you'll probably get kind of lost. Two guitarists with tubescreamers will give you the opposite effect in that the band will sound rather lowfi, coming from one direction. One of each gives a happy medium with the open guy creating an openess and the tubescreamer guy cutting through.
bluepowder said:
JnH brings clarity punch to any warm sounding amps. Thru that Fender at G77, it sings right thru w/out the piercing effect. The red channel has a real smooth distortion, tone/eq knobs gives nice mid-range options. whether thru strats or humbucker guitars, its been good.
snuffleupagus
New member
blue ark....make ur own blackstone lah.....i know you're thinking it.....hahahah
bluepowder
New member
thanks for your opinions guys
...was looking for a distortion with a nice high gainey lead tone....
...was looking for a distortion with a nice high gainey lead tone.... theblueark said:
Actually... there is compression, but way way less than a TS type pedal.
Anyway, this saturday, do give the Blackstone another go. That day @ G77, treble was too high and internal gain too high (see below) so it sounded wrong. It seems very few ppl like the kind of modern, hi fi tones I like...
Anyway, about the Blackstone, I did realise, after tweaking the internal 2nd stage (Blackstone is a 4-stage gain MOSFET circuit) gain, that the higher you go on that, the more mids are in the red channel. It would be more excellent for a low output guitar or single coils, and so that was the "wrong" setting that time I brought it to G77. I wanted it more flat eq-ed.
So last night, opened up the BS (again) and tweaked. The Treble trimpot is dependant on the level of the internal gain trim pot. GAH. The BS is like a Hellbilly but with more controls that interact with each other!
So far, the BS is still killing. The Vipers really show their characteristics thru the BS, I recall my old TS9DX was just awfully colouring the tone with this mid hump. The TS type is good for rhythm though. Compressed = more consistant rhythm tones. Just... dont' want consistant lead dynamics...
bluepowder
New member
Alright I got another one for ya
Who has a V-stack??? :twisted:
Who has a V-stack??? :twisted:
theblueark
New member
ShredCow said:
Nah not a lot of people heard it yet. But it's probably also that this kind of open tones don't do that well in a band, unless there are few instruments or the guitar is just adding soundscapes. Probably great for bedroom playing giving that 'blanket off the amp' effect. I never saw what the problem was with the blanket on anyway.
I could imagine the edge using this though. Will be great for his soundscapes.
theblueark said:
In my experience in MDC, when playing with 2 guitars, 1 bass, 1 keyboard, 1 sax and drums... "blanket over the amp" does not cut in any way. Have to vol boost to cut. Its like a dull sound...
Btw, many omments on TGP hail the Blackstone as a suberb od/dist for live playing.
In that sense of the blanket over amp effect, I'm considering selling my demeter mid boost off. It adds compression and this blanket (mids) that I cannot stand anymore... *RANDOLF, YER HEAR! I'm considering SELLING it!*
okay okay, i realised "blanket over amp" has a different meaing than what I intended to say.
What I meant was. The Blackstone, when you strum chords esp, you can hear the harmonics ringing around. Its all there. Outstanding. Its not about treble/precense but about the harmonics. Take a TS9, and strum, compare, big diff. TS9 ain't getting any where near the harmonics of the BS. The clips on the BS website give a good idea of this effect.
What I meant was. The Blackstone, when you strum chords esp, you can hear the harmonics ringing around. Its all there. Outstanding. Its not about treble/precense but about the harmonics. Take a TS9, and strum, compare, big diff. TS9 ain't getting any where near the harmonics of the BS. The clips on the BS website give a good idea of this effect.
