BBE Sonic Maximizer

Jeff B

Jeff B

Inspired
Hello all. Since I've acquired my AFX, I have slowly been selling off my rack gear that isn't of use to me any longer. One item I have in my rack that I have used in my FX loop is a BBE SM. Now, I'm not exactly sure how they worked, but it did seem to help my tone sound better somehow. I believe that it's a frequency dependent delay that tries to obtain a better phase relationship of the sounds coming out of the speaker. Thats my understanding. As long as you didn't go crazy with the process knob, I felt it tightened things up, especially on some guitar amps that tend to have a lot of low-mids - like Mesa Dual Recs.

My question is, since I'd like to lighten my gear load, does the AFX have an effect block that could be used to simulate a BBE in the event that I would ever want to use it to experiment with my sound? Since many of you have a much better understanding of frequency and tone than I, I'm sure someone can maybe give me a good explanation on how what exactly a BBE is doing and how it may be acquired in a AFX. Thanks!
 
It's a terrible piece of gear.

I own one and can't get rid of the damn thing.

There's an interesting demonstration on it.
Basically, it doesn't have true bypass. When it's bypassed it has a massive low frequency cut that starts at 300hz so whatever you are running it through automatically tricks you into making it sound less girthy. As soon as you turn it on, it exaggerates several low end and high end frequencies to make it sound like everything is much better and it exaggerates this effect because of the initial low end cut that occurs simply from plugging your gear into this thing.

In reality, it just scoops the hell out of the midrange that is crucial in making a guitar cut in a mix and messes with the phase. This is bad because the guitar is a MID RANGE instrument.

Here's the video.
 
Thanks for sharing that video. I wish I knew how to use analyzer software like that to test gear. It's amazing how our ears can trick us sometimes into believing something that isn't there.

Hopefully I can eBay it and lighten my load since the AFX has all the PEQ power to do exactly the same thing, if one so chooses.
 
ALaz502 said:
It's a terrible piece of gear.

I own one and can't get rid of the damn thing.

There's an interesting demonstration on it.
Basically, it doesn't have true bypass. When it's bypassed it has a massive low frequency cut that starts at 300hz so whatever you are running it through automatically tricks you into making it sound less girthy. As soon as you turn it on, it exaggerates several low end and high end frequencies to make it sound like everything is much better and it exaggerates this effect because of the initial low end cut that occurs simply from plugging your gear into this thing.

In reality, it just scoops the hell out of the midrange that is crucial in making a guitar cut in a mix and messes with the phase. This is bad because the guitar is a MID RANGE instrument.

Here's the video.
Click to expand...


I could NOT agree more!! Hate the things.
 
That thing is a sure fire way to ruin your tone. Ya it makes your guitar sound good because it boosts the lows and highs like a loudness button but put it in a mix and poof, guitar disappears.
 
TheGoatLord said:
That thing is a sure fire way to ruin your tone. Ya it makes your guitar sound good because it boosts the lows and highs like a loudness button but put it in a mix and poof, guitar disappears.
Click to expand...

I suppose that's why I thought it was helping my sound, because I only ever used it when I was playing alone or just jamming with some friends. I never tried using it in a mix or live, and I'm glad I never did. I feel quite gullible now that I look back on it and hear the truth from you guys.
 
Jeff B said:
I suppose that's why I thought it was helping my sound, because I only ever used it when I was playing alone or just jamming with some friends. I never tried using it in a mix or live, and I'm glad I never did. I feel quite gullible now that I look back on it and hear the truth from you guys.
Click to expand...


I too fell prey to its allure when I had a recto. Took me all of one show to realize how wrong I was haha.
 
My fellow guitarist in my band also fell pry to the BBE. We have virtually identical set ups. We have the same power amp, EMG pickups, different cabs but still Vintage 30's in them. But for some unknown reason he put the BBE in the effects loop. Keep in mind, he bought most of this setup because he liked the way the Axe-fx sounded. We tried from weeks to get that thing to sound like mine but it just wasn't right. And he would say "listen to the difference when i have it on bypass". And he was right, it did sound better than bypassed. Then i saw that video and i knew what the problem was. We took it out of the effects loop, and it was like a totally new amp, and sounds great now. Now the BBE collects dust.
 
I have a BBE in our PA rig and it works like a charm aligning the various frequency ranges, thus tightening the sound of the PA. Once for a laugh, I tried it in my guitar rig and yes, it just plain sucked. I'd never put one in, it was awful.
 
I used the plugin version for a few weeks. It sounded great at first, much like how music sounds great limited to 10,000db at first. Then you slowly realise its just ruined everything.
 
I guess one reason that it suited me... Or I thought... Is that when I EQ my amp, I always add bass (7-8), add treble (6-7) and cut mids (3-4). In essence I do exactly what the BBE does. Add the BBE in and it even accentuates that even more and adding more of that "loudness" factor. So I guess my ears were like, "yeah, that sounds good!" But now I see, with its NOT true bypass how it tricks you into thinking it's doing much more than it is.

Are there any applications where this thing could be useful? I'd hate to think that all of us musicians that ever used this thing just got conned.
 
Jeff B said:
I guess one reason that it suited me... Or I thought... Is that when I EQ my amp, I always add bass (7-8), add treble (6-7) and cut mids (3-4). In essence I do exactly what the BBE does. Add the BBE in and it even accentuates that even more and adding more of that "loudness" factor. So I guess my ears were like, "yeah, that sounds good!" But now I see, with its NOT true bypass how it tricks you into thinking it's doing much more than it is.

Are there any applications where this thing could be useful? I'd hate to think that all of us musicians that ever used this thing just got conned.
Click to expand...

Cutting mids in an amp is still different than using something like the Sonic Maximizer. The mid knob on a guitar amp generally has an eq curve thats suits that particular amp.
The Maximizer has a very wide mid scoop though. This oversscoops the amp until the tone is sucked dry.

It has some applications when it comes to PA systems.

And musicians get conned into buying crappy and unnecessary gear CONSTANTLY. Companies know we are tone seekers that love to fiddle and mess with stuff. They also know that ears are one of the easiest things to trick.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk
 
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ALaz502 said:
Cutting mids in an amp is still different than using something like the Sonic Maximizer. The mid knob on a guitar amp generally has an eq curve thats suits that particular amp.
The Maximizer has a very wide mid scoop though. This oversscoops the amp until the tone is sucked dry.

It has some applications when it comes to PA systems.

And musicians get conned into buying crappy and unnecessary gear CONSTANTLY. Companies know we are tone seekers that love to fiddle and mess with stuff. They also know that ears are one of the easiest things to trick.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I suppose we're like golfers. Always buying anything that sounds like it'll offer us the "holy grail" of tone, in this case. ⛳️
 
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