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BB Pre: based on Xotic BB preamp
Xotic is an American company that is known for its quality effects (such as RC Booster, AC Booster, Robotalk) and also builds guitars and basses.
The BB preamp pedal is one of their overdrive pedals, well-known as a mainstay pedal on Andy Timmons' pedalboard.
Timmons also has his own signature edition of the pedal, released in a limited edition. Xotic actually manufactured several versions of the BB preamp, with varying amounts of compression, as described here. We'll stick to discussing the basic version.
The BB preamp can turn a pristine clean amp into a rock monster through its preamp gain stage, and/or add smoothness and compression to an already overdriven tone, as demonstrated in Andy Timmons' video below. It does this with the help of a built-in preamp gain stage, according to the company website. While the pedal doesn't sound like a Tube Screamer IMHO, it's partly based on that circuit.
If you like the Xotic sound, but want a thicker and warmer (darker) tone, for example for single note leads, check out the AC Booster. I often find myself alternating between the BB and AC, unable to decide which I prefer.
"BB" actually stands for "Bluesbreaker", Marshall's vintage 2x12 combo amp which was used by Eric Clapton in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers.
Fractal's Audio BB Pre model was last updated in Quantum 6.0.
Of course the Drive block allows us to adjust far more things than the modeled pedal: Bias, Slew, Mix, Low Cut and High Cut and other parameters are available to us. But that's beyond the scope of this thread. Those parameters are discussed in the manual and wiki.
Personal notes:
While I don't own the BB preamp pedal anymore, the model truly sounds like I remember it.
The model is great for achieving authentic-sounding overdriven tones in combination with a clean amp model. And without changing its settings it also works well to boost an overdriven amp. That's why IMHO the BB Pre should be a prime candidate to choose from for Drive when using the AX8 with its single Amp block.
About CPU usage:
More Xotic BB preamp videos ...
Link to the list of published threads
BB Pre: based on Xotic BB preamp
Xotic is an American company that is known for its quality effects (such as RC Booster, AC Booster, Robotalk) and also builds guitars and basses.
The BB preamp pedal is one of their overdrive pedals, well-known as a mainstay pedal on Andy Timmons' pedalboard.
Timmons also has his own signature edition of the pedal, released in a limited edition. Xotic actually manufactured several versions of the BB preamp, with varying amounts of compression, as described here. We'll stick to discussing the basic version.
The BB preamp can turn a pristine clean amp into a rock monster through its preamp gain stage, and/or add smoothness and compression to an already overdriven tone, as demonstrated in Andy Timmons' video below. It does this with the help of a built-in preamp gain stage, according to the company website. While the pedal doesn't sound like a Tube Screamer IMHO, it's partly based on that circuit.
If you like the Xotic sound, but want a thicker and warmer (darker) tone, for example for single note leads, check out the AC Booster. I often find myself alternating between the BB and AC, unable to decide which I prefer.
"BB" actually stands for "Bluesbreaker", Marshall's vintage 2x12 combo amp which was used by Eric Clapton in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers.
Xotic:
"The BB Preamp offers a wide variety of sounds. It's capable of a 30dB+ clean boost with an adjustable ±15dB two band active EQ which adds a wide range of harmonic content to your ideal sound. The BB also utilizes a pre-gain stage which allows the pedal to go from a very pristine clean to a very smooth, compressed, overdriven sound."
"The BB Preamp offers a wide variety of sounds. It's capable of a 30dB+ clean boost with an adjustable ±15dB two band active EQ which adds a wide range of harmonic content to your ideal sound. The BB also utilizes a pre-gain stage which allows the pedal to go from a very pristine clean to a very smooth, compressed, overdriven sound."
Fractal's Audio BB Pre model was last updated in Quantum 6.0.
Cliff:
"Works just like the real thing here. Tons of gain, too much IMO but I didn't design it."
The real pedal has four knobs:"Works just like the real thing here. Tons of gain, too much IMO but I didn't design it."
- Gain: controls the amount of overdrive (model: Drive control).
There's enough gain on tap to turn a clean amp into a stack with the help of the pedal's gain stage, even when leaving Drive at its default 12 o'clock position
- Volume: sets the output level (model: Level control).
The pedal has an enormous amount of output level available, and so does the model. Its not strange to have to set the Level control at a low value for unity gain. - Bass and Treble (active EQ): the two active tone controls on the real pedal are handy tools to sculpt the tone, cutting or boosting lows and highs (+/- 15 dB). While the model also provides active Bass and Treble controls, they visually don't exactly behave the same as on the pedal.
Of course the Drive block allows us to adjust far more things than the modeled pedal: Bias, Slew, Mix, Low Cut and High Cut and other parameters are available to us. But that's beyond the scope of this thread. Those parameters are discussed in the manual and wiki.
Personal notes:
While I don't own the BB preamp pedal anymore, the model truly sounds like I remember it.
The model is great for achieving authentic-sounding overdriven tones in combination with a clean amp model. And without changing its settings it also works well to boost an overdriven amp. That's why IMHO the BB Pre should be a prime candidate to choose from for Drive when using the AX8 with its single Amp block.
About CPU usage:
- Fractal Audio's Drive models take up varying amounts of CPU. The BB Pre is one of those which require a lot.
- When a Drive block is engaged, CPU percentage will rise during playing, because CPU usage is "amplitude dependent".
More Xotic BB preamp videos ...
Link to the list of published threads
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