Unboxing / Build thread

So, tired of lining the floor with test produce, pulling it out, piece by piece, assembling, testing, playing, practicing, disassembling, and putting away piece by piece every day. My current living arrangement does not allow for me to just leave it out.

So, I just got this;

So this is the pedal board, it is 14 by 12 inch. Not sure if it will be big enuf, I have a larger one ordered as well, but won’t ship til Monday. So if I can be happy with this, will cancel the larger one (which really is not that much larger, but might make all the difference in the world. This was only $40, so if it works, great!

I got these yesterday and today. (And last week)
The Behringer BDI-21 new from GC ($33)
Boss TU-2 Used on Let Go ($30)
Zoom U-22 Used on BassBuzz ($35)
Ammon Retro Fuzz New on Amazon ($22.99)
Dinner mini Harmonic Square -amazon($24.99)
(Both pedals have gone up since I ordered them. I would not have ordered at current price.)
I heard the two pedals tested on bass on YT, and they sounded pretty good. The nexpensive price allowed for me to test them out. If no good, back they go. I have already returned 3 pedals I tested last week. I bought all this staff, pedal boards in lauded, with credit from stuff returned.

These I have had for some time.
Zoom B1 Four from Amazon new ($79.99)
Behringer BLE 400 NEW/pawn shop ($15)

Love the zoom for practice amp, drum loops / metronome, and one or four presets. I love playing with it in stomp box mode, and playing with certain effects, chain order, sounds modeled off of many stomp boxes, and amps / cabs. And I get “OK” results when building chains. But I get better sound “in my opinion only” when chaining pedals (with the Zoom inline for some single effects turned on, in different places un the chain, etc…
But it’s a great little, highly universal unit and I love it and learn from it, and often practiced with I’d until I got my Orange Crush Amp, which is just more convenient to plug headphones into.
It is higher off the ground. If I move my head too far it doesn’t yank the pedal chain, or the zoom unit off the table if I am on,y pkugged into it, it just feels a little better to be connected to,

The Behringer BLE (Bass Limiter / Enhancer) is a great pedal. It is a Limiter compression pedal, not a compression / sustainer pedal, of which Behringer makes as well, but I have not tried it.
Both pedals are direct copies of the Boss pedals, LMB and CS pedals. The Boss is rated as the 2nd best Bass Compression pedal on the website @howard showed me, dedicated to compression pedals for Bass. The Behringer is listed as the low cost alternative to the Boss pedal.
I really love the pedal from the first time I used it. Way before I saw that list, and before I even was on BassBuzz. For the $15 spent, it was gold. For the $29 they are (when available) they are still a great buy IMHO.

Not sure where I am going with this build yet, not sure I will keep the Ammon or Donner pedal,
But gonna have some fun building.

Oh yeah, I have a power supply as well.
The BDI-21 will be on the board, not sure if the Zoom U-22 will be or not, may be on the side.
The B1 Four will hang around where it fits for now, but prob won’t be a permenant member on board.

More to come, gotta run for now.
.

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Awesome! Once it’s all together add it to the thread:

FWIW I wouldn’t put the DAI on the board, I would leave it with whatever it is going to connect to (usually computer, but also could be tablet or amp) but that’s just me.

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The @PamPurrs U-22? :open_mouth:
You are a most fortunate man.

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Thanks @howard. I most likely will. This size holds way more then it appears it would.
I got everything I have laid out on it (not connected, and I know that’s a game to be played to get everything correct) and there is a lot of space, especially considering the B1-Four will not be a permenant part of the puzzle, but for now it serves a purpose.

I will add finished result to that thread for sure. For now I want to use this as a build thread, and I hope to be able to critique the inexpensive pedals that I may be constantly cycling thru til I get the right set up.

Hoping, at some point to be able to record sound blips, so you will be able to hear the pedals and pedal combos I test.

I will have questions and am open to suggestions from all.

First question for @howard, @PamPurrs, or anybody else,
On my BDI-21. The mic / XLR out. Do I need, or ant to use that in my set up to the IPad? Should it go XLR out to the MIC / Hi Z line in on the U-22, oh is 1/4” standard acceptable? If I need, or shoot, can you recommend an appropriate cable?

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That’s the DI out on the BDI-21 and I would definitely run it to the DAI in. Then you can run an instrument cable out from the BDI-21 line out to the line in on your amp.

The reason for this is that you will eventually presumably be using the DAI with a computer over USB, and the ground lift may come in very handy then. I get a ground loop on mine if I don’t do that.

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Great, I was thinking that was the case. Can you show me a cable to get for this @howard , two different connectors?

No, should just be a normal XLR cable. U-22 has a combo line/XLR jack like most DAI do. Pretty sure any XLR cable should work.

Here’s a random example:

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ok, at 2nd look, it will take the 3 prong XLR, along with 1/4 HiZ. I couldn’t tell the little 3 indents in the 1/4 hole matched XLRM. Thanks again @howard

(HiZ is not a plug type, it’s just a high impedance switch to use to get better sound quality from passive basses)

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Right, it is the type of receptacle for a 1/4” jack, just different shielding, or whatever makes it cleaner pass thru or pass over, whatever the correct terminology

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So, this happened today, among other things (hint hint :wink::wink:)

I was at my local Guitar and Pawn today, a friend wanted me to take them there to buy a guitar. Dangerous place for me to go with cash in my wallet.

I was browsing pedals, and looking at the Basses, pretty much all the same as last visit. Used Pink Samick P Bass, Squire P bass, SR300E, Tobias “Toby” Bass ( should I have a bass with my name on it”). And New Squire Bronco, A d Dean”s galore. Edge 09, Edse 1’s, Edgs 2, and one of those weird body Ibanez, where the upper arm, for lack of a better word, where the strap h9lder is, that connects to the neck way up high.

Anyway, I thought for a second, they have any pedal boards. Looked in the classes where the pedals and drum machines, mixers, mics, multi effect stomp pads, etc…
No pedal board.
So I thought , “Case”, I have all these Basses ( spoiler alert : INCLUDING THE ONE IN THE TRUNK) and only one hard case to split between them. (Stands or rack, I need that too)
So, looking around the case wall and rack, and what is in the corner on the floor?
Is it…
Could it be…
Wow, it’s big, is it…?
Flip it over,
“YESSSSSSS!!! It’s a pedal board.

Wait, I just got one.
But this is way bigger, and has much room for growth. Hmmm… how much.
$69. Not bad, I can return the one to Amazon, and the bigger one I can cancel the order.
That one is $79, and not this nice even, or as big.
Ok, I love Amazon hassle free return policy. Dont even need a box.

So, this was listed at $69

I asked if they had any others. He said no.
Hmmmm, it’s big, I don’t need that much space.
Does it have a case.
“It did, but it was like a ripped up suitcase, threw it out. But, if you want it, what’s the price? $69, hmm, if you want you can have it for $50 out the door.

Awesome, I didn’t even have to offer $50, cuz that’s what I was gonna do anyway…

But I checked my wallet.
1x $100
3x $20
1x $5.

I grabbed $45, met him at the counter, and said, I got $45 or a card.
He said, your welcome, see you sometime next week when you come by for your regular visit.
And took the $45.

So guess what’s going back to amazon for $55 store credit. Plus I have some non bass items that somehow I ordered multiples of 2 and 3, only needing one. Yay, more credit. Should be like $90.
Hmmm, thinking of a nicer pedal, like the Ekec Harm Bass Clone, or if they had them, I would go for a big muff and send back the Ammon fuzz.

The Ammon is pretty good, but when I first plugged in, it was like barely fuzzy. I played with that donner harmonizer for a while, it’s pretty cool. It can be like an octive pedal, going one or 2, but not both.
And it can go high as well as low, or just retune.
It’s pretty cool. I am trying it out for a while longer, I need to see if it’s gonna be something I will use? Or if it’s enuf of an octave, do I need a bass specific one that can go 2 octaves together, or split them to go up and down? I am gonna play with it for awhile before I decide.
Back to he fuzz, I went back to it, and it completely changed, it was wat more “Fuzz” then at first try.

Is this normal? Does a pedal need a break in, when irs new? Or a warm up, with power for a while, like warming up your car before driving?
If not
Could that be indicative of a bad pedal, or one that will wear down and break fast. Could it have heating, shielding or insulation issues?

Am I overthinking it.

For the first 10 min, turned it on, flat EQ on amp and bass, turned all the dials, and cranked the fuzz, and it sounded like weak OD pedal, not a strong Fuzz pedal.
Stomped it off, and the harmonizer on, played with it for about 15 min, then stomped on the Fuzz pedal (before the harmonizer), and it was screeching, in a good way based on the 2 octive up setting on the harmonizer at the time. Stomp off the harmonizer, and there was the fuzz.
Pretty good fuzz imo.
But strange , so Idk. Am I thinking about it too much? Should I be thinking about it more, or differently?
@howard, anybody??

There could be many things going on there, not the least of which being they are bargain basement pedals and may just be noisy. The same is true of the Behringer L/E - despite it being a good clone, it’s still a super cheap clone, and you may be getting some noise there. Some Behringers are better than others. I love them but you need to be pretty sanguine about that fact - it’s cheap gear, just usually awesome cheap gear.

Often you will get a situation where something sounds ok in isolation but noisy in the chain. Noise can be additive and amplified by other pedals very easily.

Another thing is the power supply. What is it? Is it isolating? If not you may get a noisy ground loop like effect between pedals. try them with individual wall warts and see if it helps.

Another huge one is pedal order. I would not put the fuzz before the octaver myself, that’s going to do weird things with all the harmonics the fuzz adds. I would definitely run the octaver before the distortion.

There is no simple answer here and a lot to experiment with. On the plus side, that’s a lot of the fun.

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Thanks for the time to read and answer @howard. Couple things, the power was from a single line power adapter, bought for the Zoom B1 Four. Two of those. I probably should have been more clear as to toe test. It was a two pedal chain, and the Fuzz was after at first, and come to think of it, it was after the first time I had turned it on together. It was almost unusable that way however. But they were the only pedals in the loop. I know about the L/E, I love it, but if turned up, It will add a buzz., so I have my eye one a couple Boss versions on Offer Up. They are a little bit of a drive in a direction I don’t usually go, so I am hoping to find one closer, or wait til there are a few things out that way to buy.

I get the cheap pedal thing. I am kind of running thru them with two intentions.
One to play with live pedal chains, stacking orders and what not. I use the zoom, or should say, I am going to be using the zoom in line for single, maybe double effects, for testing.
And two, to find what effects I really think I will be useing, beyond my Boss, TU-2, and LMB or Behringer LE in the mean time, Boss Bass OD, Behringer BDI-21, and Zoom U-22.
I imagine a Fuzz, Octaver, Chorus,
Possibly Delay, Reverb, Phaser, flanger and whatever else I am missing. But to nail down which I want for the final product.

I plan to return at least the Fuzz pedal, possibly both, and the pedal board, now I have a big one, and just keep going after the cheaper clone / copy pedals til I figure it out. By then, I have credit for two Boss, Elec Harm, MXR, way huge (well maybe I pedal) or whatever. But this way I don’t heave to float 3, 4, 5 hundred dollars or double, triple that just to test things out and return them.

So, with that in mind, back to the scenario, with only the two pedals, started out with the Fuzz last, and tried first. Some of the points you made, all valid, were not the issue cuz it was not set up that way.
It just seemed as if the Fuzz pedal was a dud, but then after being powered for some time, it then did it’s job.
Like it had to be broke in?
Warm up?
Something

Is that typical of any pedals? Has anybody ever experienced this? Idk, just wondering if anybody knows or has ideas about it, keeping in mind, it was a test chain, two pedals.

There are tube pedals that might require warm-up but solid state pedals shouldn’t, at least AFAIK. Another thing to keep in mind is that depending on the pedal they can often actually be “on” whenever they have power and an input line in, and the footswitch simply chooses bypass or not. It depends on how the pedal is made. For others the footswitch is an actual on/off switch.

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Yeah, my definition of Off / on in this case should read on / bypass. Sorry for any confusion.

It is most certainly not a tube😂
Just a §h!tt¥ pedal

I will play with them more in a chain setting, see if I like anything about either, then send them back and test out 2-3 other pedals.

It’s a game at this point.

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A lot of fun playing with pedals and learning what you like. I actually love the Zoom for this because you can do all sorts of pedal chain order experimenting on it much more easily than with actual pedals.

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I dont like the sounds I get combo more then two effects, or I would do it more. I am pretty handy with the unit, and after the lists of the effects you linked me two, I have played with it a bit. I am confident I am doing things correctly, but I just am not satisfied with the results beyond two pedal chain. It just seems two over processed that way, like many of the presets.

I also find it more helpful to LOOK at and See the controls of two, three or more pedals at the same time, so I can dial things in better. Going back and forth and back again, and then to another one, then changing the wrong one, then back to the other one, changing it, not knowing why that little adjustment changed it that much, then going back to see you changed the wrong patch.
It’s not always that way, but I can get a little flustered at times with the UI, even tho I think it’s great, probably the best in this price range, it just, to me, has some limitations that road block my brain. Doing the physical pedals, helps me in that way.

I still love the Zoom. It will be in my pedal chain, acting as one to two pedals, possibly with an amp or cab mod. It’s a great device. I think I am at a point to move on.

Now the limitations here may be the cheap pedals. Of course they have limitations, but it may go into mixed sound between cheap. Pedals not getting expected, or true results. If I can get any good info from them, great. In a week or two from now, if they are not. Asking the grade for the purpose they serve, I will just start getting the real ones, and at that point will be resting which brand and specific pedal I want, not what type I want-

So, this came, First pedal I bought with the intentions of keeping, and not just testing out the effect / brand/ pedal chain placement and combined effect with other pedals in what order.
No, I bought this one to keep.

And after 3seconds playing thru it, I LOVE IT. There is just an indescribable difference between this and a cheap fuzz / or pedals I have been playing around with. They are not all bad, some pretty good, but nothing has been like this one.
These are handmade one at a time instead of automated robot manufactured, may be why, may just be a better design, might be luck, idk, whatever it is, I love it.

EarthquakerDevices Plumes overdrive

Although it’s a permenant member of the pedal team, not sure where it will reside.
I have two other pedals picked out from GC, and then I realized they were ready for local pick up tomorrow. A TC Electronics Nether (octaver pedal, and a TC Electronics Rusty Fuzz pedal) the Amoonn fuzz and Kmise Phaser are going back to Amazon for sure… I like the phaser in the zoom pedal good enough for now.

Anyway, more updates, including pedalboard wired up pictures to follow…

I will start reviewing the pedals I am testing our as well. They are not all bad, in fact, yhey are quite good for the cost. Some I just don’t want the effect on my board, or don’t like the sound for my taste, but might be good for others, so I will review them honestly, so anybody thinking about pedals can know my pros and cons of each.

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Post some sound samples!

I really like my Nether, it’s a good choice if a Boss OC-2 clone is what you’re after. Won’t octave up, but I don’t care about that usually. Tracking ranges from poor to decent, like you’d expect. But sounds great, especially when it glitches :slight_smile:

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I am still trying to figure out the recording. No luck so far with Ipad. The camera adapter I got will show connection in GB, then in a min or two, the Ipad kicks it out saying “device not compatible”

I think I need to buy the actual Apple usb interface, I don’t think it is kicking off cuz of the Zoom U-22.
But I still need to figure out Garage Band.

I can’t hear the bass thru headphones, but I know it’s registering, I selected the tuner, and it was working til I got kicked out again, but couldn’t get any sound in the headphones.

My goal would be to record sound and review each pedal.

And as far as the octave up, I like the Donner Harmonizer for that, and I found a cool setting for it with the Plumes, but again, still can’t record yet.

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