The Steel Guitar Forum

Is anyone using a steel guitar black box ???
I thinking of getting one

Jamie,
I bought my black box a couple of years ago while at Dallas.
I love it to pieces and it has helped my tone tremendously.
best regards
Billy

I was using a Black Box and it was great. Then I sold the farm and got a Revelation Tube Preamp which contains the Black Box circuitry plus a whole lot of other tone shaping tools. By all means at least try a Black Box, but if you can at all go for the Revelation Preamp. It's like tonal Rolls Royce.

Ditto the Rev. I can dial in the same basic tone in the Rev as I can in the Nashville 112 preamp, but the tubes add a lot of pleasing color to the sound. I've also run the preamp with the BB part and also bypassed and it makes a noticeable difference.

A while back a guy did an A/B test with and without the BB hooked up. The difference was very noticeable. If I can find it again I'll post a link.

I did an A/B test at Carter Steel Guitar some time back and it made a very noticable difference to my ears.

It warmed up the lows slightly, took some of the hollowness out of the mids and the shrillness out of the highs which all in all gave a more balanced sound.

I really don't know why I haven't bought one yet.

I can recommend the SGBB. I use it in front of My Walker Stereo Steel.
Don't leave home without it.

Jamie you will love it ...and Brad can build you a 240v one ....I still have mine, even though I have a Revelation Pre as well.

Do you guys use the BB if your using a Hilton volume pedal? I thought I read somewhere if you had a Hilton you didn't need the BB? Probly wrong about that.

Also, about the Revelation Preamp. Do you use it with an amp, or do you have to have a Walker stereo type set up? What does it do for your tone? And one I'm afraid to ask, what does it cost?

Terry

Yes, you use the BB with a Hilton VP. Part of the goodness of the Black Box is as an impedance matching buffer so the tone of the guitar doesn't change through the travel of a pot pedal. The other part is the warming aspect of the tube. That's something that no volume pedal can replace.

There's a lot of ways to use a Revelation preamp. Some people use it with a rackmounted power amp. Using it with a Nashville 112 or two is also very popular (that's what I do). The Rev does a lot of what the BB does, but it's still a different animal. If you don't want a rack setup, then use a Black Box. If you do want a rack, that's what the Rev is for.

http://www.steelguitarblackbox.com/

Thanks for the link Jonathan. I'm very tempted to try the BB, I can't afford the Revelation, but if the BB is what everbody says it is, I just might try one.
are all the BB the same? I mean you don't need a certain BB for a certain amp or pickup do you?

Paddy long> I sent you an email.

Terry

Terry I'll check it when I get home mate

Hey Paddy, what about a PM. I'll send you a PM ok?

Terry

I will always play with the Black Box. To me, it sounds so good, I don't use any other effects except for delay. Someday I'll get the Rev, but for now I couldn't be happer with my tone.
1978 S-10 Emmons - Black Box - Vintage Session 400 loaded with vintage 15' JBL.

Jamie and Terry,
I definitely think you need one. I love mine.
Can't recall what they cost, but they're worth every penny!
Terry, Steve K. bought one recently. He probably knows the price. Shoot him an email.
jas

James, I found out what they cost. I'm hoping I can find a used one. Thanks



Terry

Lots of luck finding a used one. Most people simply don't want to turn them lose. I have seen some in the for sale dept ocassionaly.
The only way I'd willingly part with mine is to upgrade to the Revelution.
jas

Or I should say "Revelation Preamp". What do I know.
jas

I really like my bb, I use it with my nash 112 and my Roland GP 100 in the studio.

Tony

By the way.
Thanks to Paddy Long for bringing over Ivan's Black Box to the recent Brisbane Festival. Ivan was suddenly ill and Paddy brought the Black box over from NZ. Nicky O'Neil brought it back to Sydney for me. Great all round effort fellas.

Pat

Hi Pat glad you got Ivan's black box ok -- hope you don't mind but I played through at the Brisbane show - it sounded great !!
I know you will enjoy using it.

A low cost alternative...in limited supply: Peavey Stereo Tube Sweetener. They're no longer made. You can occassionally find one on ebay. However, you have to change the tubes. Factory calls for three 12AX7's. Factory specs aren't clean enough (crunchy). You have to drop the left and right side preamp tubes down to 12AY7. Output can stay at 12AX7. I use two ElectroHarmonix 12AY7's and one Tesla 12AX7. Level, Sugar, Spice knobs full on. Output switch on the back on high. Also must use a preamp boost after the Tube Sweetener to bring the initial volume up since you're using a lower output tube on each side. Run it guitar to Sweetener to preamp boost to volume pedal.
Sugar and Spice knobs control the amount of circuitry you wish to run through the tubes...tube compression/warmth.
Sounds complicated, but not.
Just alot of experimenting with tube voltage and tube brand.
I use a Furman PQ-3 for tone and preamp boost with the Sweetener.

I love mine.
Mullen > BB > Hilton > 'some effects stuff' > Evans SE200

HOpe to get a Rev someday

c

Yup - I came upon a used one to test out, with an eye towards getting a Revelation preamp for my developing rack. It's a very subtle but useful device, to my tastes. But don't necessarily expect it to jump out at you on a first listen.

I just did two recording sessions with it, it really made an important difference, to my ears. Then I played an outdoor gig the other day, and realized after I got there that I left it in the "other" gig bag. It's not that there was anything really wrong - it sounded OK to the people I was playing with - but I just felt that something was missing, especially reaching for an emotional peak during solos, for example. The BB softens the attack and sweetens the sound in an almost imperceptible but still real way. I guess my advice would be "don't leave home without it".

I can't comment on whether or not the basic device has evolved. But I do know that newer models have a variable input impedance control, not on mine, and also are sized to fit part of a rack space. I think I would find the variable impedance control especially useful because I use a pot volume pedal - Goodrich 120. One good thing about an active volume pedal like the Hilton is the high input impedance the pickup sees and the low output impedance it offers to the rest of the signal chain. But I think the basic device is useful with any setup. I've used mine with both tube and solid-state amps, in front of modelers like the Pod or Genesis 3, or directly into a mixing board. I think this device stands on its own, regardless of volume pot or amplifier type.

BTW - it's pretty durned nice sounding for guitar also. You know how a Telecaster can really take your head off when you push it hard into a clean amp? I think the BB can help that quite a bit, without losing the basic Tele bite. Even a Tele into a solid-state amp like the NV 112 sounds pretty good with the BB in front - very clean, but nice. Of course, all to my tastes.