The Steel Guitar Forum

Anybody in NY area have a Sarno black box?I'd like to check it out before I drop that kind of money.

Funny, I was thinking the exact same thing out here in LA...(que the Twilight Zone music)...

I noticed in a thread a couple of months ago that Brad was offering a 30 day trial period. I didn't see that mentioned on the website, but maybe he still is.

Yes, he still is.

Brad Sarno

And I'll bet nobody's taken him up on it.

I recieved my black box about two weeks ago, and thought that I would give it a try, since I could send it back if I didn't like it,and had reservations about ordering it in the beginning. But, I think I'll just keep it. It's great, and makes my Carter, Zum & Mullen sound better than before. I would recommend it to all steelers, once you use it, you'll never go back, so go with the Black. Brad has a good product here folks.

Clay

Thanks Clay. I'm glad you like it. I couldn't agree more! I think it really does help to bring out the best in a guitar. I'm hooked on using it now.

Thanks Larry, but to to be fair, out of these first 50 Black Boxes, I have had 3 returns. Ironically, they were for different reasons ranging from too mellow to too unnoticable to too bright. Go figure It's not going to be for everyone so that's why I offer the "no questions asked" 30 day return policy. Actually, I may ask why, but it won't effect the returnability.

We are temporarily out of stock of Black Boxes. The next run will likely include the international power supply options so stay posted.

Brad Sarno

I really have to commend Brad for making such a great product that seem's to work for the majority of players, and not to mention a 30 day trial offer !!!.....This is unheard of in the music business.... Too bad other manufacturers didn't feel that strongly about their products ...I applaud you Brad ......Sincerely, Jim

Clay,

What is your setup? (amp, effects, etc.)
What is the signal path? (guitar-BlackBox-vol. ped.-?)
What pickups are in each of your guitars?

Also, and I know this is subjective, can you describe the change you noticed with the Mullen? How did it sound "better?"

Thanks!

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<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Mark Herrick on 05 June 2004 at 12:03 PM.]</p></FONT>

<SMALL>We are temporarily out of stock of Black Boxes.</SMALL>

Sweet, Brad! (I mean, the sold out part of that).

<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jon Light on 05 June 2004 at 12:40 PM.]</p></FONT>

I like it
I love it
I want some more of it!

I shall not attempt to describe tone. Kinda like trying to describe taste.
The effect is subtle and I like it.
Great product Brad.

Ron

Hi Mark

My setup is as follows:

from my steel straight into the Black box, then into my Goodrich 7A, out of the 7A into my RV3, from there I go into my Hilton volume pedal, then into a Nashville 400 Or my 1000.
I only use the 7A to tweak the sound a little based on the song the band lays out, But you can get along without the 7A and be just fine. My Mullen has George Ls, E66,and makes it much much warmer, and the bottoms string are much more clearer and defined and is wounderful when I switch over to the C6 side of my Uni. The upper strings respond much clearer as well, especially strings 3 & 4.
I have tried many different ways of hooking it up, but this seems to work the best. My Carter and Zum has the same effect with the Black Box but each one has a different pickup so I now for a fact that it works well with any pickup.
Bottom line is a much clearer, and warmer and defined sound.
Can't go wrong with a Black Box, Hilton volume pedal and a peavey amp, the three combinations are great.
Hope this helps you. If need anymore idea's reply back.

Clay

Ditto all the above comments. And when that little blue light is glowing, sweet...

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Randy
http://hometown.aol.com/pulltightb/home.html

Clay, may I suggest that you try placing the RV-3 after the volume pedal instead? That way the use of the volume pedal won't interfere with the natural decay of the reverb.

Thanks again y'all for the positive feedback on the Black Box.

Brad Sarno

Thanks Brad, I'll give it a try.

Clay

Brad, are you still using the second version of the tone setting, or have you made further tweaks? I have hesitated to have you update my "Mk I" with the original circuit because I like it so much as is! Have you made any with a variable tone setting, or would that lower the "Q" too much?

Jack, yours is one of the first six that shipped out. Yours and a few others with the first circuit version have a subtle fixed eq in there that gives a little bass rise. That also gave an apparent slight dip in the low mids. I found that some people liked it and others didnt' care for that particular coloration. So the design was changed by completely eliminating the EQ section thus simplifying the circuit. Yours and a few of the early models had a higher input impedance as well (1 meg), and again some people liked it and others found it a bit too bright on the way top end. So that value also came down to around 500k, just like a pot-type volume pedal which is what pickups are generally used to seeing as a load.

So really, the Box has become more simplified and I'm happier with that setup. Others seem to agree. It's now much more neutral and all EQ and tone shaping is left up the user with their amps or whatever gear they use for tone control. The Black Box has become a very simple, clean, tube-buffer that focuses on providing the sonic benefits of the pickup/tube interaction instead of also providing EQ voicing. Although the design is simple, it's still made up of some very intentionally selected and expensive components (resistors, capacitors, etc.) that help to maximize the quality of sound.

I have made a couple of test units with variable controls on them, but they were just for field testing. The results of the testing with those units helped me arrive at the latest design, especially the new input impedance. At this point, the design has been made so clean and simple, that there's really not much use for a knob to control anything. I like keeping all pots and switches out of the unit so that there are no moving parts to go bad over time. I want these things to be working fine in a hundred years. Other than replacing the tube when it wears out, I don't see any reason why the Black Boxes shouldn't be around for my great-great grandchildren to use with their steel guitars

Brad Sarno
http://home.earthlink.net/~bradsarno/blackbox.html