Quick BB Plus vs BB Preamp review.....

[tele_jas]

This is gonna be short cuz I should of been in bed 40 minutes ago!

I traded my BB Preamp (and Fulldrive II) for a BB + and here's what I see/hear different.

The BB Plus is definitly a more agressive pedal, has more gain on both sides than the original BB Preamp. It's also a "Thicker" sounding pedal, which may be good for some and not so good for others. The original BB Preamp can nail SRV tones perfectly, the BB + is a little thicker, but can get real close. The BB Preamp, at the most, has Tubescreamer level of gain... The BB + has more gain on both sides (independantly) and can get in to pretty hard rock territory (even with a vintage single coil) when you combine both sides. Side A remindes me of a tubescreamer (but not as smooth gain) and side B is more modern and agressive than the standard

Over all, this is the pedal I've been wanting to bridge the gap between blues and hard rock since I play everything from old country, new country, SRV to Metallica and watned a pedal that can do everything in between. tihs isn't the only OD pedal on my board, but very well may become the most used.

OK, bed time.... Hit me up with any questions if you have any about the two.

Jason

[Radspin]

I have a BB Preamp and love it--but it sounds like I should check out the BB Plus also. When I want a heavier sound I run a FullDrive II MOSFET into the BB Preamp and it works great, a terrific combination.

[Red Sun]

Do you think you can achieve the bb preamp tone with the BB plus?

I have a bb preamp which I love but sometimes I wish i had more gain and a friend of mine would trade me his plus for mine.

What do you think?

[tele_jas]

Originally Posted by Red Sun

Do you think you can achieve the bb preamp tone with the BB plus?

I have a bb preamp which I love but sometimes I wish i had more gain and a friend of mine would trade me his plus for mine.

What do you think?

Honestly??????

No.

I think the BB+ is almost there. If I didn't hear a BB Preamp first, then I wouldn't know the difference and be 100% happy with the BB+..... But, I had a BB Preamp first and I could tell a difference. The difference is not huge, but as much as I loved the higher gain sounds of the BB+ I REALLY missed the mid-gain tones of the BB Preamp. The BB+ is a "Thicker" sounding pedal (on both channels) and misses clairity and that top end shimmer that the BB Preamp has.

If I only had to take one pedal to cover everything from country, rock, blues and hard rock.... it'd be a no brainer, the BB+. If I already had a couple of other pedals to use in conjunction with another pedal, I'd get the BB Preamp and be just a little happier with my tone.

If he'd your friend, would he let you borrow it some day to compare the differences? Who knows, you may like it better.... or you may not like it at all.. Or the differnce may be small enough that you like both.

[Red Sun]

I think im on the I like both boat. Jaja go figure, pedal addiction!

The reality is that when I had the + for two days even though I loved it I notice I wasnt getting the same tone as a week before with the preamp.

Thanks for your quick response mate, Im keeping the preamp and let another pedal come jajaja!

[biker joe]

The BB has been one of my favorites for a while and I recently got a BB+ too. While there is a little bit of overlap, I agree that these pedals have different voices. The + does have higher gain on both sides and I would subjectively describe it as being edgier. It is obviously more versatile as it has two sides and the added eq on the left side lets it do a lot of things that the regular bb can't. The plus can do scooped mids or mid hump overdrives. I can get it to sound like a Guv'nor, and a KOT, and it can get into even higher gain territory. It also has less background noise than the regular BB. That all being said, I like the original BB better. I think it has an overall richer sound to it. I concur, with the poster above that said if you already have a lot of pedals, the regular BB is great, but if you need versatility and want to have two pedals in one, than the BB+ is would be the way to go.

[Red Sun]

Thanks Joe. Im keeping the bb preamp. Im going to see if he wants my keeley ts9 and some bucks instead. Have em both jajaja.

Versatility is always an issue. When I play larger venues I take my full rig(rack mount and pedal board) but when im doing small places or **** just playing bars I want to take the least possible. I rather take a few guitars then the rest of the rig. That being said, I concur they are different pedals totally.
The BB preamp is the one I love most. I only want the plus for when I gig with different artist or play small places to cover most gorund but I guess eventually il need both

[Red Sun]

Just to keep you all to date. I bought the plus as well. jaja addicted. Anyways im glad i have my bb preamp cause they are totally different. You cant get ones tone with the other. They dont replace each other. The BB preamp worked its way to my live rig already the plus lets see. Maybe il keep it for a small board for small venues if not studio and rehearsals