Sonic Stomp...should I?

[BoogieManSC]

Originally Posted by james lee

I have a friend who uses one.

Plugged in the front end of the amp.. not impressive.

Plugged into the effects loop. Holy crap it made a huge difference.

+1...mine is always on and it is the special sauce for my Mesa Road King II....both clean and dirty channels. Gives it a gorgeous sparkle on the cleans and a chewy feel on the gain channels. I use it in the loop w/both knobs between 11-1. I'd also say that the chord articulation is clearer than w/o it, so I'd agree....slightly muddier w/o it.

[schenkadere]

Originally Posted by BoogieManSC

+1...mine is always on and it is the special sauce for my Mesa Road King II....both clean and dirty channels. Gives it a gorgeous sparkle on the cleans and a chewy feel on the gain channels. I use it in the loop w/both knobs between 11-1. I'd also say that the chord articulation is clearer than w/o it, so I'd agree....slightly muddier w/o it.

and it's something you couldn't simply manage with EQ?

[telequacktastic]

"Sonic Stomp... should" you try it out for yourself and see if you like it. I'm not sure if it would help the Peavey Transtube 112 or not, never tried that combination.

[WaylonFan76]

Do like I did, get one used for cheap on the bay and decide for yourself. I really like mine. JMO.

[eddie knuckles]

My SS (older version) works good with my pathfinder as well as my Ampeg Jet and Acoustic bass amp. I have an eq boost on my board, so I don't need it when using my board. However, when I'm "boardless", it is always on, and at the end of my chain. I got mine used for $40, and for that price, I'm happy I have one.

[gwjensen]

Originally Posted by Green Lantern

I use one. I love it. It really livens up tone when used reasonably. I never had any problems with it when playing with a band, or any problems with it in any scenario. When I plug into my pedal board, this thing is always on for me. The only time I don't use it is when I plug directly into an amplifier.

I play old school style single channel amps, like vintage Fenders, so I can't say how it would work in an effects loop, but I've heard of people having positive results with Sonic Stomps there.

It adds presence and sparkle to your tone. Though the effect is subtle, it should be noticeable. There's some scientific explanation for it all, which I can't remember exactly. Something about a deficiency in the way speakers shoot out sound frequencies, which results in a tone that is muddier than it should be. The Sonic Stomp supposedly corrects that, thus giving you a clearer tone. If you search the internet, I'm sure you'll find more information about that. That explanation is in dispute from some people, though, who say that BBE is lying.

All I know is that I like what it does for me, and it does make my sound clearer.

Like Green Lantern said. Definitly recommend it, but don't look for HUGE tonal differences. It's subtle and very useful as a final EQ tweak, especially when changing guitars or pickups.

[Anchoret]

Originally Posted by schenkadere

and it's something you couldn't simply manage with EQ?

No. There's a phase-delay function that is central to the effect, such as it is.

I went through two of them before giving up (when GC had them for $50 -- which is still too much) due to pot noise, but after getting the lowdown on the 9VDC business directly from BBE, I gave up and bought a 362 rack unit on sale for $42 because it was (again according to BBE) a better example of the effect, not hampered by the 9VDC chip and would at least work as a rack slot cover if nothing else.

I could never get any of these to sound good with guitar, but it has some effect with bass. These are far more popular with bass players than guitarists.

Serious sound techs pretty universally hate them.

I'm philosophical and take them as a prettier alternative to a blank 1U plate:

[fly135]

I picked one up cheap and used it for a while. You can definitely hear the difference with it on and off. I thought it sounded better with it on. But as soon as I made a recording of the miced amp I realized something else. It sounded harsh and awful directly in front of the cab. My conclusion was... off at an angle to the cab it sounded better, but in front it sounded worse.

The caveat here is that I was cranking the controls to hear a difference. It's entirely possible that a user who knew what he was doing could get better results. I'd say if you really want to try one out then either buy it with a return policy or get a used one cheap that you can resell if you don't like it.

[javabirds]

Tried to love it but found that it takes up waaay too much space to do the very little that it did for me. Buy a decent guitar, a good cable and a nice amp and your need for this box will completely disappear. It might work well for some setups... Or it could be Dumbo's magic feather.

[gwjensen]

Originally Posted by fly135

I picked one up cheap and used it for a while. You can definitely hear the difference with it on and off. I thought it sounded better with it on. But as soon as I made a recording of the miced amp I realized something else. It sounded harsh and awful directly in front of the cab. My conclusion was... off at an angle to the cab it sounded better, but in front it sounded worse.

The caveat here is that I was cranking the controls to hear a difference. It's entirely possible that a user who knew what he was doing could get better results. I'd say if you really want to try one out then either buy it with a return policy or get a used one cheap that you can resell if you don't like it.

My experience has been that you can't go too far left or right of 12 O'Clock. Usable range for either knob is really between 10:00 and 2:00, and I usually don't go past 11:00 or 1:00. It's a subtle effect and if you hear too much of a difference, you've gone too far...

[BoogieManSC]

Originally Posted by schenkadere

and it's something you couldn't simply manage with EQ?

I have a modded GE-7 EQ that's also always on. There's a difference between the 2. It's a pretty subtle difference, but no, I couldn't really adjust the sliders on the EQ and get the same effect as leaving the EQ set and also having the BBE S.S. on as well.

[afoolsparadise]

I had one and sold it. Yes, it can make a difference but it's pretty subtle. I used it direct and not through an effects loop which could be significant. I'd agree with the description of "presence" and for studio use I think it could be useful but live it may not be noticeable.

[Anchoret]

Originally Posted by fly135

It sounded harsh and awful directly in front of the cab. My conclusion was... off at an angle to the cab it sounded better, but in front it sounded worse.

Always evaluate all sound on-axis with your speaker.

It's closest to what the audience or the microphone hears, and nothing else matters.

It's incredible what you lose listening off to the side.

[Green Lantern]

Originally Posted by fly135

I picked one up cheap and used it for a while. You can definitely hear the difference with it on and off. I thought it sounded better with it on. But as soon as I made a recording of the miced amp I realized something else. It sounded harsh and awful directly in front of the cab. My conclusion was... off at an angle to the cab it sounded better, but in front it sounded worse.

The caveat here is that I was cranking the controls to hear a difference.

Well, that explains a lot. A cranked Sonic Stomp will make your tone terrible. As others have said, it works best when you use both settings around 12:00 to 2:00. Mine are around 1:00.

I also use a Danelectro Fish'n'Chips EQ pedal. You won't get the same results out of them.

[Ringo]

I bought an Aphex Aural Exciter pedal some years ago, it's supposed to do the same thing as the BBE Sonic Maximizer, and a step up from the Sonic Stomp pedal IMO.
It does work but as others have mentioned it was a subtle effect and it got lost playing live, I couldn't tell any real difference in that situation, so I sold it.

Don't know how effective these type effects are for guitar, in my case it wasn't that noticeable, for bass and PA they are supposed to make a bid difference.

[Tarnisher]

Cranking the knobs on the SS is like dumping the whole bottle of secret sauce on your food. It won't work, and it's a waste.

When I last recorded, I had a bandmate slowly rotate each knob while I played and listened to the miced amp through headphones until I got it just right.

BTW, I left the SS at home tonight to see how I felt without it. I sounded great anyway.

[Anchoret]

Originally Posted by Ringo

I bought an Aphex Aural Exciter pedal some years ago, it's supposed to do the same thing as the BBE Sonic Maximizer

It works on a completely different principle.

[Anchoret]

I think the reason that these things (sometimes) impress players and not audiences and sound technicians may have to do with the distances involved between the respective listeners. As I remember the engineering explanation of "The BBE Effect," different frequencies are phase-delayed by 2 milliseconds, which approximately equals changing the source distance by two feet. If you're sitting in your bedroom with your face stuck in your amp, that is significant. To a listener of the complete band a hundred feet away in an acoustically complex listening environment, it isn't, as the difference is swamped by other factors and sounds.

This is a very old effect. It was never intended to be used as an effect for musical instruments, but people picked up these units and started experimenting with them and BBE figured why not further monetize an old technology at the end of its marketing cycle? Sell it for every application for which people will buy it. But still, this was aimed mainly at bass, incorporating the effect in rack preamps for that instrument.

Where the BBE Effect works most significantly and where it was intended to work, is with finished music for stereo. The engineers I know who have use for these pretty much limit it to converting analog (taped) music to digital as it takes out some of the mud.

The Sonic Stomp is an overpriced product. At $200 MSRP, it's essentially a can with a $5 effect chip in it.

[smoss469]

It's under $100 everywhere. I think I got mine for around $60 new from some little known site a long time ago.

[tele salivas]

A friend of mine uses his when recording old cassette and tape recordings onto disc or computer. I use his set up as well for this, and it brings back my old four track and Motorhead cassettes back to life.
Some people also have lots of effects in their chain, it might bring up some of the sparkle lost through the signal's manipulation. But I think most people would probably n0t need it. A good EQ will do you a lot better, or rearranging some effects, or taking some out of the signal altogether.