Xotix BB Pre gai n Structire Question

[critter74]

I have a BB Pre that I love the sound of. The thing that gets me though is that I have always seen it advertised as having enough gain on tap to get to a high gain type pedal area. This has not ben my experience with it. Mine gets nowhere near what I would call high gain. When I think high gain I think Riot, Pinnacle, Muff's etc. The BB Pre, to me, is more of a medium gain OD/distortion.

On comparison it seems to have about the same gain, but a little less, than my OCD.

So did I get a fluke or is the marketing part fo that loose definaition of what ios medium and high gain sounds?

[Alex Law]

I'd say it's a loose definition. It's high-ish gain compared to a tube screamer. It's medium gain compared to a DNA Analogic Gain FXXker II.

[critter74]

OK, thats kind of what I was thinking. I mean it does have quit a bit of gain but it reminds me more of the MIAB type pedals. Not a Pinnacle or something. So I always kind of scratched my head when I kept reading it was capable of getting into high gain areas.

Gain structure wise, mine seems to be just shy of my OCD...

[TheZink]

Mine isnt a gain monster either. I mainly use it to boost my FullDrive 2 for soloing. Its not really the best way to use it but it works.

[Alex Law]

Just want to add to my comment above: into an already slightly broken up tweed amp, the BB is plenty high gain for most anything short of very-metal metal.

[jhuse]

Originally Posted by alex_law

Just want to add to my comment above: into an already slightly broken up tweed amp, the BB is plenty high gain for most anything short of very-metal metal.

I agree with this. If you're trying to drive a really-clean amp, the pedal's not going to get into super high gain territory. I love my BB Preamp, and I refer to it as a high gain overdrive; it's not a Distrortion pedal or a fuzz, so it will not hold up against the Brownie or Crunch Box, etc.

But, feed into a hot amp, and it can give you just about all the drive you need (or at least, I need).