Allright, let's talk Honey Bee vs Eternity...

[Garygtr]

Yeah, I know some previous threads have hit on this topic but I want to hear what folks are thinking these days, especially from those who own/have tried both. I am loving my Honey Bee through my Top Hat Club Royale, but you dang Eternity people keep me wondering....
For the record, I do not like TS style OD's, at least not with my Top Hat. I understand that the Eternity is an op amp device that has some TS characteristics, but even some die hard TS haters seem to love the Eternity. I love the feel and tone of the Bee, how are the low gain sounds on the E? My tonal role model would probably be David Grissom or Doug Pettibone-can the E get in this zone?

 

[drolling]

OK, the Eternity's got tons more gain & distortion on tap than the HoneyBee. Very, very different sounding pedal. I've got both, and they're currently my favorite ODs.

I'm a big fan of Grissom, but I'm using mainly strats/teles with fender/vox rather than the PRS/Matchless combo than David gets his signature sounds from. The HB & the Eternity work well with all my guitars (even a TV Jones loaded Gretsch) and all my amps, especially the Fenders.

As you know, the HB's 'nature' control can be used to dial up a massive bass boost. Conversely, the Eternity's unlabeled tone control works as a treble booster when the gain's dialed back.

In the same way that the HB can make a big amp sound like a small one, the Eternity can make a small amp sound like a big one. These two pedals complement each other very well, and provide a huge variety of tones when used with an old single channel tube amp.

My Eternity came with an extra chip (TLO72) which I'm using instead of the stock chip which had no markings. I get the impression that most players prefer the stock chip, but I'm really diggin the warmer, lower gain tones the TLO72 provides.

 

[MrMunky]

http://www.inrerocknroll.com/tunes/Etern.mp3
http://www.inrerocknroll.com/tunes/Etern2.mp3
http://www.inrerocknroll.com/tunes/Etern3.mp3
http://www.inrerocknroll.com/tunes/Etern4.mp3
http://www.inrerocknroll.com/tunes/EternRic.mp3

 

[Don Rusk]

lets talk Eternity INTO Honey bee - three thumbs up !

Yeah they are very different..........for me Id use the Honey Bee for an overall amp sound - and the E for a singing lead tone....

 

[Garygtr]

Great responses, guys....MrMunky, love those clips-the Ric clip you posted last week is what got my curiosity up about the Eternity...damn you.

 

[JKoeth]

I'd bee interested in any more comparisons...

 

[diofan56]

Interesting...

Where can I get information on the Eternity pedal? Is there a web site? Dealers?

Dave
diofan56

 

[JKoeth]

http://www.lovepedal.com/

 

[MrMunky]

http://www.inrerocknroll.com/tunes/Etern5.mp3

The Eternity is the victim of overblown rhetoric with respect to virtually every other overdrive out there.

Almost all of them claim to be "different from a tubescreamer" "natural" "transparent" "amp-like" "versatile" etc.

The vast majority of them are maybe 5% or less different from a Tubescreamer.

The Eternity really is different and it really is all of those things, however its very difficult to describe accurately without using the rhetoric that is used to describe all the other overdrives out there.

I have and have had tons of overdrives, the Fulldrive, Gainster, all incranations of tubescreamer, Keeley modded OD-9, Hep Cat, Brooklyn, Tube King, Zen Budda, OD-820, Klon, PD-01, V-Stack, SansAmp (Classic, GT-2, Tri-OD), VL Sparkledrive, Jacques, DM-4, SD-1, OD-3, OD-1, GuvNor, Bluesbreaker, Drivemaster, Shredmaster, Menatone (Howie, KOTB, TBIAC), Chandler Tube Driver, Carl Martin (Rock Drive, Heavy Drive, Hot Drive 'N Boost, HDNB Mk II), Tech 21 (Comptortion, Double Drive, XXL), Nobels & others that I'm surely forgetting.

Most of them have one good sound that is useful, but you need another overdrive to get a different color that's good. The Eternity is sonically and responsively superior to each of them, for all things - its the best as a boost, as a low gain overdrive, as a medium gain overdrive, and as a high gain overdrive. And it's not just marginally better. It's a disappointment to play with another overdrive after playing with the Eternity.

I'm not sure how it works differently than all the others, but this is sure a pedal I wish I'd had years ago.

 

[baguiocity]

Originally posted by MrMunky
http://www.inrerocknroll.com/tunes/Etern5.mp3

The Eternity is the victim of overblown rhetoric with respect to virtually every other overdrive out there.

Almost all of them claim to be "different from a tubescreamer" "natural" "transparent" "amp-like" "versatile" etc.

The vast majority of them are maybe 5% or less different from a Tubescreamer.

The Eternity really is different and it really is all of those things, however its very difficult to describe accurately without using the rhetoric that is used to describe all the other overdrives out there.

I have and have had tons of overdrives, the Fulldrive, Gainster, all incranations of tubescreamer, Keeley modded OD-9, Hep Cat, Brooklyn, Tube King, Zen Budda, OD-820, Klon, PD-01, V-Stack, SansAmp (Classic, GT-2, Tri-OD), VL Sparkledrive, Jacques, DM-4, SD-1, OD-3, OD-1, GuvNor, Bluesbreaker, Drivemaster, Shredmaster, Menatone (Howie, KOTB, TBIAC), Chandler Tube Driver, Carl Martin (Rock Drive, Heavy Drive, Hot Drive 'N Boost, HDNB Mk II), Tech 21 (Comptortion, Double Drive, XXL), Nobels & others that I'm surely forgetting.

Most of them have one good sound that is useful, but you need another overdrive to get a different color that's good. The Eternity is sonically and responsively superior to each of them, for all things - its the best as a boost, as a low gain overdrive, as a medium gain overdrive, and as a high gain overdrive. And it's not just marginally better. It's a disappointment to play with another overdrive after playing with the Eternity.

I'm not sure how it works differently than all the others, but this is sure a pedal I wish I'd had years ago.

this post has gotten me sold...plus the soundclips

 

[rawkguitarist]

MrMunky,

You have the "rhetorical" prowess of a highly evolved primate (or a well trained one)...

I won't try to add anything... I'd fail...

What MrMunky said!

I'll say what others said to me about the E before I bought it.
"Stop thinking about it and just buy one..."

 

[Perry D.]

DITTO and DITTO!!

I like the 'E' so much that I bought two of them!

 

[rawkguitarist]

"Me "two"...

I've got two E's.

 

[Don Rusk]

Its remained in my Top Ten for a long time, and is a reference comparison for anything new I get.......

but it does have a pretty hefty bass drop, which is the one thing that keeps it out of the top five ; },,,,

the eternity would be greatly improved in my opinion if it has a bass knob to adjust the bottom contour
My Eternity Pic

 

[JKoeth]

So Donner,

Just out of curiosity...What are your top five?

 

[rawkguitarist]

And DonneR, I think your the only person I've heard say it has a bass drop. Mine don't have a bass drop at all.

Interesting...

 

[JKoeth]

Hey Aaron. What's up my Tophat Brother!

Yeah, my Eternity has a slightly attenuated bass response (with the stock chip). I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a significant drop on mine though. It's still a sweet as hell pedal. My fave OD....so far....

I'm always looking...

 

[Boogie92801]

Since this is a HB vs the E thread, which one would you stack with a timmy?

 

[Don Rusk]

Both but for different results --- the HB is more an overall light/medium drive and feeds wonderfully into the Timmy as either a dirt boost or an overall taste enhancer .......... the E is a better lead tone and would have more distortion capabilities.......

actually setting t he Tim for overall amp enhancement - using the the HB for dirt boost and t he E for lead boost would be a heck of a rig come to think out it.....

 

[Ben C.]

the E is a better lead tone and would have more distortion capabilities.......

I think you're right in that the E combines with other pedals to make a great lead tone... I had it before the Reeza with the Reeza's gain down to 10 o'clock. Fed the E to it. All of a sudden I went from Marshall crunch to Pink Floyd's "Sorrow".

But about the 'distortion' capabilities- my 2 cents are that the HB really seems to have a lot more gain available, but it's less compressed, so there's less sustain. The E (I tried 3 chips) had less actual gain, but was more compressed so sustained longer. I just noticed that the HB can get me harder rock rythm sounds than I thought possible for a 'light' OD, and good leads. The E was great for leads because of the sustain, but didn't have the gainy fullness for the rock rythm I prefer.

BUT- I'm using humbuckers and active singles... which makes a big difference compared to some of youse who are using lower output passive singles that aren't pushing the pedals as hard.

Also- hums generally have more bass and mids than your average single coil... and probably less high end. So using a smooth, mid heavy pedal that drops some bass out really didn't work with my stuff all that well. If I had a Strat with some Fralins or something, I'm sure the E would have added a wonderful amount of thickness and 'bigness' to my sound, and any low-end dropoff would have been negligible.

-Ben