Bearfoot Blueberry vs Uber Bee

tommyeadg

tommyeadg

Jan 10, 2017
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Amsterdam, Holland
#1
Allright as i know as being pretty common around here i also recently fell deep into the ‘subtle/natural/vintage/transparant’ etc overdrive void.

I started out with the Trex Bass Juice. Liked it for quite a bit but i found it to make my signal disappear from the mix and cut lows. Also the knobs felt a bit finicky.

Then i got a Darkglass VMT which i loved as an always on type of pedal, but since i won’t be using a drive as such i sold it because i couldn’t live with the quite dramatic EQ change when switching between on/off.

Then the Fairfield Barbershop came which totally hitted jackpot for me. Transparant, subtle, keeps the lows intact and has a lovely tubey breakup. I really can’t seem to turn this one off! Only downside for me is that i don’t quite like the higher gain settings on it with some basses sounding kazoo ish. But then again, i was looking for subtle anyway. But..

Now i’m looking for a box that can do subtle and transparant but with slightly more gain and in a slightly different flavour than the Barbershop. I think the Bearfoot BB would be perfect for me, but they are pretty hard to come by these days in Europe. I found a place in Germany that has the Uber Bee and i’m tempted to order one, after reading some love for it here on TB and @johnk_10 even mentioning he likes it more than the Blueberry. Do you guys think this one will work for my situation or should i just wait for a Blueberry to pop up somewhere? Maybe someone compared the BB and the UB side to side?

Thanks in advance!
 
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#8
tommyeadg said:
Thanks! I already looked for that one, also seems to be rather difficult in Europe. You ‘mericans are so lucky gearwise! Haha
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Bummer! The BB is ok but I find it kind of dark. Much prefer Barbershop which you already have. One you won’t see mentioned much is Wampler ‘65. I like that one a lot but it doesn’t handle high output basses well (even my passive 4003 will distort the input). Since I have a compressor first in chain I can keep the levels under control - ymmv
 
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#10
The Uber Bee is excellent ...much better than the Blueberry imo. The Uber can get cleaner or dirtier and it has a dedicated treble knob which is very usable at pretty much any setting . The BB is way too dark for my taste. The "nature" control works to add or subtract bass (to my ears it's centered more in the low mids for bass guitar) but at higher settings adds upper mid content. It's one of my favorite transparent overdrive pedals.
 
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#11
cavemanbass said:
Bummer! The BB is ok but I find it kind of dark. Much prefer Barbershop which you already have. One you won’t see mentioned much is Wampler ‘65. I like that one a lot but it doesn’t handle high output basses well (even my passive 4003 will distort the input). Since I have a compressor first in chain I can keep the levels under control - ymmv
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Cool! Def gonna check that one out, thank you. What's your experience on running comp and dirt together? I am in love with my Cali76 CB comp but it just doesn't seem to work after my BS. I figured since i love the touch sensitivity on it i'd better place it before the comp but i'm still a bit in doubt. I was thinking about placing my yet-to-come 2nd dirt stage right after the comp since i wouldn't really bother with touch sensitivity so much for higher gain use anyway
 
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#12
Bfieldy said:
The Uber Bee is excellent ...much better than the Blueberry imo. The Uber can get cleaner or dirtier and it has a dedicated treble knob which is very usable at pretty much any setting . The BB is way too dark for my taste. The "nature" control works to add or subtract bass (to my ears it's centered more in the low mids for bass guitar) but at higher settings adds upper mid content. It's one of my favorite transparent overdrive pedals.
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Thanks for the info. I guess this was the last bit i needed to hear before ordering the Uber Bee which is what i just did. It should arrive before the weekend. Can't wait! But now you guys got me interested in the Wampler and the Earthquaker and the Supa Phat Phuk and and;)
 
#13
I had both for a bit, and would agree with the comments raised. I personally found myself a little unsure with the lowend retention on the Uber Bee and whilst i had no such issue with the Blueberry, the blueberry is very dark. Now thats not a bad thing in of itself, its just how it is. The Uber is brighter and more transparent and i love how well they both respond to dynamics however, ultimately, I felt the TC Mojo Mojo gets me in the ballpark of the Blueberry (they're not the same but both are dark and thick) and I've got a bunch of stuff that can be more transparent.
 
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#14
tommyeadg said:
Cool! Def gonna check that one out, thank you. What's your experience on running comp and dirt together? I am in love with my Cali76 CB comp but it just doesn't seem to work after my BS. I figured since i love the touch sensitivity on it i'd better place it before the comp but i'm still a bit in doubt. I was thinking about placing my yet-to-come 2nd dirt stage right after the comp since i wouldn't really bother with touch sensitivity so much for higher gain use anyway
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I always have an OD like Grizzly set near the edge of distortion, to get a little extra thickness in the sound and more even response especially higher up the neck. If I play a bit heavier to emphasize a note or phrase I don’t want it to come out all distorted. So I put the comp in front of OD (also always on), allows me to play with more dynamics while keeping a fairly consistent tone. Opposite of what a lot of folk go for, but it works for me. If I switch basses I only have to adjust the comp to keep my sound consistent.
 
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#15
I also find that I prefer the Honey Bee circuit to the darker BlueBerry (which is just a revoiced HB). I use the HB to add just a hint of harmonic distortion & coloration, but find that it reacts very well to a boost or other light drive in front for more gain. I've tried the Uber, too, but unfortunately only played it on guitar.

So if you can find a regular Honey Bee, it might also be worth a look.
 
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#19
cavemanbass said:
I’m interested in this pedal; but was wondering since there isn’t separate Drive and Volume controls, how do you set the amount of overdrive that you want?
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By increasing the bias knob increases the drive but keep in mind the volume has a lot to do with it as well and so does the phatness knob. The three knobs are very interactive and very nicely touch sensitive. The phatness knob to the left keeps your tone but very lightly enhanced. Turning it to the right increases that phatness but it's not mud. That's pretty much why I like it.
 
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