My Bass is Passive but the pickup is a Darkstar so very hot and thick. If I open the volume up there is no grit free setting on the CS Beta. If I roll it back some it cleans right up.
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Solid gold beta germanium custom shop VS the Regular Beta What is the actual difference?
- Thread starter Nighttrain1127
- Start date
Thats the same with my P Bass with GZRs as they're pretty hot for passive puckups. But I like that I can go from a clean tone to a steady grind right from my bass with a roll on or roll off of my volume knob.
I like those descriptions, like I said eager to hear more. Compressed isn't always bad, one of my favourite drive pedals of all time is the ss/bs Mini and it ranges from lightly compressed to super squished depending upon the settings but it never completely loses that quality. I do love me some germy growl though, so that's what I'm eager to hear more about.
I used it with both passive and active. Definitely fiddled with it a lot, and I liked the tone so much I bought a Black Beta and nearly grabbed an Orange...but still, it was just so compressed and congested and I couldn't get it to fit in my band's mix with the rest of my gear and tone. Compared to the Barbershop, I'd say there is no comparison with respect to "touch sensitivity" and "openness/transparent" qualities though - the Beta has a very distinct voice that you have to love, and I LOVED it...when playing at home. I could not get a sound I loved in practice or playing live, and I tried like heck for a long time.
All IMO/IME/YMMV of course.
Just ordered the germanium version, I hope it delivers all the mojo Solidgoldfx says it comes with.
It would be nice if that germanium demo included the clean sound, to compare. I liked the demos of the regular version, but they gave the impression that it boosts the low frequencies a lot, so this germanium version may be a better option.
Also, I don't really like the gold and black finish, but it will be ok if the pedal sounds nice.
It would be nice if that germanium demo included the clean sound, to compare. I liked the demos of the regular version, but they gave the impression that it boosts the low frequencies a lot, so this germanium version may be a better option.
Also, I don't really like the gold and black finish, but it will be ok if the pedal sounds nice.
After Full band practice the Germ Beta cut through with no problem. I had to put a vol pedal in between my Bass and the Beta because if I turn up the vol pot on my Darkstar P-bass there is no clean sound out of the beta no matter where I set the gain. But with the vol pedal I can get the clarity out of the darkstar that makes it cut through with the Germ Beta. You can also dial in most of that warm gooey tone you can get with the Beta.
So at higher (or even some lower) gain settings when it is pretty dirty, would you say it is losing clarity?
Glad to hear this. I love the Beta, but was hoping to get the Germ Beta for a natural more Hi-Fi drive while still being warm. If it can also get into OG Beta territory, then I may have to buy this and take it for a test drive even sooner
If you use a hot output bass it will get very buzzy very easily and with high gain the definition is not too good. But if you use a passive or something like a Stingray that is not too hot on the output it can sound pretty well defined into the High gain area. And if you roll the tone back to semi gooey it cleans up more.
IMHO YMMV
IMHO YMMV
That's very helpful, thanks. So overall then you'd say this gets grittier than the regular Beta, but can also cop the same tones as well and get just as goopy?
Not quite as dark as the regular Beta but still plenty gooey and Grittier but stays defined a bit longer.
I had the other Beta at one time it was fat and thick and gooey but lost definition and could not cut through. You can make this one sound something like that but unless you turn the tone way down it stays defined and can get relatively bright at the other end and the other one could not.
Would be nice to hear a demo of the germanium with knob-sweeping, so hear the ranges
Mine arrived last week, it was #1!. I noticed it's quite dark, and gritty. The tone knob didn't change it much, there's always like a dark layer on the low freqs. And couldn't dial all the grit out, unless I played really soft. It's back to the shop already. I can see how it can be a nice pedal for certain things, and that demo is a good example, but it's not really an always/on pedal.
So excuse me for being a broken record on this one, but putting the issue of grit aside for a moment, what was the clarity and note definition like across the gain range?
Quite good. That Solidgold demo gives a good example of what the pedal does, it will sound great in a mix and for specific purposes. I didn't find the lows as pronounced as it seems to be the case with the regular version, but it's a dark sounding pedal.
I am getting different results with my Ampeg SVT 215E And Traynor YBA 300. The grit will shut off unless you feed it a very hot signal like if I open up the vol on my Darkstar P-Bass Then there is no getting rid of the grit but that is a very hot single coil signal and it makes my Blueberry and Barbershop gritty with the gain all the way down just for reference. With a normal output bass like My Jazz I can dial the grit out completely . And there is quite a bit of variation in sound from one end of the tone sweep to the other . From fairly neutral (not extremely Bright to almost as dark as the original ) But with good definition all the way through.
This is not to argue or say what your results were was wrong. just what I am getting with my setup.
This is not to argue or say what your results were was wrong. just what I am getting with my setup.
I ended up grabbing a Beta Germanium just recently out of curiosity. My impression is positive. I have gigged it a couple of times so far and it sits very nicely in the mix. As has been said above it doesn't really clean up even with gain at zero so its less touch sensitive than either the original or say the Bearfoot BBOD. What it does do is give a very full, round, harmonically rich sound with a nice squishy compression to it. It does have its own color but compared to the original is a lot more flat in its response. I would say its more of a super smooth sounding distortion than an overdrive.