All user reviews for the Xotic Effects BB Plus

Boost pedal / distortion
- Two pedals in one
- Channel A = BB Preamp (boost / overdrive)
- Channel B overdrive / distortion
- Chaining channel A-> B or B channel-> A
- Switch True Bypass channel
- Power supply DC 9V (not included) or 9V battery

This is more than just a distortion pedal.

With a 3-band EQ on channel A, I would have put a 10.

UTILIZATION

The config is relatively simple settings, however, are many.
Although the pedal sounds good from the outset, it must be worth spending a little time to polish your sound, given the amount of possible settings and configuration.

A channel controls: volume, gain, tone and switch "hard / soft"
B channel controls: volume, gain, 3-band EQ and switch "hard / soft"
switch for the channel linking A-> B or B channel-> A

The manual is reduced to its simplest expression (a small piece), with still enough information for the user.

SOUND QUALITY

I use this pedal on my Mesa Mark V. It allows me to vary the overdrive available underfoot. What is good in my cover band, for different styles of rock that we address.

Channel A is identical to the BB Preamp except knob "tone" that replaces only the two knobs Bass and treble of the BB Preamp and switch Hard / soft acting on the signal compression and is non-existent in BB Preamp. This is a very typical channel Marshall. For those who prefer the typical sounds Vox AC30, you turn to the Xotic AC Plus.
Channel A can simply be used as a light (or less light) boost to bring out a solo or as an overdrive pedal sharp rhythmic and harmonically rich. The sound is fairly straightforward, full of harmonics, rich in high mids and treble, bass are back (like a Marshall). The grain is remarkable.
This channel can boost a clean or distortion of an amp a little winded or magnify the sound of your amp. It is well suited for tube amps. (I have not tested on transistors)

Channel B has more headroom and can largely leave this sound Marshallian. The 3-band EQ gives more tonal versatility and capability to obtain much richer bass sounds and low mids without losing the sound accurately. It complements very well the channel A. We can get bluesy crunch, distos classic rock, hard rock. It is very effective.

Each potentiometer is significantly on the sound, which find happiness. Why he is welcome to devote a little time.

The combination of the two channels pushes further this pedal for extra gain. The switch A> B / B> A is still more of a perspective versatility.

Each option is to test and adjust to suit your tastes. You just have his fingers and ears work.

OVERALL OPINION

In distortion pedals / preamp I already tested:
- Danelectro Black Coffee (cheap)
- Marshall Bluesbreaker (nice but nothing more)
- Boss Metal Zone (effective metal distortion, but that's all)
- Boss OD1 (or two?) (Not bad)
- Electro-Harmonix Big Muff (average, not bad interference / breath)
- A Fuzz Boss (no more)
- Rocktron Silver Dragon, distortion lamp (good aggression but many breath)
- Mesa Boogie V-twin (very nice sound, but little headroom)
- MXR 78 Badass (nice little affordable distortion)
- Various mutli effects Korg (old trick bad distortion), Behringer (good for start) Digitech (average mouais) and Rocktron (it was good for the metal)
- Multi Effects TC Nova System (excellent analog section with OD and distortion)
- Maxon OD 808 (very good but less versatile 100x)
- Ibanez Tube Screamer (as well but with a garish side can be as versatile and least 100x)
- A T Rex (which I do not know) which was very nice too
And some others that are out of my memory

I use it for about 1 month, it is screwed into my pedalboard in a central position, and I think she's going to stay long.
There are excellent distortion pedals / preamp on the market (Fulltone, Maxon, Hughes & Kettner, TC Electronic, Bogner, Blackstar, ...) The BB + is clearly part of, has a more attractive price than the competition sometimes.

It certainly is not given, but it is two pedals in one and it is only € 54 more than the BB Preamp "alone." Given the outstanding facilities offered, the price is not excessive. I'm very happy.

Try it. You might find a sound that suits you.

Two distortion in a box, not too heavy, the other more fat. That's all the transistor, but it sounds.
A jack IN OUT jack, a power supply if one is reluctant to batteries of all types and basta, it's ready!
The cabinet looks solid and the buttons are readable, especially the two diodes of different colors that triggers channel A or channel B. rhhho the beautiful blue and red whouaaaa beautiful!!
Ah yes, you can chain the two channels in the direction A => B or B direction => A. Obviously, it makes different sounds.
3 types of sounds underfoot so: channel A, channel B, channel A + B / B + A. If you can not find it with your happiness, move on.
For those who are not very impressed by the sound of the pedal, they can always convert the package to blue light / red light, tes is beautiful! If so.

UTILIZATION

Simple config, everything is said and legible. A textbook, there was a manual?
hahaha but what is it a distortion, a manual?

SOUND QUALITY

The sound is good.
Effects of distortion quite effective, the lightest fattest: the knobs are fairly progressive long as you want to play well on both tracks and with the gain and volume knobs.
Although we recognize the notes being played, it falls outside the spray sound, it remains clear enough without adding too much of any medium will be a TS. Moreover, test comparison, you'll see.
That said, if you want to emphasize frequencies is possible: there are tiny little button but make a huge change in tone. And I speak not of switches called compressor, which also affect the rendering.
And I'm talking about the possibility to chain the two channels in the direction we want even more flexibility on the impact potentiometers.
In short, it was enough to spend the night in search of sounds, as far as we are often really good.

My use without take my head:
Clear channel on the amp:
- Overdrive provides color very gradual, from a neutral to a great crunch with a color rather Marshall, I think.
- The distortion is much more violent, with little loss of definition still very manageable. The more we grow, the more one goes towards the big sound, but still rock typed. Attention to the tone knobs, it really changes the rendering of the beast
On the drive channel of the amp:
- Overdrive boosts well saturation (generous enough) to my amp. I use for solos
- The distortion does not bring me anything, personally. With distortion of the amp, for me it is too. Only real use very valuable in this setting: use them in boost. It allows the gain to zero, we push the level. Again for solos.

In short, I use it mostly on the clean channel of my amp, to give color to my Marshall sound. Here I use both channels of the pedal separately, or in series with the distal rather as a booster.
On the overdrive channel of the amp, I use it mostly boost.
But I must say that an amp that already provides many of the saturations. And that, I have two lethal weapons to vary the sound made: a 5-band equalizer in the amp, footswitch, and I added in the loop in an equalizer 10 band pedal foot control also , so.
Anything with that, I can boost the medium (it's time to solo!) Or dig them (it's time for big hairy rhythmic!), Two strokes tap.
Multiply that with the possibilities of Xotic, you get a scratch filled.
Finally, for now: the quest of sound is a grail. This is not the outcome that matters is the way!

OVERALL OPINION

Boiboite good, fairly expensive but when you love it not count.
I was looking for something to change the sound of our rehearsal amp, very distinctive because Vox and well it really works. We will not Marshall or Mesa with that, but we will approach the sound of these amps (Marshall seems to me more anyway). On my Mesa, it adds variety, and it combines well clear as to saturax sounds lighter or hairy.

It's expensive as I said earlier, will see the use if it remains on the pedalboard, as in sound, unfortunately I am as full of scratch "any tired, anything goes" hehehe!
Anyway, for now, I'm happy, and has seen the interest it must pay a tidy sum to get the owner of the pretty red box.

Much has been said by my predecessors.

With its dark metallic red dress, I find it beautiful (the photo does not do him homage)!

Ergonomics is for me a model of its kind: a glance, despite the many possibilities of the creature, we understand how it works (which does not mean we can make it sound right the first time) .

UTILIZATION

No worries for me, that's positive!

SOUND QUALITY

Tested in store with a U.S. Start a Blues Junior, it immediately attracted me (well, come on, I confess that I had already flashed just by holding it in hands).

I only tried it a few minutes, so I did not do the trick and it may be some inconveniences or defects m'aient escaped, but I did not notice any unacceptable, on the contrary!

I greatly appreciate also the fact that one can quickly get an idea of ​​the sounds offered by a pedal without taking the head (similar to an amp or guitar, but that's another story).

It's virtually "plug and play, I just lowered the output of both channels (I do not know how the guy who tried it before I went about it, but I took a slap snapping the pedal as the volume was high compared to that of the amp).

All sounds filled me with or without compression, with a little extra for the channel distortion.
I have not even handled the equalizer (I just set "flat") to concentrate on the sounds generated by the overdrive and compression, and already by varying the rate of drive, with or without compression, and comparing the channels, there is something fun.

And it sounds serious!

Frankly, just with this simple and this little Stratocaster Blues Junior, I could spend hours rocking riffs very dirty and make the guitar sing, and I even thought at one time I played pretty well, which m ' Rarely in store .

OVERALL OPINION

So here, the trial was relatively short, the painful separation, but short of orgasm so intense that this little gem now monopolizes my thoughts ...

I would have liked to look at some of my favorite overdrive pedals (OCD, TS9, Crunchbox, HT Dual) to really hear what she has in the belly but it's useless, I now and already won!

My preciousss

The Xotic BB+ preamp is based on the popular BB preamp which is one of the best overdrive pedals on the market. The "plus" is basically two pedals in one housing, adding a second footswitch and circuit. The term "preamp" is used loosely here, as this is merely a stomp box, but a great one!

The pedal is organized into two "sides" or channels; A (red) which is based on the original BB, and B (blue) which has a three band eq section and a wider range of gain. This channel acts as a transparent clean boost with the gain rolled down and has a barky plexi character with the gain turned up.

These two sounds can be selected separately, or stacked together for many different tonal options. Also included is a switch that reverses the flow of the signal, so A can be run into B, or vice versa.

Each channel also has its own compression switch, which cuts a predetermined amount of your frequency.

I rated this section a '9' because the ONLY thing I could think of to make this a perfect unit would be a second footswitchable gain control, because it can be difficult deciding where to keep the gain on each channel as it sounds great no matter where it's set!



UTILIZATION

The BB+ has so many tonal options and settings, that the only way to get fully acquainted with it is to spend a lot of time dialing it in with your own amp/rig. As with any pedal, results will vary drastically based on your guitar, pickup, amp and speaker selection.

I can say that it's very easy to dial in a good tone with this unit. This pedal sounds great on almost any setting. A very musical pedal! Just listen to Andy Timmons

SOUND QUALITY

Many players use overdrive units to "boost" their overdriven tube amps into high gain territory or to add a tighter low end response (due to the od cutting the low end) After using many overdrive units for this purpose, I can say that I haven't found a better boost than the BB+. It beats out the TS9, 808, OCD, Lovepedal Eternity, and many others that I've tried. Of course this is based on my preference and your tastes may vary, but I can say I haven't heard a boost that keeps the amp's tone intact better than the BB. It doesn't change the amp's gain structure, it just adds more punch to it!
This pedal sounds great boosting most amps' dirty channels, and sounds equally great with its own gain through a nice clean channel. I especially like it through Bogners and Boogies.

Because it is difficult to review the effect a boost has on an already distorted amp, I will review the BB+ as a stand alone pedal through a clean amp:

The right side of the pedal, or Channel A is your standard BB pedal with a single tone control and a compression button. When this button is engaged, the compression becomes hard and the bass response becomes a little different. The low end is more "full" with it engaged.

When the button is up or off, there is still some compression present, but it is soft with less low end, and a touch more "open" sounding. This is not a high gain sound, but can get into mid-gain bluesy breakup. It sounds sweet and 'bouncy', with just the slightest bit of grit to give it a somewhat amp-like feel and tone. It doesn't sound or feel as amp-like as say, a Fulltone OCD, but more like a cross between that pedal and a Tube Screamer.(a REALLY good one at that) It's hard to get a bad sound out of this thing, and only with the tone knob set very high does it show any hint of sounding harsh.

The left side or channel B with its own compression button and 3 band eq is a clean boost and a drive. It is punchy and has a bit more gain on tap than ch A. This side is very sparkly and with the gain set low to mid and the level up, it provides gorgeous semi-clean and in-between gain tones. This could be used for pop or country, or to give rawkers a very shimmering "almost clean" tone. With the gain dimed on this side, you can get some nice plexi-ish tones.
I actually prefer to use this channel as a boost for high gain amps as it softens the feel nicely without taking away the 'balls'.
I like this channel in itself more than channel A and more than the regular BB pedal. It has a huge range of tones with the eq and comp button, and a wider range of gain.

Experimenting with the routing button that I mentioned earlier can get a large variety of sounds. For example, if you have channel A set up as your "distortion" channel, and B as your clean boost, you will get a hot-rodded lead tone running B into A, similar to boosting a gained up amp with an overdrive pedal with the gain rolled down and the level maxed. Reverse the flow so A feeds B, and you've got a compressed and loud Gilmour-esque type of sound that is very mid heavy and compressed.


OVERALL OPINION

I've been through many big-production stomps (MXR, TC, Boss etc.) as well as many boutique drives over the past few years. Many have gone and few have stayed, but the BB+ is one of those few.

No matter if I'm playing a multi-amp rig with rack gear, or just plugging into a Deluxe Reverb, this pedal is always on my board.
I can't recommend it highly enough!

The Xotic Effects BB Plus is an in depth guitar overdrive/preamp pedal. It can be used for any sort of purposes, whether it's in the studio, on the stage, or just for messing around with. The pedal has got 1/4" jacks for input and output and also has an AC jack for a nine volt power supply. It isn't rack mountable...

UTILIZATION

The make up of the Xotic Effects BB Plus definitely has a good amount going on, which in my opinion what makes this pedal so great. There are two channels on the pedal, each with their own button to engage it with your foot. Each channel has both gain and volume pedals, and channel A has a tone button and a compression button as well, while channel B has independent bass, middle, and treble EQ parameters in addition to a compression button as well. The pedal also has an A-B switch which allows you to choose which order you'd like the two channels to go in. A manual might be a good idea if you're new to guitar pedals.

SOUND QUALITY

As far as tone is concerned, the Xotic Effects BB Plus has a whole lot of it. You can get all sorts of different over driven and distorted sounds between the two separate channels, which provides an awesome amount of flexibility. I love the way this pedal sounds even as a simple boosting pedal, but it's definitely best when used for a bit extra gain. There is just an endless amount that you can do with the pedal since it's got two varying channels the way it does.

OVERALL OPINION

Overall, the Xotic Effects BB Plus is a fantastic preamp/overdrive/distortion pedal. Having two channels on here that have their own independent and differing controls is really great, as it makes the pedal incredibly versatile and can really be considered a go to option for the front end of your guitar rig. The pedal isn't the cheapest, but it's reasonably priced considered you're getting two pedals in one here basically. If you're tired of your simple, three band overdrive pedal, definitely check out the Xotic Effects BB Plus pedal and open up a world of possibilities.