Xotic BB Preamp MB

AdjiAdji Frets: 142
in FX Reviews tFB Trader
I used to run a website / blog / magazine type thing and did pedal reviews demos etc. I was feeling pretty nostalgic today so decided to use way back machine to go and capture some of the good reviews from the site.

The original BB Preamp is an immensely popular pedal and heralded as one of the best of all time. The Custom Shop MB (Mid Boost) edition takes the original BB circuitry but also adds a Mids dial so that you essentially have a three band EQ. A very useful addition, especially, if like me, you are one of those players who is really pedantic about their mids.
Anyway, I recently picked one up whilst in New York on holiday and have been tweaking it ever since…

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Features
Obviously it is very similar to the original BB (and AC and RC boosts) except for it’s sleek brushed aluminium finish, change of knobs, and that tiny extra mid control in the middle. It is of course wired for true bypass and uses only the best quality parts, all handmade by the Xotic team in the USA.

Gain – This is obviously the dial that controls the amount of juice, and there is quite a healthy amount on tap.
Volume – There is a lot of volume available and a LOT of players tend to roll the gain nearly all of the way back and use the pedal as a boost, rather than an overdrive.

Mid Boost – The mid boost is a tiny little knob and this is actually the only thing that really bugs me about the BBPreamp MB. It is quite difficult, especially for a man with fingers the size of mine, to get in and tweak the knob without changing the settings on the four other knobs. Now obviously Xotic would have struggled to fit a full size fifth knob in there but I would much rather them have used a larger enclosure in order to fit a full size knob in. Perhaps it is just me, like I said it is the only flaw in the MBs design in my opinion.

The Mid Dial is capable of adding up to 12 decibels of boost and if rolled off to around the nine o’clock mark it is supposed to be set in a neutral position so that all of the tones of the original BB preamp can be had.

Bass Boost – The bass boost knob which is capable of adding extra low end warmth to your signal, without ever becoming muddy. I am not sure for certain but I THINK it is capable of fifteen decibels of boost.

Treble Boost – The treble boost knob which is capable of adding extra high end sprakle and sheen to your signal, without ever becoming too brittle. I am not sure for certain but I THINK it is capable of fifteen decibels of boost.
The MB can be powered on a 9 volt battery or standard 9 volt DC power supply.

Another small niggle for me is that the DC jack is on the side of the pedal, I really hate this on all pedals, but it is understandable as such a compact layout obviously yields problems and the DC jack simply wouldn’t fit at the top of the pedal.


Sounds
There is such a variety of sounds that I could sit here typing for a week and not get through them all, so I will try to be as brief as possible.

As usual I plugged straight in with all of the knobs at noon (minus the mid boost which I set in the neutral position) and just played through the different channels of my amp. My first thoughts were not ‘wow this is amazing’ but more ‘this has great potential, but will take some work.’ I could hear straight away the smooth compression and the balanced EQ, not totally transparent, but then it was not designed to be, and the friendly but characteristic EQ where just a slight nudge in either direction yields a totally different result.

Okay, a somewhat more systematic approach…
With the gain rolled almost completely off and the volume cranked the MB has a great singing, sustaining boost tone that works fantastically with higher output pickups and really gets your amps front end working hard. The EQ is not at all subtle, especially the mid and treble knobs. Whilst using the MB as a boost and you can get an almost Rangemaster type of sound out of it by using it as a clean(ish) boost with the treble cranked and the mids not far behind it. At this point I notice that the mid control is actually more of an ‘upper-mid’ frequency boost which really helps your guitar stand out in the mix, GREAT for boosting solos and giving your guitar the presence it needs to cut above a full band.

Next I tried for the Timmons style setting with a low gain, just a slight volume boost, and some increased low end for a warmer, fat, rounded tone. I put the mid back to its neutral position and found a tone I really liked; that of the standard BB. What I found I liked even more was just a slight boost in the mid frequencies to give your tone just a tiny bit of extra bite and clarity. That is not to say that the bass boost causes muddiness because it certainly doesn’t! Chords still ring clearly and each note is articulate, not at all hidden behind a wall of bass.

With the gain cranked to around half way the MB really starts to compress nicely and heavily improve sustain on an already driven amp. It just sings and when your pick hits the string you get that really nice ‘chunk’ kind of sound, the kind of sound that sloppy players hate because it really gives away any mistakes that you make. It gives a really definite pick attack boost that I know alternate pickers would love this as it creates a very articulate and defined sound to your picking.

On full gain this thing just goes crazy with a driven amp, huge amounts of distortion and compression but still very musical. It never really gets fuzzy; it just has a hugeness to it that I thought was impossible to achieve with an overdrive / boost, something which is usually reserved for Germanium fuzz faces type circuits.

There are a whole host of different sounds available with the twist of a knob and this really is one versatile beast. It sounds excellent pushing an already driven valve amp into sweet submission by cranking the volume and lowering the gain, or with the gain and bass dials cranked you can get a thick, almost fuzzy sound that just shakes your body, but never sacrifices clarity and dynamics.

On the clean channel of your amp you can use it to add top end sparkle to your sound, or crank the gain and break your clean channel up into a compressed, singing, dynamic lead tone that you probably thought was impossible to get from your amp. And of course, EVERYTHING in between.

Also, the MB stacks great with other pedals. Working alongside another low to mid gain overdrive on my clean channel it sounds fantastic and you get a very liquid smooth fusion sound that reacts fantastically to your fingers.
I could do with about four or five of these pedals on my board all set to various settings and I would have most of my dirt tones covered, alas, funds elude me haha.


Overall
As I have said this is very versatile and capable of a wide range of sounds, it is expertly built with high quality, reliable components and to top it off it looks pretty cool too.

The only downsides are that tiny mid knob which is a bit fiddly for my fat fingers and of course the 9vDC jack on the side, but what can you do? A nigh on perfect stompbox that is anything but a one-trick pony. Finally I see what all of the fuss is about with the original BB Preamps and I am very confident that those who purchase the MB will be equally, if not more, satisfied with the tonal variety on tap. The mid control is a valuable addition to an already fantastic pedal and makes this box perfect in the live gig scenario where cutting above a loud band (and crowd!) is essential.



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