hey guise. this is a review of the two pedals i have on the subject. im really sorry if i dont have a video review of it (it doesnt do it justice anyway. they sound alike.)
the equipment:
rockstar les paul
marshall mg series ss amp 30w
CBox
BSIAB
the first pedal i tried was the crunchbox. im used to this box. it has all the marshall goodness i could ever want in a pedal. high gain anyway. this has more gain than what i actually need in a pedal so i dont always use the gain at full. it sounds great, zero noise and tight over all. im sure crunchbox owners know what im talking about. a while back i a/bed the box against an egnater tourmaster all tube combo. i commented that the crunchbox is a tad fizzy and lacks the character and "feel" of a tube amp. so from then on, i was gassing for a tube amp. when my funds couldnt really get me so far, i remembered my old bsiab the first one that christer built. i didnt really like the way it was muddy, but that was because of MY design flaw as i really asked too much from that pedal. i had a little extra cash so i decided to get another bsiab from christer. this time, ALONE. i remembered the bsiab really had that "sticky" feel to it that i liked and MISSED in the crunchbox. sure the crunchbox sounded marshally but it didnt really feel like one. i still felt like i was using a box
when the bsiab arrived i tested it right away. but i didnt a/b it right away so my ears could get used to one sound. the first thing i realized is that IT SOUNDED DIFFERENT from my first bsiab. proof that my idea just had too much going on and there wasnt enough time to fine tune the pedal. it sounded tight, crisp and flowing with mid goodness that screams MARSHALL at me. the stickyness of the notes was there. and it felt so natural. it was fun playing with it again. and yes. i missed that "sustain to feedback" thing that my old box used to do. sarap nun.
today i a/bed the crunchbox and the bsiab. testing time was around 3 hours. first i tried the bsiab and well, i since gotten used to the feel. when i switched back to the crunchbox, it sounded different. well, it was HEAVIER thats for sure. it was chuggy and it had a fat a$$ if you know what i mean. but i also noticed something: the crunchbox sounded SCOOPED compared to the bsiab. like i said the bsiab was overflowing with mids. when i switched back and forth, it became evident that the crunchbox was a little scooped. not scooped to death that every note is indistinct and fizzy. just right for modern sounds. sounds like a jcm800. the bsiab sounds like a really boosted vintage marshall.
in terms of feel, i liked the bsiab for leads better because of its sticky feel. but there was a little lack of low end in the bsiab and its not as tight as the crunchbox. the cb was better for metal rhythm and all that. but for solos, i find it a bit lacking in the feel department. the bsiab seemed more natural to me than the crunchbox.
in terms of cleaning up, the bsiab wins. it has less gain and therefore is easier to clean up than the crunchbox. but i also noticed that at the not-so-high gain settings, the crunchbox still doesnt really clean up that well compared to the bsiab.
the verdict? these are two different boxes claming to have gotten the "marshall in the box". BUT these two boxes model two DIFFERENT marshall models. so, Crunchbox is to JCM800 as BSIAB2 is to a really driven vintage marshall. the bsiab has a more "tubey" feel.
well that ends my little review.
i have a vid of the bsiab up. but i couldnt post it in youtube because it always fails.
http://www.mediafire.com/?3fqeml0a9xxits a short clip of me playing some hardcore/metal riffs. the gain was around 4 o clock and everything else in unity. i also had the treble and mid boost mods switched on.
