Darkglass X7 Bass Pre/DI. ...it's the bass sound I have ever had

[barrymclark]

Despite most of my interaction on here being on guitar, I consider myself a far more solid bassplayer. 

 

Over the years, I have owned a little bit of everything from Fender to Ampeg to SWR to Demeter, etc. They all ended up getting sold in a year or so. They were fine. Definitely not bad. ...I just never found that thing that made me want to hang on to them. ...until about 8 months ago I got the "flavor of the day" device when I saw it had all the right features. 

The "right features" in this case were the things that basically meant I didn't have to buy the amp... get the outboard gear to make me not hate it. ...then carry it all. What I used to do was lug a bass amp and a guitar amp with the highs at the guitar amp and the lows in the bass amp. ...and I also run EQ's as a bandpass to kill off all lows below a point and highs above a point. Then...I'd compress the sound going to the bass amp. ...it was nuts. I loved the sound... HATED the bother.

 

The "Flavor of the Day" device is that thing that has the forums all aflutter. ...and then it is promptly forgotten about or even hated after the honeymoon is over.

 

The Darkglass line of Pre/DI pedals has DEFINITELY been burning up the forums. ...but it has been going on for a couple of years now. Even still, I need more than hype to buy a $300 anything let alone a pedal. The videos were cool... it was all sounding fine but I just saw that it would still be just a part of a larger "thing". Granted, it isn't dragging around 8x10's or 8x8's or anything but just still wanted something more simple.

...enter the X7. I saw the demo on it in very early January and saw it was a parallel signal processor in that it would split the signal and send all the lows to one side and the highs to the other. The highs would get the gain and the lows would be clean with the option of compressing. It was at my house in just a few days.

 

I instantly fell in love and I have used it at home... at practice...live... recording. It is, hands down, the best bass gear buy I have ever made that isn't an instrument. $300 and it does as much as my previous $2000+ rigs. ....but better and it all fits in my bass case. I have literally no desire to get anything else. The looks I get when I walk into a club with just a bass case are great. The looks when the sound hits them is precious.

 

I made this video of me playing along with Anthrax's cover of Joe Jackson's Got The Time maybe 3 hours after I got it back in January. Frank Bello's playing on this is just too much fun. I played with it a bit. ...but the feel is there. This is a one shot. Left the flubs in.

 

 

...and a few months later did this one of Pink Floyd's Money. Funny enough, using exact same settings as in the video above. Just playing differently.

 

 

[tbonesullivan]

Nice sound! Looking at the unit, it's very well designed! Really allows you to get some real dirt in your sound without losing all of the articulation.

[barrymclark]

8 hours ago, tbonesullivan said:

Nice sound! Looking at the unit, it's very well designed! Really allows you to get some real dirt in your sound without losing all of the articulation.

Thanks! I thought the same thing about how well it was thought out. Although I was only 5 and under in the 70's, the bass grit of that era I really dig but I also hated what it did to the bottom end or the articulation. Some amps were better than others but this thing is just unbelievably good. The drummer, maybe 3 weeks ago, commented that he really can't believe that sound comes out of just that little box into the PA. He also said it makes it easier for him to adlib since he can actually hear everything I am playing and not the normal "farty mess" most rock, punk, or metal bassists come in with.

[rockabilly69]

 have a very close bass playing bud that I am going to pass this info along to as he looking for grit up top and clarity on the bottom!

[barrymclark]

1 hour ago, rockabilly69 said:

 have a very close bass playing bud that I am going to pass this info along to as he looking for grit up top and clarity on the bottom!

...and this has so much flexibility it can do far more than what I use it for!

[ElNumero]

But try and play a stadium gig with it..................

[barrymclark]

3 hours ago, ElNumero said:

But try and play a stadium gig with it..................

...as easy as playing in my bedroom. Just gimme an XLR and I am tapped into the stadium's sound system. Not that this will happen... but I've gone this route as it allows me to take a very small setup that is capable of just about anything. The only thing I need is a PA channel.

[Conneazoo]

On 8/19/2019 at 3:22 PM, barrymclark said:

Despite most of my interaction on here being on guitar, I consider myself a far more solid bassplayer. 

 

Over the years, I have owned a little bit of everything from Fender to Ampeg to SWR to Demeter, etc. They all ended up getting sold in a year or so. They were fine. Definitely not bad. ...I just never found that thing that made me want to hang on to them. ...until about 8 months ago I got the "flavor of the day" device when I saw it had all the right features. 

The "right features" in this case were the things that basically meant I didn't have to buy the amp... get the outboard gear to make me not hate it. ...then carry it all. What I used to do was lug a bass amp and a guitar amp with the highs at the guitar amp and the lows in the bass amp. ...and I also run EQ's as a bandpass to kill off all lows below a point and highs above a point. Then...I'd compress the sound going to the bass amp. ...it was nuts. I loved the sound... HATED the bother.

 

The "Flavor of the Day" device is that thing that has the forums all aflutter. ...and then it is promptly forgotten about or even hated after the honeymoon is over.

 

The Darkglass line of Pre/DI pedals has DEFINITELY been burning up the forums. ...but it has been going on for a couple of years now. Even still, I need more than hype to buy a $300 anything let alone a pedal. The videos were cool... it was all sounding fine but I just saw that it would still be just a part of a larger "thing". Granted, it isn't dragging around 8x10's or 8x8's or anything but just still wanted something more simple.

...enter the X7. I saw the demo on it in very early January and saw it was a parallel signal processor in that it would split the signal and send all the lows to one side and the highs to the other. The highs would get the gain and the lows would be clean with the option of compressing. It was at my house in just a few days.

 

I instantly fell in love and I have used it at home... at practice...live... recording. It is, hands down, the best bass gear buy I have ever made that isn't an instrument. $300 and it does as much as my previous $2000+ rigs. ....but better and it all fits in my bass case. I have literally no desire to get anything else. The looks I get when I walk into a club with just a bass case are great. The looks when the sound hits them is precious.

 

I made this video of me playing along with Anthrax's cover of Joe Jackson's Got The Time maybe 3 hours after I got it back in January. Frank Bello's playing on this is just too much fun. I played with it a bit. ...but the feel is there. This is a one shot. Left the flubs in.

 

 

...and a few months later did this one of Pink Floyd's Money. Funny enough, using exact same settings as in the video above. Just playing differently.

 

 

Dang man. You absolutely smashed it, flubs and all, X2!! Great job. I think it's a fantastic thing that you've found your tone with a minimalist pared down set up. I've been trying to do the same as of late utilizing an Orange Rocker 32 2x10 combo vice my usual 1/2 stack setups. I still have the pedalboard, mics, blah, blah, blah. I too have been looking for a solution albeit coming up empty. Kudos on finding it. You know, I've found that when gigging you actually end up playing music for free. It's the load in and load out that you get paid for. Glad you found a solution. Again, great playing and thanks for sharing.  

On 8/21/2019 at 10:04 AM, ElNumero said:

But try and play a stadium gig with it..................

Do you think he'll get fired for having to small of a rig? ??? LOL!!

[barrymclark]

On 8/25/2019 at 11:44 AM, Conneazoo said:

Dang man. You absolutely smashed it, flubs and all, X2!! Great job. I think it's a fantastic thing that you've found your tone with a minimalist pared down set up. I've been trying to do the same as of late utilizing an Orange Rocker 32 2x10 combo vice my usual 1/2 stack setups. I still have the pedalboard, mics, blah, blah, blah. I too have been looking for a solution albeit coming up empty. Kudos on finding it. You know, I've found that when gigging you actually end up playing music for free. It's the load in and load out that you get paid for. Glad you found a solution. Again, great playing and thanks for sharing. 

Thanks man! I'm glad you dug it! Its absolutely awesome having all this fit in the accessory space of my bass case.