The finest
universal all-tube buffer for pedal steel, electric guitar,
bass guitar, acoustic guitar, fiddle and
more!
The Steel Guitar Black Box™ is the
ultimate tone enhancer for amplified musical instruments.
It is a simple device using a single vacuum tube, yet it
has a profound effect on just about any instrument signal
that you pass though it. The SGBB is a true, audiophile
quality, vacuum tube pickup driver (buffer/impedance
matcher) especially designed for enhancing the tone of
magnetic or piezoelectric musical instrument pickups.
Originally developed for use with pedal steel guitar, the
Black Box is equally effective at breathing life into and
enhancing the tone of upright or electric bass, electric or
acoustic guitar, mandolin, fiddle, Rhodes or Wurlitzer
electric piano, synths and keyboards, drum machines, lap
steel guitar, studio mix tracks, and more.
Ideally the SGBB is placed directly after the instrument's
pickup. This pickup/tube relationship is at the heart of
it's intended purpose, and by having the pickup directly
"see" the tube, all of the benefits of the tube are
maximized, and all of the potential of the pickup is
captured. The Black Box's output will easily drive just
about any device without subjecting your sound to
tone-killing capacitive loads or inadequate input circuits
as found in many effect units. Even though the Black Box
runs clean, there is a very subtle amount of harmonic
distortion and dynamic compression naturally created by the
tube which adds a warm, sweet and musical smoothness that
you just can't achieve with the use of transistors or
digital modeling devices. This natural tube characteristic
is at the heart of the Black Box's ability to bring out and
enhance the richness of any amplified instrument's sound.
Over the years, a number of impedance matching devices have
been developed for the purpose of conditioning or buffering
a pickup's signal on its way to an amp, preamp, or DI
input. However the biggest complaint remains that when
compared to tubes, transistors lack the harmonic and
dynamic richness, warmth, and feel that players desire. The
SGBB is the first product in its class, and is unsurpassed
in it's all around performance. The SGBB has found its home
both on stage and in the studio whether it's driving an amp
or a direct input. When used with acoustic pickups, the
Black Box does an amazing job of taming that typical hard,
brittle, crispy high end, and turns the treble into
something much more natural, sweet, and musical. It also
works wonders on that frustrating midrange often
experienced with acoustic pickups, and makes it far less
necessary for heavy and complex EQ notches and filters to
get the right sound. The end result is an acoustic
instrument that sounds much more like wood and strings, and
a lot less like a pickup.
Unlike so many tube products out there today, the SGBB is
designed and built as audiophile, "boutique", or high-end
pro studio gear. The 12AX7 tube is run extremely clean with
a robust 300V B+ supply as well as a low-noise DC heater
supply, robust and high quality throughout. The Black Box
is not an overdrive unit. The circuit uses only the finest,
hi-grade components to preserve and enhance the richness
and complex overtones generated by stringed and other
musical instruments. Handmade film and foil capacitors,
100% oxygen-free copper pc-board, audiophile carbon-film
and Dale metal film resistors help contribute to the
warmth, sweetness, and high performance of the SGBB.
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for pricing and order
information.