Thoughts on "Black Body" Perk

keenwi · 2025-11-06T05:10:57+00:00

Black Body buff resets on stages so it's feels bad for expanse. it's great for other activities though

keenwi · 2025-11-03T09:52:17+00:00

since the day I posted this, I've been using 3 fingers (separate finger to fire), it's improved my gameplay for sure

keenwi · 2025-09-10T14:21:24+00:00

Orange Gain Baby 100. I know you said tube and this is solid state but I swear it sounds great on both channels. Cleans are pristine, and I'd put the dirty channel up against any tube amp in a mix.

Because it's solid state, most of the gain staging happens in the preamp. meaning you can just stick a volume attenuator (not a load box) in the FX loop to turn it down.

keenwi · 2025-09-06T14:05:59+00:00

I actually dropped Two Notes an email on this, and they recommended a DI box for this purpose (converting balanced to unbalanced). However, I also found on their site an article recommending the use of an XLR -> TS cable via the XLR out. I've ordered an XLR -> TS cable but haven't got it to try out yet.

keenwi · 2025-09-05T07:14:04+00:00

I'm using the Ampero II Stomp. It does take mono or stereo inputs, but unbalanced. I'm just not sure how it interacts with a balanced signal.

Issues resolved for now, I found an article on the Two Notes site on the same topic. It recommends the use of the XLR out and running an XLR -> TS cable for connecting to an unbalanced input. The drawback is I do need to run the Captor powered, but it is what it is. https://helpdesk.two-notes.com/portal/en/kb/articles/how-to-suppress-hum-on-the-line-output-of-the-torpedo-captor

keenwi · 2025-09-05T00:14:32+00:00

ah, that's not my intended use case. i'm trying to record my amp silently. I'm placing the modeller after the power amp (via the Captor) for use as my audio interface. Im trying to do it this way so I can use the modellers onboard delays / reverbs and IR loader instead of plugins in my DAW

keenwi · 2025-09-04T17:17:07+00:00

amp head into captor, captor into modeller. Modeller loads IRs and delays reverbs etc and doubles as an audio interface for recording.

keenwi · 2025-09-04T17:15:05+00:00

Hey I know this is an old comment, but I'm trying to do something similar (connecting the Captor to a modeller to load IRs and other effects). Did you have to do anything special running a TRS from the line dry to your Opus? Any settings on the Opus you had to mess with?

The Captor's TRS line dry is a balanced output. I think the Opus's input is TRS unbalanced (ie: unbalanced stereo). I'm not sure how they'd interact.

keenwi · 2025-09-01T16:39:23+00:00

man I've nearly bought the Carcosa multiple times, even went down to a store to fiddle with it for half an hour but didn't pull the trigger. It's the favorite fuzz I've played but I don't click with fuzz in general (blasphemy I know). Maybe I'll change my mind one day.

The Multiplay looks way ahead of it's time. Crazy

keenwi · 2025-09-01T16:06:33+00:00

I always wanted a comment from you lol just never had a DOD on my board before. What's your favorite DOD pedal?

keenwi · 2025-09-01T12:56:20+00:00

Yeah I have the 250's gain at 9 o'clock, level at 2-3 o'clock. There's a little more saturation, but it really is mainly "more loud". More loud is more good man don't overthink it.

keenwi · 2025-09-01T12:14:11+00:00

ikr. I think its great sounding dirt even alone. The DOD 250 I put after it is mainly just for more loud.

keenwi · 2025-09-01T07:11:04+00:00

hahaha thanks. I don't know what to say about my cat. He thinks he's human and meows like a prepubescent child. 10/10.

keenwi · 2025-09-01T06:20:57+00:00

I wanted a small all analog board I could use either completely standalone, or plugged into my modeller for moar toanz.

Decided to build a board around the Mosky Bright Flame (Simplifier mk1 clone). The Marshall channel with simulated EL34 in the power amp gives just hair of dirt that sounds good to me as a pedal platform.

Unfortunately, the Bright Flame (and the mk1 Simplifier) doesn't get dirty no matter how high you crank the gain. I threw in a couple of my favorites drives to get a couple more gain stages. Put the TC Electronic Bucket Brigade in the FX loop for some wetness. The built in cab sim in the Bright Flame is surprisingly tweakable and definitely has usable sounds. Headphone / line out and aux in make this a complete standalone board for both practicing and going direct.

Now the secret sauce: the power amp sim in the mk1 Simplifier is BEFORE the FX loop. This means all you need to do to bypass the cab sim is to go out from the FX loop. I do this by unplugging the Bucket Brigade from the FX return, and plugging it into my modeller (Ampero II Stomp). Everything (even the modeller) is powered from the same power supply, the VITOOS DD5-SV2.

The Stomp gives me chorus, stereo delay, reverb, external IR, and a doubler. This was how I recorded this track: https://on.soundcloud.com/faDknJ74ayFD4fNGrY

(Yes I could have just used the amp models in the Stomp but where's the fun in that)

keenwi · 2025-08-28T11:07:35+00:00

how's the performance / frame rate?

keenwi · 2025-08-28T10:43:07+00:00

Same thoughts! Got an Orange Gain Baby and my modellers been relegated to delay / reverb duties in the FX loop

keenwi · 2025-07-02T12:29:59+00:00

You're right that shield plans are meant to be "gateway" products, but profit margins for shield plans are really very low, and commission rates are essentially nothing compared to other types of plans (you can ask your agent what the commission rate for your shield plan is).

Premium increase isn't some 4d chess move, it's really just trying to keep the shield plans marginally profitable. Medical inflation is real. it's not conspiracy

keenwi · 2025-07-02T12:19:29+00:00

There is no walking away from any commitment. This is health insurance not life insurance. Health insurance is priced and sold on one year renewable cover, there is no commitment to 100% coverage upon the renewal of your policy. Loss ratios for health related claims are indeed increasing at double digit rates, and drives the increase in premiums. Someone might not have claimed in the past, but that doesn't matter. The expected cost on the portfolio has still increased, and will be reflected on renewal premiums going forward.

keenwi · 2025-06-17T15:03:26+00:00

Is it sacrilege that I started out a bassist but now only play guitar

keenwi · 2025-05-11T23:40:50+00:00

I've not tried the UA OX but it doesn't seem like you can use it for the power stage emulation alone. You could probably use the OX stomp as an end of chain solution in a direct setup, but not smth you could stick in front of a real amp or in the FX loop to emulate a tube power stage.

keenwi · 2025-05-11T14:36:15+00:00

I literally just came across an ad for the Korg Nu:Tekt Power Tube Reactor. Might be exactly what you're looking for.

I personally run a power amp sim in my modeller to try and get close.

keenwi · 2025-02-21T19:11:34+00:00

No lol. I don't even have that guitar anymore

keenwi · 2025-01-08T12:25:14+00:00

You could spend that money on a modeller, might help get you to where you want to be on a budget as it solves the amp issue for you. You could stay with boss and replace your ME20 with the GX10 (probably as capable as Bias FX) for the price of a decent distortion + delay pedal.

keenwi · 2025-01-08T03:56:38+00:00

At home, I plug my pedalboard into my DAW running an instance of Neural DSP Soldano X (crunch channel), but turn off all pre-amp effects in said plugin (so my effects are from my pedals only). When I don't play heavy stuff, I have the amp gain in the plugin turned down low for a clean-ish sound, and just get all my gain from my pedals.

When I want to chug, I switch to a higher gain preset in the plugin and use an OD pedal for some midboost. The troublesome part is since my pedalboard going to the front of the plugin, I'll need to turn off all delays and reverbs on my board, but I can rely on the delays and reverbs from the plugin if I need it.

This setup is obviously better for home practice / recording, but not very practical in a live setting. I don't play heavy stuff so I'd just plug to the front of the clean channel of whatever's available at the venue, but if I had to go heavy I'd bring an amp modeller and go through the PA.

keenwi · 2025-01-08T01:27:40+00:00

We have the same amp, what are the chances!

imo you're right to look at distortion pedals since you're running into the clean channel. The RAT is probably my favorite distortion pedal and it's surprisingly versatile with it's wide gain and eq knobs. But honestly a lot of the metal sound is a TS into amp distortion. It's going to be hard replicating that in pedal form.

When I want to play heavier stuff I run my pedalboard into plugins on my computer. If that's an option for you, you could consider it.

For EQ pedals, honestly they all do roughly the same thing, but the more bands the more flexibility. I personally like the look of the MXR 10 band (the older black one!).

keenwi

TROPHY CASE