Steel Guitar Black Box Tube Preamplifier

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by varmonter

The description says
"no wall wart" assuming it has an
internal power supply.??
I wonder how similar
this is to sunrises buffer box.?
Does the black box actually contain tubes??

The Steel Guitar Black Box has a 12AX7 tube that operates with a serious B+ Plate voltage of 300 Volts Direct Current. It also has an internal power supply. I have a NOS circa 1960 RCA 12AX7 "Black Plate" tube (one of the "holy grails" of tubes) I can swap out for the factory-installed tube in the SGBB I ordered. Here are the specs for the Steel Guitar Black Box:

Audiophile carbon film plate resistors and Dale/Vishay metal film resistors for the finest tone

Hand rolled film/foil audio capacitors

Rugged, thick-trace, oxygen-free-copper, double-sided circuit board

300V B+, triple filtered power supply

Quiet DC heater supply

*Variable input impedance - 33kΩ to 1MegΩ

Tuner output for silent tuning

Lower profile chassis (can now be rack mounted in a single rack space)

No wall wart

Cool blue LED pilot light

*For pickups that like a higher impedance than the 33kΩ to 1MegΩ of the standard, traditional SGBB, Sarno also offers a special SGBB modification for upright acoustic bass with piezo pickups, that expands the Vari-Z (variable input impedance) range from 1Meg Ohm (traditional Black Box) to 10Meg Ohm, to optimize the pickup response.

[varmonter]

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

The Steel Guitar Black Box has a 12AX7 tube that operates with a serious B+ Plate voltage of 300 Volts Direct Current. It also has an internal power supply. I have a NOS circa 1960 RCA 12AX7 "Black Plate" tube (one of the "holy grails" of tubes) I can swap out for the factory-installed tube in the SGBB I ordered. Here are the specs for the Steel Guitar Black Box:

Audiophile carbon film plate resistors and Dale/Vishay metal film resistors for the finest tone

Hand rolled film/foil audio capacitors

Rugged, thick-trace, oxygen-free-copper, double-sided circuit board

300V B+, triple filtered power supply

Quiet DC heater supply

*Variable input impedance - 33kΩ to 1MegΩ

Tuner output for silent tuning

Lower profile chassis (can now be rack mounted in a single rack space)

No wall wart

Cool blue LED pilot light

*For pickups that like a higher impedance than the 33kΩ to 1MegΩ of the standard, traditional SGBB, Sarno also offers a special SGBB modification for upright acoustic bass with piezo pickups, that expands the Vari-Z (variable input impedance) range from 1Meg Ohm (traditional Black Box) to 10Meg Ohm, to optimize the pickup response.

So how different is the sound with the
vintage tube instead of the stock tube.
if you run this box into a digital board
would it defeat the purpose??

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by varmonter

So how different is the sound with the
vintage tube instead of the stock tube.
if you run this box into a digital board
would it defeat the purpose??

Well, I've yet to receive the SGBB. My only reason to mention the NOS RCA 12AX7 "Black Plate" was that this is an option I have available. I suspect the difference in tone would be negligible between the Sarno-installed 12AX7 and the circa-1960, RCA "holy grail" 12AX7 Black Plate. Currently, the NOS RCA 12AX7 "Black Plate" is installed in a PreSonus TubePre that I used to use for my online radio station but I haven't used it in years.

[varmonter]

I found one on reverb. black box that is..
should be here in a few days.
Curiosity got the best of me. ha.

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by varmonter

I found one on reverb. black box that is..
should be here in a few days.
Curiosity got the best of me. ha.

That's What I Like--a player that steps up to the plate and swings for the fences! Good Luck with it! I'm still waiting for mine to arrive.

[varmonter]

I sent sarno an email asking about
the output level of the bb . As i plan
to run it into a helix stomp. The stomp
has input settings for line,inst and mic
. Sarno replied and said its unbalanced
inst. Which was kinda my assumption.

[dcopper]

Varmonter,
Keep us posted on your bb and especially interested in how it will work with the HX Stomp.
Davidc

[varmonter]

Well Ive had 2 gigs with the bb .
First one with the band into the helix and
touchmud mixer and the results were less then desirable. Not sure if it was the
box or the board
Second was last night
solo. This time into my board zed10
and the Eae d58.
The results were phenomenal.!
I got this wonderful warm sound
with just the right amount of saturation.
I didnt use the helix.Makes me wonder
if it was that awful touchmud board
or the helix. or both.. warrants furthur
investigation with that setup as
the sound i got last night was
just wonderful. Very warm and tube like.
what a cool box.
The knob i thought at first was a vol gain knob but its more of an impedance matching knob.
i dialed in a sweetspot
last night. it sort if changes the tone
as you sweep through. I just used
my ears. So far I think its a keeper !!
But Ill consider this a honeymoon phase.
And i will report back after i play with it
some more. But after last night i think this has huge possibilities for me.

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by varmonter

Well Ive had 2 gigs with the bb .
First one with the band into the helix and
touchmud mixer and the results were less then desirable. Not sure if it was the
box or the board
Second was last night
solo. This time into my board zed10
and the Eae d58.
The results were phenomenal.!
I got this wonderful warm sound
with just the right amount of saturation.
I didnt use the helix.Makes me wonder
if it was that awful touchmud board
or the helix. or both.. warrants furthur
investigation with that setup as
the sound i got last night was
just wonderful. Very warm and tube like.
what a cool box.
The knob i thought at first was a vol gain knob but its more of an impedance matching knob.
i dialed in a sweetspot
last night. it sort if changes the tone
as you sweep through. I just used
my ears. So far I think its a keeper !!
But Ill consider this a honeymoon phase.
And i will report back after i play with it
some more. But after last night i think this has huge possibilities for me.

Great to hear the SGBB has some merit in shaping your tone! I'm still waiting for mine to arrive from Sarno which states that it takes 2 to 3 weeks for delivery. It's been two weeks since I ordered it so maybe by the end of this week it'll be here. I'm looking forward to trying the SGBB with my new Republic Duolian Resonator that arrives tomorrow. I ordered the Duolian with a Schatten NR-2 Biscuit Bridge Pickup which is passive and it'll enable the Steel Guitar Black Box to show all of what it's got. More to come ...

[fotofantom]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

I've always looked at these and wondered. I do understand how a tube preamp would round off transients, though.

Bob

Interesting. I would like more info on taming transients - I will start a new thread.

[loco gringo]

I like to let it warm up for 30 minutes to an hour if I have time. It seems to get fatter as the tube warms up.

Also, when I got mine, I plugged it in for 24 hours to burn in the tube. I can't remember for sure, but I think Brad Sarno told me to do that.

[varmonter]

Originally Posted by loco gringo

I like to let it warm up for 30 minutes to an hour if I have time. It seems to get fatter as the tube warms up.

Also, when I got mine, I plugged it in for 24 hours to burn in the tube. I can't remember for sure, but I think Brad Sarno told me to do that.

this seems odd to me. i would think
after 5 or 10 it would be as hot as its gonna be? But id have to say it seemed
to break in as the night progressed.
I bought this used. Dont know if it
had been" broken in " or not. I probably
wont leave it plugged in for 24 hrs.
I cant recall.. its been so long since
i used tube gear. I do like the sound
of this thing..gotta figure out how i want
to incorporate the helix.

[dcopper]

I am interested to see how this progresses. Every time I add something to the HX Stomp, I end up just using the HX Stomp on its own. I was just wondering if the tube compressor settings in the Stomp get you to the same result? I’m just solo gigs where you aren’t going to use any Stomp effects, I could see where the SGBB would be a nice addition. Springsteen always used or uses a tube preamp to fatten up and warm up his Takamine. That is where the “cool tube” Tak preamp came from as I understand it.
Keep experimenting!
Davidc

[guitaniac]

Didn't K&K sell a tube preamp at one time? As I recall, the idea was to sweeten the highs so that folks would want more treble in their sound. That might well be a plus for fingerstyle players.

[varmonter]

Originally Posted by dcopper

I am interested to see how this progresses. Every time I add something to the HX Stomp, I end up just using the HX Stomp on its own. I was just wondering if the tube compressor settings in the Stomp get you to the same result? I’m just solo gigs where you aren’t going to use any Stomp effects, I could see where the SGBB would be a nice addition. Springsteen always used or uses a tube preamp to fatten up and warm up his Takamine. That is where the “cool tube” Tak preamp came from as I understand it.
Keep experimenting!
Davidc

I havnt had a chance to play with the helix black box combo since my not
so great experience the first time out.
there is alot going on in my band with
the touchmix mixer and everyones hand
in it with ipad. I dont get enough time
pregig to really dial it in. At my solo gig
the spl isnt anywhere near the bands level. And i didnt use the helix.
im going to try a helix patch without
comp and eq with the bb and see if
it sounds any better. I know i can
figure this out. my solo gig was just
guitar-bb-DI- zed10fx-speaker (d68)
the band was guitar-bb-helix-di-touchmix
bose compact. Im not a fan of the touchmix or the bose. But i have no say
in the band. Im not too worried i will get it to work.