Brad Sarno

Thanks Larry, but to to be fair, out of these first 50 Black Boxes, I have had 3 returns. Ironically, they were for different reasons ranging from too mellow to too unnoticable to too bright. Go figure It's not going to be for everyone so that's why I offer the "no questions asked" 30 day return policy. Actually, I may ask why, but it won't effect the returnability.

We are temporarily out of stock of Black Boxes. The next run will likely include the international power supply options so stay posted.

What is your setup? (amp, effects, etc.)
What is the signal path? (guitar-BlackBox-vol. ped.-?)
What pickups are in each of your guitars?

Also, and I know this is subjective, can you describe the change you noticed with the Mullen? How did it sound "better?"

Thanks!

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[This message was edited by Mark Herrick on 05 June 2004 at 12:03 PM.]

quote:

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We are temporarily out of stock of Black Boxes.

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Sweet, Brad! (I mean, the sold out part of that).

[This message was edited by Jon Light on 05 June 2004 at 12:40 PM.]

I shall not attempt to describe tone. Kinda like trying to describe taste.
The effect is subtle and I like it.
Great product Brad.

Ron

My setup is as follows:

from my steel straight into the Black box, then into my Goodrich 7A, out of the 7A into my RV3, from there I go into my Hilton volume pedal, then into a Nashville 400 Or my 1000.
I only use the 7A to tweak the sound a little based on the song the band lays out, But you can get along without the 7A and be just fine. My Mullens has George Ls, E66,and makes it much much warmer, and the bottoms string are much more clearer and defined and is wounderful when I switch over to the C6 side of my Uni. The upper strings respond much clearer as well, especially strings 3 & 4.
I have tried many different ways of hooking it up, but this seems to work the best. My Carter and Zum has the same effect with the Black Box but each one has a different pickup so I now for a fact that it works well with any pickup.
Bottom line is a much clearer, and warmer and defined sound.
Can't go wrong with a Black Box, Hilton volume pedal and a peavey amp, the three combinations are great.
Hope this helps you. If need anymore idea's reply back.

Thanks again y'all for the positive feedback on the Black Box.

So really, the Box has become more simplified and I'm happier with that setup. Others seem to agree. It's now much more neutral and all EQ and tone shaping is left up the user with their amps or whatever gear they use for tone control. The Black Box has become a very simple, clean, tube-buffer that focuses on providing the sonic benefits of the pickup/tube interaction instead of also providing EQ voicing. Although the design is simple, it's still made up of some very intentionally selected and expensive components (resistors, capacitors, etc.) that help to maximize the quality of sound.

I have made a couple of test units with variable controls on them, but they were just for field testing. The results of the testing with those units helped me arrive at the latest design, especially the new input impedance. At this point, the design has been made so clean and simple, that there's really not much use for a knob to control anything. I like keeping all pots and switches out of the unit so that there are no moving parts to go bad over time. I want these things to be working fine in a hundred years. Other than replacing the tube when it wears out, I don't see any reason why the Black Boxes shouldn't be around for my great-great grandchildren to use with their steel guitars