F1X headroom not enough for octave pedal

[Picure]

It seems like the F1X does not like octave pedals much.

My setup:
Bass>SF2>Pedalboard>F1X front input.

It seems that my octave gain is lower than my clean gain but it clips badly and I have to turn down the octave gain. It aeems like the F1X clips on super low frequencies like when I do a heavy b string slide.

It also seems like the F1X volume knob is not post. It seems to overdrive the tube but the F1X tube clip sounds really bad.

Anyone has similar problems? Or am I using my rig incorrectly.

[jazzyvee]

Here are a couple options where you might find some useful ideas for experimenting.
http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=4335.msg229481#msg229481
Also try doing a search of the forum based using "SF-2 settings" that gives you quite a lot of  reading.....:-)


You will find there are members here who run their series basses in stereo and have the effects on the bridge pickup only and as such you won't lose any of the clarity of the bass because you have the clean neck pickup and you can add as much of the effect as you want to your output from the bridge pickup volume knob on bass.


If I was running a pedal board that is what I would try first and if going mono i'd plug both DS-5 outputs into the two inputs of the F1-x and put the SF-2 in mono into the send and receive channel of the F1-x.


If going stereo I'd split the pickups via my two F1-x's and have each channel of the Sf-2 plugged into the S/R inserts on the F1-x's, give the sound desk two DI outs and run separate cabs for each pickup.

Hope that helps.

Keep us in the loop on how you are going as it seems you are getting a lot of gigs so could find a solution quickly.

Oh I forgot to mention, earlier this year I was getting a gritty sound from my new speaker and power amp that I had not heard experienced before and found that knocking the gain down on the internal trim pots in my series basses cleaned everything up. The trim pots are down by about 40% now but they were on full originally which is probably why the sound guys didn't like me giving them the post signal from my Fl-x DI outs. :-)

[StephenR]

I have never owned an F1-X but do have a Superfilter and know that you need to be really careful with the gain structure when using it or you can potentially blow your speakers. Agree with Jazzyvee's recommendation to check out the link and do a search on the forums here for threads about what kind of settings people use. There is also a way to change the amount of gain available which is done internally. Did you get a copy of the manual with your SF-2? Definitely can be helpful to read through it.

If you suspect the problem is the F1-X have you tried your rig without the SF-2 to see if the F1-X still clips badly with the octave pedal?

Another thing to consider is putting the SF-2 in the effects loop of the preamp instead of before it. While you can use an SF-2 as a standalone preamp it is best used to correct deficiencies in the sound of your rig not to establish the overall tone. With the Superfilter and the pedalboard both before the input to the preamp there are a lot of places in your signal chain that affect the gain structure before the signal hits the preamp.

[Picure]

Thanks alot for the tips! I forgot that there is an padded input 2 for the F1X which worked perfectly and gave me a clean sound even with the octave pedal on. I will also try different routing methods and see what turns out best and let you guys know what I end up using.

Thanks!

[Picure]

The final verdict: Bass>Effect Pedals>F1X 2nd input with SF2 in effects loop. Got rid of all the clipping issues.

Thanks everyone!