Imagine the difference between Hysteria by Muse and Around the World by Red Hot Chilli Peppers. The difference between the bass driven Hysteria (attack switch off) and bright toned Around the World (intro – attack switch boosted) is how the attack switch works.
The Grunt switch has three different settings and focuses on the bottom end (low frequencies). The three options available are Fat, Thin and Raw.
The fat option as the name suggests is bottom friendly adding some weight to the tone. Thin basically takes the weight out of the tone without adding the mid/treble aggression from Raw.
As many reviewers have mentioned ‘Thin’ can get lost in the mix easily and as a result they tend to stay away from the thin setting.The Fat and Raw settings in my opinion enhance different tonal aspects of the saturation either adding more weight and low end (Fat) or mid range and treble bark (Raw).
Imagine once again Hysteria by Muse (Raw setting) and Bulls on Parade by Rage Against the Machine (Fat settings). Both have similar distortion levels but Rage has more weight while Muse has a snap/bark or sparkle to the tone (you can hear the string hits with more definition).
Now finally on to the big brother, The B7K
Since I have taken a great deal of time discussing the B3K, I can gloss over the B7K has it features the same technology and options, as it’s little brother. The reason I call the B7K, the big brother is mainly due to the four-band EQ. The EQ knobs all offer 12 dB +/-, with the Low at 100Hz, Low Mid at 1KHz, High Mid at 2.8 KHz and Treble at 5Khz.
The B7K is best described as a bass preamp due to the on-board EQ and D.I. output. The added D.I. (balanced) output on the B7K is perfect for PA, Recording and live situations as you can go directly into the desk or interface.
The B7K, largely due to the on-board EQ can capture a wide range of tones similar to Primus, Muse, Messugah, Periphery, Rush, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Rage against the Machine and countless more.
On a final note to show just how versatile Darkglass pedals are, here is a list of some of the Bassists/producers and recording engineers, who use Darkglass pedals:
Tony Levin – Peter Gabriel bassist. Justin Meldal Johnsen – NIN (nine inch nails) and Beck. Paul Turner – Jamiroquai. Taylor Larson – Recording engineer for Sky eats Aeroplane, Life on repeat, Periphery, Count your Blessing, Of legend and more. Uriah Duffy – Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera and Whitesnake. Keith Duffy – Ronan Keating and The Coors.
There are several YouTube videos available, which demonstrate the countless tonal variations this pedal is capable of and to coincide with this article here is a video and an audio snippet to give everyone an aural understanding of how each works.