Home › Forums › Review Your EHX Gear › black finger?
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March 22, 2009 at 2:39 am #77943st.bedeMember
any one have a black finger? please, tell me what you think.
and if you could compare it too a studio comp that would be great but, not necessary?
March 22, 2009 at 3:26 am #94778MINGMemberI have one.
I like the BF a lot. It most certainly fattens up your tone. Though it fattens it, it doesn’t color it. I find that it is one of those leave it on all the time pedals. Only time that I turn it off is if I’m running some heavy fuzz or distortion.
A cool trick is that you can clip your signal. The distortion/break-up isn’t that bad either.
A minor dislike is that the power adapter jack is on the side. If you are cramming pedals together. It sometimes gets in the way.
I’m also chasing a slight noise when I use humbuckers. I tried a couple different guitars w/ HB. I’ll make a clip up. When I listen to it, there is a slight fuzz/crackle as the note is decaying. Singles and P90’s, I have no problem with.
The 2 minor things that I mentioned are easily overlooked, atleast by me. It is a decent pedal.
March 22, 2009 at 4:30 pm #94784st.bedeMemberthank you ming
March 24, 2009 at 1:52 am #94833Fender&EHX4everModeratorPossibly my favorite pedal. Enhances tone without coloring it too much, or killing the attack.
March 28, 2009 at 8:41 am #94997freshchopsMemberI’ve been using it as my main pedal board compressor for about 2 years. I am very happy with it and would replace it if lost. Not too much to add that hasn’t been said, but yes, it is warm, lush and and thick…. in my opinion the most, of all pedals on the market. I
I don’t drive the Pre-Gain often, but if you are looking for that, the B.F. has the best drive of all pedal comps.
I only just recently started using it in “Squashed” mode and love it from creamy tele’s to driven Les Pauls. It also works great for bass. This pedal is also very well layed out. The controls and features couldn’t be better. From the LED and Lamp modes, the Normal to Squashed levels and the Pre and Post and so simple to manipulate.
Mine got pretty noisy over time. Really obnoxious noise, like gritty static even with no signal going through it. I replaced the tubes and it took care of it and then some. So on that note, I’d actually recommend swapping out the tubes from the get-go but that’s just my opinion. I used a pair of “Ruby’s” matched J/J’s and they were a big improvement…. seriously!
It’s hard to compare this pedal to a rack comp. because racks range from $200 to $2000. If you’re thinking about a low-end rack, you’re WAY better off with this pedal.
[edit]
….. Forgot to add some helpful a/b info. I’ve played this compressor along side of, swapping back and forth between a BBE Orange Crush and a Keeley 4-button Compressor…. both great compressors too. I’d still take the Black Finger over either any day, PERIOD. The BBE is definitely a tasty compression, but in short, is very limited in compression range. If you’re looking for subtle (ONLY) compression, the BBE is OK. The Keeley is a bad-arse pedal with extremes in both subtle and intense compression. It has the most powerful pre-drive sustain of all three if that’s important, but it is lacking in warmth and lushness. It’s lacking character, which in some cases is suitable, if you’re looking for really no-color compression….. the Black Finger on the other hand DOES add tones of character by thickening up the signal with VERY lush, warm and full tone. No tone is compromised through the Black Finger, the highs still sparkle without sounding brittle and the lows are warm and fat! I play a Strat, Tele, Les Paul and Gretsch through them and it does them all justice, as well as a warwick bass.March 28, 2009 at 8:47 am #94998freshchopsMemberQuote:I’m also chasing a slight noise when I use humbuckers. I tried a couple different guitars w/ HB. I’ll make a clip up. When I listen to it, there is a slight fuzz/crackle as the note is decaying. Singles and P90’s, I have no problem with.I’ll add to that too, that I sometimes get a lightly audible fuzz noise. I get it on both single coils and humbuckers though. Also, I noticed that I only hear it on normal mode. When I play squashed, it’s not there. It’s very subtle but definitely there. I can’t hear it when amped up (because it’s that subtle), but can hear it in headphones when going directly into ProTools or the 2880 looper. Even at the cleanest scenarios with gain rolled back, it’s a slight fuzz that accompanies the sustained notes…… Let me know if you figure it out. I’d ask you to see if you get it in Squashed mode, even with gains rolled up….. ?
March 28, 2009 at 2:30 pm #95005MINGMemberfreshchops,
I’ll mess with it, this evening. I’ll let you know how it goes.
March 31, 2009 at 7:07 pm #95075BrianzeroParticipantHi All,
been lurking in the shadows for a while here but finally decided to jump in.Freshchops,
I too am a proudf owner of a black finger and yes i simply love it too but have to say yes I get that ‘buzz’ too on the Normal/Lamp /led setting. When on squashed its silent. when i play thro my amp i don’t really notice it however if i play thro headphones there it is buzzing in the background. I had an idea today to put lesser high gain tubes in and see if it made a difference. Well it did but the volume dropped by half! and it wasn’t even compressing. So I am like you here I really don’t know what it is??? Any ideas anyone?
April 8, 2009 at 11:38 am #95440BrianzeroParticipantQuote:Hi All,
been lurking in the shadows for a while here but finally decided to jump in.Freshchops,
I too am a proudf owner of a black finger and yes i simply love it too but have to say yes I get that ‘buzz’ too on the Normal/Lamp /led setting. When on squashed its silent. when i play thro my amp i don’t really notice it however if i play thro headphones there it is buzzing in the background. I had an idea today to put lesser high gain tubes in and see if it made a difference. Well it did but the volume dropped by half! and it wasn’t even compressing. So I am like you here I really don’t know what it is??? Any ideas anyone?
I just wonder, does anyone else notice this buzz and do you have any idea what it might be?? Or…. is it just the nature of the beast?
April 8, 2009 at 11:49 am #95441MINGMemberI changed my National tubes to some GT 12AX7 tubes that I had laying around. So far, it is pretty quiet.
April 8, 2009 at 12:20 pm #95442BrianzeroParticipantThanks for that
Yes I changed the original tubes for some sovtek 12ax7s and it came in around the same. This is only on the lamp/led in normal mode. The squash setting is noise free thats why i reasoned it might be just the way the thing works, buzz or no buzz I really do like how it works and love the different compression settings that you can get from it.April 8, 2009 at 7:50 pm #95452MINGMemberI bought new Sovtek 12ax7’s for this very purpose. I put them in and it was the same. Still that slight static. Like I said, I put the GTs in. Now, it is quiet.
Did you tighten the screw, under the metal tube guard? The one in the middle of the pedal.
April 9, 2009 at 7:47 am #95472BrianzeroParticipantI did try to tighten the screw but it was already tight. I will try some different 12ax7s. Thanks for that.
April 9, 2009 at 3:10 pm #95480WatsonWoodMemberOn the link below is a Black Finger being used live on stage at the Salle Wagram in Paris. I chose the Black Finger because of the clarity of the sustain. It had none of the signal damping typical of the comp boxes of the time, and very often today,such as MXR or Ibanez. OK, I was playing loud and live, but I have also used it in studio work for film and album music and have to say my Black Finger was, and is, a clean, clear sustain pedal with no loss in attack.
April 9, 2009 at 8:19 pm #95496Fender&EHX4everModeratorQuote:Quote:if i play thro headphones there it is buzzing in the background. I had an idea today to put lesser high gain tubes in and see if it made a difference. Well it did but the volume dropped by half! and it wasn’t even compressing. So I am like you here I really don’t know what it is??? Any ideas anyone?I just wonder, does anyone else notice this buzz and do you have any idea what it might be?? Or…. is it just the nature of the beast?
I’ll have to test mine to listen if mine has this problem. I’ve never noticed it before, and I’m hoping I won’t :doh:
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