bbe used with the steel guitar

Gary Bickham · Post by **Gary Bickham** » 5 May 2006 9:56 am

do any of you use the bbe with your steel setup? i ve heard about these units for several yrs but didn t know anyone who used one on there steel. do these units real work good on the steel? if so which model, they make them mono plugs, xlr ect?

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Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 5 May 2006 10:19 am

I've got a BBE 441 (I think that's the model no.) and I use it in my rack, and it does make things a little more crisp, but I still sound like @#%!....

Gary Carriger · Post by **Gary Carriger** » 5 May 2006 10:32 am

Gary,
All you had to do was pick up the phone and call me....I have used a BBE 362 for a couple of years now, and like it. If you want, call me and I will bring my effects box by your house and let you play thru it.
How's that, buddy?
Gary

Mark Krutke · Post by **Mark Krutke** » 5 May 2006 11:49 am

Hi Gary,

I've found that the older BBE's (the 422A model) works well. The reason for one like the 422A is that they still have the manual switch, so that your signal doesn't have to reach a threshold before the BBE kicks in. This helps when playing soft notes, etc.

Darrell Owens · Post by **Darrell Owens** » 5 May 2006 9:41 pm

Gary,

Yes, BBE 462 is in my rack for pedal steel and also for guitar. As you may know, BBE stands for Barcus Barry Electronics. It is different from other effects. The BBE was originally used in PA applications, and then later models were designed for guitar. I find that it works better with transistor amps than tube amps. That is just an opinion. I don't like it as well with my Rivera tube amps, but with the Webb and Peavey and an old Sho Bud, it really sounds great. The best description I can give you is it seems to give each string more definition.

We have used BBE in the final mastering stage of several recording project we have done.

Hope that helps.

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Darrell Owens
www.darrellowens.com

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 6 May 2006 7:27 am

The BBE effect is available in a small pedal as advertised in GP magazine. BBE also has a pedal compressor that is based on the soft knee type of older units.

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 6 May 2006 8:55 am

What, exactly, does a BBE DO? I am reluctant to buy an "Enhancer" or a "Maximizer" or a "Virtualizer" or an "Exciter" if the company refuses to explain what processes are being done to the sound to "enhance" it.

Mark Krutke · Post by **Mark Krutke** » 6 May 2006 9:40 am

David,

The BBE acts as a filter to make each instrument and voice sound more distinct and clearer. Most of them have 2 knobs: a contour knob, and a low frequency knob. Too much contour can make your mix sound cheap. I have a BBE plugin that I use on my pc for mixdown which is an image of the actual unit. The knobs show up right on my screen which I turn with my mouse.

That's interesting that there've been units made for instruments. For steel, it seems that a BBE would act similiar to a Goodrich 7A sustain unit in terms of brightening up the tone. The benefit would seem to be the additional bass tones that the BBE would deliver.

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http://authenticrecording.com
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Frank Parish · Post by **Frank Parish** » 15 May 2006 4:07 am

I have the BBE 882 model. I used it for a long time with a Pro-Fex II. I have it posted for sale.

Ray Byrd · Post by **Ray Byrd** » 15 May 2006 3:36 pm

I posted a rply this am. Any idea where it went?
Ray Byrd

Ray Byrd · Post by **Ray Byrd** » 15 May 2006 3:56 pm

Looks like the system is case-sensitive.

I'll try again.

Yes, BBE equipment is GREAT for steel guitar, IF you are playing large chords of about an octave or more in span. I played in west Cocoa FL for 2-1/2 years at a club that had BBE in the PA. Punching the switch in-and-out was like removing a pillow from the speaker cabinets that we didn't know was there.

How?..following is my understanding.

Barcus Berry has applied VERY interesting technology to audio reproduction.

A speaker is a "linear motor". The coil and cone oscillate simultaneously with a wide variety of frequencies. A problem with all speakers is that the coil and cone move very precisely at low frequencies. Because of mass (weight) and electrical impedance (frequency-sensitive mechanics) the higher frequencies are out of phase with the lower frequencies, ie, they begin coming out a little slower and later.

For over 30 years BBE has provided electronic equipment that very nicely compensates for that handicap. There was a time when I quickly recognized RCA records played on radio by the "cleanness" of sound.

The technology is to provide electronics that break the audio spectrum into multiple sections by frequency, say, maybe three sections: Low, Medium, and High. The Medium frequencies are then delayed electronically by maybe 3-6 milliseconds. And, the Lows are delayed maybe 7-10 milliseconds. Don't quote those values. I don't know what they are. The physics goal is to get a majority of the audio spectrum out of the speaker with the same phasing as the original sound.

It works! You can hear the difference. Sounds like a "muffling pillow" has been removed from the speaker cabinet.

I don't know the difference between all models, but the physics described above is common to all.