Black Ice Overdrive

[Motorhead]

I blindly ordered a Black Ice Overdrive Guitar circuitry component?

Do you have an opinion on it?

[renablistic]

ummmm no. try it out. I heard it's pretty good.

[Motorhead]

Originally posted by renablistic
ummmm no. try it out. I heard it's pretty good.

Why doesn't it surprise me that someone from Ohio knows what I'm talking about.

Shhhhh!

I'll post a review after I test it.

[HotRodZombie]

i've always wanted to try one myself, but i wasn't sure if i wanted a guitar that could only do overdrive... let us know how it works.

[Motorhead]

Originally posted by HotRodZombie
i've always wanted to try one myself, but i wasn't sure if i wanted a guitar that could only do overdrive... let us know how it works.

It's going to go on the extra tone knob on one of my hot-rodded strats BUT just for the bridge PU.

I use a TBX master tone anyways then I usually put an extra volume pot (for only the neck PU) or a PU split switch.

I'm curious and excited ... maybe an overdriven JB Trembucker :confused:

[HotRodZombie]

sounds like an interesting setup, if you can take some pics of it when you're done, i'd appreciate it.

[Motorhead]

Originally posted by HotRodZombie
sounds like an interesting setup, if you can take some pics of it when you're done, i'd appreciate it.

I promised Pics of all my axes at the latest by xmas time. So will do.

[cubby]

I know that Rivers Cuomo has used one in his Warmoth Strat. I think that they are only designed to work in hot pickups, but considering that your handle is "Motorhead" you probably already have that taken care of.

Rock On.

[Rock A My Soul]

Originally posted by cubby
I know that Rivers Cuomo has used one in his Warmoth Strat.

Rumor has it that he hooked it up to his volume control, which is why it sounded so good even at low volumes. I've always wanted to try it but am afraid of ruining a guitar by doing it wrong.

[Motorhead]

This Black Ice Overdrive ('BIO') has given me nothing but grief over the past 3 weeks.

StewMac says you need a PU with over 8K in DC output. Somewhere else they say 10K. Doesn't matter, whether you calculate output in Henries, multivolts or DCs this BIO gizmo needs a PU that is at least as hot as a SD Custom-Custom. Else, it woun't 'clip' i.e. it does nothing.

I've spent the past couple of weeks on every Guitar Board I could find asking questions and all I found was 5!, yes 5!, people that said they got it to work. Out of those 5 I'm pretty sure only 2 were telling the truth.

The BIO is supposed to be easily placed instead of your tone capacitor (or on the volume pot). It's supposed to give you a tweed distortion sound or a warm low overdrive.

Why would you want this if you have to install it on a HOT PU?

I barely got it to work on the Custom-Custom and it raises the volume a bit and gives a sutle raspy old fashionned distortion sound by breaking up the signal. No Big deal. I could try on a JB but I don't want that sound overlaying my JB.

Maybe I'm just used to harsher sounding distortion/overdrive sounds. I can't even say it was fun or a learning experience because it's a little black box that nobody knows anything about ... not even StewMac.

That's it for passive components ... next attempt a mid-boost.

[Motorhead]

Well, I finally found out why I wasn't hearing the StewMacs Black Ice Overdrive clip properly.

My Graphic EQ with the Mids boosted (which is always on) was basically nullifying the effect of the circuit.

I currently have it wired on one of the tone pots of my EvH Strat. It will definitely give you access to an on board raspy sound through the clean channel of your amp. It works on my Seymour Duncan Custom-Custom Trembucker but it remains dead with the DiMarzio HS-3 and YJM.

I doubt I'll get much use from unless I'm cornered with a distortion less amp.

[cubby]

I have wondered if those things work for ages. I never could find anyone who used one except Rivers Cuomo and he already uses so much amp distortion that I wasn't certain how much was the Black Ice.

[Motorhead]

Originally posted by cubby
I have wondered if those things work for ages. I never could find anyone who used one except Rivers Cuomo and he already uses so much amp distortion that I wasn't certain how much was the Black Ice.

It is sure to get drowned out. I've been on Weezer's Forum and the guys there instal it on their volume pot.

I just posted my comments on the Weezer forum ... I should be getting flammed by a bunch of people that never got it to work properly as you read this. <shrug>

EDIT :> The choice between boosting my Mids and this gizmo is no choice at all.

[cubby]

Originally posted by Motorhead
It is sure to get drowned out. I've been on Weezer's Forum and the guys there instal it on their volume pot.

I just posted my comments on the Weezer forum ... I should be getting flammed by a bunch of people that never got it to work properly as you read this. <shrug>

EDIT :> The choice between boosting my Mids and this gizmo is no choice at all.

I think I'll stick to tube/pedal before modding another guitar right now - too many projects on my plate as it is.

[Motorhead]

Update:

I still have this Black Ice gizmo in my EvH Strat but I can't even remember when was the last time it used it.

[Talent?!]

Originally posted by Motorhead
Update:

I still have this Black Ice gizmo in my EvH Strat but I can't even remember when was the last time it used it.

Off topic.

But once again I'm declaring my undying love for that guitar :D

[Breadhead]

I was considering getting one and this more than helped, thanks for the review overall.

I thought it was a bit "off" to need pickups with a high impedence.

[Motorhead]

Originally posted by Talent?!
Off topic.

But once again I'm declaring my undying love for that guitar :D

LOL ... it's :cool: to have and with all the time my wife and I put into putting the stripes on it will stay in the family for quite a while. The neck Kills too !

EvH photo (http://community.webshots.com/photo/106316996/127873989BcOlGE)

[Motorhead]

Originally posted by Breadhead
I was considering getting one and this more than helped, thanks for the review overall.

I thought it was a bit "off" to need pickups with a high impedence.

I would seriously recommend that everyone stay away from it. My 9-volt Micro-Marshall delivers much better OD tone then that gizmo.

[lp_man]

Originally posted by Motorhead
I would seriously recommend that everyone stay away from it. My 9-volt Micro-Marshall delivers much better OD tone then that gizmo.
Im just woundering if it would be useful during solos?(even tho it would be best suited just to have some pedal to stomp on) Like if you had a good rythm sound on and then decided to turn it up, would it sound good? Or just a bunc of feedback?

[Motorhead]

Originally posted by lp_man
Im just woundering if it would be useful during solos?(even tho it would be best suited just to have some pedal to stomp on) Like if you had a good rythm sound on and then decided to turn it up, would it sound good? Or just a bunch of feedback?

It's not powerful enought to boost your signal.

At it's very very best the BIO will take a very clean tone and dirty it up.

I'd have to check by how much but if it did raise my volume by any significant amount I would have been happy. Even at high volumes the BIO will not send my amp into a feedback that's for sure.

[scarecrowX52]

Hey Motorhead,

Have you tried it on the volume pot as well as the tone pot?

How would you wire it to the volume pot? From where to where?

[Motorhead]

Originally posted by scarecrowX52
Hey Motorhead,

Have you tried it on the volume pot as well as the tone pot?

How would you wire it to the volume pot? From where to where?

Yes and I didn't hear much of a difference in the final effect. It did seem to be always ON (to a certain extent) which is not what I wanted.

I tried so very many wiring variations and different PUs it's not funny. I honestly can't remember how I wried it best on teh volume pot. I would think it would work best on the 'ground' terminal #3 of the volume pot. You could us it to jump the volume pot and go from, terminal #1 to #2 but then it would definitely always be ON and at the max.

IMO this BIO is only good for a very clean and scooped foundation amp tone.

[scarecrowX52]

Well fukk that......I wouldn't want it always on anyway, that would really be a problem when I wanted to use my wireless.

Cool idea......looks good on paper......they just needed to execute it better.

[pop_n_fresh]

Not sure if I'm bumping this or not but has anyone tried it with different valued pots to see if that made a differance?

I'm quite interested because I hate super clean channels so having an on board light OD would be pretty ideal.

Found this as well, a cheaper version for anyone who wants to try it out. (http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/blackice.htm)

[berarduur]

Different value pots won't change the sound

[pop_n_fresh]

Originally posted by berarduur
Different value pots won't change the sound
Ah okay, just I read somewhere that they did.

[berarduur]

Hmmm, maybe I tried it with the wrong values as the guitar I used already had 250k's

ah well!

As for simplification:
Remove the cap in the guitar and replace it with two Schottky diodes orientated complementary.

[bdesntchr]

i can't find schottky diodes, but radio shack has diodes with both amp and volt ratings. witch do i want?