The BBE Soul Vibe: A review by ColForbin

ColForbin · October 30, 2009, 12:57:39 PM

Hey guys,

I was wrestling for a while with the fact that I wanted another pedal and was looking at trems, vibes and the like. Anyways after much research and hmm'ing and haa'ing I picked the BBE Soul Vibe:

Posternutbag got me on the BBE Supacharger power supply with it's iso inputs really can't be beat in my estimation so I looked to see what else they had. Now aside from looking unreal, I am happy to say that this is a dandy vibe pedal. It's very lush and very simple to operate, clearly. I like it better than the univibe I tried and the speed and intensity controls are great and the led will flash in and out in sync with them. The only draw back is that it has something that BBE calls "True Hard-Wired Bypass" which should not be confused with "True Bypass". However, I'm currently investigating a bit more, but it doesn't appear to me that this pedal sucks my tone at all, but once I'm convinced, I'll let you know one what or the other. Just to be on the safe side I have been running it one of my true bypass loops for shows. Here's a link to the page where I found out the difference between the two, I found it to be useful:

http://www.stinkfoot.se/andreas/diy/articles/bypass.htm

However, all in all I love this pedal. I got it new for $90CAD on ebay and I'm really happy with it.

Cheers.

Poster · October 30, 2009, 02:52:09 PM

cool! i might get one just for slow vibe, as i use my boutique shit for faster sounds. good review mane. is there alot of play in the rate knob? does it go really slow and really fast?

cheers

ColForbin · November 02, 2009, 09:22:46 AM

Quote from: posternutbag on October 30, 2009, 02:52:09 PM
cool! i might get one just for slow vibe, as i use my boutique shit for faster sounds. good review mane. is there alot of play in the rate knob? does it go really slow and really fast?

cheers

right, well the knobs are very responsive to tweaking it seems. I went home and tried it at it's slowest and fastest both of which felt very extreme to my ears. I don't think you'll be disappointed with that aspect should you decided to pick one up.

Cheers.

sour d · November 02, 2009, 02:30:51 PM

Any volume drop when you kick it on?

ColForbin · November 03, 2009, 09:15:26 AM

Quote from: sour d on November 02, 2009, 02:30:51 PM
Any volume drop when you kick it on?

I sure didn't notice any, but I'll fire it up when I get home tonight and pay special attention to that, I'll let you know....

**UPDATE**

I fired up my rig and can confirm that there is no volume drop at all when you kick it on. Sounds great.

TheCrimsonKing · November 06, 2009, 03:02:41 PM

I think i might pick this pedal up, watched a few videos and I like the sound.

ColForbin · November 06, 2009, 09:21:03 PM

Quote from: TheCrimsonKing on November 06, 2009, 03:02:41 PM
I think i might pick this pedal up, watched a few videos and I like the sound.

After my bands gig last night, I'm an even bigger fan of this pedal. I like it. If you get one, be sure to post what you think. It's always good to confirm whether you are completely off your rocker or not.

TheCrimsonKing · November 16, 2009, 11:24:47 PM

My friend just got the Boss RT-20 Rotary pedal and I'm debating whether or not to spend the extra cash on it or to just get the BBE... I'm really torn. Someone help me out.

ColForbin · November 17, 2009, 07:33:59 AM

Quote from: TheCrimsonKing on November 16, 2009, 11:24:47 PM
My friend just got the Boss RT-20 Rotary pedal and I'm debating whether or not to spend the extra cash on it or to just get the BBE... I'm really torn. Someone help me out.

Well, from what I know about Boss pedals they can be pretty noisy, but maybe that's not the case with this one. I deliberated for months between the Boss, Hughes & Kettner Rotosphere and then found the BBE Soul Vibe. BBE makes good stuff, and the price is much more attractive than the others I mentioned. It depends on what you want to do and how much money you have to throw down I guess.....