BBE 402

A tale of pure simplicity. There are six controls on the front: two sets of LO FREQ and PROCESS knobs (one set for each channel,) a PROCESS button, and a power switch. I'm pretty sure the power switch is self explanatory. The PROCESS button turns on the Sonic Maximizer effect and enables both sets of knobs. LO FREQ affects how much bottom is added and apparent (not sure if it's adding a certain frequency or a sweeping shelf point, but it definitely adds bass) and the PROCESS knob affects how much of the effect is applied.

Really, it's very easy to set... just plug in your effects chain, start the knobs at 12 o'clock, and play from there. Once you find a decent sound, forget about it. You'll most likely never want to touch it again... apart from hit the PROCESS button to hear what it sounded like before and then quickly reactivate it with a shudder at what you thought sounded good before.

Oh, let me tell you... this is the bee's knees.

I thought my bass rig was decent before I added this little blessing. My rig consisted of a GK-800rb bass amp (with a dbx 266 compressor in the effects loop) run into a Bag End S15-D bass cabinet, all fed by a heavily modified Fender Precision with Seymour Duncan Basslines Quarter Pounders in the P and J positions. I had been getting a great sound out of it, primarily due to the Bag End cabinet (see my review elsewhere as well as on their website... it beat the pants off of the Eden, SWR, and Ampeg cabinets I tried.) I was still curious about the BBE, though...

Everything I'd heard about it made it sound like something I ought to try out. Many of the reviews here were quite kind. I checked out eBay for deals and talked to a few dealers, but never really got around to trying one out.

Finally I was visiting a friend at a guitar store in Lemoyne, PA and mentioned my interest. He said they had an old unit in the back. I asked if I could try it out in my rig at practice that night and bring it back if it didn't do what I wanted... no problem. Sold. On to practice.

I installed it after the compressor in the effects loop, dialed in a quick setting, powered up my rig, screwed around for a minute without the effect on. I pushed the process button and played a note... and stepped back. I monkeyed with the knobs just a bit and proceeded to walk around the room. This was someone else's bass rig. It was good before, but now it was... unreal. The bass I was getting was absolutely what I'd been searching for.

The GK has never had what I considered real punch to it. It's loud, but it doesn't really shake rooms. The Bag End helped it immensely, but it still wasn't earth shattering; however, once that BBE 402 was in the loop, everything changed. Perhaps the Earth is still around, but I definitely shook some paint off the walls.

Needless to say, I didn't return the Maxie. It played the 3 gigs over the weekend and performed like a champ. I played several gigs where the other bands had vintage Ampeg SVT tube heads with Ampeg 8x10 cabinets... I think I sounded better than they did. I even think a couple of them said so as well (remember, I have a 1x15 cabinet.) It hasn't come out of the rack, not will it.

In describing the sound quality (finally!) I have to mention that it can go from a subtle, yet audible increase in apparent clarity to a complete redefinition of the way the sound comes out of the speaker. In a nutshell, it removes the muddiness. Even if you thought there was no mud, it makes you realize there was. The low end is tightened and focused while the high end is allowed to set itself apart and glisten. All of this is done with no hiss or noise added... and I do mean NO noise. It's the cleanest piece of gear I've ever used.

For a note on newer model's sound quality, see the overall rating.

I depend on it. I would even say I rely on it. I'm not worried about it going out unless something happens that would affect the whole rig, but that's why I have a power conditioner.

This model is also around 10 years old at this point. I'm sure I'm treating it pretty nicely, but I don't know how it was treated before. It works wonders after all that time... I'm not concerned.

I've had no contact. I haven't need to as yet, but I've heard from others that they repair their equipment.

This ought to be the one piece of gear required for all bass players to try out in their rigs. I would rather my compressor go out rather than this. It took the place of the 31 band EQ that had come out of the loop six months earlier... the EQ added a ton of hiss and really didn't improve my sound that much. The BBE did everything I'd expected the EQ to do, but without any hiss. A wise move.

Because of this impressive improvement in sound, I've referred to it as the "magic makes-it-all-sound-good box" to everyone and insisted that they try it out. I let one of the guys try it out in the loop of his SVT... his whole band insisted that he get one.

I play primarily hard rock music (occasionally we've been labeled emo-core, but only out of it being the trendy label.) To me, rock music needs a solid, powerful low end. This single piece of equipment provides that low end without gimmicks, harmonic processing, or distortion. This single piece of equipment might just have saved rock music. Yes, I'm serious.

My only issue with this piece is that I was concerned about its age. BBE had issued numerous upgrades to it. I ended up buying a 482 a few months later just to see what it's effect would be. I A-B'd it against my 402 in my rig. Apart from some power problems with the 482 and the necessity to slap it around to even power up, I didn't notice any real differences between them. Same control layouts, different paint on the front. That's about it. I took the 482 back and told them about the power problem... it was listed as a manufacturer defect.

My advice? Buy any Sonic Maximizer you can get and use it.

Notes on models:
The 400 series are line level for instrument usage.
The 800 level are mic and line level for studio use.
Everything lower is for connecting in a mix capacity.