Xotic BB Preamp

In/Out/Ac
Gain, Volume of course, and the active EQ bass and treble, this thing allows us to extract so much from this pedal and still so easy to use.

very clear but thick, dinamic but punchy, its workin great with many guitars and amps. and in my rig wich isn't that big it fitted perfectly. the sound is very articulate and the tone is huge! cant get enough of it the harmonics pop out very easy while still cleaning the sound with the guitar volume knob and finger touch. i play too many diferent styles and i find use for this pedal in most of them.

fully rely on it, time will tell i'm quite soft with my gear

this pedal is a must for anyone who really wants a huge tone. i've been playing for 6 years got from RG570EG to StratDeluxe to whatever. POD X3L with VK112 at home, played on JC, twin etc...

couldn't live without it, i cant compare it cuz this one matches me perfectly and i've been thru a few drive pedals.

I'm revising my review that follows, having had the pedal for a few weeks and tried it in different stages of my effects chain. I will be gigging w/ it and seeing how it holds up in a packed bar.

Having tried this pedal a lot more w/ all my gear, swapping it around to different spots in my effects chain (listed in the review below), I've replaced my Way Huge Pork Loin w/ the BB, partly to make space for an Electro Harmonix PolyChorus on my board. I must say that w/ both set-neck/bolt-on and solid-body/semi-hollow guitars the BB excels at blues lead tones. Great initial bite followed by smooth sustain, and the feel is great for touch-sensitive players, pinched harmonics leap out effortlessly. I like using my Maxon OD808 to overdrive the BB more than turning up the gain on the BB which goes grungier than the Maxon. I have the BB's drive at 10-11 o'clock, level around 9:30, treble 2 o'clock, and bass about 12:30. My maxon's drive is set at 9 o'clock and the level at 2 o'clock. See the chain I listed it out in the previous review. You still gotta have a noise gate if you use rests in your phrasing. (hey not everyone does)

I always bring two guitars in case I break a string I can quickly swap. In regards to this pedal, I suppose my other overdrive/distortion boxes always hold their own well enough to get through a gig. The BB is light as a feather but seems sturdy, I'll see how the knobs stand up to being turned by my shoes.

I changed my mind after awhile, trying it out w/ lots of different guitars, pedals and amps, which you should always do. What did it was not comparing it to my maxon, but to my Pork Loin. (haha) It has the potential to get a pretty big sound like the Way Huge pedal, but can also do much clearer, classic rock/bluesdriver tones w/ quite a bit of sting as well as cream (not the singer and band). I think the key elements of my solo tones (at least this weekend at a gig down in Nags Head, NC) will be my ASAT, Maxon, the BB, and the 59 Bassman of course. If i want more over the top than the BB (at the settings I mentioned before) I'll hit up my Ross distortion. Hope my change of opinion encourages you to give this pedal an honest run. Hats off to Xotic, just make it cheaper.

As easy to use as any other overdrive pedal, although if you're already playing a note and hit it, there's a loud pop as it comes on. Smaller knobs than my Maxon OD808 makes it harder to adjust w/ foot. Only plus is separate treble/bass as opposed to a single tone knob. But that still doesn't make it sound better than my Maxon (see below)

I have searched for a better light/transparent initial overdrive than my Maxon OD808 for maybe 6 years and have never found one. I will say that the BB seems to sound better than the stock Ibanez ones, but not as clear as my Maxon and a good deal noisier on any setting. I play a Schecter Custom XXX (coil tappable) & C-1 E/A hollow-body (w/ piezo) both w/ SD Classic 59 in neck and Custom 5 in bridge, but I also often use a 1981 G&L F100 and semi-hollow ASAT w/ P90 in neck, and sometimes a Clapton strat, Lead II, or Gibson L6-S.

Here's my signal path: guitar->Maxon OD808->Whammy->Vox Wah(w/vocal mod)->Way Huge Pork Loin->70s Ross Distortion->MXR Smartgate->70s Ross Phaser->MXR Carbon Copy->Boss DD-6->Ross Compressor->'59 Bassman (4x10" Eminence speakers)

That being said, I think the BB is a solid stand-alone pedal, because on its own it'll have a bit more punch than a tubescreamer, but it doesn't let your tone shine through (as Greg Howe and Andy Timmons endorse) as much as a Maxon. And I like to cascade my gain stages w/ various pedals in between each stage (i.e. I use my Maxon OD808 partly to buffer my signal before it goes through the Whammy and Wah, and partly because it makes my tone cut through better than any other pedal) and for that the BB is too noisy w/ anything else on and not transparent enough. If you chain up other distortion/overdrive pedals go w/ a Maxon.

seems as solid as any MXR pedal altho the knobs feel cheaper and so does the DC power jack.

I'll reiterate that I own 4 different tubescreamers and several other overdrive pedals. My Maxon OD808s are top of the list for being most transparent and making all my tones better w/ minimal noise. The Way Huge Pork Loin sounds way huger than the others, so that's my second overdrive boost that I use for solos. My 70s Ross Distortion is the bomb, blows all other distortion boxes outta the water w/ its warmth as well as crunch, from Led Zep to Van Halen Ross rules! But I would put the BB ahead of the Ibanez TS808, TS9 and BBE Greenscreamer for tone, transparency & playability. If i hadn't owned Maxons for 6 yrs I'd probably love the BB. Wouldn't buy it again though, and will probably sell it after I record some tracks with it (might as well).
Whatever you do, stay away from Fulltone, I've bought several of their pedals (Full-drive, Deja Vibe 2 stereo, etc) and been appalled at the terribly muddy, tone-sucking sound. I've sold every single one and won't go near them again.

I play everything: Rock, Blues, Funk, Jazz, Metal, Avante Garde, you name it, so I have to have a super versatile rig. I've been playing music for 25 years and also play piano, bass, drums, violin & trumpet.

simple four knobs gain>volume>treble>bass just plug in your axe and go about your buisness!!!

this is the king of overdrive pedals go from clean to nasty reminds me alot of gary moore "parisienne walkways". not noisy use it with a vox ac15 and a LP GIBSON and i like it with a wah as well!!

would gig without a backup no doubt

i play progressive rock and blues/rock which the peadal fits perfect ive been losing the skin on my fingers for 2 years now im poor so all i have is my vox ac15 and LP GIBSON... if i lost my bb preamp i would smack myself silly and if someone stole my bb preamp i would most likely be on death row well after getting another bb preamp pedal of course!!!!!! my favorite thing about this pedal is that its very transparent and sounds natural love it!!!!

If you know anything at all about guitar pedals, you can use this one.

If you like Andy Timmons and his sound, you'll love this pedal. This thing gives you classic rock over your clean channel, and singing leads over your distortion channel. This is honestly the greatest sounding single pedal I have ever used.
I keep the volume at 10, gain at 10:30, and both tone knobs at noon (neutral). I occasionally adjust the volume knob a little higher. It can be noisy past 1-2 o'clock as you'd expect.
Another note: as a pre-amp you really need a tube amp to appreciate the BB, with a solid state amp it's nowhere near as good.

Guitar: Ibanez Jem 7 BSB
Amp: Mesa Lonestar 212
Other effects: Boss DD-6 Delay used sparingly
Playing experience: 15 years
Influences: Well, I wish I could play like Satch, Timmons, Vai, Johnson, Garsed, Gilbert, SRV, Howe, or Govan but I am mere mortal.

1 year, no problems. The on/off switch is a bit "poppy".

No problems yet.

As I said, the best single pedal I've ever used. Stays perfectly true to the tones of your guitar and amp, and sounds great! If something happened to it I'd replace it that day.

Every setting I make on it sounds great. Pretty easy to use I'd say.
I confuse myself more with it as I never can quite decide what I'm going for combined with the tonal options my amp presents...no fault of the BB though! lol...

Awesome! I'm using this in front of my Bogner Shiva's clean channel just for a different flavour. If I bring the gain up around 1 o'clock on the BB and tweak the EQ a bit I can pretty much copy the Shiva's gain channel tone...but why would I want to do this? Haha...
Usually I'll back the gain off a bit on the BB just to give me a different sort of "bluesy lead tone" and kick over to the Shiva's gain channel for for blast your face off Jerry Cantrell sound!
I love it! Some other reviewer on here said us Shiva guys are spoiled and I suppose that is true.
But seriously this BB can get REAL close if that's what you're after.

It cleans up great too and in my opinion is more defined sounding than the Bogner gain tone. I like both options!

I will probably be going for an RC Booster next as I'm so happy with this pedal. Oh, other stuff I'm using at the moment is a Fulltone wah (great!), and a VL Microvibe (mostly great! just adds a bit too much low end for my taste) and most recently an Eventide Timefactor which is totally amazing (and slightly baffling!).

Main guitar is an old Dean V and sometimes a strat or tele when I can borrow one from a friend. Everything sounds awesome with the BB...go git' one!

Seems pretty solid so far. I think I've had it a bit less than a year now. Then again I never touch the footswitch as it's switched in/out by my GRX4

Never had to deal with them...so no comment!

Well, I've been playing around 20 years now...since I was 16 I think. I've worked in music retail (and guitar repairs) for the past 14 of those, so I'm surrounded by gear. Not much grabs my attention honestly.
I've been around the block (a few times!) with gear. Done the massive rig thing, racks, stacks and all that. I've owned PILES of stuff, and I think this BB will not ever go anywhere. It just OOZES tone with juicy harmonics and all that good stuff.
My buddy has a Fulldrive II and I just don't see what's so great about that thing. The BB kicks it's *** completely in my opinion.
I play a bit of everything. Rock, metal (doomier stuff like C.O.C. and Sabbath, AIC etc), but I really dig the blues. My rig now with the Shiva and this pedal is the best sounding rig I've ever had.
Next up is a Matchless baby...then I'm ALL set!

This pedal has the usual volume and gain and two knobs for treble and bass, slightly better control of the tone I reckon.

No manual needed to set up.

Setup is PRS Cu22 and Fender Esprit with SC245 pickups (amongst others) into a Zinky 25w Blue Velvet.

I wanted the tone that Andy Timmons gets in the Youtube video that I'm sure you've already heard. It's plug and play really, straight of the box it's got that sound going on. Stick a little delay on and you're in lead tone heaven

Can't see it being a problem, it's a good manufacturer and seems well built. Nice sturdy switch click when you stomp it.

Never dealt, don't expect to have to

It suits me perfectly, I bought for that tone and I think I can get it. The extra tone knobs mean you can dial in for each guitar and I really enjoy playing it. I use it for most of my dirt sounds now

Reviewer Victor is a wanker. If you had a Bogner Shiva you wouldn't really need this. I've had the pleasure of playing a Shiva but not owning one. Thoughtfully dialed in the Shiva requires no pedals, you just don't appreciate what you've got. That aside for the rest of us,or me at least this pedal is clean, crisp and clear, delivering a nice boost to a nice crunch with humbuckers or P90s(my fave). All with good articulation and separation, even at high volume. I run it after a Fulltone Fat Boost on my Twin Reverb, and a smidge of analog delay. there are a wide variety of tones in there. Not nasally like a TS9. I did not get mud, but a warm, rich tone, with lots of spank on my Tele and fat, round tone on my LP and that lovely P90 growl. A little pricey, but solidly built. Worth it

Pretty quiet for a drive pedal. Really brings out the chime on Class A amps, blooms up a 6L6 Fender, and my my Marshall SLP Plexi reissue, forget about it, ballroom blitz. :-)

No problems yet. Into it three months now. Gigging three nights a week with it

Emailed them for warranty info. Got it in two days. Good enough for me.

Good blues/ rock/hard rock/classic rock and modern jazz pedal. Way faster email support than I received on my Hermida Zen Drive after the switch broke after three months. If stolen or lost would acquire another. I've always used pedals as an accentuation to my tone, not as the driving force, that is why I'm not let down so hard if a pedal doesn't deliver. Simply return it and move on. I have an original Fulltone Full-Drive. A great pedal and boost all in one. Start with a good amp, if it requires a drastic search in tone with a pedal, you're more often gonna be disappointed than delighted. Rock on.

4 knobs, nothing complicate to understand how to use

Warm, creamy to crunchy but not harsh ... all depends how you use the GAIN, VOLUME, TONE ( treble + bass ) knobs on the pedal and your guitars. I tested it with my Strat HSS, also with my Les Paul, it worked great with both Single Coil and Humbucker. The sustain made your guitar sound like a dream. If you want AC/DC or Gary Moore tones, you will be in full capacity with this BB Preamp.

Metal case, can't imagine that it will fail.

I think I would'nt never deal with Xotic for any problem. Just wait for another 2,3 yrs to see if anything could happened !!!

If you already used the TS-9, Maxon 808, Pro Co Rat, Jetter Gear Red and Blue, Boss OD ... you will notice that the Xotic BB Preamp took the best tones from those. It's worth for the price and the sound quality.

Four knobs, one stomp switch, no much to figure out.

Well, I suppose I'll start by saying it isn't at all what I expected, and while I'm not necessarily disappointed, I am at a loss to find a practical use for this box in my life. It's really, really.....bland. I thought if something was called "Blues Breaker Preamp" it'd have more Marshall under the hood, but I was mistaken. I personally find it muddy, compressed, and uninspiring when used with the lead channel of my Bogner Shiva, and weak sauce when used with it's clean channel. I've heard people get pretty cool tones with it, so I'll hang onto it for a while and see if it grows on me. For now, I'm not terribly impressed.

Seems solid...

Haven't used it yet...

Not a terrible pedal by any means, it just might not be right for me.