Music and technology have changed plenty since Traynor rolled out their fist bass amp in 1963, but the company’s name remains synonymous with solid amplification that won’t break the bank. The latest addition to their line of Small Block lightweights is the 15-pound SB106. It’s a rugged-feeling, super-compact combo that pairs the circuitry of their SB200H head with a 6 1/2" driver, so with 200 watts, it’s got enough juice to serve as more than just a bedroom-relegated practice amp.
The simple but complete front panel houses active and passive inputs, a mute switch, a gain dial, and a 4-band EQ along with a low-expander dial for, yes, expanding the low frequency. Around back is a tuner out, aux in, and an XLR out with selectable pre/post EQ. With the gain at 2 o’clock, the EQ set flat, and the low expander at noon, I got an impressively clean, warm, and smooth bass tone that displayed plenty of headroom. In fact, diming the amp’s gain with my P’s volume cranked didn’t make a mess of things. I wouldn’t necessarily call the touch of breakup that resulted a usable overdrive, but the more extreme settings did show me this little guy can generate some size-defying volume with a bit of growl through its single, small speaker. And when I plugged the combo into an external 2x12 (which automatically defeats the onboard speaker), the tone opened up wide with the additional air to breath. Super compact, a responsive EQ, 200 watts, and versatile—what’s not to like?
Test gear:Fender P, Orange OBC212 cab, Focusrite Scarlett 2i4
Recorded using Fender P with SB106 XLR into Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 interface into GarageBand.
Clip 1 - Gain at 1 o'clock, bass at noon, low mid at 1 o'clock, hi mid at noon, treble at 2 o'clock, bass expander at noon.
Ratings
Pros:
Solid build. Small and versatile. Simple but effective circuitry.
Cons:
Seems a little pricey since some bigger combos can be had for the same price or less (if compactness isn’t your thing).
Street:
$399
Traynor SB106
traynoramps.com
Tones:
Ease of Use:
Build/Design:
Value:
Revv G3 Purple Channel Preamp/Overdrive/Distortion Pedal - Anniversary Edition
The Revv G3 revolutionized high gain pedals in 2018 with its tube-like response & tight, clear high gain tones. Suddenly the same boutique tones used by metal artists & producers worldwide were available to anyone in a compact pedal. Now the G3 returns with a new V2 circuit revision that raises the bar again.
If 3 Were 6
With six times the controls found on the 1 and 2 versions (if you discount the original’s on/off slider switch,) the LPB-3’s control complement offers pre-gain, boost, mid freq, bass, treble, and mid knobs, with a center detent on the latter three so you can find the midpoint easily. A mini-toggle labeled “max” selects between 20 dB and 33 dB of maximum gain, and another labeled “Q” flips the resonance of the mid EQ between high and low. Obviously, this represents a significant expansion of the LPB’s capabilities.
More than just a booster with a passive tone, the LPB-3 boasts a genuine active EQ stage plus parametric midrange section, comprising the two knobs with shaded legends, mid freq and mid level. The gain stages have also been reimagined to include a pre-gain stage before the EQ, which enables up to 20 dB of input gain. The boost stage that follows the EQ is essentially a level control with gain to allow for up to 33 dB of gain through the LPB-3 when the “max” mini toggle is set to 33dB
A slider switch accessible inside the pedal selects between buffered or true bypass for the hard-latch footswitch. An AC adapter is included, which supplies 200mA of DC at 9.6 volts to the center-negative power input, and EHX specifies that nothing supplying less than 120mA or more than 12 volts should be used. There’s no space for an internal battery.
Power-Boosted
The LPB-3 reveals boatloads of range that betters many linear boosts on the market. There’s lots of tone-shaping power here. Uncolored boost is available when you want it, and the preamp gain knob colors and fattens your signal as you crank it up—even before you tap into the massive flexibility in the EQ stage.
“The preamp gain knob colors and fattens your signal as you crank it up—even before you tap into the massive flexibility in the EQ stage.”
I found the two mid controls work best when used judiciously, and my guitars and amps preferred subtle changes pretty close to the midpoint on each. However, there are still tremendous variations in your mid boost (or scoop, for that matter) within just 15 or 20 percent range in either direction from the center detent. Pushing the boost and pre-gain too far, particularly with the 33 dB setting engaged, can lead to some harsh sounds, but they are easy to avoid and might even be desirable for some users that like to work at more creative extremes.
The Verdict
The new LPB-3 has much, much more range than its predecessors, providing flexible preamp, boost, and overdrive sounds that can be reshaped in significant ways via the powerful EQ. It gives precise tone-tuning flexibility to sticklers that like to match a guitar and amp to a song in a very precise way, but also opens up more radical paths for experimentalists. That it does all this at a $129 price is beyond reasonable.
Electro-Harmonix Lpb-3 Linear Power Booster & Eq Effect Pedal Silver And Blue
