Finally! The Honeybee!

[mudster]

Well, there is apparently a very long backlog in shipping the Honeybee from Custom-Sounds, so I picked up a used one in excellent shape.
I had about a half-hour to play with it before the family came home, so a thorough work-out will have to wait.

Can anyone link me to a copy of the owners manual/pamphlet/paper that describes the operation? I'd like to read that. I'm hoping it
is online somewhere.

With a strat with average output pickups, not too hot, I found I really needed to crank the drive to get much touch sensitivity. At some levels, there is almost a compressor-like "breath" when the effect kicks in. Eventually I found some settings that worked well with my guitar.
I tried it both with a clean amp and a more complex amp and both sounded very good. Add the slightest touch of delay and it was stingin'!

I find this to be a very interesting effect. I wish some of the other effects could have a "threshold" after which the processed signal smoothly kicks in, depending on the intensity/attack of the input. It is intriguing and has some cool possibilities. It is also very musical and practical for onstage use. It is like two pedals in one - a bit of a clean boost that can OD if you hit it hard. Now, in the case of this pedal and my guitar, you have to really up the drive and hit it hard to get the effect on a single note. Very cool and the only pedal I've ever played that actually has this touch-sensitive threshold - I've seen the claim, but never had a pedal that actually accomplished the feat. Well done BJ!

I can't wait to give it a workout with my firebird, but there is no chance of cranking it up tonight. May have to take a day off, cough....I feel something comin' on. There's a bug goin' around, right?

Someone sell me their LGW, I think that is what I need to put up front here!

[NewarkWilder]

http://www.mpamp.com/bjf/HB_Owner.pdf

[mudster]

Thanks for the PDF NW!

[Donner]

yeah HB is very sensitive t o what is placed in front of it, and pickup strength and even EQ will effect the response of the HB... try ALLL your guitars with it , it even seems like a different pedal with guitar changes....

[Bobby D]

the honeybee is one of the most unusual overdrives i have ever owned. i like how you can "push" it with your picking attack.

BUT.....i am very much looking forward to the new sweet honey OD. from the clips i have heard, i think i will like this pedal even more than the HB

but....the honeybee is quite special, and to my ears, is "americana in a box" -- that jangly, overdriven slightly sound that you hear on the records by Tom Petty, John Mellencamp, REM, etc.....