I have $300. I want to make my rig sound better.

[bassplayer1494]

I want to make my fender bxr head sound like an svt. and i know that the vt character bass pedal emulates the sound of an svt. Im thinking about getting it. but then again, i would like to get a markbass little mark iii because i cant stand using the graphic eq on my fender head. God i hate G.A.S! it drives me crazy! What do you guys think?

[Blues Bass 2]

Which BXR head do you have , the 200 ? If it has enough power for you a VT pedal might get you what you want . If you'd like more power the Markbass heads are very good and have a pretty decent sound without added pedals .

If you really want an LMII or LMIII they go for about $400 on the Talkbass classifieds pretty frequently . You could sell your BXR head and have enough with your $300 to get a LMII and have a good start on saving for a VT pedal .

[bassplayer1494]

Originally Posted by Blues Bass 2

Which BXR head do you have , the 200 ? If it has enough power for you a VT pedal might get you what you want . If you'd like more power the Markbass heads are very good and have a pretty decent sound without added pedals .

If you really want an LMII or LMIII they go for about $400 on the Talkbass classifieds pretty frequently . You could sell your BXR head and have enough with your $300 to get a LMII and have a good start on saving for a VT pedal .

yea i have the bxr 200 head rite now. its pretty good for now. but i want to get something a little more simplistic. The tech 21 VT 300 head looks pretty promising.

[JimmyM]

vt is the pedal of the future. does pretty much the whole gamut of ampeg tube sounds imho. lmii/iii at one time i thought was the tubiest sounding ss amp on the market. i think others have gotten as close or closer since then, though, including ampeg. always room in my rig for the vt when when i'm using ampeg tube amps, but i'm highly impressed at solid state ampeg's tube ampeg-copping abilities. combine that with the fact that they're coming out with a 500w class d micro head that'll cost $400, and i'm there.

btw, none of it is a dead nuts match for the real thing, but it's a heck of a lot closer than it's ever been.

edit: simplistic? may want to take a second look at the vt then. the controls are very sensitive and interactive with each other. what you gain in versatility makes it totally worth it to me. not the easiest pedal i ever tried to figure out.

[Downlowd]

Get the VT... If the EQ on your BXR bothers you, set it flat and use the VT to adjust your settings. IF that doesn't do the trick for you, get the MB head. My MB responds very well to the VT.

good luck, it never ends.

[optikhog]

If your BXR has the 'preamp out' and 'amplifier in', then you should be in good shape with a VT Pedal into the 'amplifier in' input. IIRC, the VT has a very high output level, so if you want to maintain the current controls as well as adding the SVT tone, you might be better server by putting a BDDI in the chain (in my opinion).

When I was doing my church gig, I would put a BDDI in front of my old BXR300's input #2 and be very happy with my tone. The good/bad thing about the BXR heads is that they have virtually no coloration of their own.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by optikhog

If your BXR has the 'preamp out' and 'amplifier in', then you should be in good shape with a VT Pedal into the 'amplifier in' input. IIRC, the VT has a very high output level, so if you want to maintain the current controls as well as adding the SVT tone, you might be better server by putting a BDDI in the chain (in my opinion).

or you could just turn the volume knob down

also, it's been my experience that most bass amps, even those billing themselves as "uncolored," have anything but near flat response with all controls nooned. and i don't know if the bxr has it, but the fender tone stack is a very colored tone stack indeed. the markbass lmii/iii is one of the very few that read near flat on a scope. otoh, that's no indication of an amp's quality. much of ampeg's stuff has non-flat voicings and i love it. i can always turn an eq knob and get what i want, anyway.

[anderbass]

When you get your VT, make sure you try plugging it into your Effects In jack. I've got a BRX-300 head. The preamp section in mine just doesn't sound very good at all, you be bypassing it if you connected this way.

[bassplayer1494]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

vt is the pedal of the future. does pretty much the whole gamut of ampeg tube sounds imho. lmii/iii at one time i thought was the tubiest sounding ss amp on the market. i think others have gotten as close or closer since then, though, including ampeg. always room in my rig for the vt when when i'm using ampeg tube amps, but i'm highly impressed at solid state ampeg's tube ampeg-copping abilities. combine that with the fact that they're coming out with a 500w class d micro head that'll cost $400, and i'm there.

btw, none of it is a dead nuts match for the real thing, but it's a heck of a lot closer than it's ever been.

edit: simplistic? may want to take a second look at the vt then. the controls are very sensitive and interactive with each other. what you gain in versatility makes it totally worth it to me. not the easiest pedal i ever tried to figure out.

well its simpler than using a 9 band graphic eq with 3 shelving knobs, notch, deep, and high switches. i kind of got it down. i boost my mids and lows and keep my highs cut just a little below the 0 and keep both the high and low switches on and set the shelving knobs flat. Im just not a fan of the graphic eq. I think i can handle 6 or 7 "actual" knobs as long as i keep the tone i have now the way i want it. before i tried the BDDI at guitarcenter and it was pretty good. it added some depth to stingray i was playing through. But the overdrive sounded pretty crappy, it must of been the way i had it setup. I just wish that the vt bass pedal was available in 3 channels instead of 4.

[bassplayer1494]

Originally Posted by anderbass

When you get your VT, make sure you try plugging it into your Effects In jack. I've got a BRX-300 head. The preamp section in mine just doesn't sound very good at all, you be bypassing it if you connected this way.

you can actually bypass the preamp on it? i have an effects loop is that the same as an effects in?

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by bassplayer1494

you can actually bypass the preamp on it? i have an effects loop is that the same as an effects in?

ya, plug the out of your pedal into the effects return and this will bypass the amp's preamp.

[Valerus]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

ya, plug the out of your pedal into the effects return and this will bypass the amp's preamp.

oh...so that's what it does...

[One Drop]

Originally Posted by Downlowd

Get the VT... If the EQ on your BXR bothers you, set it flat and use the VT to adjust your settings. IF that doesn't do the trick for you, get the MB head. My MB responds very well to the VT.

good luck, it never ends.

This.

[anonymous122511]

Get a VT. It works great and it'll cure yer jones for a shiny new trinket.

THEN take the leftover money and get a lesson from a really good player/teacher because when you play really well you sound really good no matter what POS rig yer going through.