SansAmp BDDI into FX return or input? Pros and cons?

[clauscaixa]

I got a SansAmp BDDI deluxe yesterday and used it straight out of the box for band practice.

Only used factory presets and loved a couple of them.

I am playing a '72 J bass. The amp is a GK MB500.

What are people's opinions towards plugging the BDDI into the FX return or into the amp input?

[bass19021]

I tried both and really wanted to like the sound of the sansamp plugged into the front of the amp, but in the end I prefered the tone through the efx return. The bddi seems to conflict with the gk preamp. FWIW, I have the 1001rbii, so your results may differ. Good luck!

[bongomania]

The BDDI is designed to emulate the complete sound of an Ampeg amp. In order for it to sound the way it's supposed to, you don't want to alter that signal by running it through additional EQ, colored gain stages, or other processing. So you would run it into the fx loop return jack in order to bypass the built-in preamp stage of your amp. Additionally, two preamps in series will be noisier than just one.

[Duke21]

Originally Posted by bass19021

I tried both and really wanted to like the sound of the sansamp plugged into the front of the amp, but in the end I prefered the tone through the efx return. The bddi seems to conflict with the gk preamp. FWIW, I have the 1001rbii, so your results may differ. Good luck!

+1, I like it better as a preamp alone, thus into the efx return. But I do like the Bad Monkey in front of the BDDI when I want a bit more drive.

[Mike in Chicago]

I use a VT bass into the FX in. Love it. "always on" pedal.

[Wes Whitmore]

I used a VT deluxe into the MB500 return, and have been using the Roland VB99 into the return for the past month or so. Im basically using it as a small footprint poweramp for my bass monitor. I use either the VT or the VB99 for the DI out. The amps master volume is the new speaker cab volume. You might have to play with your signal chain levels to get it all sorted, but then it's great.
Wes

[tech21nyc]

Originally Posted by clauscaixa

I got a SansAmp BDDI deluxe yesterday and used it straight out of the box for band practice.

Only used factory presets and loved a couple of them.

I am playing a '72 J bass. The amp is a GK MB500.

What are people's opinions towards plugging the BDDI into the FX return or into the amp input?

The factory presets were written with the unit going directly into a board. Obviously the EQ of your preamp will change the sound of those presets. Using the unit into the efx return takes your preamp section out of the equation. That amp is a little unusual in that the "boost" function is after the efx return. I'm not sure how that circuit will interact with the Bass Driver.

The Bass Driver can be used in front of the amp or in the loop as well. It's more a personal preference thing.There is a way with an A/B box that allows you to use both your amp's preamp section and the BDDI independently if desired.

I guess you really need to decide what exactly you are trying to accomplish. You already have a full featured amp that has a couple of different sounds that can be accessed via the foot switch. Do you just want more sounds at your disposal? Are you not happy with your amp's overdrive sound? etc.

[bassbully]

I play allot of low volume gigs with my band and use a lowly 30 watt Fender rumble kickback amp for them. It has no efx out so I use my BDDI right in the input and dial the tone to color the amp. I leave the rumble flat and it really adds allot to the tone and It adds so much to the tone thru this "lil amp.

[eagle67]

I like it better when I plug the BDDI into my Effects Return. But not every amp is the same. Of course the front inputs of every amp lead to the pre amp, and the whole tone shaping section of the pre amp. But---the FX return of some amps are before the Equalizer (pre EQ) while other amps have the FX return routed post EQ. Check your owner's manual

[clauscaixa]

@tech21nyc: Thanks for the very useful and informative reply. Wasn't expecting input directly from the "mother ship". Great.

There are at least four reasons I decided to acquire a sansamp BDDI :

1) I liked being able to program presets, hence programmable deluxe version
2) I liked some of the tones it could produce although the quality of YT videos on the thing is generally very poor considering how many units must be out there
3) I liked being able to use it for both regular playing and recording
4) last but not least: the sansamp is very highly acclaimed here on TB

I am really just wanting to expand my range of available tones ... I am very happy with the foot switchable "boost" given to me by the MB500. In combination with a little tubesim compression on an EBS MultiComp it is really, really nice live.

So I will probably run BDDI directly into amp so as to sometimes let signal run straight through BDDI in bypass, and sometimes let BDDI give me some of the mojo it can provide ... or look into the A/B box trick suggested by tech21nyc. I think I can figure out how to set that up.