Sansamp RPM+Rickenbacker

[tk4207]

A while ago I went out and bought a Sansamp RPM to use in my bass rig. It sounds wicked with the od blaring on my '67 J bass, but if I use my Rickenbacker and crank the gain around 12 o'clock or higher, it takes on a really nasal tone that I can't stand. Cutting the low mids always helps, but kind of removes that tone that I love my Rick for.

I guess my question is: Does anyone else have similar problems with either their RPMs or their Ricks? Does the RBI have similar tonal qualities to the RPM? Is this just inherent with Rickenbackers?

[bassmachine2112]

It could be you have a 4003 with the hi gain pick ups and you need to trim back the gain a bit and push up the level.
They do have high outputs or your pick ups are slightly high or I don,t know.
Mine is great through a bass driver and a hartke bass attack

[tk4207]

Originally Posted by bassmachine2112

It could be you have a 4003 with the hi gain pick ups and you need to trim back the gain a bit and push up the level.
They do have high outputs or your pick ups are slightly high or I don,t know.
Mine is great through a bass driver and a hartke bass attack

Nope, tried that already, didn't change much. I also lowered the pups, with the same results.

[JGR]

What are your settings on the RPM?

[tk4207]

Originally Posted by JGR

What are your settings on the RPM?

Drive 12 o'clock
Mid 10:30
Mid shift 9:30
Blend 5
Bass 12
Treble 12
Level 10

These settings help fight the nasal sound, but lose a lot of the punch from the Rick.

[JGR]

Usually the nasally frequencies lie in the 800Hz range (are nasal and honk the same thing? ) Looks like you are cutting the low mids which isn't where the nasal frequencies lie - the 400Hz range can often contribute to mud or a boxy tone. Admittedly this is all very vague and somewhat subjective.

What cab are you using?

You might want to try putting the mids flat and running at a higher blend setting - higher blend settings naturally scoop some of the mids, and will kick up the punch as you get more of the Sansamp circuitry happening.

[tk4207]

Originally Posted by JGR

Usually the nasally frequencies lie in the 800Hz range (are nasal and honk the same thing? ) Looks like you are cutting the low mids which isn't where the nasal frequencies lie - the 400Hz range can often contribute to mud or a boxy tone. Admittedly this is all very vague and somewhat subjective.

What cab are you using?

You might want to try putting the mids flat and running at a higher blend setting - higher blend settings naturally scoop some of the mids, and will kick up the punch as you get more of the Sansamp circuitry happening.

I guess by nasal I don't mean honk, but more of a pinched sound that lacks any grit. What I basically did was move the mid shift around until the unwanted sound started to reduce. Also my blend is maxed out, which is at about 5 o'clock on the RPM's dials.

Also, I'm using an Ampeg V4 4x12 cab.

[JGR]

Oops, I misread and was thinking it was around half. In that case, I would want to back off the blend some to let some of the natural tone come through - somewhere between noon and 3 o'clock always worked well for me - great midrange growl that way.

I am not familiar with the V4 cab- is it meant for bass? I know folks like Nuno used them in the studio for guitar. I am just wondering if the cab is the culprit rather than the bass/preamp as I got great results with that combination.

[tk4207]

Originally Posted by JGR

Oops, I misread and was thinking it was around half. In that case, I would want to back off the blend some to let some of the natural tone come through - somewhere between noon and 3 o'clock always worked well for me - great midrange growl that way.

I am not familiar with the V4 cab- is it meant for bass? I know folks like Nuno used them in the studio for guitar. I am just wondering if the cab is the culprit rather than the bass/preamp as I got great results with that combination.

The cab is meant for guitar, but apparently is popular with bassists. Do you think it might be the culprit?

[JGR]

That would be my guess.

[tk4207]

The strange part is that my Jazz sounds great through it, so idk.