Just bought a VT Bass. Not sure if I wanna keep it.

[tombaker]

Hey,

The other day i bought a Sansamp VT Bass for $100 less then what they retail here for. It had only been played once so i couldnt resist

Anyways, ive been playin around with it a bit and i cant quite get it how i want it to sound. I want to base the sound on Tool (like in the song The Pot). I cant seem to get it to sound like it. Its either too mild or goes insane with lots of feedback.

Maybe im using the wrong pedal for my needs? am i better off with a Sansamp Bass Driver DI like what Justin C uses?

Im using a Warwick RB Corvette and a Warwick ProFet 3.2

Cheers,


Tom

[ReMmy]

I have the BDDI and, while I've never used it at rehearsal or gigging, I find it invaluable for recording... as a DI. It's very versatile in that regard for me. Otherwise, if I was looking for a box to get a specific tone or overdrive effect out of while jamming, this wouldn't be it.

[newbold]

It's an AMPEG tone machine.

Chancellor's tone does not embody classic SVT or B15 tone.

I'd say keep the thing and turn your pickups down.
Try coming at it from a different angle.

[bassman1185]

You should be able to get a Tool-esque tone out of the VT. Keep messing with it. It takes a couple of hours of dedicated tweaking to get a feel for what actually sounds good with the VT. The controls are all very sensitive and interactive.

[gibsualdo]

Originally Posted by newbold

It's an AMPEG tone machine.

Chancellor's tone does not embody classic SVT or B15 tone.

I'd say keep the thing and turn your pickups down.
Try coming at it from a different angle.

This. Most of JC's tone comes from his Wal bass, which then runs into all solid-state Gallien Kreuger heads and a Demeter tube preamp. His tone isn't really reminiscent of an Ampeg (which the VT Bass emulates) at all IMHO.

Saying that, I found I could get fairly close with my Sansamp BDDI (which is also a tube amp emultor) and my Spector. Much closer with the BDDI (with some added low-mids after), than I can with my VT Bass. That's not to say it's not possible with the VT, I just personally couldn't really get there. My Ashdown ABM head on it's own does a better job, though not as good as I found with the BDDI. I think the presence knob on the latter helped a lot. YMMV.

Also, using fresh strings and playing with a pick are fundamental ingredients for any JC-esque tone, if you aren't doing that already.

EDIT: Finally, JC has never used the BDDI for recording or live playing. That has been pretty much confirmed as a mistake by a bass player magazine. His only Sansamp is a GT2, which he uses for distortion.