RMI Basswitch IQ DI has landed

[odin70]

As a doubler im very interested in the Basswitch. But there are two things i would like to see: Eq for both channels and two di (one for each instrument) I can imagine its going to be frustrating not being able to eq bass number two when using two electric. Doesnt make sense to me.

[gillento]

Originally Posted by odin70

.... I can imagine its going to be frustrating not being able to eq bass number two when using two electric. Doesnt make sense to me.

Not at all: the active basses (with 2 or 3 way preamp) go through channel B (no eq), my passive basses that need a bit of levelling/eq'ing go through Channel A

[JCRob]

Originally Posted by odin70

As a doubler im very interested in the Basswitch. But there are two things i would like to see: Eq for both channels and two di (one for each instrument) I can imagine its going to be frustrating not being able to eq bass number two when using two electric. Doesnt make sense to me.

Or maybe get two active DIs for the price of this unit. As for me, I'm very happy with it.

[odin70]

My setup will be either upright/passive electric or passive/passive electric. That makes the basswitch half as good as i would like it to be.

[JCRob]

Originally Posted by odin70

My setup will be either upright/passive electric or passive/passive electric. That makes the basswitch half as good as i would like it to be.

I get your point. If you really want to buy this unit, you could add an EQ pedal to engage it for the second channel through the serial FX loop. You still get a parallel FX loop/Boost to use with both channels.
But if this unit costs what it costs with EQing for one channel, I can't imagine how much will it be
Doubling everything for each channel...

[odin70]

True. It would be more expencive. But i would only like one more eq and one more di..the rest looks fine What do you think Jacques? Should i buy one now or are you going to make The Basswitch 2 ?

[Jacques]

Originally Posted by odin70

True. It would be more expencive. But i would only like one more eq and one more di..the rest looks fine What do you think Jacques? Should i buy one now or are you going to make The Basswitch 2 ?

Hello Norway :-)

When I was conceiving the Basswitch I had doublers in mind. I myself double active and passive electric basses and many users double electric and passive basses. We tested many designs and what came out of it was the Basswitch IQ DI. A preamp with two EQ's would in most cases ask also for stereo effect loops and a stereo DI, that would make the unit, considering our ambitions in matter of signal routing and sound quality very expensive (let us say the double of the present price). For your case I would recommend, if needed a second EQ upfront Channel B, but why do you need two EQ's; are you running the Basswitch IQ DI directly into a power amp?

Regards

Jacques

[odin70]

..and hello to you Brussels I thought maybe i could do gigs without my amp and go direct to the PA. Then i thought an eq on channel B would be nice for my electric. Maybe i just have to buy one now and experience for myself. Looks like a great tool.

[Jacques]

Originally Posted by odin70

..and hello to you Brussels I thought maybe i could do gigs without my amp and go direct to the PA. Then i thought an eq on channel B would be nice for my electric. Maybe i just have to buy one now and experience for myself. Looks like a great tool.

To be precise Luxembourg :-)

The idea is that you run one bass directly through channel B to the board where your basic sound is set up like if you would use a simple DI. Than you use the gain (Cut and Boost) and the EQ of channel A to adapt the sound of your second instrument as needed (=only one EQ and DI needed).

I let my customers judge if it is a great tool or not but I seem not to have done too bad :-).

[odin70]

Sorry...my bad.

Im going to order one tomorrow. Looking forward to try it. Thanks for the replay!

[Jacques]

Originally Posted by odin70

Sorry...my bad.

Im going to order one tomorrow. Looking forward to try it. Thanks for the replay!

You are welcome and I wish you a lot of success live and recording with the Basswitch.

[odin70]

Got mine today from Thomann.de. Havent been able to try it yet (no adaptor....) A bit cheap i think. But anyways...it looks really nice. Im going on tour with my electric and upright this month, so im really looking forward to use it. One thing i was not happy about: The metal corner was bent..The hit must have been really hard because i cant make it straight again. Should i complain? I cant send it back now, since i need it on tour.

[Jacques]

Originally Posted by odin70

Got mine today from Thomann.de. Havent been able to try it yet (no adaptor....) A bit cheap i think. But anyways...it looks really nice. Im going on tour with my electric and upright this month, so im really looking forward to use it. One thing i was not happy about: The metal corner was bent..The hit must have been really hard because i cant make it straight again. Should i complain? I cant send it back now, since i need it on tour...But im not happy about it.

Hello Odin,

When we developed the Basswitch we had two ways to go, either to add a power supply or to make the Basswitch capable of accepting any power supply from 9 to 20 Volt AC or DC and with no concerns to the user wether the the + is tip or sleeve. We thought the second choice smarter although a bit more expensive to us.

This being said I feel it is not normal that you receive a damaged product and I know that Thomann is great at handling this kind of problems.

I hope that the quality of the Basswitch is going to help you overcome this bad beginning.

Regards

Jacques

[odin70]

So far so good Im really impressed by the quality of this unit. I can tell right away that this is a keeper.

[Jacques]

Originally Posted by odin70

So far so good Im really impressed by the quality of this unit. I can tell right away that this is a keeper.

If you want to take the Basswitch on tour and replace the cover later just PM me, I will replace you the cover at cost!

Regards

Jacques

[odin70]

Thank you Jacques! I really appreciate your offer. However...i think i can live with with the cover as it is. It not that big really. I was afraid that the hit (if it was a hit) had caused something internal. But everything seems to work just fine. This thing is going to make my life as a doubler so much more comfortable. Im going to use in ear this time, so i think i just leave my amps home

Thank you, again!

[Robin Ruscio]

I've come back to looking at this unit again because it serves so many functions.

I've realized how much hum is being added by all my true bypass effects pedals, tuner, and compressor. If I understand this correctly, the buffer in the unit will reduce my impedance to create less noise in all the pedals. Plus I can run them in the mix effects loop and keep them out of the signal chain, which is good since most of my true effects (distortion, chorus, envelope, synth, phaser) are only used on a small percentage of my tunes with my main act, and not at all with many other gigs. This saves me from having to move pedals to another board for gig where I don't need everything on. And I can run the compressor through the serial loop and get the tune out of my signal chain together. AND i can turn some of those effects on simultaneously with the mix switch for times when i need a combo mid tune.



I also can replace my aguilar tone hammer that I use as preamp/DI and probably improve on the tone of the DI and preamp controls. I also have a radial bassbone I can sell for the times when I need to use URB or a second electric. The input impedance switch also reduces my need for an URB pre amp on gigs where I'm doubling.

I'm thinking when I factor in what it would cost to get a looper and after I sell my Aguilar and bassbone I'm not going to be spending too much money.

I do have one question about using the serial vs mix loop for Jacque: I use my buffered Tech 21 VT bass for some overdrive about 25% of the time on my main gig. Can I leave that in my serial loop so I don't have to also switch on my mix loop with all the other effects every time I want to use it? I'm not sure if the constant degradation of the signal is something to worry about, but we do not pause long between tunes so having to hit one vs two switches is something to think about. Plus that means all the other effects that are less used will be getting passed through more of the time; maybe 25% of the time instead of 10%.

[gillento]

Originally Posted by Robin Ruscio

...Plus I can run them in the mix effects loop and keep them out of the signal chain, which is good since most of my true effects (distortion, chorus, envelope, synth, phaser) are only used on a small percentage of my tunes .... And I can run the compressor through the serial loop and get the tune out of my signal chain together. AND i can turn some of those effects on simultaneously with the mix switch for times when i need a combo mid tune.

....

I do have one question about using the serial vs mix loop for Jacque: I use my buffered Tech 21 VT bass for some overdrive about 25% of the time on my main gig. Can I leave that in my serial loop so I don't have to also switch on my mix loop with all the other effects every time I want to use it? I'm not sure if the constant degradation of the signal is something to worry about, but we do not pause long between tunes so having to hit one vs two switches is something to think about. Plus that means all the other effects that are less used will be getting passed through more of the time; maybe 25% of the time instead of 10%.

I know this question was directed at Jacques, but I think I can chime in here as I am running my board just like this!
Two drive pedals (Aguilar Agro & Xotic RC) , a Rodenberg booster and an MXR octave pedal in the switchable parallel loop, so they're only in the signal path when used. The VT and the Maxon Compressor are in the fixed loop (if you place the compressor into the parallel loop, only the effects are being compressed, not the parallel clean signal) .
I don't think the VT adds noise to the sound ! So you need to decide if you want some clean sound along with the VT or not.

As for URB, I can't comment at all!

[Jacques]

Good morning Robin,

My answers in your text:

Originally Posted by Robin Ruscio

I've come back to looking at this unit again because it serves so many functions.

I've realized how much hum is being added by all my true bypass effects pedals, tuner, and compressor. If I understand this correctly, the buffer in the unit will reduce my impedance to create less noise in all the pedals. Plus I can run them in the mix effects loop and keep them out of the signal chain, which is good since most of my true effects (distortion, chorus, envelope, synth, phaser) are only used on a small percentage of my tunes with my main act, and not at all with many other gigs. This saves me from having to move pedals to another board for gig where I don't need everything on. And I can run the compressor through the serial loop and get the tune out of my signal chain together. AND i can turn some of those effects on simultaneously with the mix switch for times when i need a combo mid tune.

All good, except that the our input buffers will not improve the sound of your pedals but will almost certainly have a positive effect on your sound. You missed one other goodie: the mix channel will also allow you to mix some of your original signal to your effects signal to keep the "bottom" of your sound. This feature is very useful when you use distortion pedals for example.

I also can replace my aguilar tone hammer that I use as preamp/DI and probably improve on the tone of the DI and preamp controls. I also have a radial bassbone I can sell for the times when I need to use URB or a second electric. The input impedance switch also reduces my need for an URB pre amp on gigs where I'm doubling.

I'm thinking when I factor in what it would cost to get a looper and after I sell my Aguilar and bassbone I'm not going to be spending too much money.

If you add the cost of all the tools you need to buy to be able to do what the basswitch does you will end up with a cost higher than the cost of the basswitch and your are not sure to get the same sonic quality.

I do have one question about using the serial vs mix loop for Jacque: I use my buffered Tech 21 VT bass for some overdrive about 25% of the time on my main gig. Can I leave that in my serial loop so I don't have to also switch on my mix loop with all the other effects every time I want to use it? I'm not sure if the constant degradation of the signal is something to worry about, but we do not pause long between tunes so having to hit one vs two switches is something to think about. Plus that means all the other effects that are less used will be getting passed through more of the time; maybe 25% of the time instead of 10%.

I have my VT 21 in the serial loop as I use it as an tube amp emulator, so depending on the gig, it stays on or off all the the gig. The impact on the sound when off is minor to the advantage of this signal routing to me. If you would want to make to really perfect you could add a Little Lehle in the serial loop to make that loop switchable also, but that is almost an overkill. Put the VT before the compressor.

I hope to have answered your questions.

Regards

Jacques

[Robin Ruscio]

Thanks for the input on the VT location both of you. Sounds like serial will work well for me.

To be clear, the input buffers will help me original signal retain it's quality as it passes through the effects, correct? Less "tonesuck" and noise/hiss. That's what you mean by "positive effect on my sound"?

On the mix channel, I saw that you can blend some dry/wet signal to retain bottom. I have a Darkglass B3k, which has a blend in it and sounds great at keeping bottom. Same with my TC Corona Chorus and synth. I assume that I can blend the it totally wet since these pedals already give me independent control of that by themselves.