sansamp bass driver - is this normal?

mozarwasagenius · #1 10-28-2007, 02:02 PM

When I play my Fender Precision with Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder pickups (which I think gives a hot signal) I tend to get distortion out of the sansamp whenever the blend knob is on full and drive is 0 (bass treble and presence @ 12) and I push the string hard. If I back off on the volume knob it goes away.

I also notice that if i power it with 48V phantom power the distortion kicks in much earlier (in terms of string attack).

Anyone else notice this? Should I return it and use it for an excuse for more gear?

Thanks

Oh, and I use a programmable bass driver. I don't recall the regular bass driver doing this, but I could be wrong.

bass-shy · #2 10-28-2007, 04:25 PM

You can dial out the distortion by turning down the Presence and Blend knobs a little. As for the phantom power issue.............I don't know. I've never powered mine that way.

basadam · #3 10-29-2007, 06:20 AM

I have similar things going on with mine. Drive's response changes greatly depending on how hot the input signal is. Also I noticed it changes depending on how you feed power to it (battery vs adapter vs phantom power); I think it's a headroom issue.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mozarwasagenius

Should I return it and use it for an excuse for more gear?

Yes, get the RBI!

mozarwasagenius · #4 10-29-2007, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by basadam

I have similar things going on with mine. Drive's response changes greatly depending on how hot the input signal is. Also I noticed it changes depending on how you feed power to it (battery vs adapter vs phantom power); I think it's a headroom issue.

Yes, get the RBI!

You are fueling my GAS

rduckwor · #5 10-29-2007, 07:34 AM

Make sure you don't have the "boost" button punched. That will add +10dB IIRC.

mozarwasagenius · #6 10-29-2007, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rduckwor

Make sure you don't have the "boost" button punched. That will add +10dB IIRC.

Good point, but I made sure of that.

I do think it is a *input* headroom issue. I suspect the RBI handles this better as I read it has +/-15V rails as opposed to +9V - let alone the input pad selection on it.

In any case, I turn the Pbass volume knob down and crank the sansamp up and all is well (other than a bit more noise).

mozarwasagenius · #7 11-07-2007, 07:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mozarwasagenius

When I play my Fender Precision with Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder pickups (which I think gives a hot signal) I tend to get distortion out of the sansamp whenever the blend knob is on full and drive is 0 (bass treble and presence @ 12) and I push the string hard. If I back off on the volume knob it goes away.

I also notice that if i power it with 48V phantom power the distortion kicks in much earlier (in terms of string attack).

Anyone else notice this? Should I return it and use it for an excuse for more gear?

Thanks

Oh, and I use a programmable bass driver. I don't recall the regular bass driver doing this, but I could be wrong.

Played a gig last night and got fed up. The thing is farty unless I turn the volume down on the Precision way low or have almost no blend/drive. At that point the gain structure is "off" and I'm wondering "why don't I just get an eq pedal since that is what this is now" Also, if I play light and use the blend high the mids are gone and I am buried in the mix.... I'm returning it today and will use a Boss GEB-7 which is a handy little pedal.

I wish I wasn't so anal about my tone but I expect my equipment to behave. Blame it on me vs the equipment but the sansamp aint for me (unless it was the rackmount which has more headroom). It sounded goog in my bedroom... sigh

animal52 · #8 11-07-2007, 07:36 AM

I've got a Dirnt P that I've played throught my sansamp pedal. Those pickups are also very hot, but I haven't encountered any issues like you speak of. The only thing I notice is that the Sansamp can get a little wanky (clipping noises) if the bass is cranked on the sansamp's EQ. A P is already a really "bassy" sound. Perhaps try dialing down the bass a little and see if that helps. Good luck.

Steve Bennett · #9 11-07-2007, 07:43 AM

The SABDDI's input can definitely be overdriven by hot pickups. I had the same problem when I had S.D. 1/4 pounders in my Precision. No matter how I set the SansAmp, it farted unless I turned the volume down on my bass. My stock Fenders work fine with it. My Yamaha TRB1005 is right on the edge of fartdom, and I can't boost anything with its onboard EQ without flatulence. And yes, it's tricky getting a nice tubey tone without losing mids and becoming a big undefined boom. I've been running mine with all the controls straight up with good results.

basadam · #10 11-07-2007, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mozarwasagenius

Played a gig last night and got fed up. The thing is farty unless I turn the volume down on the Precision way low or have almost no blend/drive. At that point the gain structure is "off" and I'm wondering "why don't I just get an eq pedal since that is what this is now" Also, if I play light and use the blend high the mids are gone and I am buried in the mix.... I'm returning it today and will use a Boss GEB-7 which is a handy little pedal.

I wish I wasn't so anal about my tone but I expect my equipment to behave. Blame it on me vs the equipment but the sansamp aint for me (unless it was the rackmount which has more headroom). It sounded goog in my bedroom... sigh

OK, that seems odd! In your original post it looked like a user error (no offense) but I guess things are different. Your Sansamp maybe faulty. You may want to contact Tech 21.

I remembered what happened with my XXL Bass Edition pedal: It would start up ok, and after some time (10-20 mins) it would start farting, bypass mode was ok. Since I bought it overseas there was no warranty. So I decided to take it apart and look inside. I unsoldered all unsolderable components but couldn't find anything so I put everything together back. Voila; it was working as good as new. It turned out there was a cold solder somewhere and I fixed it. You may want to think about it.

Still, contacting Tech 21 is your best bet.

mozarwasagenius · #11 11-07-2007, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by basadam

OK, that seems odd! In your original post it looked like a user error (no offense) but I guess things are different. Your Sansamp maybe faulty. You may want to contact Tech 21.

I remembered what happened with my XXL Bass Edition pedal: It would start up ok, and after some time (10-20 mins) it would start farting, bypass mode was ok. Since I bought it overseas there was no warranty. So I decided to take it apart and look inside. I unsoldered all unsolderable components but couldn't find anything so I put everything together back. Voila; it was working as good as new. It turned out there was a cold solder somewhere and I fixed it. You may want to think about it.

Still, contacting Tech 21 is your best bet.

That could be true, but I just lost patience with it. It definitely behaved strangely over time (your 10-20minute analogy was dead on). I wasn't about to take it apart though, you are more adventurous than I

mozarwasagenius · #12 11-07-2007, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Bennett

The SABDDI's input can definitely be overdriven by hot pickups. I had the same problem when I had S.D. 1/4 pounders in my Precision. No matter how I set the SansAmp, it farted unless I turned the volume down on my bass. My stock Fenders work fine with it. My Yamaha TRB1005 is right on the edge of fartdom, and I can't boost anything with its onboard EQ without flatulence. And yes, it's tricky getting a nice tubey tone without losing mids and becoming a big undefined boom. I've been running mine with all the controls straight up with good results.

Thanks for the reassurance - I am using S.D. 1/4 pounders (love 'em)

I just felt like the pedal wasn't doing what I wanted or limiting me (had to adjust my playing to it). With stock pickups it probably would be fine as soooooo many people love the Sansamp.

Of course, I could have a faulty one

Steve Bennett · #13 11-07-2007, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mozarwasagenius

soooooo many people love the Sansamp

It's funny, I always swore by mine, but I've been using it less and less lately. It definitely warms up the sound of a solid state amp, but that "warmth" comes at the expense of lost mids. Mids, IMHO, are mainly what gives a bass its characteristic tone, so if I go too heavy on the Sansamp, my basses start to all sound alike.

dancehallclasher · #14 11-07-2007, 09:38 AM

My bass has a pretty hot signal for a passive and I don't get noticeable clipping till I put the drive control past noon. But, I have a light touch and you may be really slamming the strings.

mozarwasagenius · #15 11-07-2007, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dancehallclasher

My bass has a pretty hot signal for a passive and I don't get noticeable clipping till I put the drive control past noon. But, I have a light touch and you may be really slamming the strings.

I tend to play with high action and a med/hard touch. That's all subjective though.

ehque · #16 11-07-2007, 08:11 PM

I had the same problem. P bass, SD pups, SABDDI.

But that stupid bass would clip a few other things too, so i dont think it was the SABDDI's fault. In fact, even my active basses dont clip it.

Fuzzbass · #17 11-08-2007, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Bennett

It's funny, I always swore by mine, but I've been using it less and less lately. It definitely warms up the sound of a solid state amp, but that "warmth" comes at the expense of lost mids. Mids, IMHO, are mainly what gives a bass its characteristic tone, so if I go too heavy on the Sansamp, my basses start to all sound alike.

I agree with you. That's why I use the SABDDI (RBI in my case) gently. In short, I keep the Blend control around 50%. That way, I can get the SABDDI warmth without the strong mid scoop.

You may have already tried reducing Blend, but many users don't think to do this. I believe one reason is that nearly all the sample settings in the manual have Blend up full.