Sansamp BDI into GK 700RBII

[Milky Pisswit]

First off, I've scoured the forum for relevant insight into my questions about the Sansamp, but can't find specifics which will be helpful. Sorry if any of these are repeats, but here goes nothing!

I'm thinking about getting the Sansamp programmable BDI and wanted to know a few details in relation to my set-up.

I'm running a passive Warwick Corvette through a GK 700rbII head. From my understanding, the Sansamp is basically an outboard preamp/DI, but wanted insight into whether...

A) How best to run it into my amp. I've read stuff about bypassing the pre-amp in the amp, but I'm a complete idiot when it comes to gear, so was wondering how it's done and what the effects/pros/cons of this is

B) Will the Sansamp colour the tone to the extend that I lose the distinct sound of my Warwick.

I get sweet tones through my current set-up and love it to bits, but I'm just wanting to add a few more options into the mix and the Sansamp seems like a good place to start.

Like I said before, sorry if this is flogging a dead horse, but any help would be really appreciated.

Cheers in advance...

[incognito89x]

You can use the blend knob on the SansAmp to keep more of your original tone should you desire. I have a PBDDI and a 700RB-II and I just run it as a normal pedal in the pedal chain.

[vtwo]

There is no "best" way. You can plug it into your effects loop return to bypass the preamp, but I you might like the distortion even more if you run it through the preamp.

Read your manuals and experiment with it.

[98dvl]

Originally Posted by Milky Pisswit

A) How best to run it into my amp. I've read stuff about bypassing the pre-amp in the amp, but I'm a complete idiot when it comes to gear, so was wondering how it's done and what the effects/pros/cons of this is

To bypass the pre-amp, do this...

Bass -> SansAmp -> Effects Return jack

The knobs, switches, etc. on the front panel of the GK head won't do anything to your tone, except for the boost knob. Use the woofer knob to control your volume (and tweeter knob if you're bi-amping).

The main reason to do this is to not have your sound colored by the GK pre-amp... Not that it's a bad thing, it's just going to give a "different" tone. All your tone will be controlled by your SansAmp.

Pro/cons are up to you... you can bypass the pre-amp or not... see how it sounds and what you like best.

Just FYI... The volume knob on your GK amp affects the signal going into the pre-amp... so you can get a bit more distortion in your sound (if you so desired) by plugging the output of your SansAmp into the main input jack on the GK and turning the volume knob to any position past 12:00... (Use the woofer knob to control your volume - be sure to turn it down, and gradually work your way up to comfortable levels - also, be sure you're not clipping your input signal, if you are, the light will go off, either turn down the volume knob on your bass, or better yet, use the -12db pad button next to the input jack on the GK).... Likewise, the Boost knob will add a bit of "growl" as well (again, use the woofer to control the volume).