sansamp sucks my mids out

matskull · #1 10-08-2007, 09:15 AM

Hi, just bougth a sansamp programable bass driver DI yesterday, thought it sounded good at the store but as soon as I tried it with my guitarist I realised that as soon as I turn it on, on about any settings, it cuts my mids and that's where all my growl, definition is.....

So I'm thinking about returning it and maybe get a muff'n or something that I won't have to let on all the time, something with a mid control. I don't want it to totally change my tone, I just want it to add overdrive/distortion to my sound, so I can let it off for a song then turn it on when there's a "hole" in the songs so it can fill it out.

Any suggestions?
Thanks

PS: I've used the search function allready

pickles · #2 10-08-2007, 09:24 AM

The BDDI is a tube amp emulator, not a distortion ... so if you just want a distortion box, you bought the wrong pedal

Heres a clip of the subtle application of a BDDI. Most people go overboard with the blend and EQ, and thats where the big scoops come in.

First its just my J-bass, then with the effect on.

http://www.themadmonkey.com/clips/BDDI_subtle.wav

I could easily dial it to keep more mids, but I like a little bit of a scoop from this pedal.

fenderhutz · #3 10-08-2007, 09:27 AM

The reality of that pedal is that many people use it for a distortion and should really be used as a preamp with no head or amp involved. Not trying to start a peeing match but it is a "Sans"amp. Meant be used direct to a board or a poweramp. Have you looked at a Fulltone Bass Drive?

matskull · #4 10-08-2007, 09:32 AM

You got a nice sounding bass there, which J is it?
I liked your preset but like you said I think I just bought the wrong pedal, my clean tone is allready like I want it too be, kindda vintage, garage, alternative...without sounding like **** lol
I will try it in the studio to see if I like it enough to keep it, but a distortion is more what I'm looking for at this moment.

matskull · #5 10-08-2007, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

The reality of that pedal is that many people use it for a distortion and should really be used as a preamp with no head or amp involved. Not trying to start a peeing match but it is a "Sans"amp. Meant be used direct to a board or a poweramp. Have you looked at a Fulltone Bass Drive?

I think you are right, no I didn't look at a Fulltone, did you ever tried it?

thesneakyjesus · #6 10-08-2007, 09:37 AM

www.atomicmusic.com

buy a blue beard. It's great, and totally worth it. I have the sans amp and really wanted a proper distortion. This is a fuzz that looses NO LOW END.

I searched for this for a while. It's hard to find a distortion for bass that doesn't ruin your tone. A lot of guys go with a split rig, where they split their signal between a bass amp and an overdriven gutiar amp.

The blue beard gave me a similar effect without having to go so out of my way.

wateroftyne · #7 10-08-2007, 09:41 AM

I had the same problem, so I bought an EBS Microbass II.

It does all the Sansamp does and more, and no mid-scoop.

matskull · #8 10-08-2007, 09:43 AM

Thanks a lot for the info, do you gays have any sound clip? That'd be awesome

pickles · #9 10-08-2007, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by matskull

You got a nice sounding bass there, which J is it?
I liked your preset but like you said I think I just bought the wrong pedal, my clean tone is allready like I want it too be, kindda vintage, garage, alternative...without sounding like **** lol
I will try it in the studio to see if I like it enough to keep it, but a distortion is more what I'm looking for at this moment.

Lakland USA JO5. Super sweet bass.

For distortion, I always reccomend buying a barge concepts VFB-2 blend loop (or something similar), then you can use guitar distortions like RATs and Tube Screamers to gank up your mids while keeping the lows and highs clean. I've tried the fulltone and didn't care for it.

I use the SansAmp with a "hi-fi" amp so I can footswitch in some SVT-like dirt on songs where I want that, then click it off when I want hi-fi. That is what it does best IMO.

If you want a full range bass distortion in one pedal, the best I've personally tried is the EBS Multidrive, which I'm now selling since I got my Barge and Keeley Rat

RickenBoogie · #10 10-08-2007, 09:52 AM

Or, the EBS Valve Drive. Natural and gritty, kinda mean, but not overboard. Also, the MXR Bass DI+, nice DI, mid control, and Gnarly distortion. I use both, sometimes together, it's out of control.

ihateusernames · #11 10-08-2007, 09:57 AM

I like using the sansamp and it's clones in limited applications for this exact reason. It makes a nice smooth sound and takes some bite and attack away from an active bass for songs that require less presence of the bass. Or a nice conversation with the sound engineer and a set list can accomplish the same thing.

fenderhutz · #12 10-08-2007, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thesneakyjesus

www.atomicmusic.com

buy a blue beard. It's great, and totally worth it. I have the sans amp and really wanted a proper distortion. This is a fuzz that looses NO LOW END.

I searched for this for a while. It's hard to find a distortion for bass that doesn't ruin your tone. A lot of guys go with a split rig, where they split their signal between a bass amp and an overdriven gutiar amp.

The blue beard gave me a similar effect without having to go so out of my way.

I go down to Atomic all of the time, but I think Sonny moved and I shot him an email. He's kinda hard to track down.

The BlueBeard is a heavy fuzz though.

EDIT: The Fulltone Bass Drive is the only pedal Nate Mendel uses for distortion and you can hear some the grit it produces on the Foo Fighters recordings.

matskull · #13 10-08-2007, 10:29 AM

Thanks everyone, so there's a lot of choices out there, hard to know what will do the trick for me...
I'll have to try as much as I can I guess lol.
I just tried the sansamp in the studio (direct) and I gotta say it sounds a lot better than through an amp, I think I'd use it for direct recording, but for now that's not what I'm looking for.

So here are the choices:

Fulltone Bass Drive
blue beard
EBS Microbass II
barge concepts VFB-2
EBS Valve Drive
MXR Bass DI

fenderhutz · #14 10-08-2007, 10:31 AM

Fulltone is a good overdriven sound.

BlueBeard is fuzz.

MXR you are getting into the whole DI business again.

Fulltone is a proven pedal (and my next purchase)

My local store just doesn't have any in right now.

I tried the BlueBeard at Atomic a few months back and Fuzz isn't for me. But it's a good Fuzz but I like better definition in my playing.

Lobster11 · #15 10-08-2007, 10:38 AM

Don't give up on the Sansamp too quickly. It isn't a distortion pedal, but it is a pretty good little tube emulator that can really juice up the sound of a solid-state amp. And you can get some decent tubelike distortion sounds out of it with a little tinkering.

The midrange scoop is great for some contexts, but when you don't want it you can boost the mids back into the mix simply by turning down the bass and treble controls and turning up the level control . This is functionally the same as turning up the mid control, if it had one. (I know it is difficult for any of us to turn DOWN any control that says "bass" on it, but give it a try anyway.)

Also, as someone else suggested, consider setting the blend down to mix in more raw signal with the affected signal. Sometimes a little subtlety goes a long way.

fenderhutz · #16 10-08-2007, 10:39 AM

Does your amp have an effects loop? You can try using the Sansamp through that.

basadam · #17 10-08-2007, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lobster11

Don't give up on the Sansamp too quickly. It isn't a distortion pedal, but it is a pretty good little tube emulator that can really juice up the sound of a solid-state amp. And you can get some decent tubelike distortion sounds out of it with a little tinkering.

The midrange scoop is great for some contexts, but when you don't want it you can boost the mids back into the mix simply by turning down the bass and treble controls and turning up the level control . This is functionally the same as turning up the mid control, if it had one. (I know it is difficult for any of us to turn DOWN any control that says "bass" on it, but give it a try anyway.)

Also, as someone else suggested, consider setting the blend down to mix in more raw signal with the affected signal. Sometimes a little subtlety goes a long way.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

The reality of that pedal is that many people use it for a distortion and should really be used as a preamp with no head or amp involved. Not trying to start a peeing match but it is a "Sans"amp. Meant be used direct to a board or a poweramp. Have you looked at a Fulltone Bass Drive?

+1. I don't use an amp. My Sansamp goes to power amp directly.

Templar · #18 10-08-2007, 11:04 AM

Quote:

.... the mids back into the mix simply by turning down the bass and treble controls and turning up the level control . This is functionally the same as turning up the mid control, if it had one. (I know it is difficult for any of us to turn DOWN any control that says "bass" on it, but give it a try anyway.)

Exactly.

I can imagine the Tech 21 designers must be pulling their hair out by now, after years of hearing the "my mids are gone" complaint.

thejohnkim · #19 10-08-2007, 11:11 AM

growl and definition might be being masked b the 'tubeifying' property of the sansamp circuit, which is what a lot of people use it for.

wateroftyne · #20 10-08-2007, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Templar

Exactly.

I can imagine the Tech 21 designers must be pulling their hair out by now, after years of hearing the "my mids are gone" complaint.

The mids are sucked regardless of how radically you set the knobs.

Roll the bass and treble right off... sucked.

Roll the blend completely back.. sucked (and pointless).

My fretless P lost all life with the SansAmp. The EBS does the tube/speaker emulation thing just fine without sucking the mids.