Sansamp vs. Bassbone vs. Sadowsky etc.

[Bobby King]

Of the various DI/preamps available i.e, Sansamp, Radial Bassbone, Sadowsky, etc. which one do you like best and for what reasons?

Thanks!

[jsm81]

I really enjoy using my Sansamp BDDI. IMO, a very clean tone with just enought drive for what I like to play. I also like the switchable outputs, very nice tool. You can select intrument/line level for both the XLR and 1/4" outputs seperately. Never used the Bassbone or Sadowski myself. If I played more than one bass, I'd probably look seriously at the bassbone. I'd be interested myself to hear what other people thought about them.

[57pbass]

I might be off base on this but the SansAmp is more of an amp modeler,while the Sadowsky is a boost to the electronics on the bass itself..


I think you can use the Sadowsky pre with the Sans Amp....

[Jazz Ad]

So far my favorites are the BDDI for tone and the EBS MicroBass II for its amazing set of features.

[cloren]

i own both a sansamp and a sadowsky- I like both, but i LOVE the sansamp. to be fair though, I haven't had enough time to really explore the sadowsky.

[slaerts]

I currently have the sadowski and the sansamp and the tonebone.
Tonebone: More neutral and less colour which means you will hear your basses normal sound but can tweak it with the eq. Most people expecting it to be like the sansamp or the sadowski tend to describe it as weak. To me its more transparent.
Sansamp: Will colour the tone of your bass, in a very good way. Goes from a nice clean tone to a bit of tubey grit to way beyond. I did a side by side with my sadowski last night and found it did a fairly good sadowski tone but the sansamp had more tonal flexibility.
Sadowski: It will colour your tone too, but it is a damm good tone. Much simpler and wont power a power amp like the sansamp does. It is much much simpler to use (perhaps the p-bass of preamp dis) and has a mute swithc which I use regularly.
I',m keeping my sadowski, but they are all good.

[Basseroni]

I have the Radial Bassbone. I love it because not only is it a DI but it's also my A/B box. I double on electric bass and synth bass on a few gigs and this thing has been a life-saver for me. It does not affect the tone of either instrument and it's very clean. This is by far one of the best investments I've ever made. I can't speak on the other two as I have not had any experience with them.

[Bassman71]

EBS Microbass - amazing tonal flexibility, very quiet, simple to use. Beat the BDDI hands down in my opinion (I've got both) - much better control of midrange, and able to add in some drive if that's your sound...

[Smallmouth_Bass]

I have a SansAmp and a Bassbone. I can't say too much about the Bassbone because I haven't used it much, and not at all in over a year. The one thing that I don't like about it is it requires a 15V adaptor. No battery operation and a specific, non-common voltage.

I use the SansAmp all the time. I agree that it is more for modeling than just a bass/treble boost. I use it to add a bit of warmth and/or a lot of grit. I also have the programmable one that lets you put three sounds at your disposal at the touch of a button. I have yet to use it as a DI though.

The Bassbone works with two independent channels, so it would be great for a two bass stage setup where you have to keep the levels balanced and have pre-set EQs.

I haven't tried the Sadowsy, but it appears to be the outboard version of their internal bass preamp. It would likely be good for those who want to get that sound, but without modifying their bass electronics (vintage Fender?). I have only heard good things about it.

They are all slightly different in what they do.

[GreggBummer]

I have the SansAmp BDDI as well.

Pros: Very tweakable. I use a variation on their stock "FAT" sound that I really love. Because I use a solid state amp and passive basses, this really warms up the sound quite a bit. I use the second channel for distortion. This is the first distortion that I have ever used that doesn't sound "thin". I don't really use distortion live, but I love to play with it and a wah. I am a closet Cliff Burton fan. The last channel is a cleaner channel that has a big mid range. Lots of pop to it. I use it for slap.

The DI is awesome and it can be setup independently from the 1/4" out.

It is really sturdy, designed for the abuse that a pedal should be reasonably expected to deal with.

Programming it is super simple, calling them up is even easier with a knob locking/unlocking feature.

Bypass sounds very clean.

Cons: Price. Expensive at $200. When I put this kind of money out I expect a power adapter. However, I don't think anyone includes power adapters with FX these days. No worries, I power it from my Boss adpater. It is however, worth the money.

I have never used the other boxes that were in the title of the thread. However, I really like this one.

SUGGESTION: Why don't some of you post a short clip of you playing through the boxes? Give us an idea of what they sound like?

[i2k]

I love my EBS Microbass II. The only bad thing I found on it are the price & the blend control. There's significant vol drop at noon.

[RickenBoogie]

I'd like to check out the EBS Microbass, but for now, the MXR M80 is working for me, also less $$ than these other pedals.

[slaerts]

Has anyone tried the Aguilar tonehammer I just saw them listed at best bass gear. Maybe it can get me off my sadowski kick.

[the low one]

The MXR M80 works for me too. Tone shaping when I need it or just a good clean DI if the FOH sound guy is happy. I like the distortion too, especially in FOH.

[niftydog]

+1x10^42 for the EBS