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Amp has no tone control: Sansamp or EQ?

#42
cheapbasslovin said:
People. He doesn't need a new amp unless he's got some gigging to do. I'll take my Valve Jr. against any low dollar to medium dollar practice amp in a home setting any day of the week and mine isn't even modded. He just wants tone shaping.
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If this was an automotive site, we'd have owners of exotic and rare Ferraris rubbing shoulders with 16 year old kids who want to get a deal on one of those "cool looking" big exhausts for their '96 Honda. And everyone in between.

i.e. sometimes the cultural gap is so wide it is hard to wrap an effective context around the question.
 
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#44
My first suggestion was in line with the earlier thoughts of something like a Rumble, with the new V3 15 selling for $79, my V2 is a great little practice amp, plenty loud and has the frequency response to reproduce the lows, but nobody seems to like that idea, so the Hartke VXL Bass Attack pre/DI sounds like not a bad suggestion that can probably be had cheap, I would go with something along that lines rather then just a simple EQ pedal, you'll probably get more of what you're looking for as far as tone shaping.
 
#48
I cant recommend the Joyo American or any of the other preamps they have like the British or the California. These are cheap pedals that sound awesome for what you pay. Of course not the best IMO, but for $35, they are very hard to beat. The Sansamp clone that Behringer makes I hear is very nice as well. I would look down those two avenues first. THe poor/no money thing is very limiting. But the way things are today, you can indeed get some halfway decent to pretty good things that arent very expensive and will do a great job for what you want them to do.

Also, I cant recommend enough that you get an actual bass amp. If youre really in love with the amp youre using, I guess find a way to make it work. But really, most guitar amps sound like poop with a bass. Plus, you will never be able to play with other musicians with it. Period. There is no options or freedom there. Youre pretty much stuck in your room all by yourself. But if thats what you want, so be it.
 
#49
If you want to go cheap ($70 new) look into the Hartke VXL is has very similar drive features to the Sansamp (although on 5w tube drive coming from the power section may be your enemy) and also more EQ options so it would make a great standalone preamp- probably best value you can get. I swear by my Sansamp BDDI but hate it solo, I only run it in conjunction with an amp head that has mids dialed in.
 
#50
gregmon79 said:
I cant recommend the Joyo American or any of the other preamps they have like the British or the California. These are cheap pedals that sound awesome for what you pay. Of course not the best IMO, but for $35, they are very hard to beat. The Sansamp clone that Behringer makes I hear is very nice as well. I would look down those two avenues first. THe poor/no money thing is very limiting. But the way things are today, you can indeed get some halfway decent to pretty good things that arent very expensive and will do a great job for what you want them to do.

Also, I cant recommend enough that you get an actual bass amp. If youre really in love with the amp youre using, I guess find a way to make it work. But really, most guitar amps sound like poop with a bass. Plus, you will never be able to play with other musicians with it. Period. There is no options or freedom there. Youre pretty much stuck in your room all by yourself. But if thats what you want, so be it.
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I did a band rehearsal with a Valve Jr a few weeks back through my BFM Jack 210. It sounded like poop unless the song liked being really dirty, but I was audible through the night. :)

I brought it to show a friend who is thinking about buying a tube amp for his son and I intended to plug it in for one song and then switch to my main amp. Since I could hear it I thought I'd see how long it would hold up. It made it all night...ish.

Your point is still valid. If he wants to play with other musicians a Valve Jr. is no solution, but it's possible.
 
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#52
cheapbasslovin said:
People. He doesn't need a new amp unless he's got some gigging to do. I'll take my Valve Jr. against any low dollar to medium dollar practice amp in a home setting any day of the week and mine isn't even modded. He just wants tone shaping.
Click to expand...

I don't think people quite understand what the EVJ brings to the table, part of this was my failure in not indicating this is the standalone head through a dedicated bass cabinet.

LXBEXS9.jpg

(points finger at giantass 15" cabinet)

I mostly just ignored that part of it, as I told Nightcat in a PM about the EVJ, of all the gear I've bought since my first bass guitar, this is the only one that I haven't second guessed that I could've done better. For $85, I have a perfectly sized and volumed practice amp that also happens to be all tube... Just needs, as we noted, a bit of tone shaping.

My primary question, perhaps not phrased well, was what method gives results that may fall inline with my interests: A preamp or a straight EQ. I think I understand what the preamps/emulation gear brings to the table versus a straight EQ, and now I simply need to test with the gear I have available before I throw money down (although I appreciated the guy who said, "buy both" most of all).
 
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#53
gfen said:
I don't think people quite understand what the EVJ brings to the table, part of this was my failure in not indicating this is the standalone head through a dedicated bass cabinet.

LXBEXS9.jpg

(points finger at giantass 15" cabinet)

I mostly just ignored that part of it, as I told Nightcat in a PM about the EVJ, of all the gear I've bought since my first bass guitar, this is the only one that I haven't second guessed that I could've done better. For $85, I have a perfectly sized and volumed practice amp that also happens to be all tube... Just needs, as we noted, a bit of tone shaping.

My primary question, perhaps not phrased well, was what method gives results that may fall inline with my interests: A preamp or a straight EQ. I think I understand what the preamps/emulation gear brings to the table versus a straight EQ, and now I simply need to test with the gear I have available before I throw money down (although I appreciated the guy who said, "buy both" most of all).
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To be fair, 'buy both' is the Talkbass way. ;)
 
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#54
Behringer makes a good knock off of a BEQ-7. That would be what I'd do in the same situation. If you're running a tube amp through a bass cab, you don't want to cover that tone with a preset EQ curve (which is what modelers do; Sansamp is an analog modeling preamp). With the graphic EQ, you can shape the sound however you want. Just remember that anything you put between bass and head still gets filtered by the preset EQ curve of the head's preamp. You might find you like your Zoom or EQ pedal with a tube power amp. It's easy enough to split the preamp of the Epi from the power amp, so you can see for yourself. This is why pros have rack setups; so they can shape their tone with what and how they want.
I do still recommend a tactile transducer as an adjunct to headphones, especially for bedroom practice.
 
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#55
I have the Sansamp Programmable Bass Driver which would give you three tones you can call up anytime and change and save. Really a great unit. I also take just a Sansamp Paradriver to jams for my bass or acoustic guitar. It can really dial in a tone for you. Bass, Mid, Treble, and more.
 
#60
lz4005 said:
More like: Asks about what kind of toothpaste to put on his hairbrush. Insists hairbrush is perfect for cleaning teeth.
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Your inability to think outside of the box of what you're told is the only way must really be a detriment to you getting the most out of your life, eh?

Anyways, if you really feel the need to continue to offer expert advise on something you've no experience with, I'd suggest there's lots of other threads begging for attention. This one's run its course with several people offering helpful information and guidance on what to listen for, so I'd suggest you go find a guitar forum and politely point out all the guys using Fender Tweed amps are doing it wrong.
 
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