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Double Bass Anybody using Sansamp VT Bass?

McGryff

McGryff

Aug 5, 2001
474
10
53
Rochester, NY, USA
www.ryangriffithbass.com
#1
I just bought a VT Bass pedal from one of our friends on the EB side of the fence, and it sounds killer with my slabs to be sure. This may not be terribly popular with the masses, but I'm wondering if any of you are running through this pedal or have tried it. I've heard there's a set of players who do or used run through a B-15 (Chris Wood used to, but I think he's a GK endorser now..?), and in a review Ed Friedland said he liked the VT Bass with his basses.

My signal chain is: Shen bass --> RSII --> Fdeck HPF-Pre --> VT Bass --> SWR WM12.

I just got the pedal, so I'm experimenting, but it's interesting thus far.

Anybody else? If so, what kind of settings have you found to be good?
 
#2
I don't use one, but I'm all for signal processing. Especially processing that you can click it on and off at any time you want it. It can add another dimension to your music. You can go subtle to extreme. The only problem with the VT for me is lack of presets. And a little tweak of the knobs is a wide change in distortion/compression it adds. There are big differences between a vt and a b15 is you can set the VT to do it's thing at any volume level, It doesn't change over time, you can emulator many amplifiers. And it is totally reliable and portable.
 
#3
I am interested in trying one out for my DB. Might grab one some time used or whatever.

I like the Sansamp tube emulation on my Para Driver, when used in moderation, and the VT is supposed to be even more convincing.

For upright, those of use who have used and heard vintage Ampeg amps with DB may like the sound. For Rockabilly and such, Ampegs have always been popular and the tubey compression sounds cool for slap bass.

Lately, I have been going for a "as natural as I can get using an Underwood" type tone though.

I am going to be trying out just using an HPF-Pre straight into my GK head, and then I have a BBE Acoustimax on order also to check out.

I have been using a Fishman Pro Platinum for a long time now, but hate the graphic EQ and want to try out the para mids + notch filter of the BBE preamp. The overall sound of the Pro Plat just leaves a bit to be desired also, now that my ears have adjusted towards a clearer, more defined sound.

It never ends, until the money runs out anyway. :D
 
#4
I had the Para Driver DI, and I sold it for the Fdeck HPF-Pre. I decided that the Para didn't deal with the piezo quack good enough (although I may have been fooling myself), but the features of the fdeck HPF are great, so it's no big deal. Anyway, the Para is a great unit too because of the mid controls... I just wound up liking it alot more for the electrics than the DB.
 
#6
I've been using one for a few weeks - Clifton EUB (Realist p/up) -> VT pedal ->GK combo (effects return). Works very well and makes the GK sound warmer and "older" than its own rather "honky" preamp/eq. I think its a keeper.

Also does a great job in front of the Acoustic Image Clarus. Makes it sound far better for bass guitar use....but it does seem a bit daft, like ripping the frets out of a Precision bass???
 
#7
It does make my electrics sound warm & tubey, but not quite to the point of being fretless, at least to my ears. Just do a gliss & the clacking of the speed bumps will remind you they're still there! :D

I ran my Shen through the VT Bass last thursday night at the weekly Delta blues jam, and I'll try it again tonight. I'm not sure what I'll be able to tell though, as the sound system is functional but not amazing, and the stage is way too small to put my WM12 on.
 
#8
Sorry...I didn't mean to suggest it imparted any magical fretless qualities..rather that it seems a bit crude and perverse to take a fantastic (and very expensive here in the UK)clean and accurate amp like the Clarus and then chuck a load of imitation "character" mud in front of it...but I guess that's what we all like to hear sometimes?
 
#9
Bassbod, I get it now... I was too thick when I read it this morning (hadn't had enough coffee!). Apologies on my end for being slow on the comprehension! When run through a hi-fi amp like a Clarus, I understand exactly what you mean, there would seem to be a counter-productive or counter-intuitive aspect to it. Though, if the pedal does a good job emulating a vintage Ampeg, then in cases where you (or whoever would hire you) wants that sound, then I suppose a VT Bass + Clarus would do a fine job of it!
 
#10
BassBod said:
...rather that it seems a bit crude and perverse to take a fantastic (and very expensive here in the UK)clean and accurate amp like the Clarus and then chuck a load of imitation "character" mud in front of it...but I guess that's what we all like to hear sometimes?
Click to expand...

It's far, far better than putting anything at all in front of a crappy amp, or putting a gritty, growly pedal through an amp that does nothing but produce mud; why go for a warm, old school sound out of a VT pedal, and end up having it sound like you're playing through a mattress!

Ryan, I had no idea you were planning on using this with your DB...or that anyone would, for that matter, but it makes perfect sense now I think about it. I wouldn't even think about using a Para driver with my DB, impedance mismatch and all, but the VT...well, we may be starting a rockabilly project here, it just got moved up several notches on my GAS list.
 
#12
Yo Walter!

I got the idea of using the VT with the DB from Ed Friedland, who tried it out on his & wrote that it did a decent job of approximating playing through a B-15. (See his review of the VT in Jazz Times) I'll be spending some time messing with different settings (except the Drive) to see if can get a tubey yet not muddy fliptop-style tone.

Also, I used to run my DB through a Para Driver & it was fine... the input impedance is around 4 Mohm, which certainly does the trick. I think Tech 21 has a hit here... it's becoming a go-to pedal in the bass world!


WalterBush said:
It's far, far better than putting anything at all in front of a crappy amp, or putting a gritty, growly pedal through an amp that does nothing but produce mud; why go for a warm, old school sound out of a VT pedal, and end up having it sound like you're playing through a mattress!

Ryan, I had no idea you were planning on using this with your DB...or that anyone would, for that matter, but it makes perfect sense now I think about it. I wouldn't even think about using a Para driver with my DB, impedance mismatch and all, but the VT...well, we may be starting a rockabilly project here, it just got moved up several notches on my GAS list.
Click to expand...
 
#14
BassBod said:
I should also admit that I played a fretless Precision for 20 about years....and have used the original Sansamp for about 15 years to "warm up" my clean sounding SWR amps.

I'm very impressed with the VT so far...
Click to expand...

As an aside, a fretless P-Bass sounds like loads of fun... that's on my GAS list for sometime down the road. I think you'd like the VT, at least with the slabs. I've got an SWR and while I like what it does fine, I like what the VT gets it to do even more.
 
#17
So far I've gotten a fair number of compliments on my amplified sound with the VT, "full and warm" being among them. It's a great pedal, and I've found that it can be relatively flexible to the room too, by just adjusting the Character knob. In one room 9:00 might be perfect, but in another I might want to set it at 11:00 to bring out the mids (reduce the mud) a bit. Surely not as precise as a graphic or parametric EQ, but effective nonetheless. Wouldn't do the trick tonally for every instance with the DB, but for the stuff I play it sounds purty good. Though I do agree with what I think Ed Friedland wrote in his Jazz Times review, that a blend knob would be a useful addition.
 
#18
I'd like to know if the VT Bass' flexible EQ is effective in combating feedback without seriously compromising tone when amplifying a double bass.

If the VT' catches on with DB players, then v2.0 of the VT Bass may well take the form of a cross between its current version, and the Bass Driver Deluxe (augmented with a higher input impedance).
 

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