BDDI vs VT Bass comparison?

[groooooove]

I will respectfully disagree with you here.

Either one of these (VT or the BDDI) a 1 trick ponys in a live setting, unless you're gonna fiddle around with them on stage.

However, the programmable DI, is not. you can easily do 3 completely different settings, without re-setting them.

The VT and BDDI are a bit different. The BDDI does not have as much "Grind" as the VT, but not everyone is looking for grind, this is where the BDDI works fine.

And of course The BDDI has a balanced DI out, the non-deluxe VT does not by default.

i disagree. the VT is less of a one trick pony than the 3 channel BDDI. the BDDI basically had the same sound, only you can EQ it and toy with the gain- but it was still the same tone, just with more or less dirt. with the VT, you can get a lot of differnt textures with the character knob, then EQ, and adjust gain to your liking.

i had a BDDI that i really liked, but sold. i have a VT that i love, and consider it a neccesary item to have.

 

[brandtb]

Yeah, I had figured that term was a bit broad, but you are correct, the VT will be favored over the BDDI, on most counts. I'm just in waiting now for my VT deluxe (pre ordered), but I do plan to offload my programmable BDDI shortly, I will have no need for it, once I get the VT deluxe. Either one of these is constructed rock solid nonetheless.

When my VT Deluxe arrives, I'll run both the BDDI Deluxe and the VT Deluxe through their paces to see which one I like better. I have no idea what to expect yet, but I figure that it is going to be fun.

Let's be sure to share our impressions when the time comes.

 

[Rickett Customs]

I was just pointing out if you had the 3 channel and the regular VT:

You can get 3 different sounds out of the 3 channel, the vt: whatever it's set to, specifically in a live situation. The Drive on the BDDI is not as grinding as the vt. I had no problem getting different sounds out of using the drive parameter. Also since I do utilize slap in a live situation, I have a boosted setting for that, which is a bit scooped on one channel. I've also used it for certain eq settings as well, with the drive disengaged on all channels, to get a 1) Flat 2)Dub 3)slap. So it's uses do go further than just a tube emulator.

i disagree. the VT is less of a one trick pony than the 3 channel BDDI. the BDDI basically had the same sound, only you can EQ it and toy with the gain- but it was still the same tone, just with more or less dirt. with the VT, you can get a lot of differnt textures with the character knob, then EQ, and adjust gain to your liking.

i had a BDDI that i really liked, but sold. i have a VT that i love, and consider it a neccesary item to have.

 

[JimmyM]

for those of you asking if the leeds could do bass, it's at the end:



i may have to get this pedal.

 

[Rickett Customs]

for those of you asking if the leeds could do bass, it's at the end:



i may have to get this pedal.

jimmy, You know you want them all

 

[JimmyM]

i could pass on the orange and the triple rec pedals, but i do want the other ones. ever since getting that british pedal, i keep thinking about how badass it would be to have all of them and be able to change my svt into another amp with a footswitch. but then i realize how gigantic my board would be so i laugh it off and just use the vt and british

 

[Wild_Cat]

You're using a VT into an SVT? What's the point of that, isn't the VT supposed to give you an SVT sound to begin with? Or do you use it for the drive only?

 

[Rickett Customs]

You're using a VT into an SVT? What's the point of that, isn't the VT supposed to give you an SVT sound to begin with? Or do you use it for the drive only?

Sometimes, you can't exactly run an SVT at full tilt. Also, you will not be able to emulate Hi-watts, Orange, Marshall....etc, like the other character pedals.

But hell yes, I will use my VT deluxe through my VR (whenever it ships). Also take into consideration about a DI (with a wet signal), or at least in my case with the VT deluxe. I keep my channel 1 dry and and channel 2 wet.

 

[JimmyM]

drive only. i wouldn't run a clean sounding vt into a clean sounding svt. that would knock the time/space continuum on its ass!

but jason's point about di's is well-taken. i request a mic on my rented svt's on the road but they won't always give me one. hell, i even had a soundman get mad at me because i wanted to run a speaker di on the svt! so in the cases i get an idiot soundman, i will run the vt clean (these days i do it with the british instead) so that he gets the sound i want to give him through the pa no matter how much he tries to screw with my gig.

 

[Rickett Customs]

drive only. i wouldn't run a clean sounding vt into a clean sounding svt. that would knock the time/space continuum on its ass!

I agree with this and also who to blame if the T/S continuum is affected.

 

[::::BASSIST::::]

Didn't want to start a new thread for this...

I picked up a VT Bass today and just finished playing with it for a couple hours. Nice unit. It will definitely work well for me. I noticed that it has a lot of low-mid grunt (to my ears anyway) and that, like the BDDI, it is fairly scooped sounding. I'll be using the VT Bass to drive a peavey dpc 1000 poweramp with a dual 15 band eq. Lots tone shaping options for a tweaker like me.

I have a big car show gig this weekend playing 3 days with 10hrs scheduled for Saturday alone. This thing will definitely be given the works.

Even though I really like the creamy tones you can get from it, I have a feeling those wont cut well, but with a couple twists of the mid and character knob I get some clank back which will enable me to hear myself better.

All in all this is definitely one of the better pedals I've used and I just *may* end up keeping it.

 

[12bass]

Hmmm.... maybe play around with the EQ/Character a bit more. Mids are there with a little dialing. Lacking cut is not something that I think of with the VT Bass.

 

[::::BASSIST::::]

Yeah, adjusting the mid & Character definitely helps cut. Keep in mind I am not wanting any distortion or Fuzz... just warm and clean. This pedal is more than just a fuzz box for sure.

 

[G.Bisson]

I have a BDDI deluxe and VT. to make a long story short, the VT is much more versatile and probaly many more people will find a setting they really like and cant get elsewhere.

in the BDDI favor, it creates much smoother tasteful distortion. especially with the presence up adding nice clean harmonics to the distortion whereas the VT gets gritty trying to do the same.
in the VT's favor, it creates much better (read: gritter) overdrive tones. the character control is a god-send to dial in just the right amount of grit.
so what are you more interested in: overdrive or distortion.

my biggest grievance with the BDDI is it's distinct mid-scoop. trying to get a good sounding mid-boosted setting is near impossible. best mid-boost setting i can get is setting bass and treble to 12oclock with rolled back presence. not much of a boosted sound but more frequency balanced then it's normally scooped sound. The VT mid control combined with the character knob gives me many diverse mid-heavy tones, whereas the BDDI struggles to get even one, and it's not that great.

all that being said the BDDI is on my live board and the VT stays home. playing in a metal band with two guitarist the BDDI cuts through more because it isn't competing for space in the mid frequencies already occupied by two detuned guitars. because...

wanted to point out that the BDDI bass control is centered at 80Hz (E2), while the VT bass control is centered at 125Hz (B2). this may be why the VT sounds rounder and fuller, by reinforcing the lowest mids. (125Hz is the note 'B', the major 5th in the key of 'E'), (80Hz is an open 'E').

looking forward to the VT deluxe though, i can come up with many more usable settings for the VT and looking forward to being able to save those presets.

 

[::::BASSIST::::]

I have a BDDI deluxe and VT. to make a long story short, the VT is much more versatile and probaly many more people will find a setting they really like and cant get elsewhere.

in the BDDI favor, it creates much smoother tasteful distortion. especially with the presence up adding nice clean harmonics to the distortion whereas the VT gets gritty trying to do the same.
in the VT's favor, it creates much better (read: gritter) overdrive tones. the character control is a god-send to dial in just the right amount of grit.
so what are you more interested in: overdrive or distortion.

my biggest grievance with the BDDI is it's distinct mid-scoop. trying to get a good sounding mid-boosted setting is near impossible. best mid-boost setting i can get is setting bass and treble to 12oclock with rolled back presence. not much of a boosted sound but more frequency balanced then it's normally scooped sound. The VT mid control combined with the character knob gives me many diverse mid-heavy tones, whereas the BDDI struggles to get even one, and it's not that great.

all that being said the BDDI is on my live board and the VT stays home. playing in a metal band with two guitarist the BDDI cuts through more because it isn't competing for space in the mid frequencies already occupied by two detuned guitars. because...

wanted to point out that the BDDI bass control is centered at 80Hz (E2), while the VT bass control is centered at 125Hz (B2). this may be why the VT sounds rounder and fuller, by reinforcing the lowest mids. (125Hz is the note 'B', the major 5th in the key of 'E'), (80Hz is an open 'E').

looking forward to the VT deluxe though, i can come up with many more usable settings for the VT and looking forward to being able to save those presets.

+1

Now that I've put the VT thru its paces a bit, I quite like it... definitely like it more than the BDDI. Its more versatile and more 'even' sounding.... though nowhere near flat.

 

[Eublet]

(125Hz is the note 'B', the major 5th in the key of 'E'), (80Hz is an open 'E').

Actually, the low E in standard A440 tuning is 41.204 hz. Even the open D string is under 80 at 73.416 hz. The open G string is just shy of 98 hz and the A is 55 hz.

 

[Eublet]

+1

Now that I've put the VT thru its paces a bit, I quite like it... definitely like it more than the BDDI. Its more versatile and more 'even' sounding.... though nowhere near flat.

I had a VT for a while, and I came to dislike it. I also tend to dislike SVT's, so I figured it must have been pretty accurate because of that. I do like playing through a Sansamp occasionally, especially if I'm using IEM's. Don't much care for it through a rig, though.

 

[FromTheBassMent]

Every clip I've heard of the VT is all about some level of fuzz/distortion.

Can the VT do a nice clean/warm tone?

Yeah, what's up with that? I NEVER EVER use a fuzz or distortion tone on my bass, under any circumstances. My musical genre doesn't call for it, and I don't like it (nothing against you guys who do like it, natch... just not my gig).

However, since I put my VT Bass in my signal path (the only thing between my SR5 and my Markbass combo aside from an occasionally-used EBS Unichorus), it has been turned on all the time. I can't play without it anymore. I keep the character below 11:00 and the drive almost completely counter-clockwise, the mid flat and the low and high slightly boosted (1:00 or so for each), then bring the level up to unity.... and it sounds freakin BRILLIANT. Absolutely crystal-clear clean, warmer and more present and more articulate and punchy than my rig sounds without it.

So yeah, it can do clean/warm in a way that I've always dreamed of, and never achieved before... even back in the days when I was running an SVT tube head!

 

[FromTheBassMent]

i could pass on the orange and the triple rec pedals, but i do want the other ones. ever since getting that british pedal, i keep thinking about how badass it would be to have all of them and be able to change my svt into another amp with a footswitch. but then i realize how gigantic my board would be so i laugh it off and just use the vt and british

You know, I've never thought about using the CS Blonde with bass, but your post Jimmy has me GASing to try it when I get home tonight. The Blonde IS my guitar amp... I run my Gretsch through it and into a Tech21 PowerEngine 60 1x12 (along with a bunch of other retro effects). It allows me to dial in a Fender amp that never existed (kind of a Bassman/silver face hybrid), and is currently giving me the best guitar tone I've ever enjoyed. I gotta pull it out of my guitar pedal board and try it with my bass rig! I might just be able to dial in something vintage cool!

 

[aBoMoFo]

When my VT Deluxe arrives, I'll run both the BDDI Deluxe and the VT Deluxe through their paces to see which one I like better. I have no idea what to expect yet, but I figure that it is going to be fun.

Let's be sure to share our impressions when the time comes.

Can't wait to hear your thoughts and comparisons between these two boxes! I love my BDDI Deluxe but I'm very curious about what the VT Deluxe might have to offer tonally.