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Geddy Lee Sansamp Pedal!

#901
Nunovsky said:
I used my YYZ this saturday for the first time at a live gig and it sounded awesome. I used it with my Epi Thunderbird Vintage Pro (I love that bass more and more everytime I play it) and it sounded so good that I couldn't take the smile of my face. It has that mid razor cutting sharp drive while also maintaining the low end on the bass. The best of it is the articulation of the notes and the way that helps your bass sit in the mix.
Everybody always talks about how this pedal retains the low end and how that pedal doesn't loose bass. Let me tell you, a lot of the pedals that I've used that retain the low gain just get lost in a full band setting, specially when you have more instruments than just a guitar and drums. Some of those that seem to loose the low end when played alone are the ones that sound the best when you're playing with the band, because they help you sit in the mix and cut through better.
This pedal doesn't loose the low end but has that midrange magic that get's you where you need.
When using it with my t-bird I was forced to open my legs because my balls just got bigger. :roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:
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Awesome. :) Does your ‘Bird have the mahogany/walnut neck or the maple/walnut neck?
 
#902
BurtMacklinFBI said:
Awesome. :) Does your ‘Bird have the mahogany/walnut neck or the maple/walnut neck?
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It has the mahogany/walnut neck. It has sustain for days. We play "Another Brick in the Wall" and I tune the E string to D, and when I hit that note in the beggining of the verse and let it ring is just goes on and on. I could go to the bar and drink a beer and it would still be ringing today.
 
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#903
I still really want one of these, but I'm broke. And I also want to try a DSM Subatomic. I have loved Geddy forever, and really most of my gear search in recent years has been about trying to find ways to replicate his grindy tone direct in one way or another. However, I have a VTBassDI, so I don't really need a preamp/cabsim. I mostly just need an overdrive that is mid-rangey and grindy. The YYZ seems more like an all-in-one, while the Subatomic I have heard is more neutral and just a drive sculptor and might give me just that grindy drive that I can add to my overall sound, which I currently like.

Thoughts? Talk amongst yourselves. Here's your topic . . .

Tech 21 YYZ or DSM Subatomic. Go!
 
#904
jacoby75 said:
I still really want one of these, but I'm broke. And I also want to try a DSM Subatomic. I have loved Geddy forever, and really most of my gear search in recent years has been about trying to find ways to replicate his grindy tone direct in one way or another. However, I have a VTBassDI, so I don't really need a preamp/cabsim. I mostly just need an overdrive that is mid-rangey and grindy. The YYZ seems more like an all-in-one, while the Subatomic I have heard is more neutral and just a drive sculptor and might give me just that grindy drive that I can add to my overall sound, which I currently like.

Thoughts? Talk amongst yourselves. Here's your topic . . .

Tech 21 YYZ or DSM Subatomic. Go!
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The YYZ is not a preamp/cab sim like the VT Bass. It can do the preamp thing quite well, but it does exactly that midrange grindy drive that you mention. I have no experience with the DSM Subatomic but I know that if you want grindy, meatty mid-cutting tones then you'll love the YYZ.

P.S.: It has no cab simulation.
 
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#905
Nunovsky said:
The YYZ is not a preamp/cab sim like the VT Bass. It can do the preamp thing quite well, but it does exactly that midrange grindy drive that you mention. I have no experience with the DSM Subatomic but I know that if you want grindy, meatty mid-cutting tones then you'll love the YYZ.

P.S.: It has no cab simulation.
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Thanks. I thought I had read/heard somewhere in the myriad of reviews that it cuts the harsh high end in a cab-sim-ish fashion. But maybe I was mistaken.
 
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#911
dannybuoy said:
It's safe to assume that anything branded as a Sansamp has speaker simulation baked in.
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That's kind of what I figured, but I didn't see it explicitly stated as such. I think I've had a hard time dialing in a direct-only drive tone that I've liked because I wind up getting too many preamps/overdrives that have baked-in tones in a chain. And the different baked-in natures conflict or make the overall tone too muddy or whatever. (This is all pure conjecture. I have not technical knowledge with which to back up this claim, lol). But that's why I was concerned about pairing the YYZ with the VTDI, and thought maybe a cleaner, less colored, straight drive like the Subatomic might be the way to go to complement the VTDI. It's not that I necessarily want or need Geddy's exact tone, but I love a grindy midrange that still has some solid low end underneath. Not the fizzy, harsh, buzzy bees overdrive, or mid-scooped death metal drive.
 
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#912
I'm going to wind up at least TRYING a YYZ someday anyway. Might as well start there. I've been a Rush fan for 30+yrs. Even if I find something else that leaves me content with my tone, part of me will always want to try this pedal out and won't rest until I do.
 
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#913
jacoby75 said:
That's kind of what I figured, but I didn't see it explicitly stated as such. I think I've had a hard time dialing in a direct-only drive tone that I've liked because I wind up getting too many preamps/overdrives that have baked-in tones in a chain. And the different baked-in natures conflict or make the overall tone too muddy or whatever. (This is all pure conjecture. I have not technical knowledge with which to back up this claim, lol). But that's why I was concerned about pairing the YYZ with the VTDI, and thought maybe a cleaner, less colored, straight drive like the Subatomic might be the way to go to complement the VTDI. It's not that I necessarily want or need Geddy's exact tone, but I love a grindy midrange that still has some solid low end underneath. Not the fizzy, harsh, buzzy bees overdrive, or mid-scooped death metal drive.
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You can get very close to the YYZ with the VTDI - try character at 3 o'clock, mids at 10, bass at 1, treble at 11, and blend at 11 o'clock.

You could stack the VTDI and YYZ, but you'd have to set one of them to a fairly neutral EQ - clanky pedal feeding clanky pedal equals too much clank!

I prefer to boost into pedals like these with a more transparent drive like the TC Spark.
 
#914
dannybuoy said:
You can get very close to the YYZ with the VTDI - try character at 3 o'clock, mids at 10, bass at 1, treble at 11, and blend at 11 o'clock.

You could stack the VTDI and YYZ, but you'd have to set one of them to a fairly neutral EQ - clanky pedal feeding clanky pedal equals too much clank!

I prefer to boost into pedals like these with a more transparent drive like the TC Spark.
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Stop me if you've heard this story (because I told it somewhere, but I forget where), but me too! I recently discovered the beauty of the TC Spark Boost myself, running it into the VTDI. But I use it for really tiny, barely-there grit. Just to fatten up and add more punch to my bass. I haven't liked how it's sounded at higher gain settings. But that's just me.

I'll have to try your recommended settings later, thanks. I usually run the VTDI totally clean for my main tone and then add a grit pedal when I want grit (primarily playing in worship settings), but it's worth a shot. By "clean" for the VTDI, though, I mean no overdrive. The gain is very low. Like 9:00. It's not a neutral EQ. I run it in such a way that it makes a pretty significant difference in the tone/eq of my passive basses. Blend around 3:00, Bass at 2:00, Mid at 12:00, Treble at 11:00 or 12:00. Character around 10:30-11:00. But then that's the whole point, since I'm running ampless anyway - to have it sound like I'm playing through an amp. Which might be why I have issue running other things into it - like drives - that have their own baked-in eq curves.
 
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#917
jacoby75 said:
On a side note, where would you set the gain for the Geddy-ish VTDI?
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About 11 o'clock for me on the VTDI. Higher if you have a lower output bass than me, my BB1025X has pretty hot pickups!

It's very interactive with the character control since that is a high-mid-boost before the distortion - so with the character up so high, you don't need as much gain!

Messing around at home I can get them sounding almost identical, just a bit clankier from the VT as the character control is centred on a higher frequency than the YYZ's mid control. But crank the volume up and you can hear the YYZ has a more open less compressed low end, as the lows are totally clean since I'm using the tight switch.
 
#918
dannybuoy said:
About 11 o'clock for me on the VTDI. Higher if you have a lower output bass than me, my BB1025X has pretty hot pickups!

It's very interactive with the character control since that is a high-mid-boost before the distortion - so with the character up so high, you don't need as much gain!

Messing around at home I can get them sounding almost identical, just a bit clankier from the VT as the character control is centred on a higher frequency than the YYZ's mid control. But crank the volume up and you can hear the YYZ has a more open less compressed low end, as the lows are totally clean since I'm using the tight switch.
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Thanks. I can't wait to try this. But we're painting our back room right now . . . where all my bass stuff is . . . and I can't get to it! Gah! The agony! It's been like three days now! I'm starting to get the shakes! I'll let you know how it works out once I dig my stuff out.
 

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