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MYEXTENSIVE REVIEW: EBS Microbass vs Sansamp PBDDI

Tunaman

Tunaman

Dec 26, 2004
6,812
775
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Boston
#1
Had the chance to try both of these side by side today. I've been through a few pedals MXR M80, Boss GT-10B, Sansamp paradriver in addition to these two

Sansamp PBDDI... yeah, the scoop is always there. You can roll bass & treble back all you want... but that doesn't boost mids, it leaves em at neutral :rolleyes: The drive\distortion is nice & better than the EBS, M80, 10-B for sure. Programming is cool for sure but I'd rather adjust the knobs on the fly. The tone is great if thats what you're looking for but I'd like the mids instead. That being said, I sold my paradriver a while ago. Its been a while but I remember it being really clear but not too warm, not the tone I was after. Before that I had a Sansamp RBI & it was a great unit, again you dont buy Sansamp for tube warmth, more for tube overdrive & grind. Awesome tone for pop & slap (Which I dont do!)

EBS Microbass: Love it. It really brings what I personally want which is a different tone than my Streamliner. I feel the Streamliner is pretty scooped & mids dont burp & jump out at you, with the EBS they do great while still retaining some warmth. I figured the Sansamp would give me the clarity the Streamliner didn't have at times but in a weird way they were similar because of the midscoop! I wish I could A\B the paradriver vs the EBS. The features of the EBS is awesome... my favorites being mute, ipod connection & play with headphones, multichannel. Not a fan of the drive at all, plus it brings a huge volume boost.

The Microbass II is a total keeper. I feel like it saves me from buying $2500 single cut bass I was eyeing the other day as I thought my Bongo bass could never sound like that!

Both Tech21 & EBS are both high quality builds BTW
 
#7
1st practice report:

Best pedal I've owned right off the bat.

It just has the lower mid & upper mid presence, a strong mid burp without the treble hiss & zing. Its basically the opposite of a scooped tone like a Sansamp which is big in the lows & on the treble for slap n pop.

My Streamliner is scooped, that old warm tube tone of big lows & warm uppermids without the zing but they still dont stick out... sometimes I just want & need the volume up on the mids but still have them warm... thats the EBS.

Really loving it. A perfect changeup. Great tone.
 
#8
Tunaman said:
1st practice report:

Best pedal I've owned right off the bat.

It just has the lower mid & upper mid presence, a strong mid burp without the treble hiss & zing. Its basically the opposite of a scooped tone like a Sansamp which is big in the lows & on the treble for slap n pop.

My Streamliner is scooped, that old warm tube tone of big lows & warm uppermids without the zing but they still dont stick out... sometimes I just want & need the volume up on the mids but still have them warm... thats the EBS.

Really loving it. A perfect changeup. Great tone.
Click to expand...

The mid "scoop" in the Bass Driver is intentional. Our Para Driver DI would be a better product to compare to the EBS. The other thing to consider is that the Bass Driver DI is a DI and works best into the mixing console or a flat response platform. Were you comparing the pedals by running them into the front end of an amp or into a mixer?
 
#9
I was running them with a poweramp \ power section only of my Streamliner

Yup, the mid scoop is intentional & if thats what you're looking for, its great.
If you're looking for a more mid present unit the EBS is great

The para driver is also a nice unit & its been too long for me to accurately review it vs the EBS. I can certainly say with confidence that it didn't grab me out of the gate the way the EBS has...

I love Tech21 gear but a having a tube amp I personally dont need a tube emulator. The EBS gives me the changeup that I wanted
 
#10
That would be the best way to use it but as I said the Para Driver would be the product to compare the EBS to as it has the sweepable mids. I'm not questioning your being happy with the EBS. That's fine. My point is that for a review or comparison you should compare two similar products. The Para Driver is a multi purpose preamp and was designed in part for the player that wasn't looking for the specific sound of the Bass Driver.
 
#20
Thanks for the review. The EBS sounds cool, but programmability is something I'm really needing right now. I'm not interested in the mid-scoop all the time aspect of the Bass Driver though. I wish (and I know I'm not the first one on here to say so) that Tech21 made a programmable Para Driver.
 

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