Pedal order

[Blender02]

Thinking about running a Cali 76 with a Sansamp 21. Do you think a compression pedal is necessary with the sansamp? Definity new to pedals and learning a lot. Probably running Boss TU3 and DROP tune pedal as well.

Any suggestions appreciated with pedal order or other suggestions as well.

Thanks!!!

 

[never-enough]

What is necessary is really up to you, based on what you are trying to achieve and your own playing style.

If I was running those 4 pedals you mention, I would probably start off by trying out the tu3-cali-drop-sansamp first to see how I liked it.
Then swap the order of the cali and drop.
If it turned out I preferred the drop before the cali then I would also try the cali after the sansamp.
There is nothing better than experimenting to find out what really works best for you.

 

[Parzival]

What is necessary is really up to you, based on what you are trying to achieve and your own playing style.

If I was running those 4 pedals you mention, I would probably start off by trying out the tu3-cali-drop-sansamp first to see how I liked it.
Then swap the order of the cali and drop.
If it turned out I preferred the drop before the cali then I would also try the cali after the sansamp.
There is nothing better than experimenting to find out what really works best for you.

It probably just depends on how much of the BDDI drive you use. Seems the more drive and blend you use the more compressed it gets. When I’ve used the BDDI, I like a decent amount of the blend but didn’t use quite as much drive and a compressor before it felt fine.

On the Drop, I recall hearing folks say it works well at the beginning of the chain. But I’m using the drop model in HX and it’s actually after my Cali and it works fine. How does the compression affect the Drop and vice versa how does the Drop affect the compression? Just curious.

 

[Pyrrho Epoche]

Thinking about running a Cali 76 with a Sansamp 21. Do you think a compression pedal is necessary with the sansamp? Definity new to pedals and learning a lot. Probably running Boss TU3 and DROP tune pedal as well.

Any suggestions appreciated with pedal order or other suggestions as well.

Thanks!!!

Other suggestions? Broughton low+high pass filter---thank me later. And of course compression! I tried a few comps, but jived with the Diamond bass comp/eq.

 

[40Hz]

But I’m using the drop model in HX and it’s actually after my Cali and it works fine.

From my experience, modeled effects chains don’t always map out identically when applied to their physical counterparts. That isn’t a bad thing however. It’s actually a major advantage since it sidesteps a lot of the hassles you can encounter when using the actual pedals.

I keep thinking I need to get myself one of those ‘does everything’ units some day.

 

[40Hz]

@Blender02 - Whenever you’re adding something to your rig it’s a good idea to only add one thing at a time and fully explore its capabilities. If it’s missing something you still need you can either replace it or add additional devices one at a time to arrive at the sounds you want. If you follow this approach you’ll save yourself a lot of time and money and avoid duplicating features or building an unnecessarily complicated pedalboard. Been there. And I learned from experience it’s very easy to fall down the rabbit hole if you don’t exercise a little self discipline when shopping for pedals.

 

[Stranger Danger]

Thinking about running a Cali 76 with a Sansamp 21. Do you think a compression pedal is necessary with the sansamp? Definity new to pedals and learning a lot. Probably running Boss TU3 and DROP tune pedal as well.

Any suggestions appreciated with pedal order or other suggestions as well.

Thanks!!!

I run a UA 1176 comp in front of my tone hammer pedal and it sounds great.

 

[Ian774]

A comp in front of my SansAmp really evens out my tone and give it even more punch. It’s not “needed” per se, but I find it adds something.

 

[micguy]

Whether or not you "need" compression depends entirely on who you ask. over 4 decades playing bass, I haven't seen a need for it yet. Other folks will disagree.

 

[Parzival]

From my experience, modeled effects chains don’t always map out identically when applied to their physical counterparts. That isn’t a bad thing however. It’s actually a major advantage since it sidesteps a lot of the hassles you can encounter when using the actual pedals.

I keep thinking I need to get myself one of those ‘does everything’ units some day.

I should have been clearer. I have the drop model in my HX One so it would be like using the actual drop pedal.

 

[74hc]

For me, yes it's worth it before the preamp. What I like about my compressor is it tends to even out the tone difference between strings. For instance, the B on the E string vs the B on the A string.

 

[Parzival]

For me, yes it's worth it before the preamp. What I like about my compressor is it tends to even out the tone difference between strings. For instance, the B on the E string vs the B on the A string.

Never thought about that. I’ll pay attention at this weeks gig and see if I’m hearing that as well. Thanks.

 

[40Hz]

I should have been clearer. I have the drop model in my HX One so it would be like using the actual drop pedal.

What you don’t have to deal with by using modeling are the phase issues, impedance mismatches, power problems, and other factors that make patching actual pedals together a challenge. That makes a huge difference and is one of the strongest arguments for going with a modeling sound processor solution rather than using discrete devices once the signal chain goes beyond five or six devices. Because a modeler removes the real world physics from the formula and gives you an ideal environment (i.e. mathematical) to sculpt a soundscape.

Basically it’s all the benefits of various effects with none of the limitations and problems their physical counterparts introduce. Even if those devices are digital. Everything can be kept in the digital realm except for the initial input and the final output signal. There’s no need for separate A/D and D/A conversions at each stage in the effect chain. And that is a huge improvement in terms of sound quality and artifact elimination. That lets us combine specific effects together in ways that wouldn’t sound good or might even be practical using separate effects boxes.

And yes, if the modeler is using what’s effectively the same algorithm as the digital standalone does, I’ll agree with you that using the modeler is no different than having the actual pedal. It’s a little trickier with analog pedals. But a well crafted plug-in will still be virtually indistinguishable from the real thing to human ears.

 

[monsterthompson]

What you don’t have to deal with by using modeling are the phase issues, impedance mismatches, power problems, and other factors that make patching actual pedals together a challenge. That makes a huge difference and is one of the strongest arguments for going with a modeling sound processor solution rather than using discrete devices once the signal chain goes beyond five or six devices. Because a modeler removes the real world physics from the formula and gives you an ideal environment (i.e. mathematical) to sculpt a soundscape.

I would hope so but I have a point of curiosity. I own a Zoia and one of the modules in the library is a buffer that delays the signal before passing it. The manual says it exists for managing parallel signal paths where path A and path B have different processing times based on the modules they contain. Without a buffer you could end up with phase issues, so they gave users the ability to account for that. The Zoia is a different animal from a modeler but it does make me wonder how other devices manage such processing issues. In 2024 I’d hope the devices in the marketplace that allow parallel processing are built with these issues in mind, but I haven’t tried em all

 

[Ondoval]

I have a compressor on my board, but for me it's the least important pedal on there. Totally depends on the player, genre etc. Should probably come before any dirt pedals tho, as compressing the signal drom those can cause issues.

I find that with pedal order (and most things in life) you should experiment more and listen to others less. Try different things and decide for yourselfe what you think sounds good and works for you.