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SansAmp Bass Driver DI question

Discussion in 'Effects [BG]' started by iceblinko, Jul 15, 2003.

  1. Jul 15, 2003 #1
    iceblinko

    iceblinko

    Jul 15, 2003
    Ny
    hey everyone! i'm new to the board. this is actually my first post. anyways, i have a question regarding the sansamp bass driver. i recently got one and i'm having a hard time getting a good live sound out of it when i play with my loud aggressive rock band. i play with a fender precision bass, an ampeg 8 x 10 cab, and an ampeg svt 3 pro head.
    i guess i just want a punchy round tone that cuts through the two guitars in my band. something in between a 'tool' or 'fugazi' sound would be awesome.
    am i supposed to set all the knobs on my amp head FLAT?? and then from there should i try and tweak my sansamp? i've tried some of the sample settings in the manual, but they're just not cutting it. maybe i'm not doing something right with my actual amp? grrr. anyway, any help would be appreciated! take care and happy bass...


    tommy
     
  2. Jul 15, 2003 #2
    Slater

    Slater Leave that thing alone.

    Apr 17, 2000
    The Great Lakes State
    In the Sansamp manual, all of their suggested settings have the blend knob turned totally clock-wise at 100%. I've found that my sound was WAY too muddy with the blend at 100%.

    I would suggest starting out with the blend at about 50% (12 o'clock) and then tweaking all of the knobs to your personal taste.

    Also, the Ampeg SVT-III-Pro has a pretty decent tube preamp. Using the Sansamp with the Ampeg might be a little over-kill...
     
  3. Jul 15, 2003 #3
    ufo

    ufo

    Jun 3, 2003
    Ann Arbor, Michigan
    I use the sansamp all the time, pretty much every time I play live or record. (You can hear it on my recordings at my web site below- everything from rock to funk).

    I'm not familiar with your specific amp, but I usually set my amp to flat, and then use the sansamp to shape the sound.

    A couple of things that have worked with me:

    To cut through guitars I actually often back off on the treble and bass controls a little (set them a little negative) which relatively increases the mid range. Then I jack up both the blend and presence about half way and also add a little of the drive, stopping just short of distorting it. For my bass and amp, this produces a killer mid-range sound. I think the presence and the drive really knife through guitars, and backing off on the bass and treble a little bit make it sound less muddy. You'll have to experiment with your rig and bass to see if this works, but that's my rationale.

    For heavy bass, I turn blend to max, bass to almost max, and drive to about 50-75%. This produces a thundering bass sound from my Rick 4001 that I've never gotten before in any other effect. The first time I did this I hit a bass note and thought an atomic bomb exploded!

    hope this helps
    UFO
     
  4. Jul 18, 2003 #4
    Munjibunga

    Munjibunga Retired Member

    May 6, 2000
    San Diego (when not at Groom Lake)
    Independent Contractor to Bass San Diego
    ufo is right. Mids are what cut through the mix. This means you don't want to be boosting the bass control on the SABDDI. Cut it to 10 or 11 o'clock, then boost the level control to regain your volume. You might also want to boost the Presence knob a bit. While the SABDDI doesn't have a mid control, the SansAmp Acoustic DI has a semi-parametric mid that really helps control the sound.