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SansAmp BDDI alternatives

scottfeldstein

scottfeldstein

Roots and fifths and a little extra.
Jun 20, 2011
6,544
4,412
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San Marcos, California
endlessblue.bandcamp.com
#1
Good people, I'm getting the itch again. I like having a preamp on my pedalboard. I like having a DI. And I don't hate a bit of a retro vibe thrown in with it. I have owned SansAmp products... A BDDI, a programmable BDDI, a VT...I currently have a BDDI on my board. It's ok if I run it with pretty modest settings. (Visualize me playing my Ibanez EHB1505MS with the neck pickup soloed for an "I don't have a hyper-sterile solid state Hartke combo behind me" sound.)
  • Bass: 10 o'clock
  • Treble: 10 o'clock
  • Presence: 10 o'clock
  • Blend: noon
  • Drive: noon
I don't have the one with a mid control which is why I run the bass and treble and the blend the way I do. And the presence... It's definitely part of that retro vibe, but it really grates on me unless I turn it down as I have above. But I have again lately started thinking about other solutions. Like the Origin Effects Super Vintage (exPANsive!), the Joyo Monomyth, or even the Sonicake B-factory. I once had a Battalion, but sold it.

What are y'all using to scratch this itch?
 
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#6
For cheaper options there's the Caline Wine Cellar which is a Sansamp BDDI inspired pedal but I think in terms of value you can't beat the Sonicake B-factory.

The Monomyth is a darker, higher gain pedal IMO since it's based on the Alpha Omega pedal by Darkglass. But the 6-band EQ is definitely a great tool to help get the sound you want.
 
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#7
There's no alternative to the BDDI v2 for me. And I tried a lot of things, and I have a lot of things.

IMG_0319.JPEG
 
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#10
If you haven't tried the BDDI V2, you should. I liked the V1 a lot but once I tried the V2 with the mids control there was no going back.

For the same thing but with another available flavor, the MXR M80 is also excellent. It can do the BDDI vintage tone but it's an option, not the default. It's also very affordable.
 
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#14
Source Audio Zio. May be too transparent, may not have enough knobs for you. BUT… the controls are very interactive (with one another) allowing for a lot of control. I Adore mine.

Edit: with the ZIO, you’re gonna pair it with a dirt pedal of your choosing. But I prefer this method. All-in-one usually means all-are-passable in my experience. The ZIO does what I want (with a HPF to boot) and I can add dirt/etc. components to taste.
 
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#15
I feel like those that like the BDDI absolutely love it and there is no alternative to it.
Those that do not, HATE it and anything is a better alternative to it.
I fall in the second camp.

Depending upon what you are using it for (pre-amp, EQ, Drive, etc...) there are a LOT of better options IMO (but again, see my bias above)
Origin Effect DCX is the first thing that comes to mind.
 
#17
Tonebone Bassbone is pretty cool. I still use my BDDI on my regular pedal board. Just moved to Tonex One and spent quite a few hours with it, but I have it dialed in for the two sounds I need and don't feel like I need anything else.
 
#18
Lovep said:
I really think you should check out the JHS Punchline pedal. It scratched all my itches.
Click to expand...

The first response in the thread is one I echo. I have a BDDI, the same old one you do. I also have a Tone Hammer (which is currently for sale on my local FB marketplace) but the Punchline does a couple more things than either, and it does them all SO WELL. Here's the Punchline thread. Lots of great info and tons of great user-experience and tips & tricks. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...3c9c7914d43c68dcb7&_index=production_products

It's got the mid control that the OG BDDI is missing, a very similar (but clearer, imho) amp sim section, DI, a GREAT drive section with clean blend, and a fantastic compressor.

I love the ToneHammer for the AGS/drive sound, but it was basically unusable as an effect due to the poor design/integration of not having its own level control. Going from clean to dirty resulted in a huge volume jump. The Punchline fixed that with a level control for that section, and also added a clean blend which is AMAZING for keeping all the thickness and beef of your clean sounds, then blending in as much dirt as you want. The tone and drive controls help dial in the type of drive you want, from vintage warmth & grit to modern razor sharp audio destruction. This is something you can't easily do on the TH, and definitely can't do on the BDDI.

Also, the TH runs at 18v, making power supply options limited, while somehow the Punchline can do all of this magic with plenty of headroom to spare while still operating at 9v like the BDDI, and just 175mah! I have this on a super simple pedalboard using a Joyo tuner that has 2x 500mah 9v power outs and 6x 100mah power outs. So clean and easy!

The Punchline was a Sweetwater-only limited release of 1,000 units, I believe. I bought one at the full $500 price and am pleased as punch with it. JHS dropped all their prices by 25% for an "early black Friday" sale, so now they are just $375. An absolute steal at that price, imho. I bought another one Monday morning and it is on the delivery truck to my house as we speak. It has quickly become the core of my sound, both at church/worship settings and in my classic rock cover band. It is at the same time simple and complex, easy to use but full of unique tones, clean in operation with a crazy low noise floor/self-noise.

Happy tone-hunting!

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/jhs-punchline.1650779/
 
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#19
I love and use a Tech21 Programmable Bass DI. However alternatives kind of in order of cost:

  • MXR- M81 - cheap and cheerful- easy to use- hard to get a bad sound.
  • Ampeg - SGT-DI or the venerable SCR-DI. I have the SCR-DI and it's capable of some ampeg like things.
  • Darkglass- my current board DI for rock - B7k Ultra. I like the tone shape and distortion and use them separately.

Things I haven't tried but I want to:
  • Origin Bass Rig

Note: some of the ones I use, I like to use a compressor as well. If you don't actually use the DI function, you may want something that colors your bass signal a little instead of a DI. On some gigs I use the origin effects bass compressor (colours sound a bit, and kinda costly) always on, and then a fuzz or distortion on lightly to kick it up a notch for certain songs or parts (bass big muff, or rat or earthquaker blumes).
 

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