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Sansamp over rated

BaltBass5

BaltBass5

Supporting Member
May 11, 2011
2,803
6,020
Baltimore, MD
#1
Just a thought here based upon my own personal preference and experience. I wanted to see what others had to say about it.

I've tried several Sansamp pedals over the 20+ years I've been playing professionally and I just can't seem to find anything useful about them! The VT Bass IMO is the best of the bunch but even it doesn't really do much for me.

I play all passive and mostly vintage or high end Fenders and Ashdown Amps. I used to play Ampeg Amps and Cabinets until I realized how much tone they suck. To that end, I think that the Sansamp products get real close to an Ampeg sound but the thing that always KILLS it for me is the fact that both just scoop the mids pretty severely and I can never quite find anything useable without it being too harsh or too boomy.

Interested in others thoughts / experiences.
 
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#2
In my opinion it's a one trick pony, it scoops out the mids by design. This either works for you or it doesn't. You can add / cut bass and treble...but it's got a "sound" or EQ that is baked in. It either works for your current bass or it doesn't. I sounds great on my Music Man, but not so good on my Jazz. The dirt option on it didn't sounded so great to my ears. Others seem to love it.
 
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#5
They are pretty good pedals for the price point. I actually think the VT is my least favorite. They do a good job at emulating what they are supposed to. I switched to a Joyo American and liked it much better than the VT.

I don't think they are overrated at all. A lot of people love them and they are a good company with well built products. Some may say the boost chorus is the best chorus available. It's all a matter of preference. If you don't like them don't buy them. Starting a thread about how you think they are overrated is kinda lame if you ask me.

My preference for a different preamp is mine alone and plenty of other people enjoy Tech21 and get great tones from them. :)
 
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#6
Whether it's overrated is subjective, but if you don't like Ampegs why would you expect to like a pedal that is trying to deliver an Ampeg-like tone?

The goal of the original SansAmp (long before the Bass DI) was for DI use where you wanted the characteristics of a tube amp without actually using one. Using it with an amp was secondary. I remember first hearing the original SansAmp in a studio and it sounded fantastic, especially considering there was no amp, no cab, no mikes, no hum and buzz, etc. Today the use of amp simulators (mostly digital) is so commonplace in recording that it's easy to forget that SansAmp along with the Rockman and the H&K Cream Machine (using real tubes!) popularized the idea long before.

Using Sansamps with amps seems backwards to me, after all if you already use an amp why do you need a box that sounds like an amp?
 
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#7
The reason I got the BDDI in the first place (many many years ago) was when a friend said he used one in the studio -- and this was a big-budget studio in LA, his band was recording for Interscope. I learned that most major studios had the BDDI, and often used it for bass.

So, it's unfair to say that it's overrated. But like any other device, it won't appeal to everyone.
 
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#8
Yes, the BDDI has a baked in tone, but here are a couple of tips that can be overlooked.

#1: The Blend control is your friend. Nearly all the sample settings in the BDDI manual have Blend cranked to full, and many bassists like that, however I prefer setting Blend at 2 o'clock, or even noon. This will of course add more of your bass' natural tone to the output, reducing the mid scoop.

#2: The Presence control is boost only. I suspect that some set it to noon, thinking that noon is flat, but noon delivers a big treble boost.
 
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#9
I've had a few of their products and I've flipped them all. I think part of the problem is having the right expectation. They're really emulation effect pedals, not strictly add-grit effects. And many of them are designed to be used direct to FOH, not into a live amp rig. Yet people (like myself) buy them and expect them to be different than they are. I think the VT may have been the best one I used, but after wrestling with it I went with something different.

Aguilar Agro is my go-to crunch pedal now. I found it very easy to dial in an effect that gave me noticeable crunch and harmonics which were neither overly buzzy or flatulent--while at the same time not altering my tone profile too much.
 
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#11
brianrost said:
Whether it's overrated is subjective, but if you don't like Ampegs why would you expect to like a pedal that is trying to deliver an Ampeg-like tone?

The goal of the original SansAmp (long before the Bass DI) was for DI use where you wanted the characteristics of a tube amp without actually using one. Using it with an amp was secondary. I remember first hearing the original SansAmp in a studio and it sounded fantastic, especially considering there was no amp, no cab, no mikes, no hum and buzz, etc. Today the use of amp simulators (mostly digital) is so commonplace in recording that it's easy to forget that SansAmp along with the Rockman and the H&K Cream Machine (using real tubes!) popularized the idea long before.

Using Sansamps with amps seems backwards to me, after all if you already use an amp why do you need a box that sounds like an amp?
Click to expand...
That was exactly what I was thinking. (Using an Ampeg "simulator" when you don't like Ampeg).
Also - "TONESUCK" like all descriptives here at TB has become misused.
TONESUCK is what happens to a signal when bad or too long or too many cables and other passive devices begin to affect the way an instrument and amplifier interact; usually in the form of loss of clarity, low end and volume with a corresponding increase in noise. In the case of AMPS and CABS there is NO TONESUCK involved - if you don't love the tone, that's totally valid, but it isn't TONESUCK, if anything, it's undesirable tone emphasis.
As for using the sansamp with amps, well if you have a less than stellar amp or are going straight to the poweramp, than it can help compensate for that and as such is just as valid as using an overdrive or eq pedal - both of those things your amp can do itself, but standalone units can give sounds that the amp alone can't do.
 
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#12
Maybe we could use a new rule for the effects forum, something similar to the ban on "ugly bass threads". A lot of people like SansAmp products, a lot of people don't. So what. Just go use something you do like instead of dissing stuff you don't like but others do.

I have the SABBDI and the VT Bass DI, the former I mainly just use as a DI, the latter is better overall and I like more of its different functions. Blending in dry is key to getting a nice tone IMO.
 
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#13
danosix said:
That was exactly what I was thinking. (Using an Ampeg "simulator" when you don't like Ampeg).
Also - "TONESUCK" like all descriptives here at TB has become misused.
TONESUCK is what happens to a signal when bad or too long or too many cables and other passive devices begin to affect the way an instrument and amplifier interact; usually in the form of loss of clarity, low end and volume with a corresponding increase in noise. In the case of AMPS and CABS there is NO TONESUCK involved - if you don't love the tone, that's totally valid, but it isn't TONESUCK, if anything, it's undesirable tone emphasis.
As for using the sansamp with amps, well if you have a less than stellar amp or are going straight to the poweramp, than it can help compensate for that and as such is just as valid as using an overdrive or eq pedal - both of those things your amp can do itself, but standalone units can give sounds that the amp alone can't do.
Click to expand...

Do not forget pedals. If you ever need to see tone sucking in action, try out a BOSS NS-2. It is a hungry, tone eating monster.

I think the OP just meant it coloured his sound too much, something Ampeg DOES do. I think it would be pretty hard to call that a suck-y tone though. I do not want that tone all the time, that is why I moved away from Ampeg. But there are times when that tone does it just right, you don't hang around this long with poopy tone.
 
#19
DiabolusInMusic said:
I think the OP just meant it coloured his sound too much, something Ampeg DOES do.
Click to expand...
Not only is that not true for all Ampeg models across the board, flat or near-flat response is easily obtained from all their heads. And just today, I was reading the review Bass Gear Mag did of a new V4B vs an old one, and V4B's have dead flat response with all knobs at noon. Yes, the SVT has a certain colored tone with all knobs at noon, but near-flat is easily obtained and all Ampegs are not SVT's.
 
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