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Sansamp RBI Settings.

badstonebass

badstonebass

Jun 7, 2006
579
75
ohio
#1
How are you guys setting your Sansamps for front of house??

I use my RBI as a pre-amp on my rig and find that the tone I am getting on stage is different than the front of house. Just wanted some others ideas.

Rig: Sansamp, QSC 1450, Avatar 4x10

usual setting range:

drive 11 oclock
presence 9
blend 100%
bass 12
Mid 3
Treb 11
 
#2
does the cab have a horn, and is that horn level way up? that might throw off what you're hearing vs. what the house is getting.

also, you are sending the house the "sansamp out" and not the dry out, right?

those settings don't seem too crazy to me; if the house sound isn't exactly the same, is it still "good"? can the soundguy use it without fighting the EQ so much?
 
#3
:D
walterw said:
does the cab have a horn, and is that horn level way up? that might throw off what you're hearing vs. what the house is getting.

also, you are sending the house the "sansamp out" and not the dry out, right?

those settings don't seem too crazy to me; if the house sound isn't exactly the same, is it still "good"? can the soundguy use it without fighting the EQ so much?
Click to expand...



I just think that the FOH gets more clicking/clacking and high end than my cab does...and Yes I have a tweeter. I just don't like the noise....then again it is not noticeable unless I am playing without the band.

The WEIRD thing is that many times guys "guest' in the band and I think it sounds AWESOME. So I guess I might as well live with it. maybe I just don't know what the heck sounds good.:D
 
#5
Zooberwerx said:
Try backing your blend off to 50-60%. Why do you have your mids kicked up so high (3:00)? Could be problematic if your sending an affected / SansAmp signal to FOH.
Click to expand...

I don't know. Just like the sound I guess.

Problem is even though I have played the bass in bands for about 10 years now I still feel like a novice.

I grew up playing the guitar, and still do...but my main gigs recently were as bassist.

I have never been comfortable dialing in a bass sound. I had 30 years to learn guitar, but was just thrown into bass.
 
#6
I've been gigging an RBI for about 4 years now.

Definitely back off the blend knob to get more of the natural tone of your bass mixed in with the sansamp effect.

I tend to cut presence and treble a little (11 o'clock), leave the Bass at 12 o'clock, and just SLIGHTLY boost the mids (1 o'clock).

I keep the drive anywhere from 10 o'clock for a warmer tone to about 1 o'clock for more growl. Anything beyond about 2 o'clock on the drive knob starts to get a little ratty and middy.

Actually the way I run mine is kinda complex - I have a rack submixer and I use 2 channels on that - 1 for a straight bass tone (taken from the "unaffected out" on the back of the RBI) and another for the sansamp out.

This way I can blend sansamp and unaffected tones to my taste - doing that gets a more natural tone than just using the blend knob on the RBI.

One more thing: the Sansamp responds to your touch. If you dig in too much it will compress a little and get a little growly and clicky. If like you say others are getting a good tone and you're not, then you might want to lighten up on the way you hit the strings and make sure your technique itself is not clacky and clanky.
 
#7
Backing off the blend will dial down the sansamp "effect" and get you more clean tone (duh). The sansamp processing is pretty mid scooped which is probably why you have to boost your mids to 3. Given my past experience with tech 21's processing, I'm willing to bet that even with the mids boosted to 3, if you are diming that blend knob, you still are getting a slightly mid scooped tone.

I don't have an RBI (SABDDI user for ampless gigs) but this is how I made peace with the processing. Back the blend knob off to around noon. If it is sounding a little too clean at that point, dial in a little more drive. Even though I prefer the sound of my thunderfunk over the sansamp, this tactic seems to have worked the best for me. Less blend (more clean), higher drive.

PS: The clicky stuff is exactly what the presence knob brings up. It is completely focused in that region. I like that frequency range personally, but if you are hearing too much of it, try backing it off some. Since the presence knob is boost only, starting with it turned all the way down is perfectly reasonable.
 
#8
wade_b said:
If like you say others are getting a good tone and you're not, then you might want to lighten up on the way you hit the strings and make sure your technique itself is not clacky and clanky.
Click to expand...

Funnily enough I get compliments on my tone all the time, and if I go stand where I can hear FOH I think it sounds good.

Problem is I don't care for my onstage sound.

Times that I have "guested" on a few tunes with another band, his rig sounds "wrong" to me as well...but FOH it sounds good.

I am starting to think that I just can't get over stage vs FOH and whats needed to sound good in the bass realm.
 
#9
It has been my experience that the clicks and clacks of playing get so lost in the mix that you don't even hear them at all in a band setting. I still remember the first time I ever recorded (using a Sansamp RBI in fact), when listening to the isolated bass tracks it was a mess of clicks and clacks and all kinds of other sounds, but when played back with the band mix (heavy metalz), ALL that noise was completely lost.

I've been gigging with an RBI for at least 5 years, (and now an RPM as well in a seperate rig), and have never had anything but compliments on my tone.

From memory, currenly running apprixmately like this:

Drive 10:00-11:00
Presence 2:00
Blend 50-75%
Bass 12:00
Mid 1:00
Treble 12:00-1:00

Powered by a Carvin power amp into a Mesa Powerhouse 1200 cab. Live I would probably boost the bass a little, depending on the room, but it sounds mighty as is in the jam space.
 
#10
badstonebass said:
Funnily enough I get compliments on my tone all the time, and if I go stand where I can hear FOH I think it sounds good.

Problem is I don't care for my onstage sound.

Times that I have "guested" on a few tunes with another band, his rig sounds "wrong" to me as well...but FOH it sounds good.

I am starting to think that I just can't get over stage vs FOH and whats needed to sound good in the bass realm.
Click to expand...
Have you tried switching to a heavier gauge string?

I'm finding lately that the 100's I've been playing for years are now too light for my touch and I'm getting more clacking and clanking on stage as a result.

I hate that, because it makes me focus more on technique than on just letting go and feeling the song and interacting with the crowd.

I'm hitting up the music store tomorrow for some significantly thicker strings; after playing a bass that had the heavier strings on it briefly it just felt right and I could really dig in without all the extra noise.

In my opinion, that's happened because my plucking callouses are rougher and more defined than ever, and more likely to snag a little on the string when I pluck.

Plus we tune down a half step - that really changes the feel.
 
#11
wade_b said:
Have you tried switching to a heavier gauge string?

I'm finding lately that the 100's I've been playing for years are now too light for my touch and I'm getting more clacking and clanking on stage as a result.

I hate that, because it makes me focus more on technique than on just letting go and feeling the song and interacting with the crowd.

I'm hitting up the music store tomorrow for some significantly thicker strings; after playing a bass that had the heavier strings on it briefly it just felt right and I could really dig in without all the extra noise.

In my opinion, that's happened because my plucking callouses are rougher and more defined than ever, and more likely to snag a little on the string when I pluck.

Plus we tune down a half step - that really changes the feel.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Might be my problem. I went down in guage after I started having some tendonitis issues. Might be my problem. I am going to try a lighter touch because the change cured the problems and I sure don't want that pain again.
 
#13
The biggest issue is that the speaker cabinet you're running, even with a tweeter, is optimized for the sound of a bass guitar. What FOH gets isn't filtered by running through a bass dominant cabinet so a lot of higher frequency detail gets fed to the mixer and then EQ'd by your mixerman to sound good in the mix and then passed on to a set of full range speakers.
You're sending a signal to two completely different chains and, unsurprisingly, getting 2 different results. Get your stage tone to sound good to you and let FOH do his gig and make you sound good out front with what you give him.
 
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