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Sansamp studio tone, please help:)

N

Norwegianwood

Nov 9, 2003
969
4
40
Norway, Oslo
#1
Good evening! (At least it is here in Norway)

I have recently bought a Sansamp RBI. These days I use it in studio, going direct in the board.
But man, I just don't get any punch. My tone sounds all big and "undefined." It helps a little bit to gain the highs. But then again, my tone turns weak. I'm recording a disco kinda song right now, and I wanna have a clear but powerful tone. I play a passive corvette standard. My strings are a couple of weeks old, perhaps they are the problem?

I also would like to ask you about one more thing. What is the different standard settings for the RBI? I bought mine used...
Thanks a lot.
 
#2
I owned an RBI for a while, and I really liked it when the blend control was at about 9 o'clock. I found that when the blend was at 12 o'clock or more, there was just too much of a mid scoop and the punch was lost. There's much more beef when you're using more of your bass's natural tone.

My favorite setting was:
two left knobs all the way off.
Blend off
Bass at 3 o'clock
Mid at 11 o'clock
Treble at 1 o'clock.

Bass guitar controls set flat. I found that this setting gave me a usable tone in most every situation and allowed me to bounce between slap and fingerstyle without needing to change settings.

I wouldn't bother with the recommended settings that come in the manual, they are over-exaggerated IMO, and go too far with the settings.
 
#3
Ok, thanks! I'll try that.
Anyway, I'm not happy with the tone I get in studio, nor with my Hartke 3500 head. Think I have to buy a new amp.
The problem is: I get a lot of finger noise. And it's not like I don't play clean enough. Because I do:D But I just have to push the damn string, and I hear this "click." Maybe my action are set too low?
And if I turn down on my string noise, my tone just become undefined and unhearable in the mix.

This is really bugging me. Because if I plug into any bass amp, I always get a decent sound with my warwick. Most times I get a good, funky sound. But I have NEVER been able to put this on tape.
And it's driving me crasy:D

This is about the best sound I've had (not kidding here) and it sucks. But anyway, som slapping I recorded at home going direct in the soundcard:
Link Removed

Oh, and maybe this thread should be moved to another forum?
 
#5
Thanks..
No, I haven't yet. I don't think the studio have good enough mics....
I dunno. They have all the standards, but at least no dedicated bass mics. Maybe I should try it, but still: I should be able to get decent sound with just a DI or the Sansamp too?
 
#7
Hey Norweigianwood, I had the EXACT same problem as you, excessive fret noise. I set up my bass and it was still there. I ended up running the presence at the 9 o'clock position. All in all, my settings were:

Level: Max
Blend: Max
Treble: 11 o'clock
Bass: 2 o'clock
Presence: 9 o'clock
Drive: 12 o'clock

Unfortunately, my jazz bass and precision bass sounded close to being the same at that setting. Plus, it was a little boomy. However, it got rid of the clickety-clack and overall, the tone was nice and fat.
 
#8
The 'problem' with DI-recording is that it's very very clear sounding. I mean, it records every little sound you make, be it good or bad. This is includes fret noise.

Me and my band were in the studio in july to record our new demo. I also had trouble with too much fret noise from the di-signal. It was my first recording session with my amp (Ampeg SVT-3 Pro) as well. We ended up with a double signal. One dry sound (slightly eq-ed, studio tube DI) and the other overdriven tone from my miced amp. The DI delivered the clarity and the deep boom and the amp delivered the drive. I can still hear the fretnoise in the mix, but it sounds better when the DI-signal is blended with a miced amp sound.

We used a tube-microphone. A bass-drum one. It sounds very good imho.
 

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