I’m stoked to join the Tech 21 user club. Just scored a SH-1 off the classifieds! This will be my first Tech 21 product.
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Sweet! A whole ton of versatility in that pedal. Lots of tone shaping options, give yourself time to become familiar with the controls and don't be afraid to experiment.
I’m very interested in the experiments! It’s one thing listening to the demos and loving the sounds…but I’m itching to try it at rehearsals and gigs. I play with a heavy handed drummer and I’m very curious how the “bite” switch sounds when the band is at full volume.Sweet! A whole ton of versatility in that pedal. Lots of tone shaping options, give yourself time to become familiar with the controls and don't be afraid to experiment.
I don't have the SH-1, but i have the Fly Rig v2. At first I thought the Bite switch was unusable, but after some experimentation, I noticed that it sounds great with the tone backed down on my bass. I know it seems dumb to brighten the sound only to cut with the tone, but adds a little something special to the sound. Have fun and like the previous poster said, experiment!
Excellent suggestion!
My only previous experience is with the Aguilar THDI. With the AGS engaged, the treble control acts like a Presence boost. For some situations I turn it up and then back off the tone control on my passive j-bass to taste. For full-tilt rock tunes I open up the tone control.
Sounds similar enough to the SH-1: the Bite switch is powerful! I typically use Bite in conjunction with the speaker sim switch, which has a lot of low end boost (along with some high-end rolloff, I believe).
But as you say, there are other ways to mitigate Bite. As pisces_bass says, your strategy is perfectly logical: on my active Sadowskys, I often boost treble but roll back the passive tone control. They do not cancel each other out because the slopes are different. The end result is typically a nice boost to low treble or higher mids, depending on how far I go with those controls.
P.S. @pisces_bass , nearly all of my actives have a passive tone control for the reason you explained. A tweak of that one knob in conjunction with distortion can often take me from modern aggressive clang to warm vintage purr.
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I think rolling off the brightness at the preamp mutes the harmonics created within the preamp. I'd rather leave the preamp bright and roll off the irritating frequencies before they hit the preamp in the first place.
Received the pedal today and took it straight to rehearsal. These are the settings it arrived with and I immediately put everything at noon to start. Got about 90 minutes to test drive with the band at semi-loud volume. Drummer brought his bundle sticks so it wasn’t full volume.
I read the whole SH-1 dedicated thread that petered out a year ago so I had some direction and ideas for what might work. Right out of the gate I started with cab sim and bite engaged, as that seems to be a majority preference. Wow this thing provides more note definition and range of gain on tap than anything else I have played (admittedly, that’s pretty limited). I rolled back highs and added a little clean blend after the first tune, boosted lows and mid 1 and scooped out mid 2 a little. Once I found a comfortable sound, I could add grit and bite with the passive tone rolled up 100% or make it deep and warm at 50%. I set up the second channel with more gain but not much more level and tried it on a couple sections where I lead. That sounded thick and gritty but still clear and defined, if that makes sense. I like.
Looking forward to spending more time to try out the example settings and find something just right! The drummer commented at the end that the notes sounded like they were jumping off the speakers tonight. I agree.
Spent some more time with the SH-1 working up a batch of tunes with a guitar player at our rehearsal space. Without drums the bite switch was overkill. So I disengaged but kept the cab sim. As has been written in the other thread, I needed to boost mids and highs and cut lows to compensate but it sounded really good. Just full and solid with the gain around noon. The Phil Lynott settings is the ballpark I ended up in. Now I’ll have to try these settings with the drummer and decide what I want to use as my “standard”.
Playing around with a higher gain setting for the second channel was fun. The bite switch really changes the character of the drive. I really like how the drive sounds and behaves with the bite switch in for the Geezer and Genesis settings. It sounds good without the bite switch with the Lynott settings too but not as aggressive. More saturation than snarl.
Anyway, the SH-1 is a really interesting device. Looking forward to trying it on a few different types of gigs.
Playing around with a higher gain setting for the second channel was fun. The bite switch really changes the character of the drive. I really like how the drive sounds and behaves with the bite switch in for the Geezer and Genesis settings. It sounds good without the bite switch with the Lynott settings too but not as aggressive. More saturation than snarl.
Anyway, the SH-1 is a really interesting device. Looking forward to trying it on a few different types of gigs.
Got the SH-1 new late last year-it is my one and only Tech21 device. Love it very much-it can surely stand on its own, though I always add a compressor first (and SH-1 last.) Love the cab emulation-bite too, but it is more situational, favoring some basses/strings/etc.
It can of course be amazing with other pedals. The Sheehan Ultimate Drive into the SH-1 is a sound of beauty. I am definitely keeping and using this Tech21 pedal forever-can do almost nothing to everything, and works with whatever you can throw at it-though you have to find the settings that work for you and your basses on your own, as usual.
My most favorite sound from it is the cab emulation, as it sounds so deep and fat, while having enough additional controls on its own to retain huge amounts of note definition.
The tuner is perfect-only thing that would have been nice to include is a compressor, though truth to be told, most of us compressor users will still use whatever compressors we are used to and love, even if it was included in the SH-1. Tuner is simpler, and makes lots of sense instead.
For the likely few of you who think bite is unusable, remember treble must not be cranked everywhere-it is an option, not something you must always use because it's there. Plus many players with not so clear or hifi pickups could use the settings. I do not use it often, but it can be useful, and also works as a sort of drive "boost" button-to say the least.
Very happy Tech21 made this pedal alongside Steve Harris and his people!
It can of course be amazing with other pedals. The Sheehan Ultimate Drive into the SH-1 is a sound of beauty. I am definitely keeping and using this Tech21 pedal forever-can do almost nothing to everything, and works with whatever you can throw at it-though you have to find the settings that work for you and your basses on your own, as usual.
My most favorite sound from it is the cab emulation, as it sounds so deep and fat, while having enough additional controls on its own to retain huge amounts of note definition.
The tuner is perfect-only thing that would have been nice to include is a compressor, though truth to be told, most of us compressor users will still use whatever compressors we are used to and love, even if it was included in the SH-1. Tuner is simpler, and makes lots of sense instead.
For the likely few of you who think bite is unusable, remember treble must not be cranked everywhere-it is an option, not something you must always use because it's there. Plus many players with not so clear or hifi pickups could use the settings. I do not use it often, but it can be useful, and also works as a sort of drive "boost" button-to say the least.
Very happy Tech21 made this pedal alongside Steve Harris and his people!
@thrashingbass interesting comments, especially regarding compression. I’ve used a few amps with onboard comp (Hartke and Trace Elliot GPX) but not dedicated pedals. My first thoughts on using the SH-1 with the bite engaged and low gain settings was wondering if there’s some integrated compression. The sound is so defined, especially lows, so much pop in the attack. Seems like the goal of a lot of comp users.
There could be a HPF tightening the low end, although I didn't see any mention of one in the manual.
@Scott Shaw if we’re to believe that Tech 21 was able to replicate the results of multiple racks of gear with the SH-1, there’s probably lots going on. I can’t imagine Harris needing all those rack units just for EQ and filtering, right? 
Compression is a natural byproduct of the SansAmp tube emulation. Just like a vintage tube amp, as you turn up the drive the signal will get more saturated and eventually will distort. There is more "give" with these types of circuits and it provides a more "organic" feel. It's hard to obtain that with a compressor going into a squeaky clean SS amp (or tube amp) for that matter.
I’m a long time fan of Tech 21 gear and enjoy using their products very much. Currently I have the following…
Bass Flyrig V2
Programmable BDDI
VT Bass DI (I also had the original VT Character Series pedal when it first came out)
YYZ Shapeshifter Sansamp
MP40 Sansamp
I know the last two are technically identical, but I added the limited edition in a bout of pedal collector’s frenzy and because - yes, I admit it- I really liked the artwork. I don’t mind having the two because the resale price is almost certain to go up, anyway. The Tech 21 website has been showing the MP40 as sold out for some time now.
Bass Flyrig V2
Programmable BDDI
VT Bass DI (I also had the original VT Character Series pedal when it first came out)
YYZ Shapeshifter Sansamp
MP40 Sansamp
I know the last two are technically identical, but I added the limited edition in a bout of pedal collector’s frenzy and because - yes, I admit it- I really liked the artwork. I don’t mind having the two because the resale price is almost certain to go up, anyway. The Tech 21 website has been showing the MP40 as sold out for some time now.
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I had the original YYZ pedal for awhile. Liked it a lot, but sold it because I like the DP-3X and SH-1 even more. That said, I wish I bought the MP40 when I had the chance. It's a bit different than the YYZ... and I love the graphic!
In addition to DP-3X and SH-1, I have the Oxford and Leeds pedals. And I've owned a whole bunch more Tech 21 gear over the past couple/few decades, both stompboxes and rack units.
I was under the impression that the MP40 was technically the same as the original YYZ except for the extra Shapeshifter control, which they later added to the YYZ after the MP40 Limited Edition run was all done. So, the YYZ Shapeshifter (the updated model) is exactly the same circuitry as the MP40. Maybe somebody else out there is in a position either to confirm or correct this impression, please?
