I might give that a go, just for fun. I've been using it exclusively the last couple of weeks trying to warm up to it, and it was sounding better. Last night I went back to my Tone Hammer just for "recheck" and everything just sounded perfect. Not sure why I ever even bother trying other things out honestly, except that there's always that little voice in my head telling me there might be something better out there...
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Tech 21 VT Bass DI
- Thread starter lustersilk
- Start date
I might give that a go, just for fun. I've been using it exclusively the last couple of weeks trying to warm up to it, and it was sounding better. Last night I went back to my Tone Hammer just for "recheck" and everything just sounded perfect. Not sure why I ever even bother trying other things out honestly, except that there's always that little voice in my head telling me there might be something better out there...
I too have that little voice, I've bought & sold more gear only to buy gear that I've previously sold like the VT bass V2. The Tone Hammer mite just be more of your thing at the end of the day.
Yeah, the TH is definitely my thing, but I have a lot of love/respect for Tech21 and the Sansamp. I used a BDDI for a long time, and then a VT Deluxe for quite a while as well. If I'm nit-picky it's only because I've been making feature requests from Tech21 since way back when the BDDI was the bees knees, and Tech21 has incorported a lot of those features that many of us have asked for. IMHO though they also seem to change something else, or not fully implement what I'd prefer. That's not a big deal at all because I don't expect them to cater to little ol' me by any means.
For that matter, there are things I would love Aguilar to do with the Tone Hammer, but that is even less likely I think simply because they are a smaller, more boutique company. I just like their EQ voicing better, but I slightly prefer Tech21's tube-like compression. For me, the EQ voicing is the biggest and most important thing in a live or studio setting though. Compression is easily fixed with a 2nd device. In fact, it's probably better to not have so much of it in the Tone Hammer because it lets you do what you want externally.
However, the VT Bass has a great tube-like compression that just sounds great for plugging it into something and going with it. You can get away from it, so that's the drawback. I can see how some people greatly prefer that. I can put the Aggie TLC or MXR M87 after the Tone Hammer though and get that same compression effect as well. I know most people would put the compressor before the TH, but to me that prevents your dynamics from driving the AGS into overdrive. The TH does have some compression occurring naturally from that gain circuit, so adding just a little bit of compression after is all it takes to give it a tube-like feel while retaining the drive characteristics of the preamp.
The VT Bass is also better at getting that clanky thing going, which I seldom do or need, but it's better at it. The TH is WAY better at getting old school warmth and thump. You can completely remove the top end with the Aggie which'll never happen with the VT. Then there's the increased mid control with the Aggie.
I guess you can't have it all in one unit, but it's fun complaining about it I suppose.
I believe I read that the AGS circuit of the Tone Hammer pedal is more adjustable in the amp heads with a drive nob, that mite be something else to look into. I can always find something to nit pick about products. While I like many of Tech 21's products I always felt they leaned towards bright or presence focused with bottom heavy lows & when they added mids like in the RBI preamp they were voiced higher than I cared for. I do feel the mids are actually voiced close to the 500 hz listed in the manual for the VT Bass, but the character above 12 & drive above 11 in tandem will introduce higher freq.'s that can change the mid freq. content. If I keep them in check along with the cap mod taming the highs to my ears I get a warm sort of old school tone that I'm liking for most of what I play.
i have one of these at first i thought it was a total dud, but after i tried the flip top setting with my band, im keeping it, it has the ampeg sound in it for sure, chris squire type tone to it as well. If your on the fence not sure of this pedal, try the flip top if you play rock or funk or progressive, i tried the svt setting first, it was ok but too muddy for my band.
I'm also a Tone Hammer user and advocate. However the VT Bass DI is the best thing, other than rack mount, I've seen from Tech 21. And I may just do the cap mod at some point.
Eublet's comparison is quite accurate.
I think I'd choose the Tone Hammer for recording.
For live, I'd flip a coin.
Eublet's comparison is quite accurate.
I think I'd choose the Tone Hammer for recording.
For live, I'd flip a coin.
The pedal in this case since it is more of a direct comparison to the VTDI, but the Tone Hammer head is essentially the same TH preamp with a power section behind it.
The Tone Hammer is more similar to our Para Driver DI not the VT Bass DI. The EQ sections are similar, the TH has the AGS distortion circuit which can be foot switched and we have the SansAmp circuit that is engaged via the blend control. The VT Bass DI is meant to emulate the sound of specific amplifiers whereas the Para Driver is more open ended. I'm not familiar with how the AGS circuit of the TH sounds.
Para Driver EQ:
Tone Hammer EQ:
Para Driver EQ:
Tone Hammer EQ:
Got one in to review, and I'm giving it a run on some shows. I've tried it a few ways, but so far, through an amp, I like going in the effect return best. Just beginning to explore this pedal, it's pretty deep. It seems to me that it does exactly what they set out to make it do. But it doesn't do all the things everyone thought it would do. 
Used the VTDI tonight as the front end of my Genz Shuttlemax 9.2/Focus 410 rig - via the master effect returnand ran it direct to the house. I was very pleased to say the least! One thing I did differently was run the Blend at half. I was typically running it full blast, figuring I wanted to hear the effect, but the Blend is where it's at! It still characterizes the tone, but the attack is stronger from the direct signal. I was using the Character control mostly at 12, but sometimes at 11, a touch of Bass and Treble, Bite off, Sim on, Drive at 9 or 10.
I was playing my L2500, mostly neck pickup/series/passive, and really got the warmth with edge thing. Took a couple of solo breaks and found I could dig in and still use the dynamics of the instrument - not always so with the Blend on full. Played a couple of tunes with a pick and bumped the Drive to 10:30....noice! The sound man, and 3 bass players in the audience seemed to like it too!
I was playing my L2500, mostly neck pickup/series/passive, and really got the warmth with edge thing. Took a couple of solo breaks and found I could dig in and still use the dynamics of the instrument - not always so with the Blend on full. Played a couple of tunes with a pick and bumped the Drive to 10:30....noice! The sound man, and 3 bass players in the audience seemed to like it too!
Good to see you here Ed, I've enjoyed your previous reviews. I look at the character as a second mid control that is effected by the harmonics of the drive control, generally have it set just before 12:00 & drive 9 to 11 range. I too have found I like the blend somewhere between 12 & 3 oclock. Theres quite a lot of variety for a compulsive nob tweeker like myself.
Ed's little gig review inspired me to play around some more with the blend at 12:00. I bumped the drive up to where the nob lines up with the D of the drive nob, character lines up with the 1st letter C of the character nob, everything else at noon, bite out & speaker sim in either position, sounds great. Its a shame that Tech 21 didn't include any new suggested settings where the blend is used in any position other than full on & bite switch engaged, I doubt the majority of bassists find that switch very useful.
This thing is deeper than it appears! I like that you have to learn how it behaves - kind of like an amp. The Blend may in fact be the feature that keeps me using it. While I love the character the pedal can impart... I've always felt the sans amp effect added too much compression for live use... Not the case with the Blend at 12:00.
These are exactly my thoughts. The Sansamp is a little too "hyped" on its own. The blend helps with this, though I wish I could run the blend higher without losing so much dynamic or suffering the extreme EQ coloration.
The cap mod shows a 22nf 100V capacitor, according to the data I can come up with online.
The cap available to me locally has a 50V rating.
Same type of film capacitor.
Should I hold out for the 100V rated cap?
What say you folks?
The cap available to me locally has a 50V rating.
Same type of film capacitor.
Should I hold out for the 100V rated cap?
What say you folks?
I bought these, they look like the same exact ones in the photo kindly supplied by the Tech 21 rep here. http://www.ebay.com/itm/151117901311?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
As an eBay Associate, TalkBass may earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
I'm still warming up more and more to the VTDI. I have been running the controls like Ed above mostly, but last night I tried it like this.
Blend - Noon
MIds - Noon
Bass - Noon
Treble - 10:30
Character - 10:30
Drive - 10:30
Bite - off
Speaker Sim - on
This sounded REALLY GOOD. Remember I'm going for a very warm, non-clanky tone. These settings above work well I think because you aren't boosting a lot of bass. The Character knob does cut mids, but it only cuts them on the Sansamp signal, not on the dry signal. That lets you push the gain harder without too much mid breakup, and the dry signal fills out the mids. Cutting the treble removes some of the upper end gliss from the dry signal and also removes some of that razor zing on the Sansamp signal. So you wind up mixing a slightly scooped Sansamp tone with a warmer full range tone.
It sounded really good, and like Ed mentioned, keeps the compression in check a bit more.
Blend - Noon
MIds - Noon
Bass - Noon
Treble - 10:30
Character - 10:30
Drive - 10:30
Bite - off
Speaker Sim - on
This sounded REALLY GOOD. Remember I'm going for a very warm, non-clanky tone. These settings above work well I think because you aren't boosting a lot of bass. The Character knob does cut mids, but it only cuts them on the Sansamp signal, not on the dry signal. That lets you push the gain harder without too much mid breakup, and the dry signal fills out the mids. Cutting the treble removes some of the upper end gliss from the dry signal and also removes some of that razor zing on the Sansamp signal. So you wind up mixing a slightly scooped Sansamp tone with a warmer full range tone.
It sounded really good, and like Ed mentioned, keeps the compression in check a bit more.
The blend has always been the best thing about all the Tech 21 products I've used. (RBI,RPM,BDDI) The main reason I sold my VTbass was a lack of this feature. I'm glad they fixed it.
