Tech 21 VT Bass

[stflbn]

Used my VT pedal in between periods at an NHL game Saturday night to push my modern sounding bass into more of a Vintage mode for a couple tunes. Worked great.

I love that the VT is versatile enough to allow a modern sounding bass to have a passive vibe, or a vintage sounding bass to sound grindy aggressive, etc.

 

[Surly]

I never thought I would like a pedal, that sounds like tubes, more than a pedal that has actual tubes. i.e. Muff'n. Not that the Muff'n isn't great.

 

[ShowKing]

is it just me, or do the suggested settings seem to make it INCREDIBLY louder than normal??
i had to turn the drive and level down for it to be at usable volume.

 

[JimmyM]

No, you're right. Those suggested tones are nothing more than guidelines to point you in the right direction. You definitely have to tweak them to your liking IMHO.

 

[bassman1185]

Ok, a bit of a rant here...

Why the heck does everyone complain about the volume difference between bypassed and suggested presets? Seriously, if you're using a gain pedal that has the capacity to run a power amp, you should probably expect the volume knob to be a bit more touchy than most distortion pedals. Keep the volume turned all the way down when you turn on the pedal until you're halfway familiar with it. It's not a terribly complex concept to grasp.

You're dealing with a device which has the purpose of BOOSTING YOUR FREAKIN' SIGNAL, and everyone seems shocked when, amazingly, IT BOOSTS YOUR FREAKIN' SIGNAL!

It's kind of like plugging in a chorus and then complaining that it just makes your bass sound out of tune. THAT'S WHAT IT'S SUPPOSED TO DO!

/rant.

 

[Joe Smithberger]

Ok, a bit of a rant here...

Why the heck does everyone complain about the volume difference between bypassed and suggested presets? Seriously, if you're using a gain pedal that has the capacity to run a power amp, you should probably expect the volume knob to be a bit more touchy than most distortion pedals. Keep the volume turned all the way down when you turn on the pedal until you're halfway familiar with it. It's not a terribly complex concept to grasp.

You're dealing with a device which has the purpose of BOOSTING YOUR FREAKIN' SIGNAL, and everyone seems shocked when, amazingly, IT BOOSTS YOUR FREAKIN' SIGNAL!

It's kind of like plugging in a chorus and then complaining that it just makes your bass sound out of tune. THAT'S WHAT IT'S SUPPOSED TO DO!

/rant.

Eh...time to switch to decaf dude.

 

[3toes]

Ok, a bit of a rant here...

Why the heck does everyone complain about the volume difference between bypassed and suggested presets? Seriously, if you're using a gain pedal that has the capacity to run a power amp, you should probably expect the volume knob to be a bit more touchy than most distortion pedals. Keep the volume turned all the way down when you turn on the pedal until you're halfway familiar with it. It's not a terribly complex concept to grasp.

You're dealing with a device which has the purpose of BOOSTING YOUR FREAKIN' SIGNAL, and everyone seems shocked when, amazingly, IT BOOSTS YOUR FREAKIN' SIGNAL!

It's kind of like plugging in a chorus and then complaining that it just makes your bass sound out of tune. THAT'S WHAT IT'S SUPPOSED TO DO!

/rant.

I didn't know Lewis Black was a bass player

 

[bassman1185]

I didn't know Lewis Black was a bass player

I'll take that as a compliment.

 

[Kooldac]

Eh...time to switch to decaf dude.

Eh, everyone was thinking it. He just had a little more balls to say it.

 

[Hydromantic]

Hi!

I wonder something about the VT bass: I read that it's possible to plug it directly into a soundcard, like the Sansamp BDI. Does someone here play it directly in his soundcard?

 

[rcubed]

Sure, if your soundcard has 1/4" inputs.

 

[JimmyM]

And if it doesn't have 1/4" inputs, get an adapter.

 

[Jeffrey A-Bomb]

I got one of these badboys and absolutely love it

 

[joeydavidson]

Somehow this week I have stumbled upon the holy grail of bass tones, for me.

I'll wait until I can see how it sounds in a band mix before I post the settings though, this tone is really doing it for me, it's a wooly sounding tone and it required some EQing on the amp as well as the pedal, I've got the low mid control on my amp dailed back to 9.00 this seems to really make a lot of difference in a good way.

 

[JimmyM]

Why hold out till then? Spill your guts. I'm looking for a better OD tone than what I've got so it might work for me too, except my amp has no mid control. I need more of a buzz in the low end and a little more attack without sounding grindy. I'm close but not there yet.

 

[Hydromantic]

Great! My soundcard does have 1/4" inputs I can't wait to order this VT Bass!!

 

[joeydavidson]

Why hold out till then? Spill your guts. I'm looking for a better OD tone than what I've got so it might work for me too, except my amp has no mid control. I need more of a buzz in the low end and a little more attack without sounding grindy. I'm close but not there yet.

You seem to want the same as me, I've always prefered a cleaner non-grindy sound, I find grind a bit harsh generally, lowering the low mids on my amp stops it from grinding too much. This setting has a nice buzz in the low end when I dig in though,

level - below 8.00 or unity
Mid - noon
Character - 9.00
Drive - 12.30
Low - 1.00
High - 10.30

The amp settings in this case is important too - I usually kept my amp flat but lowering the low mids seem to work well when using it with a GK, I will post this for any GK user;

Contour - off
Presence - off
Treble - noon
High Mid - 1.45
Low Mid - 9.00
Bass - 1.30

The bass (passive) has the bridge pup almost off, neck pup full on and I use 2mm picks so a finger player might need to lessen the bass maybe.

 

[JimmyM]

You seem to want the same as me, I've always prefered a cleaner non-grindy sound, I find grind a bit harsh, lowering the low mids on my amp stops it from grinding too much. This setting has a nice buzz in the low end when I dig in though,

level - below 8.00 or unity
Mid - noon
Character - 9.00
Drive - 12.30
Low - 1.00
High - 10.30

Interesting...I usually use more mids than that because I'm afraid I'll get lost in the mix. I'll give it a shot and see what happens. Thanks Joey!

 

[okTem]

Eh...time to switch to decaf dude.

Hey wait! Tea also has the same effect I drink tea alot, then go to the rehersal and break my E string

Not to support.. really.....

 

[Hyper-sloth]

Hi!

I wonder something about the VT bass: I read that it's possible to plug it directly into a soundcard, like the Sansamp BDI. Does someone here play it directly in his soundcard?

Yep, I do that with my p.c. I have an M-Audio Delta 44. It has a break out box with 4 1/4" in and out. Great sound-card for the price, IMHO. I also use an ART Tube pre I got from Musician's friend for $29. It's great for the price; I use it on almost everything. I also use the VT for rehearsal direct into the PA. It sound fantastic. Kinda nice to have if you rig fails on you btw.

My only gripe is it doesn't have an xlr connection like my Sansamp. I guess they were trying to keep costs down but sheesh, what a feature to get rid of!