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VMT for always-on warmth + SFT for gritty OD = the perfect pair?

yelees

yelees

Jul 15, 2008
70
7
British Invasion
#1
After searching, reading (here) & listening (YT), it seems that some people like the VMT as always-on and the SFT as an OD for extra balls when needed. For predominantly vintage-vibes, that is. I *think* this is the combo I'm going to go with, but wanted to do a TB community gut-check before I bust the wallet out (these aren't cheap pedals!).

Seems like some people prefer the SFT over the VMT, some would reverse them in the roles above, some would rather go with one of the following:

Fairfield Circuitry Barbershop
Bearfoot FX Blueberry Bass OD.
Aguilar Tone Hammer Pedal
Sansamp VT
Sansamp BDDI
Xotic Bass BB
W & C Phat Phuk B
Way Huge Pork Loin
Keeley Sparkle Drive
Rusty Box
Fuzzrocious Rat Tail
Fuzzrocious Dark Driving

I'm mainly in to rock n roll, dirty blues, garage rock. I dig the classic motown tone, I dig the full, & warm tones of Kings of Leon, and I dig the big-but-vintage OD of BRMC.

5% of the time, I'll get a little more modern/aggressive/experimental, but I've got a Pharaoh on the way, which should take care of the really raucous stuff (right?).

So, what are your thoughts & experiences?
 
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#2
The SFT and VMT both have a flavor of their own and they are differetn (but both are in the same territory along with the Solidgold Beta). If you're looking for an always on preamp and then the ability to add OD - I would pick the flavor of preamp you like best and then look at the Barbershop. It's totally transparent and just added that tube saturation to everything else you've got going on. Doesn't get very gainy, but it's perfect for grit.
 
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#3
Depends on your bass and amp as to what sounds you'll get out of those. Also, your definition of grit. I think of "grit" as a bit of crunch-like around the edges and "hair" as the tubey compressed distortion. By that, the VMT would have more grit than the SFT, which itself has more compressed, soft tube distortion. Do you like the ampegish sound (which is the SFT), or the variety of classic tube sounds you can get from the VMT?

Personally, given what you've described I would pick up the SolidgoldFX Beta that john mentioned. It works very well as an always on pedal for all the stuff you mentioned, and will react to touch and get a bit more hairy when you dig in. It also takes pedals in front of it well (the SFT does not, it farts out quickly at the regular voltage).

The BRMC sound is a touch different and comes from a semi hollow body bass and a tubescreamer, I believe. A VMT may be closer for that sound.
 
#4
Thanks for the replies, folks!

I like both the ampeg sound and the classic tube sounds of the VMT :/

For BRMC tones, I have the hollow bass (Epi Casady), just need the peadals. This kid does a decent job with an Epi Rivoli and an SFT:

The OD tone that kid uses would be my stomp sound, I'd want something a lot milder for always-on. That's what got me thinking that the VMT might be good as warmth/light OD always-on and the SFT might be good to stomp for the more distorted grindy/gritty stuff.

Thoughts?
 
#8
The VMT has more gain than the the SFT so you should reverse your reasons for wanting them. SFT on all the time and VMT for grindy/ gritty. You would be cranking the SFT and using hardly any of the VMT doing it in reverse. I also dig the SolidgoldFX idesa as the always on and the VMT to grit it up further. Probably more options than the SFT. You can get a rather good SFT tone from the VMT already.
 
#9
I used to use VMT as an always on light OD/fattener/amp warmer, but now I much prefer it as a dedicated stomp on grinder. I do use Phat Phuk B as an always on tool, but it's not exactly a light OD, it boosts my passive bass signal, balls the tone up and makes everything (including pedals) sound better in my chain.
I used VT Bass (v1 and v2), and it's ok, but the speaker simulation made my tone too clanky and without it, the tone wasn't lively enough for my taste.
I also used Tone Hammer and it's a fantastic preamp, great for that warm fat vintage tone and plethora of other tones.
 
#10
I use the SFT as my always on pedal. Now I have a VMT Deluxe I'm toying with using that as the main sound with the SFT as a dirty boost, they work well together.

I sold my Beta though, too much bass and not enough high mids, and the clipping didn't sound as good as the other two to me. I preferred the soft spongey give of the SFT and the power-tube-like drive of the VMT, the Beta sounded artificial in comparison.
 
#13
yelees said:
For BRMC tones, I have the hollow bass (Epi Casady), just need the peadals. This kid does a decent job with an Epi Rivoli and an SFT:

The OD tone that kid uses would be my stomp sound, I'd want something a lot milder for always-on. That's what got me thinking that the VMT might be good as warmth/light OD always-on and the SFT might be good to stomp for the more distorted grindy/gritty stuff.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...


FWIW, I never got a sound like that from my SFT, which was a v1. Sounded great, but it didn't hold its edge like in that video. Compressed and got farty at that gain that high. From the description he's using a clone, and maybe he's running at 18v? Either way, I wouldn't depend on that exact sound if you buy an SFT. Maybe, but I would be cautious myself.
 
#14
jumblemind said:
FWIW, I never got a sound like that from my SFT, which was a v1. Sounded great, but it didn't hold its edge like in that video. Compressed and got farty at that gain that high. From the description he's using a clone, and maybe he's running at 18v? Either way, I wouldn't depend on that exact sound if you buy an SFT. Maybe, but I would be cautious myself.
Click to expand...

Damn. Thanks for the red flag, dude!
 
#15
Another pedal you might want to consider is the Bearfoot FX Blueberry Bass OD. These were just released this past Friday. I got mine the other day and LOVE it. Designed by Bjorn Juhl (designer of the original and very rare BJFE BBBOD). I'm planning on using this as my always on OD for warmth and either my SFT or Phat Phuk B as a grindy boost.

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