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VT Bass DI Question/Help

SickAura

SickAura

Let There Be Rock
Dec 8, 2013
874
1,486
Toronto-ish
#1
For all the VT Bass users out there - I know there are many...

I just picked up this pedal and I am loving the 'one' tone I have been able to dial in - I am generally running a P-Bass into a PF800, which already sounded awesome - now its just at another level

The question I have is about the Gain on the pedal. I literally can't go above 11 o'clock without it turning into a fuzz box - maybe even 10:30 when I hit some lows. And the lows just sound terrible with the Gain above 11 o'clock, no definition - almost like the cab is farting out (which its not)

I have tried turning down the Gain on the amp - generally set at 1:30 - literally no difference except quieter

I have tried matching the Gain on pedal and amp - no better

I tried setting the Amp flat across the board - no better

I tried the FX loop and it actually made things worse

Is this similar to your experiences? Just wondering if I got a bum pedal - or is there some magic way to achieve Unity Gain I don't know of?

Also - the Rage setting recommended in the manual is the absolute worse thing I have heard in my life - I can't imagine ever using this - which has me wondering - is something wrong with the pedal - is something wrong with my setup?

I am considering returning or at least exchanging the pedal - but before I do - any help, opinions, advice would be very much appreciated.

Thanks all!
Jason
 
#3
Do you have the 10db switch engaged, and maybe overdriving your preamp? They get fuzzy pretty quick especially with the character control passed 12. Try starting with the drive and character at 9 and use the level as volume control, if you don't get a fairly dry signal from there then I'd suggest a dodgy unit.
 
#5
What settings are you using on the other controls on the VT? The more you turn up any of the other controls, the more you need to dial down the "level" to compensate. If you have other controls boosted, don't be surprised if level needs to be as low as 9 or 10 o'clock.
 
#6
Thanks all - just realized when I was saying 'Gain' I meant 'Drive'

I am primarily using Passive pickups

Also, the rest of the settings range between 11 and 1 o'clock - outside of Character which I generally keep around 9:30
 
#8
This seems unusual if you are using a bass with passive pickups. Assuming there is nothing else plugged in I would try running the pedal with a fresh battery and have your amp set totally clean. I also would engage the bite switch as this has the subsonic filter which will give more clarity and definition in distorted settings. Set the 1/4" output switch up or disengaged for instrument level. You want the level of the pedal engaged to be approximately the same level as your bass when in bypass mode.

Set the Low, Mid and High controls at noon, blend fully on and the Character around 11 and set the drive at around 9 o'clock to start. That should give you a basic clean tone. Then try gradually raising the Drive control. You should be able to dial in the amount of distortion you want. The Character control interacts with the Drive control. Settings from noon to 7 o'clock will yield clean tones and settings from noon to 5 o'clock will give you more gain. Altering the Character control will usually mean you need to readjust the drive control somewhat. Use the level control to keep the pedal at unity gain so as not to overload your amp's front end. Let us know how you make out.
 
#10
tech21nyc said:
This seems unusual if you are using a bass with passive pickups. Assuming there is nothing else plugged in I would try running the pedal with a fresh battery and have your amp set totally clean. I also would engage the bite switch as this has the subsonic filter which will give more clarity and definition in distorted settings. Set the 1/4" output switch up or disengaged for instrument level. You want the level of the pedal engaged to be approximately the same level as your bass when in bypass mode.

Set the Low, Mid and High controls at noon, blend fully on and the Character around 11 and set the drive at around 9 o'clock to start. That should give you a basic clean tone. Then try gradually raising the Drive control. You should be able to dial in the amount of distortion you want. The Character control interacts with the Drive control. Settings from noon to 7 o'clock will yield clean tones and settings from noon to 5 o'clock will give you more gain. Altering the Character control will usually mean you need to readjust the drive control somewhat. Use the level control to keep the pedal at unity gain so as not to overload your amp's front end. Let us know how you make out.
Click to expand...

Also make sure that if you have an "Active/Passive" switch on your amp make sure it is set to "Active."
 

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