Recently I bought a second VT Bass thinking that my other VT Bass was broken. But it turns out that my other VT wasn't broken at all. The Sansamp Character Series are really high output, buffered bypass pedals. When you turn both the Level and Drive knobs (both contributing to the overall output signal) on any of these pedals, it overloads the buffer and results in an audible fuzz affecting your signal when the pedal is in bypass. Before I found this out, I assumed that my other VT had suddenly broke and decided to replace it before doing any research. The thing is, turning both the Level and Drive knobs past twelve o'clock is never necessary- so this potential overload is never an actual problem when using the pedal. The Level and Drive knobs are supposed to be used in tandem, turning one down while turning the other up. If you want a highly overdriven sound, you can crank the Drive knob (which will also result in an increase in volume) and pull back on the Level knob. If you want a loud and clean tone, then you can max out the Level knob while keeping the Drive knob relatively low. Bottom line, you'll never hear the effects of overloading the buffer if the Level and Drive knobs are never both past twelve o'clock.
Both of my VT pedals show the exact same results when those two knobs are moved together past twelve o'clock, so I'm almost certain that this is a natural side effect of a buffered bypass being used within a high-output pedal.
Has anyone anyone else experienced this with their VT? If you want to see for yourself, turn your amp down as low as possible, and then move both the Level and Drive knobs past twelve o'clock. Let me know what happens!
PS. This audible fuzz is most noticeable when lower notes are played and when the low knob is positioned at twelve or above.)
Both of my VT pedals show the exact same results when those two knobs are moved together past twelve o'clock, so I'm almost certain that this is a natural side effect of a buffered bypass being used within a high-output pedal.
Has anyone anyone else experienced this with their VT? If you want to see for yourself, turn your amp down as low as possible, and then move both the Level and Drive knobs past twelve o'clock. Let me know what happens!
PS. This audible fuzz is most noticeable when lower notes are played and when the low knob is positioned at twelve or above.)
