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VT Bass Mod (w/pics)

#241
Bassist4Life said:
i don't think so. i think some asked for some sort of tuner out modification already. also, there's still the possibility of getting the deluxe into a rackmount with or without an amp.

also, this thread had sparked off many other mod ideas. some people are looking to mod their other tech21 pedals. i think some individuals want to different pedals in one rackmount with a foot switch to go back and forth.

i think at least one person has gone for a capacitor mod to get get more low end out of their blonde pedal.

anything is possible. it all depends on what you're looking for. if you can imagine it, mike can probably make it happen. :bassist:

i've mentioned this a few times, but i love talking about it. i want my vt in a single space rackmount with a 500w amp inside along with a built in tuner and all the cool DI stuff too. yup... that's my idea of a good time right there.
Click to expand...

I see your point. I guess I was just excited because the VT Deluxe solved my conundrum. Too bad I have to wait so long.
 
#242
if bassist4life is referring to me, yes, i had a cap mod done on my pedal, but it was the british, not the blonde. i was missing the very low end response you could get from the vt, but otherwise i love the british.

and yes, i'll most likely get the tuner mod for the vt deluxe as well, though i will pass on the rackmount. i got rid of my rack 2 years ago and i'm loving life without it.
 
#243
JimmyM said:
if bassist4life is referring to me, yes, i had a cap mod done on my pedal, but it was the british, not the blonde. i was missing the very low end response you could get from the vt, but otherwise i love the british.

and yes, i'll most likely get the tuner mod for the vt deluxe as well, though i will pass on the rackmount. i got rid of my rack 2 years ago and i'm loving life without it.
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oh, alright... yeah that's it, british. sorry 'bout that. mike built a fuzz pedal for me from scratch and i remember him mentioning something about the cap having to do with the low end. pretty cool stuff.

i don't have a rack, but i would just pull it out of my shoulder bag and put it on top of my cabinet. eliminates all the connectors. :bassist:
 
#244
The cab I brought into GC is a 1x10, fairly inefficient. I wasn't expecting the PowerBlock to power that cab enough to keep up with a rock drummer or anything, but I wasn't getting much of anything at all out of it before distortion. I think my little Fender RAD Bass (25 watts solid state into a 1x10 practice amp) would have done the job better.

I really had high hopes for the PowerBlock. IIRC it was rated at 150 bridged into eight ohms (75 watts/channel into four ohms). Then you look closer and that's at 10% THD.

Again, I hope you have better experiences with it. If you're driving some bigger cabs with it it might be great.

KO

JimmyM said:
ya, well i never play too loud and the distortion from it i think will get masked. for a rainy day/backup rig i think it'll be fine. if not, i'll sell it and get something else.
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#247
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:bassist:

as you can see, my british pedal has one extra knob now. it's for dialing in extra low response. i've only had a few minutes to play with it but i think mike has turned what could be a really good bass pedal into a great bass pedal.

ok, so the way it works is at 12:00 the new pot makes it stock. going to the right adds more lows. going to the left adds lows + changes the mid sweep. in what ways, i'm not sure yet, but i'll know more tomorrow when i can plug it into an amp. it's capable of generating feedback in its most extreme positions, but since you still have tons of tonal variety in the non-feedback generating positions, it's all good.

mike also added a di under the input jack, and the little switch on the front is to turn phantom power on and off + ground lift. i passed on the blue led, though. what can i tell you? i'm a red led guy. i have a modded rat pedal with the blue led and it's all i can see when it's on.

i'm sure i'll have more to report back about it as i use it on my gigs this week, but preliminary findings are quite positive, indeed. the british is a great pedal for guitar and a pretty good one for bass, but it seemed to be lacking that extra low end that bass needs. marshalls don't have much low end to begin with, and this pedal definitely reflects it. so mike suggested this mod to me and i bit. with this mod it'll bring out the lows and then some, to insane levels if that's your thing. or you can run it stock if you double on guitar like i do.

my wife also remarked how professional mike's work looked and how it looked like it was made that way. i have to agree 100%. if not for the "sansamp" being partially blocked, you'd think it was stock. and mike's turnaround time is insanely quick, which is always appreciated.

oh, i almost forgot...the best thing about this mod...since i was the first to have a character pedal modded this way, mike calls it the jimmy mod :D ask for it by name!
 
#254
Bassist4Life said:
The British Jimmy looks amazing! Lots going on with that pedal. Very cool indeed. Congrats!

Joe
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thx dude...er...(wish i could take credit for it but mike did the work). he said he's been experimenting with it on other guitar character pedals and it works just as well, too.

also, he said he's got a price for the jimmy mod...as i mentioned before, i got the "experimental price." but the regular price will be the same...$60. well worth it if you ask me. tried it in an amp today, and the difference in low end frequencies added between the mod and stock is even more dramatic in an amp than thru headphones.
 
#255
So far I haven't heard anybody's opinion on how the DI works and sounds.

When people talk about the Markbass' DI's we usually get all kinds of opinions.

Can anyone comment if any of the mods change the original sound of the VT and is the DI to strong, to weak, good sounding , bad sounding.

I am thinking of having the DI and pre/post mod done so that when I have to give up the stage amp and go direct I can use the VT as the DI box and if the sound guy wants a pre signal rather than the post, I can give him what ever he wants. As well as when I use a backline amp and use the VT to get the sound that i want out of the amp and still have the ability to send pre/post to the FOH.

So, how does the DI mod stack up to your old DI method.

Thanks

PS: Jimmy can you please chime in here.
 
#256
well mine's on my british pedal, and i've only tried it out briefly, but the sound of the pedal definitely comes through the xlr as well as it does using the regular 1/4" out. and it's quiet, which is about all you can ask for in a di. i haven't got to use it as a di on a gig yet, though. when i work locally, i use a mic and no di, and i don't have any fly gigs for a while. but hooking up for recording at home it does a fantastic job and it'll work just as well on a gig, i'm sure.

edit: when i say it's quiet, there's one qualification...when you crank up the distortion, of course it gets noisy like any other distortion pedal. but on cleaner settings it's very quiet.
 
#257
My DI is fantastic. It does what it's supposed to do and it sounds great. I don't know what else there is to say about it. I run direct and my sound comes through as I expect it to. I record with it and my sound is what I expect it to be.

I love the phantom power mod too. THAT is such a huge convenience.

Peace,
Joe
 
#258
Bassist4Life said:
My DI is fantastic. It does what it's supposed to do and it sounds great. I don't know what else there is to say about it. I run direct and my sound comes through as I expect it to. I record with it and my sound is what I expect it to be.

I love the phantom power mod too. THAT is such a huge convenience.

Peace,
Joe
Click to expand...

I just sent my VT to Mike at Putnam to get the full Mod makeover. I didn't get the phantom option as I am a little leery of messing with the power design.

Thanks for the feedback though
 
#260
Bassist4Life said:
My DI is fantastic. It does what it's supposed to do and it sounds great. I don't know what else there is to say about it. I run direct and my sound comes through as I expect it to. I record with it and my sound is what I expect it to be.

I love the phantom power mod too. THAT is such a huge convenience.

Peace,
Joe
Click to expand...

I ordered the full package from Mike and I can't wait to try it out. A friend is bring it for me from the USA but he's not back until next week.:atoz:

I'm going to have some gigs this summer where we're not going to use our stage setup so I'm sure this unit is going to come very handy.
 

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