VT Bass speaker simulator.

[blujosh]

BTW, in the VT and VTD, the speaker sim in the off position is yet another speaker sim but with that treble peak tamed down a bit. The Tech 21 rep on here can explain it better than me, but that's about the gist of it. Only the VTDI gives you true removal of the speaker sim.

The speaker sim switch in the V2 VT Bass Pedal removes the speaker emulation circuitry but "adds" a 6dB per octave high roll off filter. The reason being that when many say that the pedal is too bright they are using it into the front end of an amp that is not set flat and has it's own EQ curve. The filter can be easily bypassed on the V2 pedal but requires you to cut a trace in the circuit board. You can use the pedal with the speaker sim engaged running direct into a mixer or in conjunction with your bass amp's speaker.

On the VT Bass DI when the "Bite" switch is engaged this activates a presence boost and sub sonic filter (the normal VT Bass sound). When the switch is disengaged the sound is full range. Full range works better for cleaner sounds. When running over driven sounds the "Bite" switch tightens up the sound and gives more focus. The speaker sim switch on the VT Bass DI completely removes the speaker sim from the circuit, there is no high roll off filter.

i know this is an old thread, but i'm trying to decide between these two pedals right now, and the speaker sim / "bite" comparison is at the top of my list of questions.

my question is:
do the statements above mean that disengaging the speaker sim switch on the VT V2 (which then engages an alternate 6dB per octave high roll off filter), is the same as disengaging the bite switch, but leaving the speaker sim switch engaged on the VTDI?

FWIW, i'm interested in using one of these pedals as a standalone fuzzy overdrive/preamp (direct to PA/IEM) without any clank or fizz.

 

[taylor16]

Go with a Broughton HPF/LPF. Much more transparent without the "clank". Adjust according to string "freshness" and can drive a power amp easily.

 

[blujosh]

Go with a Broughton HPF/LPF. Much more transparent without the "clank". Adjust according to string "freshness" and can drive a power amp easily.

thanks, but i think you missed the last line of my post: "i'm interested in using one of these pedals as a standalone fuzzy overdrive/preamp (direct to PA/IEM)".

in other words, a pedal that provides both the overdrive/fuzzyness as well as the speaker sim (or LPF+HPF)

 

[taylor16]

thanks, but i think you missed the last line of my post: "i'm interested in using one of these pedals as a standalone fuzzy overdrive/preamp (direct to PA/IEM)".

in other words, a pedal that provides both the overdrive/fuzzyness as well as the speaker sim (or LPF+HPF)

Why be confined to one of the few pedals that do that? There are an incredible array of dirt pedals you can choose from going modular.

 

[blujosh]

Why be confined to one of the few pedals that do that? There are an incredible array of dirt pedals you can choose from going modular.

i have a TON of dirt pedals. many that i like.
in this instance, i'm specifically looking for a single pedal to achieve what i described for a simple compact board that i'm putting together for fly dates.

 

[JimmyM]

i know this is an old thread, but i'm trying to decide between these two pedals right now, and the speaker sim / "bite" comparison is at the top of my list of questions.

my question is:
do the statements above mean that disengaging the speaker sim switch on the VT V2 (which then engages an alternate 6dB per octave high roll off filter), is the same as disengaging the bite switch, but leaving the speaker sim switch engaged on the VTDI?

FWIW, i'm interested in using one of these pedals as a standalone fuzzy overdrive/preamp (direct to PA/IEM) without any clank or fizz.

Almost positive that's a yes to your question.

 

[JimmyM]

Why be confined to one of the few pedals that do that? There are an incredible array of dirt pedals you can choose from going modular.

Don't do that.

 

[blujosh]

Almost positive that's a yes to your question.

thanks, @JimmyM!
so it sounds like if i don't want the "bite" and don't have a need for the clean blend or DI, i should be able to achieve the same sound as the VTDI w/ bite off and speaker sim on, with the VT V2 by just turning the speaker sim off on that pedal?

@tech21nyc , is there any chance you could confirm that?

 

[tech21nyc]

my question is:
do the statements above mean that disengaging the speaker sim switch on the VT V2 (which then engages an alternate 6dB per octave high roll off filter), is the same as disengaging the bite switch, but leaving the speaker sim switch engaged on the VTDI?

No. The Speaker sim switch on the VT Bass DI completely removes the speaker sim. There is no 6dB per octave filter on the DI. It is running full range. The Bite switch removes the subsonic filter and presence boost. The Bite switch engaged is the normal VT Bass sound. I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to accomplish.

 

[JimmyM]

My apologies. I apparently misunderstood the question.

 

[ThrewSilver]

No. The Speaker sim switch on the VT Bass DI completely removes the speaker sim. There is no 6dB per octave filter on the DI. It is running full range. The Bite switch removes the subsonic filter and presence boost. The Bite switch engaged is the normal VT Bass sound. I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to accomplish.

I think that he may be trying to understand all of the subtle differences between the various VT versions. I've never understood why with every subsequent version that's released there seems to be an added feature or two which makes the pedal better, but there's also a minor tweak or two which seems to make it LESS useful.

-So the V2 with sim switch OFF has a 6db lpf at what frequency?
-On V2 and DI versions with sim switch ON what slope and frequency is the lpf?

 

[blujosh]

No. The Speaker sim switch on the VT Bass DI completely removes the speaker sim. There is no 6dB per octave filter on the DI. It is running full range. The Bite switch removes the subsonic filter and presence boost. The Bite switch engaged is the normal VT Bass sound. I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to accomplish.

i'm trying to understand the difference between the VT Bass DI speaker sim sound when the bite switch is off vs the VT Bass V2's sound when speaker sim is off (but the 6dB per octave filter is on).

in other words:
does VT Bass V2 w/ speaker sim OFF = VT Bass DI w/ speaker sim ON, but bite OFF?

 

[tech21nyc]

My apologies. I apparently misunderstood the question.

No apology needed.

I think that he may be trying to understand all of the subtle differences between the various VT versions. I've never understood why with every subsequent version that's released there seems to be an added feature or two which makes the pedal better, but there's also a minor tweak or two which seems to make it LESS useful.

-So the V2 with sim switch OFF has a 6db lpf at what frequency?
-On V2 and DI versions with sim switch ON what slope and frequency is the lpf?

We are always trying to improve our products and some of the features added were in response to customer feedback. Sometimes an improvement for some may not be for everyone. When I first started here I had a really hard time explaining the addition of the speaker sim switch that was added to the original VT Bass. Everyone thought it was the speaker sim that made the pedal too bright into the front end of an amp and we tried unsuccessfully to explain that removing the speaker sim would make the pedal brighter still. Since we couldn't explain it we added the ability to bypass it but it needed to be less bright and hence the 6dB per octave filter which is basically the type of filter on most OD pedals. Then we had people that misunderstood that feature and were sending their pedals for the "Putnam mod" which just bypasses the speaker sim entirely. OK, so we offered that on the DI. That feature might be useful for someone that wants to use the pedal in the studio with an IR or just wants a really bright sound.

i'm trying to understand the difference between the VT Bass DI speaker sim sound when the bite switch is off vs the VT Bass V2's sound when speaker sim is off (but the 6dB per octave filter is on).

in other words:
does VT Bass V2 w/ speaker sim OFF = VT Bass DI w/ speaker sim ON, but bite OFF?

No. The Bite as I said is the normal VT Bass sound. It is a preshape. It has a presence boost and subsonic filter. This makes the pedal more intelligible at higher gain settings. On the VT Bass DI with the Bite disengaged the preamp is running without that preshape. What are you trying to do?

 

[blujosh]

No apology needed.



We are always trying to improve our products and some of the features added were in response to customer feedback. Sometimes an improvement for some may not be for everyone. When I first started here I had a really hard time explaining the addition of the speaker sim switch that was added to the original VT Bass. Everyone thought it was the speaker sim that made the pedal too bright into the front end of an amp and we tried unsuccessfully to explain that removing the speaker sim would make the pedal brighter still. Since we couldn't explain it we added the ability to bypass it but it needed to be less bright and hence the 6dB per octave filter which is basically the type of filter on most OD pedals. Then we had people that misunderstood that feature and were sending their pedals for the "Putnam mod" which just bypasses the speaker sim entirely. OK, so we offered that on the DI. That feature might be useful for someone that wants to use the pedal in the studio with an IR or just wants a really bright sound.



No. The Bite as I said is the normal VT Bass sound. It is a preshape. It has a presence boost and subsonic filter. This makes the pedal more intelligible at higher gain settings. On the VT Bass DI with the Bite disengaged the preamp is running without that preshape. What are you trying to do?

i'm looking to use either the VT Bass V2 or VT Bass DI as a fuzzy/overdriven preamp direct to PA / IEM. i'm also trying to avoid any clanky-ness and high end hiss. i'm wondering which would work better for that, the VT Bass V2 with sim off, or the VT Bass DI with speaker sim on, but bite off. it's sounding like the latter might be the better choice.

 

[tech21nyc]

Turning off the speaker sim on the V2 though it sounds darker will still allow some fizz or hash through into a full range system. The Di version is probably the better choice. The clanky part of the VT sound is in the presence boost. Keeping the Character control at noon or higher should get rid of the clanky sound as well.

 

[blujosh]

Turning off the speaker sim on the V2 though it sounds darker will still allow some fizz or hash through into a full range system. The Di version is probably the better choice. The clanky part of the VT sound is in the presence boost. Keeping the Character control at noon or higher should get rid of the clanky sound as well.

when you say "The clanky part of the VT sound is in the presence boost" does that mean turning the bite off would help tame that?
thanks for all the feedback (no pun intended)!

 

[jpTron]

when you say "The clanky part of the VT sound is in the presence boost" does that mean turning the bite off would help tame that?
thanks for all the feedback (no pun intended)!

Yes. There's a site, but I forget what it's called, that has sound clips comparing the pedal with the switch on and off. Or you could do what I did and get a v1 VT bass and have Mike Putnam add a knob that blends in your desired level of "Bite" from all the way off to all the way on.

 

[tech21nyc]

when you say "The clanky part of the VT sound is in the presence boost" does that mean turning the bite off would help tame that?
thanks for all the feedback (no pun intended)!

I guess "clanky" can mean different things to different people. Part of the issue is that it becomes difficult to discuss settings when the pedal is placed in front of an amp with it's own EQ curve. Even if you set certain amp's fairly "flat" many times there is a pre-shape filter baked into the sound. If we think of "clank" as high end, there are 4 ways on the VT Bass DI to address this. Easiest solution is just turning down the High control. 9 o'clock or even off. The Level, Low, Mid and High controls are all post SansAmp and will not effect the gain structure of the preamp. Setting the Character control closer to Noon will yield less bright sounds as will turning off the Bite control. You also have the Blend control.

Higher Drive settings will add more harmonic content and lower Drive settings will reduce it. If you are using the pedal as "always on" you can also try some mild EQ settings on the host amp or even at the mixer.

 

[ThrewSilver]

My apologies for a slight derail....I thought that I read somewhere a while back about a mod that could be done to the VTDI that involves replacing a capacitor (?) so that with the sim switch OFF you can get that gentle 6db high end roll off found in the V2 pedal.

@tech21nyc could you confirm this and perhaps give the details/image of what exactly to do?

Thanks!

 

[tech21nyc]

My apologies for a slight derail....I thought that I read somewhere a while back about a mod that could be done to the VTDI that involves replacing a capacitor (?) so that with the sim switch OFF you can get that gentle 6db high end roll off found in the V2 pedal.

@tech21nyc could you confirm this and perhaps give the details/image of what exactly to do?

Thanks!

We could probably mod the pedal. The ease of doing it depends on which version of the circuit board you have. Send me a PM is you're interested.