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VT Bass - Unity level problems..

#21
1009 said:
I'm getting tired of agreeing with Jimmy, since that is all I seem to do at this forum, but damn if he's not right.
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:rolleyes: Please go Google the meaning of "unity gain". Jimmy is wrong in this case, because not everyone is using the VT as an always-on device. Some are engaging it only occasionally, or every other song, etc., and should not have to monkey with the levels on their amp or other external processors every time they switch it on or off.
 
#22
bongomania said:
:rolleyes: Please go Google the meaning of "unity gain". Jimmy is wrong in this case, because not everyone is using the VT as an always-on device. Some are engaging it only occasionally, or every other song, etc., and should not have to monkey with the levels on their amp or other external processors every time they switch it on or off.
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We understand what you are saying, and we are saying that pedal has an extremely high output. Getting unity gain with my amp means putting the leve at like between 1 -4 out of 10 depending on how i set the other levels. Usually more towards 2 with i play with alot of gain. Its a very sensitive pedal. Set everything to absolute no volume and then work from there. its just the nature of the beast.

and i know the instruction says set everything at 12 oclock. good luck trying that. i have found that instruction manual to be misleading at best
 
#23
bongomania said:
:rolleyes: Please go Google the meaning of "unity gain". Jimmy is wrong in this case, because not everyone is using the VT as an always-on device. Some are engaging it only occasionally, or every other song, etc., and should not have to monkey with the levels on their amp or other external processors every time they switch it on or off.
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Not sure what that has to do with the topic at hand.
 
#24
mine is like that. level has to be super low low low or else youll possibly blow up the amps. / input circuits. i dont like that either!!! but im used to it. as with all drive / dist. pedals, i always first compare the bypass vol to the "on" volume
 
#25
JimmyM said:
Not sure what that has to do with the topic at hand.
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Can't tell if you're yanking my chain this time. :p
SteveMoodie said:
one thing is bugging me. To get 'unity gain' I am having to put the level knob at 8 or 9 o'clock at the most. (and that's when EQ is flat & drive at about 10 o'clock!) If I boost anything, I have to turn the level down more and it gets to that point where a touch more turning will mute the sound. I certainly cannot put the level where the instructions suggest.
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^^^The "topic at hand".
 
#28
It has to be in this case...since people also use it to Ampeg up their clean sound as well as an OD, it's got to be able to put out at least unity gain at any setting, so the volume has to be down with the more extreme settings. Big deal. I would consider it more of a design flaw if it couldn't do that.
 
#29
RCCollins said:
not all high gain pedals are like this. to me, it's a design flaw. the volume knob shouldn't be so sensitive. To me, the Messdrive is a similar offender.
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That's my point. It was established early in the thread that the OP is not alone in his experience, which I guess was his main question. The direction I took it was "that sure sucks, and the ability to get the full range of tones at unity gain is a big selling/sticking point for me."
 
#30
JimmyM said:
It has to be in this case...since people also use it to Ampeg up their clean sound as well as an OD, it's got to be able to put out at least unity gain at any setting, so the volume has to be down with the more extreme settings. Big deal. I would consider it more of a design flaw if it couldn't do that.
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I agree that is its main function. So why have SO much gain on tap?

it likely results from the consumer demand for one pedal that does EVERYTHING.

To be fair, my beloved Hematoma, with its ultra-wide gain range, is another offender. But in its case, it is possible to compensate by lowering the pre level a tad. Not a perfect solution but a good built-in workaround.
 
#31
RCCollins said:
I agree that is its main function. So why have SO much gain on tap?
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Because the clean sounds need way more gain to reach unity than the distorted sounds. When I get a clean sound out of, there's never a whole lot of gain left over.

I don't know...I consider it a non-issue and never once thought about it. What can I tell ya?
 
#32
JimmyM said:
It has to be in this case...since people also use it to Ampeg up their clean sound as well as an OD, it's got to be able to put out at least unity gain at any setting, so the volume has to be down with the more extreme settings. Big deal. I would consider it more of a design flaw if it couldn't do that.
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But the OP says he cannot get unity gain at most settings, anything other than EQ flat and drive set low. He didn't say anything about "extreme settings".
 
#34
bongomania said:
But the OP says he cannot get unity gain at most settings, anything other than EQ flat and drive set low. He didn't say anything about "extreme settings".
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RCCollins said:
you crank the pedal gain for clean tones? :confused:
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If the gain knob is set fairly low (from say 9 o'clock to 10 or 11) then the level (at least for me, goes to 11 or even 12). But small increases of gain require larger decreases of level. I've never even tried maxing out the gain - the level control would have to be a millimeter above muted to reach unity.
 
#35
Maybe I'm using confusing terms here...there is a level and a drive knob...if you mean the drive knob as a gain knob, then no. If you mean using the level knob as a gain knob, then yes.

So those of you with this problem...may I ask how you have it hooked up, what's in your signal chain, and how is it all set? I wonder if this could be from using the effects loop to run it.
 
#36
JimmyM said:
Maybe I'm using confusing terms here...there is a level and a drive knob...if you mean the drive knob as a gain knob, then no. If you mean using the level knob as a gain knob, then yes.

So those of you with this problem...may I ask how you have it hooked up, what's in your signal chain, and how is it all set? I wonder if this could be from using the effects loop to run it.
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ah ok, it's been a while since I used one of these. By volume I meant level, and by gain I meant drive.

allowing for the interaction of the EQ (and character, in this case), I don't see much point having so much available drive range if it means that the level has to sit just above silent when drive is above 1 oclock.

for clean tones, I don't see a problem.
 
#37
While I've played around with a lot of configurations, I generally use the VT Bass in a setting similar to the Fliptop example in the manual.

But I've often thought that high gain level sounds would be difficult to use live because you'd have to be so precise with the level knob.

So for my purposes it's fine, but I could see why it would be an issue for others.
 
#38
I would bet that the pedal is designed this way due to the fact that so many people cried about the original Bassdriver not being able to drive a power amp.

I have been using the pedal for almost a year now and most of the time my level is at 9 o'clock, if the drive gets past 11:30 I may back it off a pinch or I might not :bassist::bassist::D

As far as the eq goes, I almost never boost...maybe ill boost mids like :15 or :30 max , and if and when I cut most of the time its treble that I am cutting, IMHO this pedal has a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge low end (Stern fan anyone? Inside joke sorry.) and I never needed to boost it.

Anyhow I view the gain on tap as a huge benefit, find the right thing to drive with it and you will hear interesting stuff I assure you.
 

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