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VT Bass

Fat K

Fat K

Mar 7, 2008
217
2
Hong Kong
#1
After seeing the demo on BP TV and also their article, I was really looking forward in buying one, BUT..

I tried out the VT Bass at the store, using a Marcus Miller 4 Jazz Bass and thru a Fender Amp. All I got was some major hissing noise (like you kick on a overdrive box) + a constant hint of overdrive from the unit desipte doing everything I can with the gain and level knobs. Mind you I was supposed to be on the "clean" side of things, the "SVT" and "flip top" position (before 12:00) on the character knobs.

Have I completely misunderstood this stomp box (part amp sim (before 12:00 approx) and part overdrive (after 12:00 approx) ), or was it just a faulty one I tried?
 
#4
varunkapahi said:
err no clue why your experience with the vt bass was like this..... on second thoughts were you sending in a very very hot signal??
Click to expand...

I have bypassed the bass preamp to see if it was the case, I even checked for that "ACTIVE/PASSIVE" switch on the amp, too, but not much difference! Even turn my back to the amp, which was slightly better. Mind you the amp was not turned very loud.
 
#11
I use 4 effects in parallel ... the VT bass is one of them ... I use the VT bass to get a warm svt slightly dirty sound ...

http://www.3dentourage.com/425/effects.htm


pedal.jpg
 
#12
Fat K said:
After seeing the demo on BP TV and also their article, I was really looking forward in buying one, BUT..

I tried out the VT Bass at the store, using a Marcus Miller 4 Jazz Bass and thru a Fender Amp. All I got was some major hissing noise (like you kick on a overdrive box) + a constant hint of overdrive from the unit desipte doing everything I can with the gain and level knobs. Mind you I was supposed to be on the "clean" side of things, the "SVT" and "flip top" position (before 12:00) on the character knobs.

Have I completely misunderstood this stomp box (part amp sim (before 12:00 approx) and part overdrive (after 12:00 approx) ), or was it just a faulty one I tried?
Click to expand...

I've been using a VT bass for about three months now and hiss has not been an issue....not even present. I play through a Markbass C102P combo and if there was any hiss, I'd hear it.

Just for your "data points," I'm playing a MIM Fender P and have the VT on a pedal board with a AW3, CEB Chorus and MXR El Grande fuzz.

The only time I hear any hiss is when I kick-in the AW3 or I have the fuzz really cranked.

I suspect a malfunction somewhere in the equipment you were using or an external noise source.

I really like my VT. It does add a little tubiness to the hi-fi sound of my Markbass. I can also add a little hair to my tone by cranking the gain on the pedal.

It is exactly what I expected after conducting research and listening to samples as you have done. I suggest trying a different VT with different equipment.

Hope this helps!
 
#14
I had two, sold one of the two and kept the other. No difference at all between the two pedals and no problems with either of them.

The Character knob does introduce more potential noise and clarity the further to the right it's dialed. Not sure where you're having it set to, but if it's 2:00, 3:00 or further I could see someone thinking it's noisy if there's any hiss, hum or noise in their system.
 
#17
I found a couple tones I really liked. From there for me it seemed as though no matter what I did with the character knob I ended up tweaking the low/mid/high knobs to where the sound ended up being basically the same as when I had the character knob at a different position. The character knob has a huge variance in tones available through it... I just would always end up dialing the EQ to where it ended up sounding basically the same in the end. Which tells me that I'm looking for a couple specific sounds. So I kept the one and sold the other one. I'm using this one for a general warm rock type tone with just a touch of breakup if I dig in, or pop my basses into Serial mode which adds some punch.

Then I'm now using a Submarine for a warmer mellow tone, and a MessDrive Hybrid+ into a Blend Pedal to better control it's amount of 'mess' mixed in with my standard modern tone for a bit of Synth fuzz grit.
 
#18
I have definitely used easier-to-work-with pedals than the VT. But none quite as rewarding when you find a couple good sounds. I think liking Ampeg tube amps is a prerequisite to liking it.

I'm willing to bet that the Fender amp contributed a lot to Fat K not liking the VT. Fenders amps are bass/treble boost only and mid cut only, so they always have a scoop unless you put bass and treble on less than 2 and mids on 10. That could greatly contribute to noise. It IS a distortion pedal and distortion is noisy by nature. And when you boost treble you add a lot of noise, too. And hey, a Marcus Miller bass...well, we all know what insane treble levels Marcus likes ;)
 
#19
The Character knob does introduce more potential noise and clarity the further to the right it's dialed. Not sure where you're having it set to, but if it's 2:00, 3:00 or further I could see someone thinking it's noisy if there's any hiss, hum or noise in their system.
Click to expand...

+1, on mine if i've got the Character knob past 2 or 3 and I hit a certain note i get a *really* weird feedback / noise that mixes with the other speakers in the room, just gotta pull back on the Char and up the boost i'd say, the controls are uber sensitive though, I sat there for 5 minutes turning the level knob back and forth trying to get the levels right to match when the pedal wasn't on and I wasn't turning the knob from like 9.2 o'clock to 9.4 o'clock and there was a HUGE difference in sound levels.
 

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