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What amps does a Tech21 Bass Driver DI emulate?

#22
The VT is explicitly designed for getting various Ampeg sounds using the Character dial - the Bass Driver can do the SVT tones but I don't believe it's directly attempting to emulate any one circuit. There are nice 'flat' warm tube preamp/DI tones in either as well as the more obvious clank and thump sounds. Big fan of the VTDI personally.
 
#24
Shual23 said:
Well, the Bass Driver DI doesn't have the VT in the name that's why I got confused !
They do have the VT Driver, but that's not the one I am talking about.

I am talking about the black one:
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You have a good one! The more recent versions (V2, VT) have more flexible midrange and a little more versatility in the drive tones, but none of them can match the absolute weight of this thing! People complain about a "mid scoop" but dialing the bass and treble down while boosting the volume will give you a more natural, flatter tone.

Start here if you need a jumping off point. This setting with a mild Muff in front is incredible.
20240711_195423.jpg



Some forum users claim the one you have (the earlier model without the external line switches) is the best version of the V1 BDDI.

And to answer your original question, I think the BDDI is it's own thing, but it does that thing very well. If you listened to any kind of rock in the 2000s, you've definitely heard this pedal. It was king in that era and I'd wager that many of the top alternative tracks of the 2000s get their tone from this little guy.
 
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#29
jose edwardo said:
Doesn't the v2 have a mid knob??
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Hmm. Maybe I have a v1? My BDDI does not have a mid knob.

What I am saying is it’s more than EQ that makes it sound like an Ampeg. I can erase the mid scoop by cutting bass and treble and increasing the overall volume.

Still sounds like an Ampeg amp to me, like their hybrid workhorse head, which is the IV? I am no Ampeg expert.
 
#30
The Bass Driver is an amp emulated DI. It was based on the old studio and live technique of both mic'ing a bass amp and running a DI signal for a more complex composite tone. The mic'd sound would give you body as well as compression and drive if desired and the DI signal would add punch and definition. The idea is that you would plug into the DI, send the parallel output to your amp and use it as your stage monitor and the FOH gets the amp emulated tone. The advantage is that a standard DI box for the most part only delivers the sound of your bass guitars' pickups.

Because the Bass Driver is an amp emulator it works best into the front end of an amp if it is set clean and the tone is neutral.
 
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#31
Shual23 said:
Well, the Bass Driver DI doesn't have the VT in the name that's why I got confused !
They do have the VT Driver, but that's not the one I am talking about.

I am talking about the black one:
Click to expand...
Yup, had one in the 90s. There’s an actual setting called “SVT”. Obviously it gets all manner of bass tones, but at its core it’s trying to emulate a mic’d tube amp.
 
#32
I used a v1 BDDI from the early nineties until about ten years ago, when I got the PBDDI. That was a different beat entirely.
I kept the v1 BDDI on the board and used it to engage "oomph." That saggy tube emulation the BDDI does so well.
The PBDDI just didn't get there.
 

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