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Author Topic: Sans Amp bass driver.  (Read 11699 times)

j.hall

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Sans Amp bass driver.
« on: May 23, 2005, 01:46:33 PM »

i've got the rack mount version, the "RBI"

is anyone else using these things on a regular basis?

i can't stop patching mine in, and i'm not just using it on bass guitar.

this is a must have piece of gear, IMO.
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starscream2010

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #1 on: May 23, 2005, 02:17:59 PM »

I use mine all of the time as well. Mainly because most of the  bass players I record don't have very good bass amps and  because it makes for a pretty killer di in general but sometimes I run direct guitars and vox for something "different".
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redfro

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #2 on: May 23, 2005, 09:34:44 PM »

j.hall wrote on Mon, 23 May 2005 18:46


i can't stop patching mine in, and i'm not just using it on bass guitar.



Just curious, what else are you using it on?
I've used mine on vox on this weird Danny Elfman meets Prong kinda project I've got going on, and loved it.
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j.hall

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #3 on: May 24, 2005, 08:04:39 AM »

kick drum, floor tom.....organ, piano.....

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weihfool

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #4 on: May 24, 2005, 10:08:48 AM »

I've used mine on every recording I've done in my place.  I can't say enough good things about it.  Love it, love it, love it.
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wwittman

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #5 on: May 24, 2005, 01:43:45 PM »

I have one in my live bass rack, just becasue some FOH soundguys cannot be convinced (read as: bribed, threatened, cajoled) to use only the mic on the amp... so the Sans Amp let's me send a DI signal that at least I can shape to sound like ME, with some distortion and tone shaping.

But I only rarely use one in the studio... I almost always get what I want out of the amp.
And it's not something I use on 'other things'.

I WILL say that for whatever reason, in a direct A-B, I think the pedal version Bass Driver DI sounds better than the rack mount RBI.
Although they swear they are the same.

I actually have BOTH in my rack set-up but now the RBI sits there just as a back-up.
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j.hall

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #6 on: May 25, 2005, 08:45:14 AM »

if they swear they are the same then they are total retards cause the RBI has a "mid" EQ control, and has extra inputs and outputs.

the extra EQ band alone would account for it sounding differently.
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floodstage

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #7 on: May 25, 2005, 11:45:06 AM »

j.hall wrote on Tue, 24 May 2005 07:04

kick drum, floor tom.....organ, piano.....




After hearing all those non guitar uses for a bass DI and also your comments on non-guitar uses for the Little Smokey, I have to say:


Man, you will run anything thru anything to get a tone won't you?!
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j.hall

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #8 on: May 25, 2005, 12:52:49 PM »

floodstage wrote on Wed, 25 May 2005 10:45


Man, you will run anything thru anything to get a tone won't you?!




MUW HA HA HA HA HA

that's why i get hired......that's why we all get hired.  for who we are.

i do things my way, and i bring something unique to the table, just as you do.
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wwittman

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #9 on: May 25, 2005, 08:59:56 PM »

I meant they swear they are the same basic circuit and sound the same when the mid range is set the same...

to me the RBI sounds, ALWAYS, more scoopy and cleaner.
The BDDI sounds fatter, thicker... better.
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William Wittman
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j.hall

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #10 on: May 26, 2005, 08:14:30 AM »

oh.....i've never placed them side by side.

i wouldn't doubt they are different.
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Fibes

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #11 on: May 26, 2005, 08:37:26 AM »

How do they compare to the PSA? I always dug the PSA but haven't really needed one in a while.
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j.hall

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #12 on: May 26, 2005, 10:31:20 AM »

PSA is all about guitar and distortion with a few bass presets.

the RBI is a totally different animal.
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wwittman

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #13 on: May 26, 2005, 02:57:52 PM »

We were in the middle af a long arena tour when I got the RBI and aded it (i thought I might make my rack set-up more compact)...
I switched during set-up and, during soundcheck the FOH engineer from WAY back in an arena said "how come the bass soundes different today?"
Which shows he's listening!
Anyway, at that point I told him and we did a quick A-B and he was adamant that the BDDI sounded "better".

So next break I had, I took the rack into Pie Studios, where I could listen for myself and really know what I'm hearing, and we ran both into the Neve and listened.

And there as well, it was clear that the RBI was somehow more hollow and transparent.

So I've really been using the BDDI ever since...

One nice thing about the RBI is that if you use the effected output to feed your amp (I DON'T) then having that separate level control for each output is a big help.
In fact I wish it worked on the parallel out, but it doesn't.

But I use the SansAmp to make the DI sound more like the amp. Not to change the amp's sound in any way. (which, being a Hiwatt, is perfection {g})

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William Wittman
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compasspnt

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #14 on: May 29, 2005, 12:26:41 PM »

I hate that this thread came up, and has forced me to admit that I, too have and love the Bass Driver DI.  I've used it on many records, both with and without acoustic amps as well.

In fact, almost the whole Lenny Kravitz "5" album ("Fly Away") was done with my Precision and the BDDI as the only bass source.
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brandondrury

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #15 on: June 01, 2005, 11:28:40 PM »

In my experience, a killer bass player sounds killer through the Bass Driver DI.  A shitty bass player sounds shitty through a Bass Drive DI pedal.

It's the same damn answer for every piece of gear I have.

Brandon

volthause

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #16 on: June 02, 2005, 07:20:22 AM »

I'm embarrassed that I don't have one. It's been on my "to get" list for a long time though.
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Jules

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #17 on: June 12, 2005, 02:07:57 PM »

I want the pedal version..

I've always dug it mucho when it's turned up on sessions.

Or is the rack mount the only way to fly?

Seems a great combo with Music Man Stingray bass!

compasspnt

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #18 on: June 12, 2005, 02:30:27 PM »

Jules, the pedal is way cool.
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wwittman

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #19 on: June 12, 2005, 04:37:33 PM »

there's also a new version of the pedal that memorizes a few settings.
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William Wittman
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Fibes

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #20 on: June 12, 2005, 08:41:15 PM »

I've got a chance to pick up either at cost; which one?

I'm leaning towards the splitting ability of the rack.
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Fibes
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compasspnt

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #21 on: June 12, 2005, 10:59:04 PM »

I have only used the pedal, but I think I recall William stating that he preferred the pedal, for some reason, to the rack.  And he is pretty "tuned in" to bass.

Both?
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TheViking

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #22 on: June 13, 2005, 07:44:55 AM »

Any SansAmp I've ever used, rackmount, pedal or plugin all sound great on anything except of coarse guitars.   There is an SVT preset that came with my SansAmp plugin for my ProTools mix system and if I'm using a DI and I throw that on there.   With a little tweaking it always sounds really really great.

Drums, bass sound effects.   I've used the Plugin on vocals a lot too.   SansAmp in general is pretty sweet on all kinds of stuff.

Anyone else use the Plugin version?

The Viking
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j.hall

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #23 on: June 13, 2005, 08:44:37 AM »

fibes.  the rack mount version is really great.  i think i'd go for the pedal as it seems to be a bit more popular......i think william's "tests" shed a lot of light on this issue as well.

i'll keep my RBI, but i might pick up a pedal to compare it to in the near future.
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Jules

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #24 on: June 14, 2005, 06:45:59 AM »

TheViking wrote on Mon, 13 June 2005 12:44

Any SansAmp I've ever used, rackmount, pedal or plugin all sound great on anything except of coarse guitars.   There is an SVT preset that came with my SansAmp plugin for my ProTools mix system and if I'm using a DI and I throw that on there.   With a little tweaking it always sounds really really great.

Drums, bass sound effects.   I've used the Plugin on vocals a lot too.   SansAmp in general is pretty sweet on all kinds of stuff.

Anyone else use the Plugin version?

The Viking
www.vikingrecording.com


ALL the time!

On duplicate Snare & Kick tracks (adds Hip Hop breathing groove)

On Bass DI (we almost always re-amp later) (evil Twin DI box)monitoring the plug in gets us a vibey sound for the backing tracks to go down.



newstylesound

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #25 on: June 21, 2005, 03:57:15 PM »

Call me perverse, but I have the pedal version hooked up at my home studio as the main DI for guitars/basses/electric piano/etc.  At modest settings it sets an instrument signal up beautifully for interfacing with amp sim plugins etc (a raw guitar signal never cuts it, for me).  As a straight DI (circuit switched out), it doesn't thrill, but that's not what you'd buy one for anyhow.

Lately I've found myself making a lot of 70s-punk-meets-idm-in-a-disco-with-morrissey-on-the-mic music, and playing way too much guitar (I'm a bass player mainly).  I couldn't find a thing out there in plugin land to give me the sound I was looking for.  One night I plugged into the BDDI, maxed out the Drive and tweaked up the presence and suddenly, I'd joined Gang Of Four! Wink

It nails the scritchy, nasty, dance-rocky guitar tone so well it *hurts!*

So, naturally it's first call on that task now, and of course gets a lot of use for bass tones from dub thump to distorted picking.  The "classic" sansamp gets more use on things like vocals, drum overheads, the rhodes, etc, when I really want distortion.  But sometimes there is just too much Tech 21 on a track and I bust out the secret guitar recording weapon..

..my brutally damaged vintage Deluxe Memory Man pedal.  It overloads if you so much as breathe on it- a bad bbd chip sits cooking within it.  I set it to minimum delay, all the way wet, gain maxed, and...  

Wow.  The coolest, most singular distortion tone I've ever heard while DI-ing comes churning out of it.  If you've got a Memory Man in bad repair, try it.  The reissues and old specimens in top shape can't do it, too bad (maybe a line/mic amp placed before it would help, and also help to destroy that bbd chip! Wink

The funny thing is, there is a bit of "latency", as even at minimum delay, you're looking at 80ms or so of slap.  Luckily I've done much time with an Mbox so I know how to deal with that!

Anyway, I've hijacked the thread a bit, just wanted to share that, it's priceless.

I have a PSA, too, and it does a fine job on keys/drums/bass/guitar/etc.  It's still a better "amp sim" than any plugin or digital sim I've tried.  I saw a bit of footage with the RZA from Wu-Tang- the interviewer is talking to him in his hotel room with his then-new production rig.  

The interviewer says, "Hey Riz, where's the SP1200?  What's the deal?" and he says, "Aw dang, I sold that s***, I've just got my K2500 and a SansAmp PSA-1.  I get the same sound. *presses play on keyboard*"..  ..and out comes a very junked, very RZA beat.  I look over at my PSA-1 and smile wide.
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siberiaguy

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #26 on: July 04, 2005, 06:45:59 PM »

I used to own the pedal.  I found it to be quite noisey.  I wished it had a hotter output.
The "scooped" midrange tones sounded great on their own but didn't work well in the mix.  The instrument became invisible.
I wanted to love it.
Lately I've been getting some cool bass tones out of my Fender Vibrolux using a C414 on the speaker and an old H&K Red Box as a D.I.  Whatever works I guess.
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pete andrews

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #27 on: August 08, 2005, 09:11:26 AM »

just got the rbi.
whew! it gets heavy.

stingray -> rbi -> RNP -> 1176 -> 'puter.

nice.


pete

Revolution

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #28 on: August 09, 2005, 12:31:55 AM »

I use mine (BDDI)pretty religiously but on occasions some bass's or players really sound average.
Combined with good amp and good player sounds pro. Cool

JPRisus

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #29 on: August 11, 2005, 02:20:20 PM »

I've had one for years... used to belnd it with a mic'd amp signal. Sucked out a little too much midrange to be used alone. But ever since I got the Fulltone Bass Drive pedal, i haven't touched my Sansamp. The extra midrange is too important to me now. Sansamp adds a killer bottom, but i can get that in other places... sub synth or whatever is around.
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kayagum

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #30 on: August 31, 2005, 09:57:29 AM »

I think a critical component to add to most SansAmp products is a compressor. It fills out the response, and it adds a little extra "give" (like a spongier speaker response).

The compressor itself doesn't have to be fancy. I'm using a Maxon CP101 in front, and it sounds great with every SansAmp I have (original, TRI-AC, BassDriver). For clean sounds, it adds a little cushion so the input signal doesn't crap out the SansAmp original.
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RolandK

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #31 on: September 01, 2005, 07:14:40 PM »

I got the BDDI pedal a month ago, definately a cool thing to have around. Works decent for scratch guitar tracks and distorted vocals too. I don't like the blend pot much past half way, seems to start coloring the tone in a bad way.
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adam_w

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Re: Sans Amp bass driver.
« Reply #32 on: September 25, 2005, 09:52:32 AM »

Hey - and here I was thinking I was crazy..I've got both pedal BassDriver and bought the RBI rack unit as well after loving the pedal... and I second reluctantly liking the pedal better for some reason. That, bass with fresh strings into a good pre/comp and away you go..

I guess the good thing is I've got three of them now in total  just in case anything stops moving long enough to get a good samsamping !  Laughing
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