Sansamp schmansamp!

nacho459 · Post by **nacho459** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 4:17 pm

You know those 1RU Sansamp bass preamps. Who uses these things? They are in a ton of "pro" studios, but I've never used one. There have been several times I have wanted that big fat driven SVT sound, but haven't had one to my disposal. Now I know a 1RU preamp isn't gonna sound like an SVT, but I wonder if anyone has any good experiences using these. Have you used them direct, or with a power amp, or in front of tube amp. I have a dual EL84 power amp that sounds pretty good. I wonder what a Sansamp would sound like in front of it? My current plan is to try and DIY a SVT preamp.

soundguy · Post by **soundguy** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 4:19 pm

I use the stomp box sans amp bass DI on just about every session I do. Its a really great DI. Kinda one trick pony ish, but what good di isnt, right?

no idea about the rack unit thing, but the foot pedal absolutely rules.

dave

rolandk · Post by **rolandk** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 10:33 pm

I have the bddi stompbox for recording direct and use it as a distortion box for my live bass rig sometimes. Haven't tried it straight into a power amp yet but a lot of people do. I like it better for recording and its way cool for reamping to add some crunch to vocals or whatever.
Ampeg makes the SVPCL, (which I also have) and its a recreation of the SVT-CL preamp. I like it better as a live rig than direct recording. It dosen't do distortion and the di is a little thin sounding, so for a direct recording SVT-ish sound I'd recommend the bddi. I've been thinking about upgrading the di transformer in the SVP.

nacho459 · Post by **nacho459** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 1:53 am

hmm, that SVPCL sounds interesting, but I wonder how it really sounds. I have a fender style 50 watt bass amp I built that is basically a Bassman with a tweaked tone stack that I use a lot. It has a great clean tone and when I want chunk I usually just use this old silver Big Buff I have, but that is usually too distorted, and a totally different tone then what I am looking for. That Ampeg pre sounds promising, I'll see if I can find the schematic and compare it to the old SVT circuit. Then again I could get a V4 and pull two of the power tubes out and it would be cheaper then the SVPCL.

joel hamilton · Post by **joel hamilton** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 10:01 am

For a seriously burly SVT at the edge of exploding type sound I have either used the SVT 1 with V9 cab we have here. The other thing that does that sound, crossed with a B15 type sound, is the Heathkit 25 watt mono tube amp from the early 70's I have through a custom made 1X15 EV cabinet thing. that combination totally rocks so hard. Low wattage but the right kind of break up... Like an SVT when you can be in the room with it.

Fully rock, without "fuzz."

Lots of fang.
Those things seem to pop up on ebay for like 30 dollars. My girlfriends grandfather made the one I have!

GrimmBrotherScott · Post by **GrimmBrotherScott** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 10:24 am

soundguy wrote:I use the stomp box sans amp bass DI on just about every session I do. Its a really great DI. Kinda one trick pony ish, but what good di isnt, right?

no idea about the rack unit thing, but the foot pedal absolutely rules.

dave

Awesome, I just ordered one. I had heard nothing but good things about it. If Dave even likes it, it feels like I just hit a homerun!

heylow · Post by **heylow** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 5:05 pm

soundguy wrote:I use the stomp box sans amp bass DI on just about every session I do. Its a really great DI. Kinda one trick pony ish, but what good di isnt, right?

no idea about the rack unit thing, but the foot pedal absolutely rules.

dave

Absolute agreement...it's all I've used on both my band's records as well as on a few others we've done here. In fact, I have had 3 really good bass players with good gear/amps opt to use it instead for both it's sound and general ease of use. It's pretty versatile, really.

What really works for me is to split the signal with another DI and basicly run as if you really had an amp and a DI....wig it out a bit with the Sans and capture the clean, unadulterated bass as a second channel....watch your phase and you're golden.

heylow

joel hamilton · Post by **joel hamilton** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 6:32 pm

It is a cool box.

I like the avalon U5. best thing avalon makes IMO.

The sansamp is cooler during the mix, IMO, on an aux or a buss with a reamp and then take the XLR back to a compressor and a channel....

Fun times for toms AND bass, and kick, and snare, and vocal, and anything you want BETTER.

FNM · Post by **FNM** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 8:29 am

Can you use a 9-volt for the sansamp bass driver pedal, or only the wall wart. I ask because my power strip just ran out of wall wart space.

kayagum · Post by **kayagum** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 9:10 am

FNM wrote:Can you use a 9-volt for the sansamp bass driver pedal, or only the wall wart. I ask because my power strip just ran out of wall wart space.

You can use phantom power too. There's a switch on the top of the box.

Rodgre · Post by **Rodgre** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 2:10 pm

You can use a 9v battery, a boss-style adapter or phantom.

I hear that the pedal sounds better than the rack version, though I haven't tried the rack myself.

I love the pedal, though it can be slightly noisy. I wish I could tame that.

Roger

fromthecurve · Post by **fromthecurve** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 4:42 pm

I love the pedal, too. I go from it to my amp using the parallel output, record both, and blend.

Throw a 9V in it, use phantom power when you think of it, and the battery will last several years.

The only drawback to mine is that it's the old version, with the knobs inside the case. :^(. On the plus side, I got it for something like $60 on ebay.

JES · Post by **JES** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 5:24 pm

On the pricier side, I can't live without my fulltone bassdrive. It's not an effect to me anymore, it's "my sound."

--JES

trodden · Post by **trodden** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 12:57 pm

to further discuss...

sans amp compared to line6 bass pod? I personally think line6 products are a bit goofy and not great sounding.. but i repeatedly hear positive things about the bass pod, similar as i hear about the sans amp. anyone like one over the other for similar applications?

I've only used the old sans amp with the dip switches and have not heard/tried the bass version.

inverseroom · Post by **inverseroom** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 3:51 pm

Has anyone tried using the SansAmp bass DI for other stuff? For the hell of it?

Hey, it's Rodgre. Good to see you!

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