Tech21NYC

17 hours ago, Misdee said:

Thanks so much for getting in touch, I am absolutely sure that the problem lies with me and how I am using the pedal. 

So, is it correct to think that the presence  control is boost only i.e. all the way off is flat?

Correct. You should need no additional equipment to use the Bass Driver DI with your interface. The amp emulation of the SansAmp will contribute a certain amount of compression depending upon the Drive settings just like a tube amp would. Don't be hesitant to turn the controls and experiment. Once you get a handle on how the pedal functions it will become quite easy.

The presence control is already boosting at 12 o'clock. The Mid, Treble and Bass boost and cut from 12 o'clock. Maybe try starting with the Blend off (counterclockwise) and gradually increasing. Have you tried the sample settings. Try Fat Tube with less Drive, Presence  and Blend.

It's hard to find a single unit that will do everything you want. The Fly Rig series was designed for portability and ease of use. They were never intended to be a substitute for a full featured pedal board.

There is really no room to add an effects loop in there. It would require a redesign. It would be easier and more cost effective to run an inexpensive DI at the end of the chain. Are you using all the features of the BFR?

Mic, instrument and line level are really operational ranges to consider when interfacing with different gear. None of these levels are constant like a voltage measurement. It helps to understand all the devices you are using to get the optimum signal to noise ratio and levels. If the person at the mixer doesn't know how to adjust for varying levels, that's a problem. You basically want enough gain to match levels with the other inputs and enough headroom so there won't be any channel overload on the peaks. We measured the output level of one of our passive bass guitars. Playing lightly the signal level was around -12dbB which is instrument level. Playing an eighth note pattern a bit harder the level was around -8dB. Slapping aggressively on the low E the level peaked at around 0dB which is considered consumer line level. This is why the channel strip has to be gain staged properly.

Most modern mixers can accommodate a wide range of signal levels from microphone to instrument level. My inexpensive Soundcraft mixer that I use for small gigs has a -15dB pad and 60dB of preamp gain. It easily works with anything I plug into it.

2 hours ago, Cuzzie said:

@Tech21NYCAs far as you know are there any bass demos of the new pedal out there for peeps to listen to?

Not at the moment but there is one in the works.

The PSA 2.0 can most certainly be used for bass. There are 10 bass presets in the manual on page 17. http://www.tech21nyc.com/t21manuals/PSA_2pt0_OM1.pdf  There are also a number of stompbox emulations like Fuzz Face, MXR+ etc. The PSA-1.1 was used by engineers and artists in the studio for years on guitar, bass, drums vocals etc.

Pricing aside, 128 presets vs 1 is meaningless unless you're happy with the overall tone. Nothing against SA, but that is an apples to oranges comparison. Those units are all digital whereas the PSA 2.0 is an all analog signal path. It's an entirely different technology. It's the same reason a modeler can claim to give you the sound of 100 different tube amps and dozens of effects for a fraction of the cost of the actual units. Whether it sounds "better" or just "close enough" is ultimately in the ear of the beholder. It's the better, cheaper more convenient argument. Pick two. 😉

There was simply no room to add the XLR in the size format of the PSA 2.0 and it was also not needed. The concept for the pedal is for it to integrate on your pedalboard with all the effects you are already using. You can run pedals in front of the unit and time domain effects after it. It's best to have the DI come after your pedalboard if you need to go direct.

We haven't really had any issues with control knobs being broken on the FlyRigs and dUg pedal etc. People have reported losing the knobs sometimes.

The new PSA 2.0 is a pretty cool pedal, of course I'm a bit biased. I've messed with a proto here and at home and want to experiment with the midi aspect of the pedal when I get a chance.

I really don't know how the pricing is structured in your area. There are so many variables. It's very different in the US.

On 24/10/2019 at 15:56, Lozz196 said:

For me they’d be the ultimate fly-rigs if they had the option to run on batteries. Having to take a power supply and a converter plug (and then hope there’s a power socket you can see that’s near enough) makes these not as convenient as they could be for actual flying gigs to other countries.

There is no room for a battery in that unit. Between the lights and the tuner you "might" get through a gig if you don't tune too much. When I used to do gigs with a multiple bands for a single event I would just bring an inexpensive 2 prong 10' extension cord in case power wasn't readily available at the front of the stage. Changing drummers takes more time than plugging in 1 extension cable unless you're talking about busking or something.

On 24/10/2019 at 15:58, Gareth Hughes said:

Are these not phantom-powerable like a lot of other Tech21 pedals? (I mean the other fly-rigs like the Dug and the Bass Fly-Rig)

Phantom power doesn't provide the proper amperage for these pedals.

It's best to contact your local dealer for pricing outside the US. We can't predict or dictate the price as there are too many variables has previously mentioned.

You can use the Midi Mongoose with an expression pedal for certain CC messages but it will depend on the device. It's not set up to be a full featured controller like the Voodoo Labs Ground Control etc.

Sounds like a good idea. I will pass it along to our design team.

On 14/07/2019 at 17:35, Dosi Y'Anarchy said:

So I finally got a chance to play this and I put a quick video together with my Gibson LP DC Tribute bass played with a pick.

It's my first time using a loop pedal so forgive the sloppiness. 

I'm really happy with it. It's pretty easy to find a sound I like, even with the most anti-geddy bass ever, but as well as it being easy to get a good sound, there's alot of tweaking you can do.

Thanks for posting your review. I was a little confused. Were you running the YYZ into the VT Bass or the VT Bass into the YYZ. Since they are both SansAmps with speaker emulation you might get a better idea of the tones by running the YYZ on its own.

The Low and High do not change the amount of Drive available as they are both post SansAmp. There might be a perceived change as overdrive boosts the harmonic content and increasing highs with distortion will accentuate the effect. The mid control however is before the Drive and that will influence the amount of distortion.

The Q\Strip is very capable as an analog speaker sim if set correctly. I'm not familiar with the other pedals you mentioned. For a speaker sim, it's best to use after any distortion producing pedals. You should obviously have the LPF engaged. You need to make sure everything is gain staged correctly as you could be getting fizz from overloading the interface. If you're running a number of pedals in series you want to set the gain structures so you have unity gain.

Here is a video showing the Q\Strip as a speaker sim in action.

On 05/05/2019 at 10:28, highwayone said:

I have a GK MB210 and recently have been experiencing issues when going through the pa. The built in DI crackles a lot when used but also get similar issue when using a DI box. Any ideas what the problem is??? Cheers.

When you use the external DI are you plugging your bass into the DI and sending the DI's through to the GK?

14 hours ago, dave_bass5 said:

All this time travel stuff is very confusing, I need a Doctor lol. 

Don’t suppose there will ever be a programmable PDDI like the BDDI version? Ive found too many good tones in mine,  struggling to choose. 

No plans to do so in the immediate future. It never hurts to post suggestions on Facebook... If there are enough requests who knows...

Yes, but you should reply here first. TalkBass is 7 hours behind. 😀

On 12/04/2019 at 03:04, dave_bass5 said:

I got my PD yesterday. I had forgotten how powerful it is. Very happy with it (only used headphones so far). I can see me never using the two filters on bass, nice to have them though. 

One thing that puzzles me is the level knob doesnt turn the audio off when its all the way down. With the Blend off and level at zero i would have thought the audio would be muted, but its still quite loud. This is though both XLR and 1/4 jack. It took me a while to get a volume level that didn’t blow my ears off. With my BDDI the level goes down to almost inaudible. 

Still, very happy with it.....for now. 

That is by design. If you're going direct and inadvertently have the level at minimum the sound tech will get some signal and not think there is an issue with the connection.

"Tight button to add definition to your notes in cleaner settings and make distorted tones snappier."

A signature piece of gear doesn't mean that you will automatically sound like the artist it's associated with or it can only be used for one sound. With a stringed instrument there are way too many variables. As a player you have to consider the approach of anyone if you're trying to sound like them. For the artist it's a piece of gear that makes it easy for them to dial in their tone. They can probably obtain similar tones with other gear but it may require more work. In a piece like the dUg Ultra Bass 1000 that's a pretty unique amp. It was designed for dUg but it can work for a lot of people that may or may not necessarily want his tone.

22 hours ago, dave_bass5 said:

But doesn't it give your tone Geddy's character 🙂

To me that implies its a pedal designed to give your tone a certain character, just like the others, but in a different way. I know its not as simple as that but thats the end result. Similar box, different tone coming gout of it.

ill be interested to hear what other tones its capable of. Geddy's tone is great for Geddy, but id like to see how versatile it is for getting less Geddy tones. The Deep/Drive knob looks interesting.

 

Quote

You're kind of reaching with the Character reference. If you want to think of it is a Character pedal I'm not going to be the one to stop you. The Character series pedals were designed to get the "Character" of a specific type of amplifier. The GED-2112 was based on our RPM and we added the Deep channel to distill the multi-source rig Geddy had been using down to a single rack piece. So in the pedal the Drive side is more of a scaled back RPM and a preset Deep Channel. While it can easily get the Geddy tone it is still a SansAmp and can be adjusted for many different sounds. 

It's a cool pedal I was just playing one this morning. Of course I'm biased but I encourage you to try one when available. 

On 20/01/2019 at 05:29, dave_bass5 said:

Ok. Cut down was the wrong word, but to me it looks just like another Charecter pedal, all be it with a twist.

Ive always thought Geddy’s tone came from his fingers, playing style and action on his basses. After all, what did he use to use before the preamp came out that gave him the same tone. 

Still could be an interesting addition to the ranger i guess. 

It's not a Character pedal at all. It's a completely different circuit though it does use the same enclosure as do a number of our other pedals. 

On 20/01/2019 at 05:29, dave_bass5 said:

 

The Empress is a nice pedal, I used to own one. The Q/Strip has two bands of sweepable midrange, two shelving EQ's, high and low pass filters and a 4.7 MegOhm input impedance. The Empress gives you three adjustable parametric EQ's with adjustable Q's for each, a 30dB foot switchable boost, 1MegOhm input as well as a 3 way input pad.

Our unit was designed to be like an old vintage channel strip and uses Mosfet circuitry. I'm not sure about the Empress topology but it's a well made unit. It depends on your needs. We go with a medium Q as that seems to work the best for most musical instrument applications. A wide Q can be a bit too subtle. The narrow Q is useful for fixing things like a specific frequency node or feedback etc. The HPF can be helpful as well for low end stage rumble or problematic low frequencies. The LPF in conjunction with one of the midrange bands can be used as an analog speaker sim. 

In the end it's always best to try both side by side if feasible, but I think I've covered the differences and similarities.