A couple of DHA pedal comments and questions

[danlea]

Hey there,

I bought I a VT2 Dual Bass pedal around Christmas '06 and never really got back to you on my thoughts, so that's the first part of this post. When used in full overdrive mode (I mean cranked with both valves to the point just shy of valve squeal) it really does give a fantastic sound - something I'm using on a track we're currently mixing, in chorsuses and for bass feedback at the end (I'll post a link once it's finished). I have to say I don't find any use for the single valve setting due to the great difference in output levels. I'm running it into a GP12 SMX amp (valve/ss blend input stage) so I don't want to overdrive the this preamp, hence the output level is set pretty low. Unfortunately, this means the single valve setting on the pedal is too quiet. For me it would be nice to have separate output levels for each of the settings so I could have both options, but as it happens I'm happy with using it purely in the dual valve mode. The other issue I have with the unit is that there seems to be some capacitive coupling (or some other form of electrical connection) when in true bypass (noticeable when the valves are cranked, as they are for me). I've gotten around this by putting it by itself in a true bypass effects loop (which I use for its tuner mute anyway), but I thought I'd let you know about it.

Now, I've gotten this silly idea of whacking a piezo bridge onto my passive (Fender Jap) precision bass. Now, my precision pickup must remain passive, but naturally the piezoelectric transducer would need it's own onboard preamp. I'd probably send the two separate signals via a stereo cable and split them to two mono connections close to my rig. Now I'd like a valve on the end of the passive connection, so would Bob the Blender be a decent option for mixing the passive and active connections? I ask because I'm not entirely sure how the signals are blended in context of the valve (I don't think I'd want them being mixed passively).

Dan.

[DHA]

[quote name='danlea' post='171501' date='Apr 7 2008, 02:53 PM']Hey there,

I bought I a VT2 Dual Bass pedal around Christmas '06 and never really got back to you on my thoughts, so that's the first part of this post. When used in full overdrive mode (I mean cranked with both valves to the point just shy of valve squeal) it really does give a fantastic sound - something I'm using on a track we're currently mixing, in chorsuses and for bass feedback at the end (I'll post a link once it's finished). I have to say I don't find any use for the single valve setting due to the great difference in output levels. I'm running it into a GP12 SMX amp (valve/ss blend input stage) so I don't want to overdrive the this preamp, hence the output level is set pretty low. Unfortunately, this means the single valve setting on the pedal is too quiet. For me it would be nice to have separate output levels for each of the settings so I could have both options, but as it happens I'm happy with using it purely in the dual valve mode. The other issue I have with the unit is that there seems to be some capacitive coupling (or some other form of electrical connection) when in true bypass (noticeable when the valves are cranked, as they are for me). I've gotten around this by putting it by itself in a true bypass effects loop (which I use for its tuner mute anyway), but I thought I'd let you know about it.

Now, I've gotten this silly idea of whacking a piezo bridge onto my passive (Fender Jap) precision bass. Now, my precision pickup must remain passive, but naturally the piezoelectric transducer would need it's own onboard preamp. I'd probably send the two separate signals via a stereo cable and split them to two mono connections close to my rig. Now I'd like a valve on the end of the passive connection, so would Bob the Blender be a decent option for mixing the passive and active connections? I ask because I'm not entirely sure how the signals are blended in context of the valve (I don't think I'd want them being mixed passively).

Dan.[/quote]

Hi Dan,

Using Bob as a mixer should work but you will have to match the signal levels.

Dave