DHA VT2 Dual Custom Bass Review

[dannybuoy]

So I finally got around to recording some clips of my DHA VT2 Dual Custom Bass pedal. Here's the product page in case you're not familiar with it:

[url="http://davehallamps.co.uk/Products,%20VT2-Dual%20Custom%20Bass.html"]http://davehallamps.co.uk/Products,%20VT2-...tom%20Bass.html[/url]

And here's a pic of mine:



As you can see it looks fairly 'home-made' which you'll either love or hate. Bear in mind Dave also does them in bare metal or a variety of different custom paint jobs. Left footswitch turns the unit on and off (with true bypass), and the right switch kicks in the second tube for an extra gain stage. Then we have:

- Input pad: Use this knob near the input jack to reduce the input level going into the first tube if you have a high output bass, otherwise you'll get distortion from the first gain stage even with very low settings.

- Gain 1 knob: Gain control for first tube.

- Gain 2 knob: Gain control for second tube.

- 1>2: This is an extra volume control to set the level going into the second tube. Set it full and the distortion will sound harsher than just having it set lower and having Gain2 up a bit to match levels.

- Level: Master output level.

- Boost switch and knob: If using the unit at really low gain it may become necessary to increase the output using the boost switch which adds clean gain from an op-amp. This is only necessary when having channel one only with really low gain, or using the germanium clipping or EQ stage which both cut volume.

- Treble/Mid/Bass controls and EQ bypass switch: Turn the eq on and you'll get a drop in volume, so you'll need to adjust the output gain to suit. The eq is passive and doesn't act like your typical amp eq where 12 o'clock is flat response. Even though it's a bit strange, it's definitely useful.

- Colour switch and knob - Centre position is off, left and right give to different types of 'colour' which add negative feedback to the circuit to increase compression and gain. The control knob is on the back of the unit near the output jack. I found colour 1 setting t0 make everything sound a bit thin, Useful for very distorted fuzzy tones at high gain.

- Clipping switch: Centre position is pure tube overdrive, left adds silicon transistor clipping and right adds germanium transistor clipping. The silicon transistor adds a very subtle extra grittiness that is quite pleasing to the ears. The germanium transistor severely reduces volume and gain so you have to adjust the knobs to suit, I would describe this setting as making everything 'creamier', esecially at low gain.

- Fat switch: This is on the back, this switch increases bass response and gain. I leave it switched on all the time.

- Bright switch: Also on the back, this switches in extra treble. I have this on for a bright pick style and off for a vintage fingerstyle sound. Switching it on also makes the unit pretty useable with a regular guitar.


Pros

- Low gain valve sounds are incredible and the best I've ever heard, you'll want to leave channel 1 on in low gain most of the time. The gain can go down to completely clean signal, unlike some overdrives that still distort at low gain.

- Lot's of knobs and switches, ideal for people who like to fiddle

- Very solid and well built

- Dave's custom paint jobs can look awesome (I'll link to some if I can find some examples)

- Excellent customer support


Cons

- There's no separate master volume switch for when you have Channel 2 engaged. Channel 1 cascades into Channel 2, so engaging both creates a volume boost. You can however adjust the 1>2 and Gain2 knobs to get a nice slight boost in overdrive while keeping the volume at unity, although you it's not possible to go from a very low gain overdrive to massive full on gain while keeping the volume at similar levels. Dave used to make a more expensive VT2 twin pedal that had such a feature but it's now disappeared from his product page.

- An active EQ would be nice to have that doesn't cut the volume when it's engaged and can give you a flat response at 12 o'clock.

- Some people will not like the 'home-made' look of this pedal


So on to the clips. All these have been recorded with my Squier Vintage Modified Precision (volume and tone on full), direct into the DHA, then into my recording interface. Bear in mind there's no amp modelling or speaker simulation going on, so these tones would sound a lot more bassy and have less harsh treble when playing through a rig. I may do some more low gain clips (only medium and high here), some showing the boost being engaged and some in conjunction with an amp simulator at a later date. Some of these don't seem to play properly through the player on the web page but you should be able to download them if the on-screen player isn't working.


- Clip 1: Clean bass using a pick, pedal in bypass mode.

[url="http://mp3space.com/file/36795/vt2_wombat_clean"]http://mp3space.com/file/36795/vt2_wombat_clean[/url]

- Clip 2: Same as above but with VT2 engaged with channel 1 only, medium gain, Fat + bright switch on, all other options (inc. EQ) turned off.

[url="http://mp3space.com/file/36796/vt2_wombat_med_gain_bright_on"]http://mp3space.com/file/36796/vt2_wombat_med_gain_bright_on[/url]

- Clip 3: Same settings as above, different bass line (I got carried away and started playing the Formula One theme!).

[url="http://mp3space.com/file/36797/vt2_f1_med_gain_bright_on"]http://mp3space.com/file/36797/vt2_f1_med_gain_bright_on[/url]

- Clip 4: Same settings again, this time playing gentle chords with a pick.

[url="http://mp3space.com/file/36800/vt2_chords_med_gain_bright_on"]http://mp3space.com/file/36800/vt2_chords_med_gain_bright_on[/url]

- Clip 5: Reducing the gain a tiny bit, playing fingerstyle. First bypass, then on with Bright engaged, then with Bright switched off.

[url="http://mp3space.com/file/36798/vt2_fingerstyle"]http://mp3space.com/file/36798/vt2_fingerstyle[/url]

- Clip 6: A bit of full gain picking with both channels on. Settings go from EQ off + Bright off; EQ off + Bright on; EQ on with knobs turned to max + Bright on; EQ on with treble reduced + Bright on. Each section was normalized afterwards as fiddling with these settings changes the volume.

[url="http://mp3space.com/file/36802/vt2_kol_eqoffbrightoff_-_eqoffbrighton_-_eqonfullbrighton_-_eqontrebdownbrighton"]http://mp3space.com/file/36802/vt2_kol_eqo...rebdownbrighton[/url]

- Clip 7: Inspired by the sound clips on Dave's site, playing the same bass line fingerstyle. Full gain again on both channels, Bright off, EQ on with all the knobs whacked up. The sound changes in the middle when I start digging into the strings.

[url="http://mp3space.com/file/36803/vt2_sunshine_-_full_gain_on_both,_bright_off_eq_on_full"]http://mp3space.com/file/36803/vt2_sunshin..._off_eq_on_full[/url]

- Clip 8: Similar full gain settings, playing fingerstyle a fuzzy synthy line with different colour and clipping settings. First we have full gain Tube, then Silicon diodes, then Germanium, then back to Tube with Colour 2 engaged. Each section was normalized afterwards as fiddling with these settings changes the volume.

[url="http://mp3space.com/file/36804/vt2_fuzzy_-_fullgain_-_si_-_ge_-_tu+col2"]http://mp3space.com/file/36804/vt2_fuzzy_-..._-_ge_-_tu+col2[/url]

- Clip 9: Back down to low gain, with bright/fat on, clipping off, eq on with bass/mid/treble maxed. Beginning is bypassed, then engaged with Ch1 only. Light playing is very clean but warm, but it grinds a lot more when digging in hard.

[url="http://mp3space.com/file/43989/vt2_lowgain"]http://mp3space.com/file/43989/vt2_lowgain[/url]

- Clip 10: This is a demo to prove that you can use the Ch1+Ch2 switch to give a healthy extra dollop of overdrive without boosting the volume by excessive amounts. In fact in this clip, when Ch2 is engaged the peak level is LOWER, meaning I could've increased the Gain2 or 1>2 knobs even further to give more drive whilst still having the volumes in check. I play softly at first then dig in harder and harder so you can hear how the pedal responds, then at 00:45 I do the same thing with Ch1+Ch2.

[url="http://mp3space.com/file/43996/vt2_boostdemo"]http://mp3space.com/file/43996/vt2_boostdemo[/url]


Overall Conclusion

I LOVE the low-medium gain sounds on this pedal. After hearing the samples of the BJFE Blueberry and lusting after those tones, I prefer the sound of this. The high gain distortions are also good but I'm not really into heavy distortion or fuzz on bass. If this pedal had a better EQ and a second master volume control it would be perfect, but instead I'l have to settle for incredible! If you just like the low gain sounds, Dave's VT1 standard is an absolute bargain.


EDIT - I tried to put this in the reviews section but it didn't allow my links. Since the links are a big part of the review, it's staying here for now unless a mod decides to move it.

Edited April 21, 2008 by dannybuoy

[danlea]

I have the non-custom version of this and I use it purely for the ultra-high gain mode. This is because the clean sound to me doesn't improve anything given that my amp's input is blended to about 70:30 valve:ss and the moderate gain sounds as you've said are much lower volume ([post="171501"]see this post[/post]). Without that extra volume level control, the extra setting is effectively useless for me, but of course the second valve is not. It's the combination of these two valves that gives that great overdriven sound. I use the pedal in front of my preamp and so my fairly typical EQ setting is applied to the valve tone as well, and I love it (I'll be posting a song that employs this soon)!

The other thing I should say about this pedal is that when using high gain settings it does produce noise even when in true-bypass mode (yes, it is possible due to capacitive coupling, and in any case is an issue on my particular pedal). Perhaps you could let me know if you can observe the same problem (crank both gains and adjust the 1>2 to just lower than the point at which the valves start to squeal) and listen in bypass mode.

[dannybuoy]

Mine doesn't do this - It's been pretty much silent for me (in terms of noise). Maybe it's generating some interference that interacts with another pedal, bad cable or your amp though.

I see we both use ours rather differently - I use mine to give valve tone to a solid state amp - also when I play gigs I rarely use my own amp due to lack of transport, lack of parking in London, and lack of room on most tiny stages for 2 bass amps! I get the amp as clean as possible then dirty it up with this. I set Ch1 for low gain, barely breaking up, then Ch2 for a little bit more crunch and volume for loud sections.

Due to this, I'm interested in downgrading to a VT1 if it makes economic sense to do so, i.e. if I can get a good price on it or a direct trade!

Edited April 8, 2008 by dannybuoy

[danlea]

Well it doesn't bother me because I've put it by itself in a true bypass effects loop (which I use for a tuner mute anyway). I should say I don't overdrive my preamp at all (Trace Elliots simply aren't designed for that kind of shenanigan), but yes, very different uses. The noise is most definitely the pedal as it's the same as what it makes when engaged, only much quieter. Having thought back, it might only have been noticeable when the valves were actually squealing after the knobs had been knocked.

Edited April 8, 2008 by danlea

[dannybuoy]

Someone just asked me about the volume boost problem when engaging the 2nd channel, thought I'd post my response here:

If you are going straight into a DI then yes, some sound engineers won't like the volume boost when engaging the 2nd channel, but it's never been a problem for me. They usually have compressors/limiters at the desk end anyway which helps. If you're feeding into an amp though, the extra volume boost can just end up pushing the amp into more overdrive instead of boosting the volume; I always try to get them to take the DI from the amp or mic up the cab which so that the PA sound matches the amp sound.

It is possible to set up the knobs so that there is no volume boost but still an increase in drive though. Each tube has 2 gain stages which can both create overdrive. If you turn up the 1>2 knob, then that increases the volume going into the 1st stage of the 2nd tube, creating more overdrive. Then you can reduce the Gain2 knob to reduce the volume in the 2nd stage. Only problem is to get the really full on distortion you need Gain2 whacked up, so you can't go from very gentle dirty-clean sound to full on fuzz while keeping the volumes in check. If you treat it as a boost to just give you a slight volume push and a bit more drive during loud choruses etc it works wonderfully.

[danlea]

[quote name='dannybuoy' post='179586' date='Apr 18 2008, 10:51 AM']...the extra volume boost can just end up pushing the amp into more overdrive instead of boosting the volume...[/quote]

Indeed, and that's fine for a valve amp, but you'll generally be trying not to overdrive the actual preamp if it's at all solid state.

[dannybuoy]

True. I've used it with quite a few different amps - It sounded awesome with a tube SVT Classic head, but at one gig I had to use a small Ashdown combo which just couldn't handle the boost and sounded like a torn speaker. However, my Line6 Lowdown 300 is solid state, but has plenty of headroom and copes fine with a really hot signal going into it. I guess some solid state amps are better than others when it comes to this.

[cheddatom]

I reckon most bassists need a limiter anyway, so just put that after your VT2 and your cool.

[dannybuoy]

Just added new clips (9 & 10). Clip 10 proves you can set it up so that the Ch1+Ch2 gives extra overdrive without increasing the volume. The clips also show a bit of soft/hard playing with the same pedal settings so you can hear how responsive it is to touch.

I've just sold this baby to a fellow basschatter though... I wanted to keep it but I'm a pedal slut and I want to play the field a little more before settling down! I'll probably end up having a few quick flings with various filthy cheap trashy dirtboxes before begging her to take me back!

Edited April 21, 2008 by dannybuoy