It Took Me Long Enough to Discover the Sans Amp

[Marc S]

On 3/8/2018 at 13:56, plangentmusic said:

I've never been a fan of overdrive on bass. I like a clean sound where the notes are clear.  Yet, there was a sound that certain people got that always eluded me.  Geddy Lee, Marcus Miller, Steve Harris, Chris Squier all had it with different playing styles. It was crunchy but not distorted. Tons of tone , but not an EQ'd sound.  I assumed it was a boutique tube amp of some sort.  Then I discovered the Tech 21.  20 years after it came out. 

DOH!

Anyone ever discover something way after the fact and want to kick themseleves for not knowing sooner? 

 

My DOH moment came when I got my first P/J precision bass. This pickup arrangement does everything I want, and is really flexible - love it, and can't understand why it wasn't more commonly seen until fairly recently...

I don't use a Sansamp, but plenty of bass players seem to rave about them.
I thought about getting one, then I discovered the MXR Bass DI / EQ pedal, with the added distortion control.
It's also got a "Mids" EQ control, and the added distortion control is great, and very controllable, with its' own separate level
I'm not a huge fan of overly distorted bass either (re my own playing, that is). I really like this pedal

https://www.pmtonline.co.uk/mxr-m80-bass-distortion-bass-guitar-effects-pedal?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7_7q65_p2QIVyqgYCh2FJAJpEAQYASABEgKfRvD_BwE

 

EDIT: I bought mine a while back, and didn't pay the £180 quid price tag - think it was about £110 - £120 at the time, which was a good bit cheaper than the Sansamp
I wouldn't mind doing a comparison between the MXR and Sansamp - anyone done this?

Edited March 13, 2018 by Marc S

[Lozz196]

Being a bit of a technical useless person, how does it work, going into the FX return? Do you have to use two leads, send & return, or just the one?

[FinnDave]

Just the one lead, Lozz, from the SansAmp output to the amps' FX return. Plugging into that cuts the Rootmaster's preamp out of the circuit, so the only front panel control on the amp that still works is the master volume. I'm playing it at the moment (well, put the bass on my lap to type) and even my Jazz basses sound great through it!

I'm technically ignorant as well, but this was written out clearly in the SansAmp's instruction manual, which has been hiding in the box since I bought it several years ago!

[Lozz196]

Cheers Dave, I`ll give that a go this eve.

[FinnDave]

24 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

Cheers Dave, I`ll give that a go this eve.

I'll be interested to hear what you think of it. For the stuff I play, I reckon the SansAmp as a pre amp is better than the one built into the Rootmaster, but I've not tried this at a gig yet. I will on Saturday though!

[dannybuoy]

Think of 'send' and 'return' as 'preamp output' and 'power amp input'. They are labelled that way in fact on the Darkglass head! So you can use send as a DI out (as I have done into my PJB Bighead which doesn't have an XLR input) and the return socket to bypass the amp's preamp.

If your amp is pretty flat / clean / hifi then I say it's probably best to go in the front end so that you can adjust stage EQ without messing with the signal going to FOH.

[jcater]

I have had the sansamp RBI rack mount unit for quite a while now. Was never really inspired by the live sound when using it in front of a mark bass lmb11 or an EBS hd350. After reading various threads on here I decided to try it going from the sansamp into the effects return on the Mark bass rather than the normal input. I have kept the Eq controls on the mark bass at zero. Still experimenting but think that I have found a sound that suits me, vaguely Nick seymour of crowded house or Colin moulding of the later period XTC albums.

Now going from the sansamp into a parametric eq, LA Audio Eqx2, then into the effects return input on the mark bass.

Will also try the sansamp into the effects return on the HD350 just in case I prefer it, but my guess will be that I will be staying with sansamp > LA audio Eqx2 > effects return of LMB11.

Any advice, comments welcome and a big thank you to the posts on here that suggested using the effects return.

ps has anyone else used the Eqx2?

[BassBod]

On the original BD pedal the output was too low level to drive most power amps using the effects return.  It worked, but was usually very quiet.  Now there is selectable output level on most Sansamp versions, so it works fine. This is the main reason I got into the habit of setting the amp “flat” and using the old BD into the normal input on SWR’s...or anything else provided. 

[Marc S]

Just another thought from me....
Has anyone on here used a Sansamp for Double bass, or Electric upright? Wondering how they sound in that application.....

[BassBod]

Yes, quite a lot!  They work well, as long as you don’t use much drive or boost the lows much.  You can also turn off the circuitry and use it as a “flat” active DI for piezo pickups. 

These are my rough settings for EUB with Realist pickup..

Edited March 19, 2018 by BassBod

[la bam]

how is everyone using their pedals?

as an inline pedal, or stand alone through a bass amp heads send/return?

[Lozz196]

Inline for me - going to try via FX Return at some point just to see, but most of my gigs are with provided rigs so for ease of use and standardising, always inline, makes it easier.

[dave_bass5]

Inline for me. Although i keep the amp pretty much flat, the extra EQ available from the amp is useful if i need to tweak freq's the BDDI doesn't have.

[FinnDave]

I stick it in round the back, as it were. That is to say, bass to SansAmp (bass driver DI) to FX return of amp. If I've already posted this, my apologies, takes too long to go back read the whole thing!

[jcater]

Will be interesting to know how Lozz196 gets on with using the effects return, it made a real difference to my ears. Cannot imagine going back to in line. Having said that I guess it will depend on the amp being used.

[Lozz196]

2 hours ago, dave_bass5 said:

Inline for me. Although i keep the amp pretty much flat, the extra EQ available from the amp is useful if i need to tweak freq's the BDDI doesn't have.

That`s it for me Dave, never know what amp I`m using, so keep settings on my Para Driver as standard to FOH, amp eq to suit on-stage.

2 minutes ago, jcater said:

Will be interesting to know how Lozz196 gets on with using the effects return, it made a real difference to my ears. Cannot imagine going back to in line. Having said that I guess it will depend on the amp being used.

I`ll update on this later on, got a prac this eve so going to give it a tryout.

[Tech21NYC]

On 3/8/2018 at 11:38, BassBod said:

Don’t think so, as long as the bass and treble aren’t boosted.  Thanks for the contribution Tech21 - very interesting to read.  I always used mine in front of SWR’s to warm them up a bit - never thought of using the uneffected output for the amp 😳.  After 20 years I’ve retired my original Bass Driver due to scratchy pots (most of them!) Is it possible to “re-pot” a Sansamp and get it back into service?

If you contact our support department they can hook you up with our UK Distributor for a repair. [email protected]

[Tech21NYC]

On 3/8/2018 at 11:38, BassBod said:

Don’t think so, as long as the bass and treble aren’t boosted.  Thanks for the contribution Tech21 - very interesting to read.  I always used mine in front of SWR’s to warm them up a bit - never thought of using the uneffected output for the amp 😳.  After 20 years I’ve retired my original Bass Driver due to scratchy pots (most of them!) Is it possible to “re-pot” a Sansamp and get it back into service?

If you contact our support department they can hook you up with our UK Distributor for a repair. [email protected]

[BassBod]

Thanks - will be in touch 😎

[Jack]

On 3/20/2018 at 08:59, Lozz196 said:

Inline for me - going to try via FX Return at some point just to see, but most of my gigs are with provided rigs so for ease of use and standardising, always inline, makes it easier.

Surely if there's a different amp each night then there's a different preamp to battle against work with each night? To me it would make much more sense to use the Sansamp into the effects return to negate running through a preamp you're not overly familiar with.

 

But hey, to each their own.

[la bam]

I think this way of Sansamp into venue amps send and return (and bypassing the venue amps sound) is becoming the best way to do it.

[BassBod]

29 minutes ago, Jack said:

Surely if there's a different amp each night then there's a different preamp to battle against work with each night? To me it would make much more sense to use the Sansamp into the effects return to negate running through a preamp you're not overly familiar with.

 

But hey, to each their own.

Depends on the amps.  I found SWR Eden and GK could all be set “flat” on the front and work well with an old Bass Driver into the passive input (PA send from the pedal, phantom powered).  But Ampegs always sounded overblown to me, whatever I did.  The first version of the Bass Driver didn’t have the output boost option for the jack, so most of the time it wouldn’t drive the power amp enough from the effects return.  Now, with the added output boost I would probably go straight for the power amp input 😜

[Lozz196]

58 minutes ago, Jack said:

Surely if there's a different amp each night then there's a different preamp to battle against work with each night? To me it would make much more sense to use the Sansamp into the effects return to negate running through a preamp you're not overly familiar with.

 

But hey, to each their own.

It`s more to do with not being familiar with the amps, not knowing if there is an FX loop, stuff like that. if I know it`s inline, only the same cables/set-up no matter where I am. Much easier than trying to see what connections are where on the back of an amp on a poorly lit stage, with middle aged eyesight .

[dave_bass5]

1 hour ago, Jack said:

Surely if there's a different amp each night then there's a different preamp to battle against work with each night? To me it would make much more sense to use the Sansamp into the effects return to negate running through a preamp you're not overly familiar with.

 

But hey, to each their own.

And different cab, which i find can effect the tone more than the amp.

i put my BDDI up for sale a couple of weeks ago, its now back on my board and going nowhere. Sometimes i decide the tone isn't for me, but after not using it i quickly realise it is. I thought my Q/Strip has pushed the BDDI off the board, but no.

[Lozz196]

47 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

And different cab, which i find can effect the tone more than the amp.

i put my BDDI up for sale a couple of weeks ago, its now back on my board and going nowhere. Sometimes i decide the tone isn't for me, but after not using it i quickly realise it is. I thought my Q/Strip has pushed the BDDI off the board, but no.

Yep, both can effect the tone mahoosively, so I keep the settings on the Para Driver the same so I know FOH gets what I want going there - I then tinker on the amps eq itself to get what I want on-stage. Great if I can get it, if not, well at least the audience hear the band as it`s meant to sound.