Getting a Good Tone with my Sansamp BDDI

[Bassmaster General]

Hi there, I play a bit of bass- mostly when recording my own stuff, and I was hoping I could get some advice on how to achieve that classic "metallic" tone with plenty of "sching" (hope that this is an adequate description!). I have a Sansamp BDDI which is really impressive but unfortunately I'm not getting the sound I would like out of it. I'm fairly certain that it's down to my bass itself; whether it's the strings, the pickups, setup, or who knows what else! It's just a A Squier Affinity PJ but I've installed some better quality pots and capacitor. Despite this it just sounds a bit "wooden" for what I'm looking for, and the low end is bulging- not the flat response that I would prefer. Can anyone shed any light on this issue? Cheers.

[Jonesy]

Hello! Have you got any examples of what tone you're after? It's a funny thing describing sound with words, one person's zing is another person's thump!

 

What strings are you using and how old are they? New strings have a brighter tone to them, so that'd probably be the first place I'd look. Something like rotosound swing bass will do the trick as they're up there with the brightest sounding strings. 

 

Make sure you're using a pick and dig in. 

 

All of that with the BDDI (what settings are you using too?) should get you fairly metallic sounding.

[King Tut]

I think @Lozz196 may have some advice for you! I reckon this post would be better off in the effects section!

[Lozz196]

2 hours ago, King Tut said:

I think @Lozz196 may have some advice for you! I reckon this post would be better off in the effects section!

Cheers Col, will give it a go:

 

@Bassmaster Generalthere are 2 pretty easy ways to use the BDDI, our producer advised of the first being his preferred option (dependent on circumstance of course). From your description of the sound you`re after, and you have a Precision I think it`s similar to what I go for. As has been said, new stainless steel roundwound strings for starters. It also depends on if your BDDI is V1 without mids or V2 with. 

 

1 - Set your amp up to get your sound, set all controls on the BDDI at Midday aside from Blend which should be on Full, then engage it. If anything is then too much (bass is too boomy etc) then cut it on your amp, not the BDDI.

This way works very well for recording or where the rig is a standalone rig providing the whole bass for the room.

 

2 - Set your amp as flat as possible. From there put everything at Midday, aside from Drive (at about 9 o`clock). If you need more highs then adjusting the Treble is my preference as the Presence can be very sharp anywhere past 1 o`clock. If you have the V2 with mids then I select 500Hz and back of of this a bit as the V2 is better "balanced" than V1 which has a baked in mid-scoop already. Also with V2 if the sound is too bassy/boomy select the 80Hz setting and back off of this a tad. Once you`re near what you`re after then try adjusting the Blend a bit more, to see if this then pushes you nearer to what you`re after. Adding more Drive also adds highs but additionally adds "bulk" to the sound as well.

This route can be better for sending a signal from the BDDI to house PA as you can make stage adjustments on the amp without affecting what the PA gets.

[Bassmaster General]

Thanks for your replies guys. @Jonesy The example from the start of this video is the kind of thing I was aiming for. He plays a bit before engaging the pedal and it seems to me that the tone is already most of the way there before he does. That's what convinced me that it's more to do with the bass itself. Right now I'm getting something closer to what's on display in this other video (I know he plays with the settings a lot, but the general tonality is the same). I notice that in the first video he's using the 1/4" out (presumably into an amp), whereas in the second he's using the XLR direct out, don't know, is it important to have it running into an amp to achieve certain tones? I have to confess, my strings are quite old but I used the old 'boil them in hot water for 15 minutes' trick and they sound quite new and twangy! Can't remember which ones they are now, they're either D'Addarios or Ernie Ball Slinkies. I'll check out those Rotosound ones you've mentioned though; I was considering a set with a lighter gauge, the low E sounds particularly boomy to me, not really sure though... As for my BDDI settings, I've tried pretty much every permutation I could think of, as well as other people's recommendations.

 

@Lozz196 Thanks for your tips, I'll give them a try. Might try miking my Laney practice amp with a 57 to see if I can get a better sound. I have the V2 pedal FYI. I've spent a considerable amount of time playing with the dials but it never seems to produce the tone I'm looking for...

 

Must be a dark art or something!

[ezbass]

14 minutes ago, Bassmaster General said:

 I have to confess, my strings are quite old

 

I think this the source of your problem. I have a Mustang strung with EB Cobalt flats and I can get what it seems you’re after with a Tech21 VTDI.

[NancyJohnson]

Assuming everything is well with your bass, I'd say it's nigh on impossible to not get a decent tone out of a BDDI; I did have issue with the VTBass DI and the VTBass rack (too ponky).

 

I've been using a variety for Tech21 stomps for years and years and my main bit of advice is actually the opposite of that of the honourable member for Hemel Hempstead; the Tech21 units have enough of a peak output to drive a poweramp, so I've always run these units into the effects return of a head or a poweramp, thus bypassing any pre-staging the amp may have.  I've done this on a variety of heads (Trace/Ashdown/Matrix) and am currently doing the same on a Darkglass A/O 900w head.  Just let the BDDI shape all your tone.

 

Insofar as best tone?  Subjective.  My desired sound is a kind of a gnarly Geddy Lee/Jean Jacques Burnel hybrid thing and it'll do that until the cows come home.  I'd just let the BDDI control everything; Blend on 100% (so no clean signal in the mix), the Level I'd just rotate to stop clipping on the powerstage of any amp once the other controls were where I wanted them, the bass/treble/presence just do what they do (the presence just adds a subtle mid-style level that helps you cut through the mix - I'm not even certain what frequency this operates at, but it works fine and doesn't make you sound like a transistor radio).  If you want a hotter signal using one of the sliders in the Output or XLR will give you a 10db boost.

 

 

[Misdee]

I've got the V2 version and it's got a bit too much zing for my ears! The top end has always been a bit too sharp for my middle of the road taste.  I have to set the treble and presence about 11 o'clock and even then the Bass Driver never sounds how I would like to it to unless I use a compressor with it, but when I do that it sounds exceptionally good.  It's a terrific pedal with so many practical uses. Maybe your bass just needs some new round wound strings.

 

 

Edited July 19, 2022 by Misdee

[Jonesy]

2 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

 

I've been using a variety for Tech21 stomps for years and years and my main bit of advice is actually the opposite of that of the honourable member for Hemel Hempstead; the Tech21 units have enough of a peak output to drive a poweramp, so I've always run these units into the effects return of a head or a poweramp, thus bypassing any pre-staging the amp may have.  I've done this on a variety of heads (Trace/Ashdown/Matrix) and am currently doing the same on a Darkglass A/O 900w head.  Just let the BDDI shape all your tone.

 

 

 

This is what I would do too. I've used the BDDI in the past like this and currently use the VTDI this way.

 

If you're after that Sansamp tone, it's the surest way to get there.

 

[Bassmaster General]

Thanks for all your helpful tips! I have considered the possibility that I might be plugging it in the wrong way- obviously need to do a bit of experimenting to find the best setup. I can't help but notice that there's a significant gap between the neck pocket and the neck itself; to that end I was considering inserting a shim. Is anyone able to divulge any useful information about what kind of neck angle is appropriate for a Fender bass?

[ezbass]

56 minutes ago, Bassmaster General said:

Thanks for all your helpful tips! I have considered the possibility that I might be plugging it in the wrong way- obviously need to do a bit of experimenting to find the best setup. I can't help but notice that there's a significant gap between the neck pocket and the neck itself; to that end I was considering inserting a shim. Is anyone able to divulge any useful information about what kind of neck angle is appropriate for a Fender bass?

If it’s a side gap, a shim will merely plug the gap. FWIW, I had a ‘63 P bass that had a side gap you park a bus in (I may be exaggerating here ) but it sounded phenomenal. You should only use a shim if you can’t get the action low enough.

[Bassmaster General]

7 minutes ago, ezbass said:

If it’s a side gap, a shim will merely plug the gap. FWIW, I had a ‘63 P bass that had a side gap you park a bus in (I may be exaggerating here ) but it sounded phenomenal. You should only use a shim if you can’t get the action low enough.

 

I can probably rule that out then. The gap on mine is present on one side but it's closed tight on the other- is this what you meant by a side gap? It's quite a sizable gap; I would say you could potentially fit a couple of Mini's in there...

[ezbass]

43 minutes ago, Bassmaster General said:

 

I can probably rule that out then. The gap on mine is present on one side but it's closed tight on the other- is this what you meant by a side gap? It's quite a sizable gap; I would say you could potentially fit a couple of Mini's in there...

Yeah, that’s a side gap. The problem that you can encounter with a side gap in the neck pocket, is when the neck/headstock receives a lateral blow and then the alignment can be askew. There is a school of thought that says the tighter the gap, the better the tone, but I’m not sure anyone has increased the gap on a well fitted neck to test the results.

 

BTW, well played with the hyperbole, I like it.  

[Bassmaster General]

1 hour ago, ezbass said:

Yeah, that’s a side gap. The problem that you can encounter with a side gap in the neck pocket, is when the neck/headstock receives a lateral blow and then the alignment can be askew. There is a school of thought that says the tighter the gap, the better the tone, but I’m not sure anyone has increased the gap on a well fitted neck to test the results.

 

BTW, well played with the hyperbole, I like it.  

 

Ah right, I get ya. The thing which I neglected to mention is that the gap runs all along the bottom edge where the pocket meets the neck until the other side where they join. After doing some digging around, I think it might be worthwhile to ream the neck holes in the body, as a couple of the screws thread into the body as well as the neck, it would seem that they're supposed to be more like through holes to ensure a better join with the neck. A mild improvement I would hope...

 

And thanks, I thought it was a more than adequate description! 😉

[4000]

21 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

Assuming everything is well with your bass, I'd say it's nigh on impossible to not get a decent tone out of a BDDI; I did have issue with the VTBass DI and the VTBass rack (too ponky).

 

 

 

I had a BDDI (v1) and didn’t really get on with it. I found it a bit fizzy and struggled with the mids (my old Rics have a natural mid-scoop to start with), although it may just have been me. I replaced it with a VTBass DI and am much happier; I’m aiming more for a Roger Glover Machinehead type of thing though. I really want to try a Leeds. 

[NancyJohnson]

33 minutes ago, 4000 said:

I had a BDDI (v1) and didn’t really get on with it. I found it a bit fizzy and struggled with the mids (my old Rics have a natural mid-scoop to start with), although it may just have been me. I replaced it with a VTBass DI and am much happier; I’m aiming more for a Roger Glover Machinehead type of thing though. I really want to try a Leeds. 

 

I remember the first time I plugged in the BDDI, it really was an 'Oh, my, freaking, god, there's the tone.'  My journey went from that to a racked RPI (I hung onto the BDDI at that point as it was easier to use that for recording).  Sold the RPI in the belief that the VTBass rack was going to be better for me than the RPI...I gigged it once and didn't like it one bit, it didn't suit me one bit.  Sold that and bought another RPI which I then moved along when the Geddy Lee rack unit came out (this was not a happy time).

 

I bought a VTBass DI to add a bit of colour to a dual channel set up and sold that along before going back to my BDDI.  I just carry one of the GED 2112 DI boxes and a dUg now.  The Geddy is like the BDDI with squirt of steroids.  The dUg is just off the scale...fantastic thing.

[4000]

59 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

I remember the first time I plugged in the BDDI, it really was an 'Oh, my, freaking, god, there's the tone.'  My journey went from that to a racked RPI (I hung onto the BDDI at that point as it was easier to use that for recording).  Sold the RPI in the belief that the VTBass rack was going to be better for me than the RPI...I gigged it once and didn't like it one bit, it didn't suit me one bit.  Sold that and bought another RPI which I then moved along when the Geddy Lee rack unit came out (this was not a happy time).

 

I bought a VTBass DI to add a bit of colour to a dual channel set up and sold that along before going back to my BDDI.  I just carry one of the GED 2112 DI boxes and a dUg now.  The Geddy is like the BDDI with squirt of steroids.  The dUg is just off the scale...fantastic thing.

I’ve tried a dUg at rehearsal. It sounded tremendous on its own, but as soon as the band kicked in I found it got lost, whatever I did. But then my band is a bit of an oddity sonically, being all-acoustic except for me. Context is everything and the acoustic guitars take up a lot of room sonically. 

[NancyJohnson]

3 hours ago, 4000 said:

I’ve tried a dUg at rehearsal. It sounded tremendous on its own, but as soon as the band kicked in I found it got lost, whatever I did. But then my band is a bit of an oddity sonically, being all-acoustic except for me. Context is everything and the acoustic guitars take up a lot of room sonically. 

 

I've used the dUg for recording and it's a tremendous thing.  Because of the pandemic I've only used it a couple of times in a band situation and can wholly understand the reference to it being odd sonically.  I did roll off the chunk considerably, which in effect caused the pedal to lose some of the inherent characteristic; I suppose it's all about sitting in the mix and owning your frequency...I have an old band thing that's in the process of resurrecting itself at the moment and while I'd love to use it in that, the guitarist is very heavy and I know the bass would just get lost.

[4000]

17 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

I've used the dUg for recording and it's a tremendous thing.  Because of the pandemic I've only used it a couple of times in a band situation and can wholly understand the reference to it being odd sonically.  I did roll off the chunk considerably, which in effect caused the pedal to lose some of the inherent characteristic; I suppose it's all about sitting in the mix and owning your frequency...I have an old band thing that's in the process of resurrecting itself at the moment and while I'd love to use it in that, the guitarist is very heavy and I know the bass would just get lost.

I didn’t try it for recording and I wish I had. 

[Misdee]

The thing about the BDDI in its various guises is that it has a (very) distinct sonic personality. It's not trying to be neutral or transparent. It's aim is to impart itself on your tone. And as with most things that are distinctive, some people will love it and some people will be less enthusiastic.

 

I've tried all sorts of preamps in all sorts of price ranges and I end up coming back to the BDDI  precisely because it is so stylised in it's tone. I like that it's idiosyncratic and occasionally difficult to work with. That's preferable to being bland.

[Ed_S]

On 19/07/2022 at 13:19, NancyJohnson said:

I did have issue with the VTBass DI and the VTBass rack (too ponky).

 

Ponky? That's a new word on me but I've got a VTDI and a VTRM so now I really wanna know if I sound ponky, too! 🙂

[NancyJohnson]

36 minutes ago, Ed_S said:

 

Ponky? That's a new word on me but I've got a VTDI and a VTRM so now I really wanna know if I sound ponky, too! 🙂

 

Ponky.  Heh.  

 

It's like where your tone sounds like you have foam mutes, dead strings and you're trying to hit harder to give it more attack but your bass just ponks.  Umm.  Like the baritone guitar at the start of Wichita Lineman.  But for bass.  With foam mutes and dead strings.

 

There's a lot of recordings from the 60s/70s where the bass is very ponky!

[Ed_S]

26 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

Ponky.  Heh.  

 

It's like where your tone sounds like you have foam mutes, dead strings and you're trying to hit harder to give it more attack but your bass just ponks.  Umm.  Like the baritone guitar at the start of Wichita Lineman.  But for bass.  With foam mutes and dead strings.

 

There's a lot of recordings from the 60s/70s where the bass is very ponky!

Ha, thanks, I completely get ya! Im happy to report that I don’t ponk and neither does my bass 🙂

[4000]

11 hours ago, Misdee said:

The thing about the BDDI in its various guises is that it has a (very) distinct sonic personality. It's not trying to be neutral or transparent. It's aim is to impart itself on your tone. And as with most things that are distinctive, some people will love it and some people will be less enthusiastic.

 

I've tried all sorts of preamps in all sorts of price ranges and I end up coming back to the BDDI  precisely because it is so stylised in it's tone. I like that it's idiosyncratic and occasionally difficult to work with. That's preferable to being bland.

But you can use something entirely different and not sound bland. You don’t have to use a BDDI. 😉

[borntohang]

On 20/07/2022 at 10:50, 4000 said:

I had a BDDI (v1) and didn’t really get on with it. I found it a bit fizzy and struggled with the mids (my old Rics have a natural mid-scoop to start with), although it may just have been me. I replaced it with a VTBass DI and am much happier; I’m aiming more for a Roger Glover Machinehead type of thing though. I really want to try a Leeds. 

I use both the VTDI and the Leeds and can report you're not missing a huge amount just with the DI. Don't get me wrong, the Leeds is by far my favourite drive for both guitar and bass, but pushing Character and dropping Mids and Treble on the VT will get you just as close to the Glover thing as the Leeds will and it will also do all the other stuff as well.

 

I use the VT as my 'rig' at the end of a chain and then the Leeds works as my 'gain' channel. I'm definitely interested in checking out the new dual Leeds with the Muff circuit they're releasing so I can run a wet/dry dirt setup though.