The original Sansamp Bass D.I.

[7string]

This is slightly unusual Gear Porn, but I'm really excited to have this little box so it's Porn to me

After finally getting my recording gear back up and running, I was really disappointed with the sounds I was getting. The DI sound was flat and lifeless and the sound from the cheap-and-cheerful Behringer BDI21, which sounded fine with a practice amp, was only a small improvement.

I resigned myself to having to buy some kind of hardware to help. I tried an Aguilar Tone Hammer at the last Moffat bass-bash which was great but it comes with a hefty price tag. Anything similar (EBS, Sansamp) was well over £100. I had an eBow that I didn’t use anymore (because on of my guitars has that built in to it) so I sold that on Gumtree for a swift £40 and started to check both eBay and Gumtree to see if anything turned up.

I found myself looking through eBay after midnight on Saturday and found a Sansamp Bass DI which had only been listed about half an hour before. I immediately clicked “Buy It Now” and got it for £55.






This little box is pretty uninspiring to look at and only has an input jack, an XLR out and a parallel out. There are two small buttons as well; one for a Ground Connect and one to send an effected signal through the XLR. All the tasty controls, and the 9v batteries, are inside the box.




[b]Presence[/b] [i]“brings out the upper harmonic content and attack”[/i]
[b]Drive[/b] [i] “adjusts the overall amount of gain and overdrive”[/i]
[b]Blend[/b] controls the wet/dry mix with [b]Level[/b], well, adjusting the overall level.

The difference this little box makes is unreal! It really does do away with the need for a mic’d cab or anything else for that matter. I’ve only really scratched the surface of the thing really but it’s an amazing piece of kit. Unusually, only the XLR out carries the wet signal, the Parallel Out sends a dry version. I now have to make up little labels for it as it’ll be upside down on my desk so I can tweak things as I go.

After reading the sheet which came with the unit, I had problems trying to get it to work with Phantom Power so I e-mailed Tech 21. It turned out that my box turns out to be the original Sansamp even before they added Phantom Power (the supplied sheet was a red herring). They introduced the Bass DI in 1992, introduced Phantom power at some point and changed the name to Bass Driver in 1994. So this little box is about 17-odd years old (is that vintage?). Tech 21 also say that the newer versions, with their added functionality, are slightly different to the old ones but they offer a wet signal through a ¼” jack and some tone shaping.

Looks like I’ll be buying 9v batteries whenever there’s an offer on.

[budget bassist]

cool little box, i suppose it does what it sets out to do! i had one of the para drivers, was nice but just didn't get along with active basses.... if i had something passive, i'd get another in a heartbeat.

[quote name='7string' post='728010' date='Jan 28 2010, 07:42 PM']Unusually, only the XLR out carries the wet signal, the Parallel Out sends a dry version.[/quote]
well duh! all DI boxes should do this, the xlr out carries the signal with the fx on it, "parallel out" is just a copy of the input, should you wish to send a dry signal to another fx unit, it's a pretty common feature on most studio electrickery.

[EdwardHimself]

Evidentely, i think the idea to change the pots which control the settings from trim pots to exterior ones with knobs was probably a good one. Nonetheless looks like a nice bit of kit, pretty good money for it too. Any chance of SCs?

Edited January 29, 2010 by EdwardHimself

[7string]

[quote name='budget bassist' post='728327' date='Jan 29 2010, 01:35 AM']well duh! all DI boxes should do this, the xlr out carries the signal with the fx on it, "parallel out" is just a copy of the input, should you wish to send a dry signal to another fx unit, it's a pretty common feature on most studio electrickery.[/quote]

I was trying ( and failing to make the point that this is XLR only and the 1/4" output does carry the good stuff

I'll see what I can do about sc's.

[budget bassist]

[quote name='7string' post='729221' date='Jan 29 2010, 09:22 PM']I was trying ( and failing to make the point that this is XLR only and the 1/4" output does carry the good stuff

I'll see what I can do about sc's.[/quote]
I think because it's primarily a DI box and not an FX pedal like more recent versions, it was designed to be sent to a mixer rather than included in your FX chain. Again, fairly common with studo DI boxes etc (and definitely one of the better ones)

Edited January 30, 2010 by budget bassist

[MacDaddy]

[quote name='7string' post='728010' date='Jan 28 2010, 07:42 PM']Looks like I’ll be buying 9v batteries whenever there’s an offer on.[/quote]


[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=74045&hl="]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=74045&hl=[/url]

[basswarrior66]

I think it was me who sold it to you on evilbay, and how i regret it. I was desperate to raise some money at the time to buy a new amp, now my band has broke up and i have been searching desperately for another of these units, thats how i noticed this post when i did a google search. I love the fact that the controls are all inside the unit so once you have found a setting you like there is not so much temptation to mess with it.
The sheet i sent with it was something the Tech 21 support team sent me when i enquired about a manual for it, i too was puzzeled by the phontom power info, i assumed it was becouse i was not using it with a suitable mixing console.
If you ever decide to sell it, please get in touch.

[Dood]

[quote name='basswarrior66' post='839298' date='May 16 2010, 09:40 PM']I think it was me who sold it to you on evilbay, and how i regret it. I was desperate to raise some money at the time to buy a new amp, now my band has broke up and i have been searching desperately for another of these units, thats how i noticed this post when i did a google search. I love the fact that the controls are all inside the unit so once you have found a setting you like there is not so much temptation to mess with it.
The sheet i sent with it was something the Tech 21 support team sent me when i enquired about a manual for it, i too was puzzeled by the phontom power info, i assumed it was becouse i was not using it with a suitable mixing console.
If you ever decide to sell it, please get in touch.[/quote]


Woh! Small world eh!!

a bit OT, but it reminds me of my recent reunion with a digital EQ that I sold on BassChat a loooong time ago! - I couldn't find another for love or money, so on the off chance I posted on BC. Long story short, I bought it back from the chap I sold it to and it's not leaving again! he he! It's brilliant.

Anyway, what an intriguing early Sansamp. I actually like the controls being out of the way so they can't be bashed when you have set it up just how you want it! I have a Paradriver and I do knock the controls sometimes!

[7string]

[quote name='basswarrior66' post='839298' date='May 16 2010, 09:40 PM']I think it was me who sold it to you on evilbay, and how i regret it. I was desperate to raise some money at the time to buy a new amp, now my band has broke up and i have been searching desperately for another of these units, thats how i noticed this post when i did a google search. I love the fact that the controls are all inside the unit so once you have found a setting you like there is not so much temptation to mess with it.
The sheet i sent with it was something the Tech 21 support team sent me when i enquired about a manual for it, i too was puzzeled by the phontom power info, i assumed it was becouse i was not using it with a suitable mixing console.
If you ever decide to sell it, please get in touch.[/quote]

Don't really know what to say except I'll bear it in mind.

Edited May 21, 2010 by 7string