Tech21 SansAmp VT Bass

[Silent Fly]

Recently, a friend lent me a Tech21 SansAmp VT Bass to try. The net is full of user reviews on the VT but I though it was a good opportunity to write a review focussed on the technical aspects and the construction.

I hope you will find it interesting.

[b]/// Construction[/b] 3/5
The VT is built in a nice and solid aluminium box. It is the same box used by a lot of other pedals and the size is the same of other Tech21 pedals like the SansAmp Classic or the Bass DI.

The circuit board is completely SMD with part of the circuit inside a resin blob. I guess the resin part is to protect the design from reverse engineering attempts. An effort that in the vast majority of cases is totally pointless.

The consequence is that if the pedal stops working you are pretty much on your own. On the positive side, the pedal is cheaper to produce and it costs less.

The potentiometers appear to be of good quality. The battery door looks a little bit delicate but in these days not too many people use batteries anyway.

[b]/// Bypass[/b] 5/5
The pedal is not true-bypass but the bypass works very well. The frequency response is flat with the pedal in bypass.

[b]/// Connections[/b] 5/5
Input. I didn’t measure it but it should be 1 M ohm. The same input impedance of almost al Boss pedals and other brand’s pedals.

Output. Accordingly to the manual, it can drive low impedance devices like mixers. In other words [i]you do not need a DI to connect the VT to a mixer[/i]. If you need to connect the VT to an XLR input, [i]a jack to XLR cable is more than adequate[/i].

In my opinion this is a good choice. In a recording environment, cables are usually short and XLR connections are not essential. Moreover, the lack of XLR-balanced connector helps keep the costs down making the pedal more affordable.

[b]/// Cabinet simulation[/b] 3/5
It is essentially a steep low pass filter set to cut everything above roughly 4.5 kHz.

It also cuts around -3dB at 30Hz. If you play 5/6 string and you have a cabinet that can go that low, you may hear a little bit less presence on the low-B but it shouldn’t be that strong. Unfortunately, it can’t be compensated by turning up the low knob. The low control combined to the low cut produces more or less a mid control tuned on 90Hz.

There is also a slight emphasis (+2dB) around 3kHz.

Unfortunately, because it cuts everything above 4.5kHz the zing that a lot of slap players like is totally removed. I would have like a switch to remove the cab simulation. It would have made the pedal more flexible. (Tech21 added a button to remove the cab simulation from the processing in a new series of Character pedals).

[b]/// Controls[/b] 4/5
I analysed the frequency response of the pedal and I discovered I few interesting facts.

The high control is a boost only control (the manual says that the controls are +/- 12dB). For a flat position I had to turn the high knob all the way down. The mid controls is not at 500Hz (as indicated in the manual) but around 865Hz

I usually don’t like boost-only high but I must admit that with the VT it works well. Because the cab simulation, the pedal is a relatively "dark" sounding and the boost-only makes the control effective and musical.

The low knob works also well. It doesn’t sound boomy or too aggressive. It makes the sound fatter without changing the tone of the bass too much.

[b]/// Mid and Character[/b] 4/5
Believe it or not, Mid and Character are almost the same control. Frequency wise there are some differences: Mid boost is set to 865Hz, Character boost is 1462Hz but Character and Mid cut overlap perfectly: 880Hz.

If you are not convinced try the following:
- Drive =0
- Volume = same volume bypass/active
- High = 0
- Low = 12:00
- Character = 12:00

Turn down mid to 0 and play something. Turn up the mid to 12:00 and set Character to 0. The sound should be the same.

So why do they operate differently? The reason is the position in the circuit. Character is [i]before[/i] distortion, the low/mid/high controls are [i]after[/i] distortion.

It is a simple but very effective solution probably inherited directly from the SansAmp Classic. In practical terms the Character knob pushes the saturation forward (or backward) on the midrange. Because the mid control is tuned in the same area, the tone effects of the Character control can be compensated post-distortion if the mids are too strong.

The drawback is that the Character control can generate a lot of noise if turned up above a certain level.

[b]/// Sound[/b] 5/5
I am not heavy user of saturation/distortion/fuzz but the VT was a pleasant surprise. Not unexpectedly, it excels in reproducing amp-like saturation but even used without saturation it is a good sounding pedal.

I recommend it if you are looking for a pedal that can give you a fat/saturated sound. If you are looking for a way to EQ your tone I think there are better solutions.

[Dood]

Hey Max! Great review! - I have to admit, being a geek, this is the kind of review I really like to read. Not surprisingly, I make sure I have the latest issue of Bass Gear Magazine as soon as it comes out!

I've recently purchased a Para driver - which is excellent! - I've also found many of the other Sansamp products schematics on the net - not difficult to locate, so your review makes a lot of sense; I feel that most of the Sansamp range share a lot in common, design wise.

[Grand Wazoo]

Very interesting, and thanks very much for the review I was in two minds about buying it, mainly because I have not seen one of them in a shop for me to try and buying effects mail order is always iffy if they turned out to be duff. I once bought an Ashdown Dual Chorus and it was [b]sh|te delux[/b]! Couldn't send it back quick enough.

Anyway... have you by any chance reviewed any of the Mark Bass effects yet? I have the Compressore and I really rate it. But I am also interested in their Distorsore and I was wondering how it compared with the Sans Amp VT you've just reviewed.

Cheers

Edited March 27, 2010 by Grand Wazoo

[Silent Fly]

[quote name='Grand Wazoo' post='787968' date='Mar 27 2010, 04:18 PM'](...)Anyway... have you by any chance reviewed any of the Mark Bass effects yet? I have the Compressore and I really rate it. But I am also interested in their Distorsore and I was wondering how it compared with the Sans Amp VT you've just reviewed.(...)[/quote]

I write reviews very rarely. Usually I do it when there is some technical or functional aspect that I find innovative.

Having said that, if anybody has a pedal and would like to me to send it to me to try and write a review, I'll be happy to do it.

I am sorry but I never tried any of the pedals you mentioned.

[Silent Fly]

[quote name='dood' post='787965' date='Mar 27 2010, 04:16 PM']Hey Max! Great review! - I have to admit, being a geek, this is the kind of review I really like to read. Not surprisingly, I make sure I have the latest issue of Bass Gear Magazine as soon as it comes out!

I've recently purchased a Para driver - which is excellent! - I've also found many of the other Sansamp products schematics on the net - not difficult to locate, so your review makes a lot of sense; I feel that most of the Sansamp range share a lot in common, design wise.[/quote]

Thanks for your kind words Dood.

I used to have a ParaDriver. Nice pedal but I never managed to make it sound totaly clean and linear.

[Mr. Foxen]

I'd like to see a side by side with the standard BDDI.

Realised my one is missing the boost, guess older model, and could do with that for power amp driving purposes.

[Silent Fly]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='788277' date='Mar 27 2010, 11:41 PM']I'd like to see a side by side with the standard BDDI.
(...)[/quote]

It would be a very interesting test.

If two volunteers are ready to send me their pedals for the test, I'll be happy to do it.

[Dood]

[quote name='Silent Fly' post='788191' date='Mar 27 2010, 09:37 PM']Thanks for your kind words Dood.

I used to have a ParaDriver. Nice pedal but I never managed to make it sound totaly clean and linear.[/quote]


Max, everytime I see another one of your fine creations, I feel sure that I need to come up with what I need from you as well! They always look the business!

As for the Para Driver - I'm using it as a full blown preamp - I'm not using much, if any of the wet blend at all. I think it is probably on about 20%, then I use the drive control (still clean) to add a bit of 'sub' bass, due to the way the 'speaker sim' scoops out all the middle and top.

I think it's the lack of linearity that works well with my current amp-in-a-box. It doesn't have a tweeter, but uses 8" mids instead and I think they need a little helping hand above 4Khz (their theoretical rolloff) to add some sparkle in - The Para works very well in that respect. I think the treble control is said to be around 3Khz. Anyway, I digress WAAAAAAAY off topic there!

I'd be interested in hearing a comparison too. I had a BDDI, but I sold it a while back - I would have happily sent it over for some hard core reviewage!

[gnasher1993]

I really need to get one of these things...