Tech 21 VT Bass

[Frenchy-Lefty]

I have owned the Sansamp pedal since day one and grew to really dislike its muddy sound. When this new VT came out I was looking for a replacement for my Ampeg SVP-Pro preamp (it was over $200 to fix the power alim so decided not to fix it). I mostly intended on using the clear sound for recording.

What is great about it:
- Sound is much clearer than the Sansamp. The lows are tight. It adds some punch!
- The 3 band eq is well voiced
- The character knob allows some interesting sounds - I have a feeling that it partly acts like the attack knob of a VCA compressor. The VT bass definitely compresses the sound. It is not as natural as the tube compression of the SVP but close
- It is well built and solid
- Although It is not a true-bypass, it is not a tone sucker when switched off
- The distortions are excellent if it is your thing. Your bass remains supportive with a crunchy sound.
- The clear sound is great for recording. It adds a certain "wooliness" you miss when recording with a DI
- Much cheaper than a real tube preamp

What is not so great
- The impedance does not seem to fit active basses very well (sucks with my Stingray)
- Unlike the SVP, the highs can get a little harsh. You need to roll them off a little
- No DI like the Sansamp
- Useless for anything like slap if it is your thing

[Jeroen]

Great pedal indeed. I've been looking for a good bass overdrive for a couple of years now and still haven't found the perfect pedal, but so far the VT Bass is as close as I'm going to get.

If you're really looking to use this as a preamp, you may want to look at the VT Bass Deluxe, which has al the features of the regular VT Bass but in a programmable version with 6 presets, an XLR out, a parallel output and an FX loop. In addition, it has two inputs so you can make two banks of 3 presets each that are tailored to two different basses.

I had one on order, they were due here in Europe in May I believe, but I cancelled my order when I still hadn't received it in July. To date, the European webshops still don't have it in stock so I'm still waiting.

[Basshappi]

The VT Deluxe is on my 2011 pedal aquisition short list.

[AustinLeftyBass]

I use the Tech 21 VT Bass and Leeds pedals.

[andrew]

How does the Leeds pedal sound on bass?

[AzWhoFan]

I had one (Leeds) and sold it to my guitarist. Whilst it is a great pedal, it was too gain-ey for my needs on bass. I prefer more of an overdrive type of sound, like a Durham Sexdrive.
It did sound great when I used it on my guitars, but again, not quite the sound I was looking for.

[Matt R.]

I have a dumb question about outboard preamps (I've never used one). Can I run this Sansamp here:

http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend.com ... 7QodckXyng

With my Orange Terror Bass head to get more volume from my Ergo EUB? It has a passive piezo system and would running this setup compensate for that? Thanks and I hope this isn't too bad a thread jack.

[AustinLeftyBass]

How does the Leeds pedal sound on bass?

I go for the old Moody Blues Hiwatt bass tone, here's my settings:

[Frenchy-Lefty]

I have a dumb question about outboard preamps (I've never used one). Can I run this Sansamp here:

http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend.com ... 7QodckXyng

With my Orange Terror Bass head to get more volume from my Ergo EUB? It has a passive piezo system and would running this setup compensate for that? Thanks and I hope this isn't too bad a thread jack.

Matt,

It would definitely do the trick. Now my experience with the Sansamp is that it is not the most transparent preamp (kinda muddy lows). The VT bass is more transparent but since it acts somewhat like a compressor it also alter the attack of the sound and might not be the best option for an EUB. Of course you could get some fancy preamps or the Radial Tonebone which allows two different instruments/setting. The cheapest option, that would perfectly do the trick of increasing volume while keeping a transparent sound is to get the Boss GE7 bass equilizer and just use the level knob. You can get a used one for about $40 and it'll do what you need to do. Obviously you can also use it for eq too.

[Matt R.]

Awesome. Thanks Frenchy

[fivebass52]

Feel the same way about the Sansamp, and bought a VT pedal because of the videos I had seen online. I may not have worked with it enough, but thought it was a tad muddy like the Sansamp too. It might work better with some of my other basses though, so I'm still hanging on to it....

[andrew]

I have a dumb question about outboard preamps (I've never used one). Can I run this Sansamp here:

http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend.com ... 7QodckXyng

With my Orange Terror Bass head to get more volume from my Ergo EUB? It has a passive piezo system and would running this setup compensate for that? Thanks and I hope this isn't too bad a thread jack.

If you don't need more eq, I'd recommend the Duncan Pickup Booster pedal for more volume.

I used a small Fishman pre with my EUB and it worked great.

[pjmuck]

The cheapest option, that would perfectly do the trick of increasing volume while keeping a transparent sound is to get the Boss GE7 bass equilizer and just use the level knob. You can get a used one for about $40 and it'll do what you need to do. Obviously you can also use it for eq too.

a GE-7 + a Monte Allums mod kit for $20 and you can have a killer little EQ pedal:

http://www.monteallums.com/pedal_mods.html#bossge7