Quote from Forum Archives on October 23, 2003, 5:47 am

Posted by: bruno_luse <bruno_luse@...>

David wrote:

>I have a question about the Sansamp bass driver DI, which a number of you
>use and seem to like.

I KNEW Wulf would be the first one to reply to this 🙂 Anyway I've just got
a reply to something from Andy Long, so I gather people are waking up over
there... I'm getting ready to leave work 8)

>I already have a DI at church, so I'd be getting it
>more for the tonal features, like active EQ, overdrive, and amp modeling.
>The website says it gives "warmth, presence and punch of a miked-up bass
>tube amp." True?

What's your DI at church? The Sansamp itself is an exceptionally good active
DI box, so it might actually be better than the one you're currently using.
If nothing else, it will give your soundman one more DI box for when the guy
with four stereo keyboards shows up 🙂

To be honest with you I have never heard a miked-up tube bass amp, because
so few of them are in use today, but I have heard very good amp emulators
set to Ampeg SVT for example, and yes, the Sansamp does give that sort of
tonal quality to your sound. However, it's important to note that you DO NOT
need a tube bass amp to achieve a tone with warmth, presence and punch!

>How much of the value of the bass driver is as a direct box, and how much
>is
>in the tone shaping and amp simulation?

I'd say about equal - when you bypass the tube emulation circuitry it's a
perfectly transparent and very high quality DI box. When you use the
emulation circuitry you can achieve a very wide spectrum of tones. You can
achieve a somewhat distorted tone, but it's more for overdrive than
distortion. If you want absolutely insanse distortion though, you can run
your signal though the Sansamp and then into a distortion pedal - I have
never heard such fuzz!!!

Myself I tend to leave the emulation circuitry switched off about 70% of the
time, because my basses have such a good basic tone and adding overdrive
often makes it all a bit overpowering for playing in church. I switch it on
for grindy rock numbers or where the bass needs to be more prominent. Wulf
on the other hand, I know, leaves it on most of the time when he plays in
his funk band, and it sounds great.

>If I don't need it as a DI, might I be better off with a multi-FX box that
>does amp simulation, EQ and other sound modeling?

I'd say that if you're specifically after an amp emulation device you'd be
better off with something like the POD, which is designed for that purpose.
However I really like the Sansamp because it is so simple to use, and as
they say the controls are very interactive, like a real tube amp. It also
means less to carry, and being able to fully utilise my investment.

God bless,

Bruno

Bruno Goh Luse <
www.musicianguitarist.com/bruno/index.html

St George's Church Singapore
www.stgeorges.org.sg/

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