Anyone getting decent tones out of a Behringer Bass V-Amp?

[Robertt8]

Has anyone been able to get a decent bass tone out of the Behringer Bass V-amp?

for some reason I can (finally) get some nice punch out of it, but my lows and mids seem smeared as all hell. i can tweak knobs all day and it just seems muddy no matter what i do. It's possible that i've messed with it so much that i've locked it in some kind of disaster setting (at least i hope that's what happened).

have you guys gotten nice tones out of it?

if so, any suggestions or ideas what's going on here?

(inevitably what comes next is a bunch of people telling me to just go get the Tech21 SansAmp or something like that... i know that's probably much better, but i currently own the Bass V-amp, so if anyone has any ideas besides switching to a better box, i'm all ears!)

[MadAudio]

Are you running it direct or through an amp? You do know it has different modes for live and studio, yes? Are you using the analog outs or the cab sim outs?

Are your pickups active or passive? Active pickups can sometimes have too hot an output and not play well with the VAmp.

I've gotten some killer tones through it myself.

[Robertt8]

whoa...nope i'm running straight through the v-amp and into the Presonus Firebox i just got. looks like i'll need to study that manual again (where ever the hell i put it). i've owned it for a while and haven't touched it in many months and never really figured it out originally. i'm plugging in a cheap Squire P-Bass, but i know that's not the problem as I've heard our bass player get some killer sounds out of it.

good to know that it's user error. I'll dig through that manual tonight and try and figured out what's going on.

thanks man!

[dgatwood]

Originally Posted by Robertt8

whoa...nope i'm running straight through the v-amp and into the Presonus Firebox i just got. looks like i'll need to study that manual again (where ever the hell i put it). i've owned it for a while and haven't touched it in many months and never really figured it out originally. i'm plugging in a cheap Squire P-Bass, but i know that's not the problem as I've heard our bass player get some killer sounds out of it.

Going through S/PDIF or line outs? Because not all of the outputs go through the cab sim and effects section. IIRC, the S/PDIF is dry (amp sim only), one set of line level outputs are also dry, and the other set are wet, but I forget which are which. Depending on what sound you're going for, this may affect what outputs to use.

[lbanks]

I'd found it best to use the XLR DI's to get the most out of it. And hook it to a computer and download the control software. That'll make using it much easier. It can get any sound you want... finding it is tricky.

[Mr songwriter]

Originally Posted by Robertt8

looks like i'll need to study that manual again (where ever the hell i put it)

I'm pretty sure there's a pdf of the manual available on Behringer's website.

[Robertt8]

ok...well found a manual (online) and it looks like there is a lot of things on this little box that i wasn't using right.

It's kind of a double edged sword having that many things jammed into one little box like that. the nice thing is you have tons of options, the bad part is there are a lot more options or variables than buttons and knobs that can be adjusted, but you need to hold down two buttons, turn one, play your instrument and use your tongue to hold down another to get the right sound. This reminds me of using my Roland VS-880EX...it does everything but requires like a 10 step process of crap just to record.

This is certainly not a simple plug and play device...you need to be plugged into the right output...or both depending on your setting, you either need to have headphones plugged in or not...depending on your setting...and to top it off, the manual is kind of all over the place with instructions no where near the diagrams.

anyway...sorry. just ranting, but i think i've finally found and highlighted the few bits of info that are needed to get what i need.

thanks guys!

by the way...mine doesn't have XLR imput. maybe that's on the Bass V-Amp Pro? I just have the portable Bass V-Amp

[MadAudio]

Originally Posted by Robertt8

by the way...mine doesn't have XLR imput. maybe that's on the Bass V-Amp Pro? I just have the portable Bass V-Amp

Yep. The kidney-bean version doesn't have those.

[lbanks]

Originally Posted by MadAudio

Yep. The kidney-bean version doesn't have those.

Whoops! My bad!!!

[notCardio]

Can you point me to anything that you've done with it where you particularly liked the sound? Or did it get used on all the stuff done at your home studio?

I've got the guitar version (as well as a POD 2.0), but now I'm thinking I need the bass version too.

[Robertt8]

k. finally had a chance this weekend to mess with this behringer bass v-amp, and yeah...i can see this actually working for good bass tones assuming i've got it all hooked up right. apparently i using it about as wrong as you can use it. now i'm looking forward to messing around with some recording with it. thanks for the advice guys, and i can see it does infact pay to look at the poorly written manual from time to time.

cheers!
tait
bag of toys

[MadAudio]

Originally Posted by notCardio

Can you point me to anything that you've done with it where you particularly liked the sound? Or did it get used on all the stuff done at your home studio?

I've got the guitar version (as well as a POD 2.0), but now I'm thinking I need the bass version too.

No, the stuff in my sig links was a mic'ed bass cabinet.

Hmmm, lemme see if I have anything posted with the Bass VAmp on it. I'll get back to you.

[MadAudio]

Originally Posted by Robertt8

k. finally had a chance this weekend to mess with this behringer bass v-amp, and yeah...i can see this actually working for good bass tones assuming i've got it all hooked up right. apparently i using it about as wrong as you can use it. now i'm looking forward to messing around with some recording with it. thanks for the advice guys, and i can see it does infact pay to look at the poorly written manual from time to time.

cheers!
tait
bag of toys

Yeah, that manual is awful. It's not indexed well or cross-referenced at all making it difficult to find the info you need.