Bass DI Box

  • Thread starter Thread starter Farno
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Farno

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Before I buy anything I want to make sure I'm doing the right thing buying what I need. SO I have a active bass that I run direct (no amp) into my firebox. Now it sucks! It's to loud on some notes and crappy tone and you know...

So I heard to get this baby:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Tech-21-SansAmp-Bass-Driver-DI-100458615-i1145273.gc

Looks nice and has good reviews so anyone know is this the right path? Please suggest some things. GC has a 299 or more $50 off thing going today so maybe theres something better but a little pricier.

Thanks!
 
The sansamp is a great di and my be worth having .... but what you describe as your problem is more a long the lines of having your bass SET UP PROPERLY.
You need to bring it to someone who can set your pickups properly then your notes will be even while recording plus all of the other things that will be done while your bass gets a top to bottom tune up.






:cool:
 
Actually I think the bass is fine. Playing through my monitors might be the problem which I will upgrade some day. If it's just the right note (frequency) they shake and buzz like crazy but it's not the bass causing it.
 
OK if that is what you think. Try bring your bass along to GC and ask what the tech guy thinks.
The sansamp will be better than most any other di that you can find out there in so much as it has an eq, drive, and presence as well as the normal di function.






:cool:
 
From what you describe, some notes louder than others, try putting a compressor on it!
 
That's another thing I was wondering. Do I need a compressor? I had a previous topic and was told that I don't need one... but I don't know.
 
a +1 for Tech 21 bass driver

and while it might be necessary to compress a bass track to settle it into a mix on any specific piece of music, compressing the bass on the way into Tape/Disc should not be necessary (not quite same situation as with some styles of guitar where compression is used to alter and/or improve sustain characteristics. Sustain should not be an issue and in fact I tend to want the dynamic range of the attack transient as unaltered as possible then have the Bass note get out of the way of everything else (depending on specific piece of music)
 
Ok. Well I ordered the tech 21. If I feel I need a compressor that's something I can always do in the future. Thanks guys!

I'll check out how my bass is adjusted after I try the sansamp. (see if it makes a difference)
 
Ahhh! Had I read this earlier, I could have told you to get the same Tech 21 pre but in a rack mount version (RBI) that has a loop. In that loop you could have put a compressor. It's what I do, and it's works great. I have the pedal version as well, and they are identical except for the loop. Well, and the RBI has a mid control. But they are practically the same, and they're both awesome for recording.
 
Loud vs soft could mean an half dozen things from poor technique to uneven pickup heights.
Compression will help even some of those probs out but so will more consistent playing, automating the volume on the track to duck a little with the loud ones & boost a little with the soft, checking your set up & pick ups etc.
The samsamp 21 is GREAT but expensive. The Behringer vtone BDI21 is REALLY cheap, quite solid and almost as good as the sansamp for a fraction of the price.
Being that the DI probably isn't likely to be the major problem you'd be wise to focus on the other issues and buy a cheap BDI21 to give you a decent signal.
 
I would also agree that you should look at how you're playing, how the bass is set up and at the strings. Is your gain so high on the preamp that it limits the dynamic range of your fingers? A sansamp isn't going to level your output. (if anything it'll cut the mids, and bury your sound - I can't stand it. It's a great DI as long as you don't turn it on). In my experience I've needed less compression on my active basses (MM) than passive (P and J), as I feel the dynamic range is greater on the passive ones.
 
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