new bass sansamp, now two questions

  • Thread starter Thread starter tc4b
  • Start date Start date
tc4b

tc4b

Yeah I been drinkin, SO!?
I got a sansamp rbi from ebay. I haven't recorded a track with bass in alomost a year because I was so disgusted with my results from equipment on hand. I like what I hear so far, just two questions (probably more about my instruments than the rbi)
1) My Guild is clearly broken somehow. Everything comes out supersaturated and distorted, sounds shitty (tried lots of different configs, it's NOT the cable or pre) What's the most likely problem that could cause this, considering the thing has done nothing but hang on my wall?
2) My Ibanez (cheap) is quite noisy. It sounds like hearing the ocean in a shell unless I turn the treble and 'presence' way downb. Is it just a shitty instrument, or is there something i can do to help it? One of the tough things aboyut upgrading gear, it can expose other pieces for what they really are.


thanks
 
The Ibanez, yes. The guild is passive. I turned the high freq down on the instrument, then adjust on the sansamp, which helps, but its still hissing pretty good.
 
Do you have a noise gate? I do bass direct in through whatever pedals/fx I feel are neccessary for the tune and finally in through a DBX rackmount compressor/gate before the console. I've found that anytime I have the sound and gain shaped to have any kind of bump to it or any grit there's a lot of hiss, so the noise gate is pretty much a must have.
 
JB1979 said:
Do you have a noise gate? I do bass direct in through whatever pedals/fx I feel are neccessary for the tune and finally in through a DBX rackmount compressor/gate before the console. I've found that anytime I have the sound and gain shaped to have any kind of bump to it or any grit there's a lot of hiss, so the noise gate is pretty much a must have.
Click to expand...

I want a dbx 166 for my bass, but keep getting sniped on ebay, and have just recently given up. I do have a boss me-30 I bought years ago for guitar and currently use on my keyboard, I guess I could use the noise gate feature on that POS. Maybe I'll just buy a cheap noise supp pedal until I can get a 166. Any suggestions, especially considering i'm trying to go real cheap?

Also, is this bass just a POS, or does it just need adjustment? Are some instruments inherently quieter? Which ones? Lots of questions I know, I'm just trying to set up a bass channel I can live with.
 
Have you any basses that sound proper through it so you can be sure there's no problem with the unit? Just curious.

Every bass that I have plugged into my RBI has pretty much sounded great. Even a dirt cheap Ibanez. Basses with active pickups are generally quieter in my experience - but they can also push the Sansamp into clipping I've found. My Ibanez with active p'ups and EQ will easily create some nasty distortion through it (even with new batteries). So you've got to watch it.

With the Guild..another silly question...It's not just horrible buzzing strings is it? I've had people tell me their bass was distorting and it was just really bad string buzz all over the neck.
 
metalhead28 said:
Have you any basses that sound proper through it so you can be sure there's no problem with the unit? Just curious.

Every bass that I have plugged into my RBI has pretty much sounded great. Even a dirt cheap Ibanez. Basses with active pickups are generally quieter in my experience - but they can also push the Sansamp into clipping I've found. My Ibanez with active p'ups and EQ will easily create some nasty distortion through it (even with new batteries). So you've got to watch it.

With the Guild..another silly question...It's not just horrible buzzing strings is it? I've had people tell me their bass was distorting and it was just really bad string buzz all over the neck.
Click to expand...

No, it's not strings. And the guild, while distorted when it plays, is much quieter than the ibanez when not being played.
 
to me it sounds like one of two things

but first, what's your complete signal chain?

bass ==> SansAmp ==> ????

To me it sounds like you've either got the SA cranked to it's ultimate distortion, OR you're overdriving the input to one of the next stages, getting distortion from your pre/console or DAW/soundcard.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top