What's the deal with effects and pedals? (Also: sound in general)

Gear
1085

In any case…I just see almost no reason to buy a nice tube amp like an Ampeg or Mesa Boogie. They DEFINITELY sound incredible…but the cost to tone ratio? It just doesn’t compute to me. The VMT by itself gets you maybe 70% of the way there just by itself for 10x less cost. Throw in a Sansamp or variation and you are like 95% of the tone for 5x less cost.

From their you can get a neutralish amp (doesn’t have much of its own tone signature) and use other pedals for other sound purposes (and they weigh 50 times less!). Short of just getting to where I can throw money away or get sponsored, I just don’t see buying any of these nice amps!

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1086

Exactly. Amps are dead to me. So many more convenient ways to get the same or better tone.

Of course I’m not gigging at the moment either :slight_smile:

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1087

I have a weird and irrational dislike for Fender for some reason. It’s weird. I at least know it isn’t based on any solid reason!

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1088

I have my RevSound Cab and Kustom amp…it’s plenty loud, great sounding neutral amp that is very light. With my current pedals it is a tube amp if I want that sound (and I do!) but at a third of the cost and a 10th of the weight!

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1089

Now I am very envious. I have been wanting one of those for sooooo long, but I can’t find a decent priced used one, or many used ones anyway, they are so popular, and I juat can’t afford to buy a new one.

I hopw you love it, I am sure you will. Plus, your wine celler (even withough the mid control) is still so close to the Sansamp that you would not really benefit GREATLY from having it above the SansAmp1, and in all liklihood you would just return the Wine Cellar.

But don’t do that so fast.

It is still nice to use the SansAmp VT earlier in your chain, near the distortion, and then leave the Wine Celar at the end.

If you want a clean sound going into the Computer, you can D.I it from the SansAmp VT from coser to the beginning of your pedal and then you can still send your full signal chain to the amp.
Or if you want your full effects loop to go into the computer AND the AMP, then you can run the XLR our of the Wine Cellar at the end of the chain, and you can opt weather to use it to further EQ or add gain and boost to your signal prior to going into each the DAI and the AMP.

This is what I do, I have at least one DI pedal close to the beginning and then I have my Behringer BDI-21 (Wine Cellar) as the last pedal and XLR from it if I want to capture the sound with my effects in my computer and not just my amp.

does it make sense?

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1090

Yeah this is not a bad idea at all. It’s what I was doing with my Battalion and BDI-21 as it let me put the reverb after it and still have an amp-like thing with a DI at the end.

I would still put the tube screamer before it though. You want the color added by the VT after other distortion, not before it. Otherwise you’ll just lose it.

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1091

@T_dub I’m just going to use one pre-amp/Di (the VT), and return the Wine Cellar to Amazon.
While I appreciate your comprehensive description of how to incorporate 2 of them in the chain, it’s a bit much for me to comprehend. Maybe if my focus was on a different genre of music other than the ones I most enjoy playing, this scheme might be interesting enough for me to spend some time experimenting with it.
Thanks for that information though! :smiley_cat:

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1092

I want one of those really bad, but i also want the MarkBass Distorsore (Dis tor Sor A) is how its pronounced.
I just watched a demo on it, and OMG. I was floored. Much like when I was floored with the EBS Valvedrive.

They both use the tube for the distortion, and they are both IMO great pedals. Back when I first looked at the EBS, I saw one for about $120, and didn’t more, now they are all high $200 up to $400 new (and very worth a high price, but I am trying to stay under $150)
Likewise, there is a Markbass on Reverb for $175 and about $200 shipped.
so, still hunting.

I have no experience with any other EBS pedals, but I do know they are top knotch and I do want to play with some of them some day. I may even get one of their Overdrive pedals, the Drive Me Crazy which is a high drive with alot of bottom and top end, although it does not have. a straight up High pass and Low pass control like the Darkglass does (and makes it sound so delicious)
But the MarkBass Compressore (Compres Sor A) is freaking awesome. like the Distorsore pedal, they are ridiculously sized, almost as big as the new Boss multi box for each pedal, and ultimately I traded it to a friend, since I had 3 other compressors that I loved alot. But looking back, that MarkBass compressor (tube compressor at that) is just about the best compressore I have ever heard. I got id for $100, and at first was going to try to flip it for $200 on Reverb (they go this high no problem) but my friend heard it, and he never heard a compressor he liked before this one, so I traded it to him, for I don’t remember what. Then he decided it was too big for his board too and asked if I wanted it back, andI said no.
I watched it list on Offer Up for a few months, and I finally said, ya know what, I do want that back and I hit him up, and he just traded it for something the day before. LOL. Just my luck.
I never should have got rid of it for any reason, it was seriously gold.
I think the Distorsore will lbe too, and if I ever get one or the other, or both, I will hang on to them until my dying breath, and maybe be buried with them.

Oh, thanks god. I thought is sold, I was just looking at it yesterday.
I was watching it and saw it in the “listing ended” usually meaning sold, but at least he is on vacation.

Only one of two on reverb for sale, and one is shipping from Spain or Bulgaria or Netherlands of something like that.

I wish I could get this one, and the Tech 21 Sans-Amp and I wold be good for a good long time.

And I know i have said tht before, but in all seriousness, it I don’t think I have bought a pedal or anything like that since back in August of September? its been a good long time and i am about due.

Just need to get some funds, thats the tricky part. I am trying to sell a few basses, but the used bass sales seem to be dead as a doornaill right now.

4 Likes
1093

When it comes to that size of the EBS, its about the same as the Markbass, so you are not gaining real-estate with-one over the other. I can fit them both.
And reality, neither is really bigger than my EHX Deluxe Big Muff pedal, they just are is a different package that makes them look quite a bit bigger.

And

the Tech21 SansAmp BDDI or Tech 21 VT BDDI, or With Behringer strange badge shaped footprint, as well as the wine Cellar not being a mine, and the Dr J JOYO(probably the smallest of those 4) kind of like a mini, but turned sideways.
None of them are the smallest of the pedals, but yeah, the EBS and Markbass to take top honors in rediculous looks and space, bot OHHHHHHHH do they sound good.
Disclaimer, I a not suggesting the EBS Tubedrive and MarkBass Distorore pedals are the same type or sounding pedal as the Tech 21’s and their clones, I was just pointing out they are not the smallest pedals either.

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1094

The VT Bass DI, BDI-21 and BDDI are all substantially smaller than the ValveDrive.

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1095

The valve driver has an actual tube in it. That is cool!

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1096

It’s amazing. Just sold mine, one of the last three pedals I still had :slight_smile:

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1097

So does the MakBass Distorsore, and the Compressore, which uses the tube to compress

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1098

Oh, them maybe it eclipses the MarkBass Distorsore too then. ???

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1099

I’m currently looking at getting a drum looper for practice and messing around. Have narrowed it down to the two below. I know there is Beat Buddy stuff, but I’m more drawn to these two.

Currently leaning toward the 10R, because that has more rhythm functionality, which seems better for a bassist…

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1100

the NU>X. LoopCore soes about the same as what the 5 does, with like 3 times as much space, and more drums IIRC.
for $99 it was a steal, but I have not backed to back played with it, I just res the specs side by side and the NU>X seemed the better deal with more features.
That said, some like Boss for the real thing, and I get that if you rather spend on them, my hats off to you.

For $50 more, you can get the NU>X LoopCore Deluxe that comes with a footswitch for easy activation and looping.

And I think you get 8 hours recording, and with the first one you get 6 hours, unlilmited overdubbing on both.

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1101

Beginner’s FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out): My Sansamp BDDI arrived today. Spent two hours looking for comparable clones (mostly Behringer) after this thread drifted that way a couple days ago… Eventually grew weary and just bought the Tech21. For the non-US readers, we are receiving some COVID economic stimulus money distributed right now. Figured it was better to blow part of it, rather than all of it on a new bass.

Now thinking about getting rid of my Ampeg SCR-DI (Rarely used)

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1102

While we’re on the subject, there’s also the Two Notes Le Bass which is another Tube driven DI/OD.

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1103

I was not a fan of my SCR-DI. The preamp side was great and had some nice tone to it (though very light). The scrambler was a joke though, some of the worst distortion I have owned. The BDDI will be way better for an overdriven sound for sure.

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1104

Yup. We have a tube topic :slight_smile:

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