Much more than just a direct box, the SansAmp Bass Driver DI is capable of dialing up big vintage tube tones, bright modern slap sounds, gnarly distortions, and all in between. Three different outputs to drive power amps, recording desks, PA mixers, or simply enhance your current rig. Controls include Presence for definition and upper harmonic content; Blend to combine the proportion of direct signal and SansAmp circuitry; and active EQ specifically tuned for bass with 12dB of cut or boost.
Actual size: 4.5" x 3.5" x 1.5"
Weight: 14 oz.
One of the more popular mainstream Bass Pre-Amps in the market.
Imitations include Hartke Bass Attack and the Behringer clone.
Owed this for 2 years.
Construction: So far, no paint peels. I have not subjected it to any knocks.
It's built like a tank, knobs are easy to turn, however too easy to turn.
Sound/Tone: At full blend settings, this pedal eats away all your tone. Send it to the house PA and it sounds sweet. The Drive(tube emulation)is fairly close. It's drive is not so "dirty" or noisy as other pedals. Noticibly gives sweeter highs on my higher strings as well as a more processed sound.
I have a Mesa Boggie M-Pulse, hence i compared it to its "California Emulation" settings. It's far away from the real thing. However running it through a tube Pre-Amp closes the gap but still...
Pros: Make a dull boring bass sound good.A quiet pedal be it connecting to
house PA or using it as a Pre-Amp.
Cons: Like I said, eats away all your tone. No Mid switch. However Programmable Version solves the problem.
Settings: Full Blend, all other knobs at 12 o'clock. Turning down the drive
makes the bass dull again. Not shiok without the tube emulation. The most I push the drive knob is to 3 o'clock. I believe in a flat EQ setting hence no subtraction or addition of EQ. However,pumping the low EQ overdrives the tube pre-amp i place after the SansAmp hence my reason for a flat EQ too.
Overall: 8/10
The drive is pretty sweet and close to a real tube overdrive. It's great for a solid state pedal. If it got stolen or lost(touch wood) I wouldn't buy another one as I always have the Mesa Boggie which is the tone i want.
Tech 21 NY SansAmp Bass Driver D.I
