[Update: problem resolved] Why does my Sansamp BDDI sound muddy?

[Roxbororob]

Gave it a shot and all that happened was my volume dropped a lot. Still very little drive until the drive is cranked. I'm just going to email tech21

Thats what was supposed to happen (those circuits work right). Guess the OD circuit is screwed up, sorry I think you got a dud.

 

[Drewcifer704]

Update: I contacted Tech21 and I'm sending it back today. I'll post again after they try it out

 

[PotsdamBass8]

Ah, ya can't be too upset...the BDDI has been proven and works for a lot of things. When you say you want a metallic crunch, that's not what most people think of when it comes to good bass tone. As a guy who likes Billy Gould, Paul D'Amour, and tons of post punk/new wave...it's all I think about when it comes to bass tone!

The B3K works for that tone, but don't be fooled - it work for warmer tones as well. I use it all around.

B3K:
Dropbox - B3K.mp3
Dropbox - faroffsynth.mp3

Softer tones with B3K:
Dropbox - bad sebastien bass cover.wav
Dropbox - OMD bass playalong.wav

And my favorite, is the B3K+VMT:
Dropbox - 13016b.mp3
Dropbox - 021316ab3.mp3 - Shortcut.lnk

Sorry to step off topic...

What kind of setting did you have your B3K on? And how did you record it, eq and/or amp sims? I love my live sound on the darkglass, but when I record I'm getting too much fizzy top end.

 

[FaithNoMan]

Sorry to step off topic...

What kind of setting did you have your B3K on? And how did you record it, eq and/or amp sims? I love my live sound on the darkglass, but when I record I'm getting too much fizzy top end.

My settings change often, and so does pedal order, but I can tell you my B3K is often blended pretty wet, Raw grunt, attack boost always on, and I tend to emphasize high mids(2-3K) over 4K, which imo emphasizes fizz. All were recorded by mic'ing my GK800RB going through my Eden 210T cabinet.

"faroffsynth" was an SM-57. All others were an Audix i5.

I found also that putting the VMT behind my B3K solidifies my tone even more, and the attack becomes more bell-like than with it in front of the B3K.

I also tried mic+ DI last night for the first time, and I was pretty happy on my first effort.

Playing: Mic+DI phasealigned3.mp3 - picosong

Settings were here:

 

[Drewcifer704]

Update: I just got an email from Tech21 and they said they're replacing the whole circuit board.

 

[Duder]

Update: I just got an email from Tech21 and they said they're replacing the whole circuit board.

Yikes, man.

 

[Drewcifer704]

Yikes, man.

In their defense they did say it was "just to be sure". It may have worked fine for them but they changed it out anyways. I did have an issue with a bad patch cable that I found shortly after sending the Sansamp in to get looked at.

The patch cable issue was in this thread:
[Problem Solved] How do I fix the dreaded.... Tone-Suck?!?!?!

 

[Drewcifer704]

With the Blend control up full if there is very little Drive to be had until the control is maxed there may be something wrong with the pedal. We would need to test it. The Bass Driver DI is not a typical stompbox and was designed to be used with the parallel output feeding your amp and the SansAmp output going to the mixing console. Many players do have great results using it like a stompbox but much of it comes down to what you are trying to do.

If you want to have the pedal repaired you should contact our support dept:

Update: I got my pedal back yesterday and just got it hooked back up today. This thing is a beast compared to what it was when I sent it in. It sounds phenominal and just like I expected it to when I first bought it. This is a great pedal and I will definitely recommend it in the future. Thanks Tech21!