"I’d be extremely surprised if anyone wouldn’t pick a Sans over a starved plate hybrid pre in a blind A/B."
Sekim, from what you and others here say, the resale price and the general rep of the Sansamp stuff seems like it is probably no contest.
I had hoped for a little more from the TubeHead when I built it way back when but I also understood the circuit and what I was getting beforehand (I also counted on my own ability to modify the thing if i was ever so moved).
The TubeHead is good for fairly subtle “sweetening” of signals that sound just a bit too solid state to me. I have not found the more extreme settings to be very useful for what I am doing (I’m sure I could mod it…), especially since I have some small all tube combo guitar amps that I like for guitar.
I am going to have to try some bass cab micing (already own the cab and mics) before I decide if I need a dedicated bass DI. Doubt I will be playing bass out of the house in the near future, so I want to wait before I buy any new gear.
TomS, the FatMan is a bit of a time consuming build. You gotta wire up all those pots and switches. I have had a bunch of fun with it and also lent it to some people to sample. One of the great things is that you can twist the FatMan knobs in real time, plug it into stomp boxes and also play with those wonderful sweepable mids on an external mixer in real time to add an extra stage of filtering - all without a computer (unless you are sequencing with a comp).
I mean these days you can do this with a softsynth, VST effects and a midi control surface. Don’t know if it would feel the same or not since I have not done it. That stuff was not really available back when I built the FatMan.
That is one of the nice things about the TubeHead - it is not really a guitar or bass DI. Kind of a general purpose box, plays nicely in an F/X loop, and works well with synths. For bass recording, I am sure that a Sans, J-Station or V-Amp would probably be better.
BTW I found a CZ101 in a trash barrel full of water - dried it out and it works 100% - 8)
Peace,
TrackGrrrl
| Quote (TrackGrrrl @ May 19 2005,02:14) |
| BTW I found a CZ101 in a trash barrel full of water - dried it out and it works 100% - 8) Peace, TrackGrrrl |
Score one for early digital!
What about behringers new mini series? It´s not on the market yet, but you get great sounds (presets though) and a handful of them within your pricerange.
I’m no expert on bass, but compression does seem to matter.
See this for a primer on bass compression in example 3.
Compression
The SansAmp will be great for your bass, but won’t help for bass drum. Also, it’s no good if you want to mike your bass amp (but I vote for the SansAmp anyway).
For mikes, though, two you should consider are the Studio Projects VTB-1 single channel mike pre and the Presonus BlueTube 2-channel mike pre. They run about the same price (but you get two channels with the BlueTube). Most reviewers prefer the VTB1 in general, but for your specific applications the BlueTube might work as well and you get two channels. I haven’t used either myself yet, but the VTB-1 is on my Xmas list.
There is this Direct Box that a lot of “Trackers and Studio” guys seem to like… I don’t know just where they are made… I had a chance to get one at the AES Trade Show in '98 on the west Coast. The guy at their booth was selling them for the trade show price of $130.00 bucks. I’m kicking myself for not getting one…
They are called CountryMan… I believe they are built somewhere in the South… Ya gotta have all of this stuff in your studio…
I can get a B-15n for 600.00 cdn… Now… if I had 600.00 loonies 
Oh yes… It’s the model with the ALTEC speaker in the cabinet… I’ve been servicing the amp sense it was bought ( New )… I never paid that much for the '64 Fender BassMan Amp I bought way back then… If I remember, it cost me 425.00 Was my Father ever ugly at me when I ask him to sign for the loan for me…
What works for some… don’t work for others…
Bill…
CountryMan makes a variety of good stuff, and has for decades. They’re particularly good in the acoustic instrument pickup category. I would imagine that their direct box is very good, too. I wonder how it compares to a SansAmp.
Hi Jeff:
I was over to my Radar Buddy’s place today and spent the day just chinwaging and all… It was quite the expirence, noseing around all his new toys and all… He has the latest version Radar 24 Track recording setup/hardware… The one that is being replaced is now on the market and pending sale. He is in the process of copying the “Config” from the old unit… to make the new unit behave to his mental set-up… I was gonna take my Fuji S-3000 camera over the next time I made to trip there, But do you know where the camera was when I arrived? You guessed it… No photos, to post of his set-up… again… 
Anyway… He has a CountryMan DI Box in his locker… along with a bevey of other toys… Do you know the Tuner he has? It’s one of the tuners that the Piano tuners use… The one with the rotating Tone-wheel… the analogue version… Well, he has the Digital version of it… It’s a 700.00-750.00 cdn machine… It’s just a shame that I didn’t take my camera today… I would have posted you some photos of what the rooms look like and the mic packages and Out Board equipment… that you’d see there and the Bottom-end Traps and Hi-end diffusers, and all… That make up the recording/listening enviroments…
Mabey, next time…
Bill…