Tech 21 SansAmp Character VT Bass DI

Very versatile preamp/DI

I bought this preamp in order to circumvent all preamp sections of amps I play at the rehearsals and live gigs since not all have my desired sound.

The character/drive section allow me to go from very clean to Lemmy sounds in matter of seconds and the EQ section is +-18 db which is more than I'll ever need.

Speaker emulation is essential part of the pedal; no more clanky DI to FOH.

Essential pedal for all gigging bassists.

Probably the most versatile bass pedal on the market

This thing, besides being basically an Ampeg in a box, can also do sounds from subtle, transparent coloring, through classic Sansamp Bass Driver sounds, all the way to distorted modern ones similar to Darkglass stuff of Tech21DP3X. It's very versatile if you know what the knobs do. Plus it can run on phantom power as well.

A very nice and versatile pedal, with a few minor quirks.

The pedal offers a broad range of vintage sounds, from clean to high gain. It feels sturdy. The coloured DI is very useful in live situations.

I would have preferred the in- & outputs at the top instead of at the sides, partly because it is not the last pedal in my chain. The noise level at high gain settings (character and drive past 12 o clock) makes me want to run it through a noise suppressor.

The knobs are sensitive: a small adjustment can change your tone quite a bit. Choosing a different kind of tone requires adjustments on several knobs, which is not very intuitive and make quick changes tricky. The knobs turn easily: quite often by accident. It is hard to remember settings with this many knobs.

At most settings, playing with my active bass with bridge humbucker, lower notes are distorted more heavily.

It drains battery when guitar cable is plugged in and device is turned off

It drains battery when guitar cable is plugged in and device is turned off

The XLR phantom power big plus.

Excellent preamp/DI

I have been using the original Tech21 Bass Driver DI (the two-band EQ model) for 20+ years but recently bought the VT DI because I wanted a way to quickly change my tone when switching between active and passive basses.

I love the tone of the original bass driver, but now I find myself using the VT almost exclusively. It has all the features of the original, plus 3-band EQ and a much better drive section. The drive knob works together with the Character knob to create some really nice overdrive tones. I mostly like a warm SVT tube-like tone, but you can get heavy distortion also.

I originally ordered the YYZ pedal, which sounds great if you want Geddy's tone, but I returned it because I wanted something more versatile. The VT is it. You can dial it in from clean to dirty.

On top of that, I'm sold on the build quality of Tech21 products. They last forever.

greatest DI ive ever used

if youre in the market for a new DI with stupid amount of control... this is your guy.

Great tool!

Very versatile, great sound! Option of blending with clean sound is great. Built very well.

Must have tool for recording and live playing. If you need fat and warm "ampegish" sound, phantom-powered DI/preamp, distortion stompbox, this is THE thing. It is really useful and especially the blend knob makes it really easy to make your sound better while retaining character of the original sound...

I use it mostly for "basic" sound, if there is no possibility to bring my Ampeg V4B. I set quite distorted "SVT" tone and put the blend knob just around 9', then it works somehow like "parallel compression" and I've got clean and punchy sound with "tube honey" in background... Love this preamp!

A very good DI, a lot of options and posibilities

I am playing with a pop-rock band and this was my first DI. It is very versatile and useful, my bass has a heavier and beautiful sound, I also like the drive and character options, it gives a punchy sound, exactly what I was looking forward.

Pros

- It has a lot of options , so you can adapt for whatever genre you're playing.

-It has extra buttons ( bite, volume )

- It has useful outputs, you can use different cables(normal, XL)

Cons

-It makes a little hum when you are on the drive option at maximum

-The battery and power supply are not included

For it's price , it's the best pedal you can get, it worth every penny. The more I use it, the more I find new ways of improving my sound, so you need to spend time mastering it

Great multi purpose pedal -useful in emergencies!

This pedal is up to the usual high standards of Tech21 gear. It can be used in many ways. You can bypass the amp simulation circuitry and just use it as a volume boost, a 3 band active eq. pedal, a DI box, an overdrive pedal or an amp (SVT style) simulator for live or recording work. I always have mine with me in case of amp failure and very often have used it in conjunction with my amp to go into the PA for extra support or to my other band mates monitors.

The amp simulation is good but I find the higher overdrive / distortion levels a bit hissy. Its eq. is shared by both the dry and overdrive circuits, so if you are attempting to blend overdrive into your clean signal, any adjustment of the eq will effect both -which is a bit of a drag because sometimes a thinner overdrive with removed bass sits better on top of a dry signal but here you can't eq. the two separately.

Anyway, for all that it brings in one box I am satisfied.