Sans Amp...What's your take?

S

stm113

Power User
With the recent reissue of the Rack Mount unit just curious what you guys think of the Sans Amp products. They are touted as the most widely used product of it's type and appearing on "countless" hit recordings etc. And of course its pointed out to be Analog.

I remember when I was growing up I'd see the ads for it in various guitar mags, coming from a smaller not very music related area there weren't Guitar Centers, Mars Music (remember those guys?) & the like that carried anything beyond the most general selection of gear. I couldn't ever check any of that stuff out. I listend to many clips recently of the unit and cant hear one clip that I would guess that I have heard on any kind of hit recording. You guys know any pros them? The only one I know of is Bruce Kulick used one of the pedals in front of a not yet released JCM900, i dig the tones on that album alot.

So what do you guys think of their units? What does the pedal do as a font of amp boost? Is there a model in the Axe that gets the vibe or tone of the pedal?
 
I still have a Sansamp GT2. I tend to keep it on hand as an emergency backup at gigs - no effects, but it has a small footprint, a good tone and can get me through to the end of the gog. Also sounds gtreat in front of an amp - it is one of those pedals that is so useful I would never get rid of it. Well, I say useful, but I haven't used it since getting the Axe... but I'm keeping it none the less.

I also have a Bass Driver. It has been my not-so-secret weapon for bass, both for live and recording. Really nice distortion if you want a bit of that kings X crunch on the bass, but cleans up nicely. I haven't recorded any serious bass since the new Bass amps came out for the Axe, but again, the Bassdriver isn't going anywhere. Every studio should have one.
 
yup. Bass Driver DI has been a staple product for bassists for a long time. Only recently with some of the advances in modeling technology has there been much competition to the BDDI. I too have kept it as emergency backup, but haven't used it live in years. Tried tone matching some BDDI tones, but considering what's already in the box...well...meh.
 
I have the original, AFAIK, Sansamp rackmount. I haven't used it in years. I used it on my third CD fairly extensively. But that was many years ago. I tend to be a gear hog and never sell anything.
 
Rook said:
I still have a Sansamp GT2. I tend to keep it on hand as an emergency backup at gigs - no effects, but it has a small footprint, a good tone and can get me through to the end of the gog. Also sounds gtreat in front of an amp - it is one of those pedals that is so useful I would never get rid of it. Well, I say useful, but I haven't used it since getting the Axe... but I'm keeping it none the less.

I also have a Bass Driver. It has been my not-so-secret weapon for bass, both for live and recording. Really nice distortion if you want a bit of that kings X crunch on the bass, but cleans up nicely. I haven't recorded any serious bass since the new Bass amps came out for the Axe, but again, the Bassdriver isn't going anywhere. Every studio should have one.
Click to expand...

What he said. In fact, I think he's the one who sold them to me at the shop many years back...
 
I have an old Sans Amp Classic pedal with the dip switches on it.
I've tried other versions of the Sans Amp, as well as, their Character series and like the Classic best. Never played the rack version and not sure what circuit is used, but if it's the Classic or something clues, I'm sure I'd like it.

http://www.tech21nyc.com/products/sansamp/classic.html

Bought new around 20yrs ago and at the time it was very expensive for a pedal, around $300.
Pedal works great going direct, good dynamics and very shapeable tones. Would make great small rig back up.

My footswitch is screwed up on mine, but this thread reminded me that I need to fix it, lol.



Sent from my iPhone
 
I'm interested in getting the upcoming Flyrig from Sansamp as a backup/travel unit. I'll post a review when I get it. Looks and sounds (clips) pretty cool.
 
I play bass and guitar.

I have a few character pedals as well as the Bass Driver DI. I have two good tube guitar amps and a good bass amp, as well as an Axe 2. To be honest I usually leave the amps and Axe at home and use a Deluxe Liverpool for guitar(I use some pedals( wah, phaser, in front and some behind(chorus, delay) and the Bass Driver or the VT bass when practicing, just using them as a preamp into the board. I will use the amps at gigs but always have one of these as a backup, just in case. The Axe stays home!
 
Up until a couple of weeks ago i had a GT2 and Tri-AC. The Tri-AC is a pretty handy backup pedal to have in your gig bag as it allows you to program and call up 3 presets so you could have a Clean, Crunch and Dirt preset at the ready should you need it and it runs on batteries. Sold because i needed the money but i think they were pretty use-able. Don't know if i would record with them but i used to use the Tri-AC in one of the Loops of a TC Elec G-System years ago and it sounded pretty decent.

I also used to have an original PSA1 and whilst i didn't really like it direct, through the FX Return of my JCM900 with a cab it sounded awesome.
 
I my bass player years I used the Bass Driver DI.
It was really nice!!
I plugged it straight into the console... sounded great!
 
I have a Sansamp RPM in my rack running into the rear input on the Axe. When I want to switch, I just turn off the amp sim and change which input the Axe is using. I love the feel, tone and character of the RPM for bass. It's different from the feel of the Axe, so it's nice to have that versatility. I actually have it set to Geddy's RPM settings, so when I'm looking for that tone, it's right there. I've used it as a guitar preamp as well and it's worked quite nicely for that as well, though I don't use it for that anymore.
 
I have a Sansamp GT2 I keep in my gig case as a backup if everytyhing goes to hell for some reason. I wouldnt use it as a straight solution otherwise, but I do think it's a great dirt pedal in front of a clean amp or as a boost. I never liked much of the other stuff they offered that was similar. I do like the RPM for gainy bass tones, it's awesome. It all depends on what you like. I'd like to see the GT2 modeled as a drive block for sure :)
 
I used a Bass Driver for many years when I was gigging on bass guitar. The Bass Driver, a compressor and the active EQ on my MusicMan was a surprisingly versatile rig and also easy to transport. I used a few different power amps and cabs depending on the gig.

I like the idea of the Fly Rig too, and am thinking about getting one once available.
 
Seems like I remember the rack mount sans amp was popular for adding some grit to drums tracks or drum loops, etc. for hip hop tracks.. might be what they're referring to as far as "hit" recordings.
 
I had an old Mki of their PSA-1 rack unit and I sorta wish I'd never sold it. It was an amazing piece of analog gear, and I think it modeled some things (like the Big Muff Pi) better than the Axe. But though it had its strong points, and I gigged and recorded with it for years, the Axe eclipses it 99% of the time.
 
I think the Tech21 SansAmp RBI 1u rack unit is a properly good piece of kit - no presets though, just knobs

I've also tried the PSA-1 - it appealed because of the ability to store presets - but it was no comparison (unless distorted bass tones are your thing, in which case, there's a ton of them!)
 
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