Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I know this has been discussed before here, but I just wanted to share the story of how a Sansamp saved my bacon last night....

We're in the middle of set 2 of 3, bar is PACKED, dance floor jammed with hot girls, we are on the last note of a song and NO BASS. Nothing. Amp cut out. Talk about BAD TIMING! (A GK 400RBIII) First night using my new Ashdown cab, which is 8 ohms, I was running two 8 ohm cabs, so it's not the amp load, and quieter than usual because the Ashdown cab is so much louder than my usual cab. I think it overheated, because it powered back up later in the night.

ANYWAY, I yell over to the DJ to "PLAY ONE SONG". He fires up a tune, I run offstage to grab the Sansamp out of my bass case, plug it in, hook up the DI to the board and tell my guitar player to run me in the monitors, and I'm ready to roll before the DJ's song ends. And it sounded great, no one knew the difference.

So, moral of the story, ALWAYS have a backup. ALWAYS. Because you just never know....

Thanks to Mr. Rath for letting me buy it back from him for just such an emergency.

Good advice. I never had a Sansamp, but I used to carry a complete spare rig with me just in case.

Better safe than sorry.

i love mine.

I'm gonna have to break down buy one of those. I dont think I've ever heard anything bad about them.

Seems like a great tool.

Fab bit of kit. If you can bring yourself to do without a backline you can get every tone you need through one tiny box and shove the whole thing through the monitors. I know, it's like skydiving without a parachute but it does work, and soundpersons will love you and want to set up home/choose curtains/have kids with you. Ugh. Maybe I'll stick with the marshall after all.

Anyone see the article in Bass Player about stage set ups? I think it was last month. Very instructive.

Ive got one and Im not gigging there awesome and steve that little box saved your hide.

I've played many a gig with them and no amp. One gig, I got lazy and didn't even plug in my amp. All these guys came up to me after the gig and said "damn, that's great tone out of that amp!"

I'm toying with getting either a Sansamp (new 3 channel version) or a Bass Pod Live. Which one is the quieter and/or more professional?

I am looking for a bigger, fatter, punchier and slightly more present sound.

I use Ashdown S/S amps and cabs.

I share the same thought. Jeff Rath swears by the Pod, but an awful lot of people use the Sansamp.

Isn't the major difference really that the Pod is digital and the Sansamp is analog?

My SansAmp saved me too once when I got to a gig after I was told not to bother bringing my amp because the club "has a GK rig"... I found out there was only a cabinet...
Worked out well in the end...

I don't got to any gig without mine. It's one of the best pieces of equipment I have ever bought. It has saved me a time or two also. Hats off to Tech21 for a nice piece of gear!

At Church, that's all I play through. And, at gigs with Union of Saints, I'll mic the big rig (Marshall VBA400, 8x10) but I always send a BDDI signal too. 1, it's predictable. Night after night our FOH engineer knows what he's getting. 2, If something should happen to my amp, the show goes on. And 3, it sounds great! A BDDI signal with the mic'd amp delivers the goods.

OK, I have been persuaded. I have just ordered the new 3 way Sansamp and it should be with me in a couple of days.

What is the best and quietest way to power it up? What on earth is ‘phantom power’?

hey Steve ... that is a great story ... I am glad I sold the sans amp back to you ... I can do the same with my bass pod ... I can run directly into the mix board from my line 6 bass pod ...

I have heard about bands that have no guitar amps or bass amps ... just a big pa and some line 6 pods ...

as an IT person I believe in having backups ...