Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I'm looking to purchase some kind of low price effects module for the 12 string bass I just purchased. Not sure I want to plunk down the bucks for a Bass Pod just yet.

Probably need some overdrive,compression,chorus..

any suggestions?

Tech 21 has some good SansAmp units. They are analog and are cleaner sounding than the cheap digital stuff. You have to dial in your amp tones with the SansAmp RBI. There are no presets and each knob affects the sound. It's a good unit if you only want a few sounds and don't need pushbutton presets. I have two RBI units and a switchbox, so I can immediately switch between two sounds anyway. The RBI is for getting numerous amp tones of the tubey kind. Tech 21 has a small battery operated version called the Bass Driver DI that fits in a bass case or gig bag, but you lose a couple of knobs and a bit of versatility, but the sound quality is just as good. These are sold on their good bass tone for a low price; if you need radical sound effects look elsewhere. The RBI and BDDI are the low priced end of real pro quality bass amp emulators.

I have used the SansAmp with the 12 and I liked it a lot with it. Made the octave strings "shimmer" more. I traded it to Jeff Rath, not using anything other than a Alesis compressor and an Alesis MidiVerb at the moment. Gives a bit of depth to the sound.

That Sansamp looks like the answer. I'll hit the guitar stores on Monday. Hopefully they will have floor models to check it out.

I ended up with a bass pod. A local store had one new for $200. He was trying to get rid of it. Claims Line 6 is direct marketing the customers and there's no profit in it for him anymore.

In any event. I like it and it's easier to use than I thought.

Is it the rackmount or the kidney? I'd have to go with the rackmount as I would be using almost exclusively for live use. I know Jeff Rath uses the kidney live, but I would much rather have the rack version.

It's the olo kidney. Most probably I won't be messing with it much live. Just kinda setting a sound and rocking. We'll see. Certainly is a fun piece.