Origin Effects BassRig Ampeg B15 Fliptop recreation

[Quatschmacher]

I’ve had more playing time yesterday and today (after getting some actual sleep) and am really enjoying it.  

[spyder]

4 hours ago, spyder said:

So after two hours of playing with backing tracks this morning it is a keeper. For the first time in ages I actually had goose bumps and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

The sound is so amp like through my iem and standard headphones it was a revolutionary.

I went back to just using my AEA active DI and small eq changes on the mixer and the sound collapsed. Yes it became more bass heavy and brighter but I was lost in the mix.

On its own the Fifteen sounds a little dull and very mid forward. But in a mix it stands out and really feels like you are playing through an amp.

I've finally found a preamp / Di that I can use on every occasion. 

 

Moving on from this morning I've used the 1/4 inch amp out straight into my Ashdown ABM / 4x10 with no EQ, valve drive or sub harmonics turned on. 

With the settings shown below it sounds almost the same as the Di out going into the PA.

This feature is great as I can duplicate the Di sound into any back line amp.

[Al Krow]

On 18/11/2025 at 09:55, Linus27 said:

Andertons price is £449 which is inline with the other Bassrigs.

 

Am I right in thinking that if I wanted to have drive, I would have to stop playing, turn the drive dial to suit and then start playing again? There is no way to play with a clean tone and then kick in the drive to switch to a dirty tone on the fly?

 

That's a really useful point, thanks Linus! So essentially we can go from bypass --> clean or dirty B15 tone, depending on what you have the pedal set on. Tbf I guess that's exactly what you would have to do if owned the amp?

 

Some great bass tones from this - particularly liked what IMA was producing - that Retro Rock! Ooof! 

 

Question: how much different / better than a Sansamp VT Bass DI, is this?

[ra0ulduke]

37 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Question: how much different / better than a Sansamp VT Bass DI, is this?

 

🍿

[Quatschmacher]

44 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Question: how much different / better than a Sansamp VT Bass DI, is this?

That question would probably be better addressed in a Super Vintage thread given that it and the aforementioned pedal are SVT recreations. (Do Tech21 make a B15 pedal?)

[Killerfridge]

56 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

That question would probably be better addressed in a Super Vintage thread given that it and the aforementioned pedal are SVT recreations. (Do Tech21 make a B15 pedal?)

The VT Bass has the 'character' knob that changes it from B15 to SVT to a mega aggressive drive (according to Tech21)

[Quatschmacher]

8 minutes ago, Killerfridge said:

The VT Bass has the 'character' knob that changes it from B15 to SVT to a mega aggressive drive (according to Tech21)

Ah cool, I stand corrected. As you were then. 

[krispn]

On 18/11/2025 at 08:56, Quatschmacher said:

 

Reminds me of some of the tracks he recorded for the Lakland bass demos waaay back on their site… presuming it was IMA that did those. He had some cracking tracks on those. 

[Al Krow]

47 minutes ago, Killerfridge said:

The VT Bass has the 'character' knob that changes it from B15 to SVT to a mega aggressive drive (according to Tech21)

 

Exactly thanks. Two Origin pedals under one hood on the highly regarded Sansamp pedal, which is often available for around £150 used. So, back to my question of whether this is a material step up over the much loved VT Bass DI? Look forward to an unbiased A/B of the two in due course.

[Quatschmacher]

10 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

 

Exactly thanks. Two Origin pedals under one hood on the highly regarded Sansamp pedal, which is often available for around £150 used. So, back to my question of whether this is a material step up over the much loved VT Bass DI? Look forward to an unbiased A/B of the two in due course.

Off the bat, the VT’s speaker emulation is that of the 8x10. A lot of the B15 character is from the ported, baffled 15” cab so I expect there’ll be quite a noticeable difference there. If you can turn the speaker emulation off and run through an external IR, that’ll likely get closer. 

[Al Krow]

5 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

Off the bat, the VT’s speaker emulation is that of the 8x10. A lot of the B15 character is from the ported, baffled 15” cab so I expect there’ll be quite a noticeable difference there. If you can turn the speaker emulation off and run through an external IR, that’ll likely get closer. 

 

Thanks. It is indeed possible to turn the speaker sim off on the VTDI, but I guess I'm looking for a comparison of the two pedals as standalone - shame I no longer have my VTDI otherwise I could have loaned it to you to do a proper A/B, Peter!

[Quatschmacher]

Pretty sure it’s a keeper for me. My only complaint is that I didn’t get it at the same price as the other two BassRigs (which I bought used).🙂 

[Killerfridge]

I've got a VTDI I can loan if you fancy doing a comparison.

 

I think of the Sansamp as a "close enough" pedal. I'm using it to get the character of an SVT or B15, rather than trying to emulate an exact amp. I've found that just because something sounds more like the amp it's replicating doesn't necessarily make it better

[LukeFRC]

3 hours ago, Al Krow said:

 

Exactly thanks. Two Origin pedals under one hood on the highly regarded Sansamp pedal, which is often available for around £150 used. So, back to my question of whether this is a material step up over the much loved VT Bass DI? Look forward to an unbiased A/B of the two in due course.

I've seen the guts of both (well a Origin Bassrig, not the new one)  and they are very different in terms of the electrical complexity of what they are doing - so I'm not sure it's as simple as saying one pedal can do two sounds and another brand needs two pedals to do the samething.  

Edited 14 hours ago by LukeFRC

[Quatschmacher]

3 hours ago, Killerfridge said:

I've got a VTDI I can loan if you fancy doing a comparison.

 

I think of the Sansamp as a "close enough" pedal. I'm using it to get the character of an SVT or B15, rather than trying to emulate an exact amp. I've found that just because something sounds more like the amp it's replicating doesn't necessarily make it better

Thanks for the kind offer. I’ll pass though as I’ve already spent ages comparing other stuff (which has been fun) and the Origin does the business. I think need to cool it a bit with pedal madness, get on with some playing and also crack on with FI4 update work.

Edited 13 hours ago by Quatschmacher

[ra0ulduke]

1 hour ago, LukeFRC said:

I've seen the guts of both (well a Origin Bassrig, not the new one)  and they are very different in terms of the electrical complexity of what they are doing - so I'm not sure it's as simple as saying one pedal can do two sounds and another brand needs two pedals to do the samething.  

 

This is a very old debate that I always find a bit tedious. Some people are only concerned with pure functionality, and yes, the VTDI is perfectly adequate for that, because you can't hear the difference in a live situation anyway. Others (myself included) want that little bit extra, that look and feel. That's not rational, but it's fun. I, for example, find the VTDI very ugly, so I use other preamps. Both approaches are fine.

[Al Krow]

50 minutes ago, ra0ulduke said:

 

This is a very old debate that I always find a bit tedious. Some people are only concerned with pure functionality, and yes, the VTDI is perfectly adequate for that, because you can't hear the difference in a live situation anyway. Others (myself included) want that little bit extra, that look and feel. That's not rational, but it's fun. I, for example, find the VTDI very ugly, so I use other preamps. Both approaches are fine.

 

Sure, but it can also be a question of cost and value for money as well as how pretty the pedals look?

 

For some folk spending £900 on two pedals, whose job can be done by just one other which is well regarded and well established, for a fraction of the price, is also not going to be rational or potentually indeed affordable. So whilst the discussion may be tedious to some, it can also provide useful information to others?

[chrisaxe]

Hey all - I would be really interested to hear how the Bassrig Fifteen compares to the Super Vintage. Does anyone here have experience with both?

 

I use the Super Vintage all the time and love it, but as a huge B15 fan I'm considering switching. 

[Quatschmacher]

22 minutes ago, chrisaxe said:

Hey all - I would be really interested to hear how the Bassrig Fifteen compares to the Super Vintage. Does anyone here have experience with both?

 

I use the Super Vintage all the time and love it, but as a huge B15 fan I'm considering switching. 

If you love both sounds, the answer is obviously to get both, otherwise you’d miss one.

 

Much more deep bass available in the SV. They are different beasts. 

[LukeFRC]

7 hours ago, Al Krow said:

For some folk spending £900 on two pedals, whose job can be done by just one other which is well regarded and well established, for a fraction of the price, is also not going to be rational or potentually indeed

The bassrig stuff is modelling the preamp, poweramp, reactive load and cab sim that’s been tuned to match the original cab - it’s going to do one thing but it’s going to do it really really well.

 

the VTDI is a preamp with a simple cab sim at the end, I don’t know how complex it it is shape wise. Where I’ve seen an electrical examination of the VTDI the character knob is a variable eq curve that can dial in a more driven sound, or dial it out (b15 a like)

 

It’s a great pedal big “I want a B15 sound in a pedal” investigations don’t often mention the VTDI as an option. I think they sit in different categories, an Ampeg sgt would be a closer alternative- or if you really were after two bass amps on a budget the tonex one would probably do it digitally. 

Origin aren’t doing it in digital, are U.K. made and are aiming at a level of “let’s engineer this thing well” where price point and value for money aren’t their primary driver of what they are doing. 

[krispn]

Yeah I think the origin stuff isn’t a ‘like for like’ comparison to the other gear out there claiming to do a similar thing. While the question will always be does it sound like… many of these boutique businesses (such as Wren and Cuff with their era correct Muff recreations) it will sound like the particular amp or pedal they have access to which might sound different form your pedal or amp from the same era. 
 

What Origin are doing is pretty cool and gonna make a lot of people happy who want the sound and ‘feel’ of those classic amps recreated as closely as possible in a compact form. 
 

Will my tube preamp set to sound like a B15 with eq tweaks sound like the Fifteen? No but it may sound close enough or closer than some other B15 recreations, it may sound good enough but I’ve never played a B15 to compare. 
 

Im gonna try and pick one up (mostly if a used one comes up) as I think the sound and way people are describing the feel would be the perfect direct to PA for the always on tone and with a simple twist of a knob it would provide the gritty tones I sounds get with other pedals. 
 

If anyone’s sending one back let me know if you’d be up for some trade and Px discussion I’ve got some gear I’d be up for discussing 😀
 
 

 

 

[ra0ulduke]

11 hours ago, Al Krow said:

 

Sure, but it can also be a question of cost and value for money as well as how pretty the pedals look?

 

For some folk spending £900 on two pedals, whose job can be done by just one other which is well regarded and well established, for a fraction of the price, is also not going to be rational or potentually indeed affordable. So whilst the discussion may be tedious to some, it can also provide useful information to others?

 

That's why I wrote that both approaches are fine. The discussion about expensive vs. cheap pedals is fundamentally pointless.