Tech21 Bass Driver Elite

[NoirBass]

https://www.tech21nyc.com/products/sansamp-2/sansamp-programmable-bass-driver-elite/

 

Edited yesterday at 06:06 by NoirBass

[dave_bass5]

Saw this earlier on my feed. I’d love one but can’t imagine it’s going to cost less the £600, at the least. 

[Musicman20]

$299 in the USA...

 

I suspect this is because it is digital, so much cheaper to manufacture once they have the core sound?

 

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/BassDrElite--tech-21-sansamp-programmable-bass-driver-elite-preamp-pedal

[acidbass]

I suspect the change to digital will lead to Sansamp licensing their sound to Line 6, Neural etc which I would support whole heartedly!

[dave_bass5]

Wow, at that price I’m game. 
Looks like a long wait so I’ll get on with life for a few months lol. 

[fretmeister]

NAMM

 

Not

Available

Maybe

May.

 

 

[dave_bass5]

Just now, fretmeister said:

NAMM

 

Not

Available

Maybe

May.

 

 

Yeah, at the earliest. And who knows what the price will be if Trump hasn’t calmed down 🙄

[fretmeister]

Interesting though - Tech21's entire thing has been how analogue they are.

 

The price makes it a lot more realistic but may also alienate the "digital is crap" brigade.

[fretmeister]

Just now, dave_bass5 said:

Yeah, at the earliest. And who knows what the price will be if Trump hasn’t calmed down 🙄

 

I admire your optimism that he won't have started WW3 by then.

[dave_bass5]

31 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

 

I admire your optimism that he won't have started WW3 by then.

Started and finished ? 😬

 

[SumOne]

I like the look of that, and $299 seems a decent price that'd hopefully translate to about that in £. seing as a $ is £0.74 and I suppose there are import costs. 

 

Tough, simple and looks like it can do all the things you really need for gigs: Tuner, compression, drive, EQ, line and XLR out, fx loop, simple to access presets, and some nice to have extras like filter, IRs, Chorus (I wonder if it can do other modulation effects or delays?), midi.  

 

I suppose the key thing will be if it sounds good though. I'm not against digital, but there is a big variation between a good digital overdrive and a bad one.

[warwickhunt]

6 hours ago, acidbass said:

I suspect the change to digital will lead to Sansamp licensing their sound to Line 6, Neural etc which I would support whole heartedly!

 

Just an observation but if this is the 'digital' version of the Tech 21 DI bass driver type thing, is it not already modelled in the Helix/Stomp units?  

 

It may well be getting produced by the originator of that tone but at the end of the day it is just software/capture/modelling?

[fretmeister]

5 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:

 

Just an observation but if this is the 'digital' version of the Tech 21 DI bass driver type thing, is it not already modelled in the Helix/Stomp units?  

 

It may well be getting produced by the originator of that tone but at the end of the day it is just software/capture/modelling?

 

 

The HX version is a Mk1 without a mid control. And as always - models of the same thing but on a different modelling platform sound different due to different approaches to the task.

[warwickhunt]

9 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

 

 

The HX version is a Mk1 without a mid control. And as always - models of the same thing but on a different modelling platform sound different due to different approaches to the task.

 

This where I get lost off...  

 

It may well be the Mk1 with no mid control but the HX has dozens of ways of adding/subtracting mids while using the Tech 21 block.  Surely if the core tone is right, then anything else is just embellishment as you'd get by tweaking EQ from the bass through to an amp or desk?

 

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, SumOne said:

I like the look of that, and $299 seems a decent price that'd hopefully translate to about that in £. seing as a $ is £0.74 and I suppose there are import costs. 

Tough, simple and looks like it can do all the things you really need for gigs: Tuner, compression, drive, EQ, line and XLR out, fx loop, simple to access presets, and some nice to have extras like filter, IRs, Chorus (I wonder if it can do other modulation effects or delays?), midi.  

I suppose the key thing will be if it sounds good though. I'm not against digital, but there is a big variation between a good digital overdrive and a bad one.

 

So it's essentially a drive focussed multifx? Just wondering (other than XLR out) what it's offering over some of the more popular multifx's some of which have very usable drive patches?

 

I guess, fingers crossed, it will be nailing the classic sansamp sound better than most!

Edited 17 hours ago by Al Krow

[SumOne]

1 hour ago, warwickhunt said:

 

Just an observation but if this is the 'digital' version of the Tech 21 DI bass driver type thing, is it not already modelled in the Helix/Stomp units?  

 

It may well be getting produced by the originator of that tone but at the end of the day it is just software/capture/modelling?

 

The thing I find though is just because a company says it had digitally recreated something, doesn't mean it's a good recreation. Helix say they recreate it, as do Zoom, and Boss, all to varying levels of success.  I dunno, but I'd assume sansamp can do sansamp better than anyone else, perhaps not though.

[fretmeister]

5 minutes ago, SumOne said:

 

The thing I find though is just because a company says it had digitally recreated something, doesn't mean it's a good recreation. Helix say they recreate it, as do Zoom, and Boss, all to varying levels of success.  I dunno, but I'd assume sansamp can do sansamp better than anyone else, perhaps not though.

 

 

This is why every firms "Plexi" amp model sounds different too - they all used a different favourite plexi to model and as we know even plexis made next to each other can sound very different.

 

Then there's different approaches. Fractal have always presented a "perfected" version of a model for ease of use and Line 6 went for warts and all accuracy but that needs a bit more experience to dial in and leads to some people thinking the models are wrong. The new L6 stadium apparently has both options.

 

And then of course finally you get those who say "That doesn't sound like a real XX" even though they've never been in a room with a real XX.

 

Plexi and Dual Recs get that the most. Complaining that the plexi isn't high gain (FFS) and complaining that the Dual Rec is flubby and not a metal super amp (it isn't. Not without boosts and drives).

[dave_bass5]

Personally i think this will sound fine. I don't think T21 would bring something out that they would ruin their reputation. 

As for analogue vs digital, once out of the bedroom i cant see what difference it will make to anyone. This is 2026, are we still having that discussion 😂

 

[Skybone]

Certainly looks interesting. A new take on the BDDI Programmable?

 

As for Tech21 licencing their sound, as far as I know, all of the modelling stuff on the market already has a BDDI emulation on there.

[dave_bass5]

8 minutes ago, Skybone said:

Certainly looks interesting. A new take on the BDDI Programmable?

 

.

This is how i see it. IF it has the sound of the BDDI, it will be a good update, especially as it has Chorus and comp as well. Id love to get a programable BDDI but they dont have the MKII Mid control, which i really liked in the BDDI KMII. Looking at it, it seems to have a mid sweep and Q, maybe more like a cut down Q-strip than the old BDDI, which elevates it even higher for me. 

[ezbass]

The Tech21 Marty Friedman guitar pedal looks just the same build and Anderton’s have that for £399.

[fretmeister]

1 hour ago, dave_bass5 said:

Personally i think this will sound fine. I don't think T21 would bring something out that they would ruin their reputation. 

As for analogue vs digital, once out of the bedroom i cant see what difference it will make to anyone. This is 2026, are we still having that discussion 😂

 

 

 

and as the saying goes - once the drums start rolling, it just doesn't matter.

[Al Krow]

12 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

and as the saying goes - once the drums start rolling, it just doesn't matter.

 

Very true! But push that argument a little further and you end up concluding: "why bother with pedals at all?"

 

I guess tonally what some folk are content with, won't cut it for others?

 

Personally I'm super happy with the digital drive that my Boss GT1000 Core and GX10 provide, and actually prefer it to half a dozen standalone drive pedals sitting on my shelf waiting to be sold...

 

But I think the point is what we hear on stage from our amps, or via our IEMs,  plays a key part in how much we enjoy performing. No one is going to pay more attention to the bass tone than the bassist, ie us, right?

[dave_bass5]

13 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

 

Very true! But push that argument a little further and you end up concluding: "why bother with pedals at all?"

 

I guess tonally what some folk are content with, won't cut it for others?

 

Personally I'm super happy with the digital drive that my Boss GT1000 Core and GX10 provide, and actually prefer it to half a dozen standalone drive pedals sitting on my shelf waiting to be sold...

 

But I think the point is what we hear on stage from our amps, or via our IEMs,  plays a key part in how much we enjoy performing. No one is going to pay more attention to the bass tone than the bassist, ie us, right?

Yeah but with IEM’s in and on stage with spill, ambient etc, you still have more than just bass in your ears, so its still not really going to be noticeable IMO. 

[fretmeister]

12 hours ago, Al Krow said:

 

Very true! But push that argument a little further and you end up concluding: "why bother with pedals at all?"

 

 

 

Nah. You can still hear overdrive / modulation etc. You just can't hear small differences that only listening in a studio would reveal.

Not being able to hear the difference between 2 types of chip in an overdrive pedal or whether the sound is from an analogue chip or a software emulation when the drums are playing is a lot different to hearing whether the pedal is on at all.

 

That's not even the same subject!