Tech 21 SansAmp RBI

Pretty easy to use, knobs are clearly labeled, do what they say.
Similar controls to a standard combo amp or something, drive, bass, mid, treble, presence, blend.

I do like how the XLR level is right on the front so you don't have to mess around in the back to set it.

I am not sold on this item. It sounds OK, not great. It can get the effect of using a Fender Bassman, but it sounds more like a Bassman effect, not a real Bassman. I tried all the settings in the manual, and they all sound terrible. The only way I got a good, usable sound out of this thing was to back off the Blend knob to about 12:00 to allow more of my actual bass instead of all the sansamp effect.

Seems like it will be fine no matter what I do to it. One thing, I don't like how all the 1/4" connections are all plastic in the back.

Have not tried it yet.

I play rock, blues, metal, surf, funk, etc. I need something that has a few good sounds that I can dial in easily. This thing gets some good sounds, but they are more effects and not real good preamp sounds.
I've been using this with a Fender JP-90=>SansampRBI=>QSC PLX 2420=>Schroeder 412R.
This unit sounds better the less I use it.
I like how versatile the sounds are, but they sounds like effects instead of cool bass sounds.
If this were stolen or lost I would buy something else.

Fantastic tones come easily with this unit. Especially if your other gear is great and in proper working condition. I call the active switch the "yes button". I love the way it sounds even with the controls flat. Go ahead and try it, you won't be sorry.

I personally like to bring the dirty up and boost the midrange to get that more "natural" sounding overdrive.

I feel that you can't go wrong with this unit in your rack.

I have two Sadowsky 5 string basses. One is a modern 5JJ, the other is a Standard 5. I use an Ampeg SVT4 PRO and an Ampeg SVT10E bass enclosure. Butter Zone!

The EQ and the drive sound great all the way across. It's fun to twist the knobs and try different things before settling with a tone. As I previously stated, you can just hit the active button and leave the knobs flat for a very friendly tone. Shaping is to your preference.

There is no noise when twisting the knobs and certainly no hissing or anything when you use the drive. It is clear that this unit was carefully put together for studio or live use.

It's easy to get that the sounds you hear by bands like Tool, Rush and Metallica.

It's very simple to get a nice fat clean sound or a nice grindy dirty sound that still sounds great amplified.

I use it without a backup, but I will get a second one at some point anyway.

Even with reliable gear, things can happen. I haven't had a single problem and I've had mine for about five years.

I've never needed to get service, but I've talked via email with Sansamp and they are polite and easy to talk to.

I've played rock, classic rock, oldies, metal and modern rock styles.

I've been playing bass since 2002 and I've had my Sansamp since 2004 or 2005 and it never gets left out of my signal chain.

A feature that should get more attention is the 50/50 button on the back. You can blend your effects loop by 50% to retain some of your unaffected signal. It's super cool to use with my Morley PWB wah. You get that big fat gritty wooshing wah sound while still having that big fat punchy sound. There are no words good enough to describe the awesomeness!

Do I wish it had anything else? It already has the yes button... it already has the 50/50 button for the effects loop... I guess it could only be better if it had a button that makes it make me a sandwich and pour me a drink. Seriously, it's very cool the way it is.

I finally got to use this unit in the studio. I feel it really shines on a song called "just a piece" I did with my band called Versed in Grey. Should be available for listening in October 2009

If you cant use this, you have issues.

I use this with a Fender Jazz and Fender Jaguar which are my two main basses. I have it running through an SWR SM400 which is Bi-amped using the SWRs internal crossover to an Ampeg SVT410 and SVT115. The Sansamp only runs through my 410. I let the 15" cab handle the low stuff on a clean setting. Alot of people say the Sansamp hisses. It will show some high end frequency noise but if you roll off the treble a tiny bit it goes away without effecting tone.

Read a bass magazine and youll find its in almost every pro bassists rack. Its there for a reason. I have no reason to have a backup but I am going to purchase one soon for my backup.

I bought this used, so I skimmed through the manual thats online from Tech 21. Found it easy to understand. I havent had to contact them otherwise.

I wish this was capable of being run through a bi-amp setup like I run but I almost like having my 410 run the effect of the sansamp and having the 15" cab run all the clean low stuff. This way, any low end that might be lost from the Sansamp is put back into my mix. If this was stolen, I would hunt down the POS who stole it and cut his hands off. I play mainly rock and it cuts through perfectly. There is some type of compression in this unit that makes every note you hit audible.

This is an update to my previous review.

After testing it with my full tube gear (Bassman 300 Pro head with 215 cab), I decided to try out with my other gear that is

GK 700RB-II and Avatar 212 neo cab. It's a $529 amp + $ 329 cab = for a total of $858 kit.

GK 700RM-II and Avatar 212 neo cab by themselves sounds great but honestly it sounds a bit sterile and a bit lean in low mids. It sounds awesome with 51' precision (cause it sounds so fat) or modern bass with active electronic, but a bit lean with modern Precision or Jazz bass.

Also since it's full solid state, it's as dynamic as it could be in any situation. Not good or bad, just different from tube rig.

So adding $263 SanSamp to a $858 half stack makes $1121 system made in heaven.

Seriously, when I connected the SanSamp to this rig I was very impressed. Even thou I was able to get the same tone as the SansAmp with the Bassman (and even better) with the GK it's a very different story. I cannot get this tone with the GK alone. Far from there.

Now as for the other review, I have to keep everything flat on the GK in order to get a good sound from the SansAmp.

The GK is very flexible tonewise, but it's really not possible to get the Sans amp tone.

I can get something not so close by
- Crancking the countour to the max
- Slightly crancking the presence and the treble
- Crancking the Low Mid to the max (for more chunck)
- Slightly reducing the high mid

Now this will be very lively and clean but still cold because it is not compressed at all.

The main difference is that the Sans Amp beautifully crancks the higs, but also dramatically compresses the sound, so the highs are very lively and when you play harshly, the sound brutal but not overwelming because the sound is nicely pillowed as tube would do.

It's really a transparent compression.

Now I realized something. Even though I complained on my first review concerning the lack of a pedal to turn the unit on or off, once you have the SansAmp hooked up to your kit, you will never turn it off. Let me explain why.

- First of all, it sounds so good that you will not want to turn it off.
- Since you have to keep everything flat on your preamp in order to use the SansAmp, when you turn the SansAmp off, then you have to tweek your preamp. Not very convenient.

By the way I also did another test, on both the Bassman 300 and the GK 700RB, completely bypassing the preamp and connecting the SansAmp directly on the effect loop return.

In both case I was desapointed. It sounds cold and lean. So it sounds so much better when connected in the instrument input of a preamp. It is just perfectly warm in this way, not too hot as long as your preamp is set all flat.

One little problem I found, the electric wire is very sensitive to RF noise. I did not notice this the first time. I wonder if the DI version is better this way since it's batteries fed.

I'm not talking of noise cought by your Jazz Bass, I'm talking about rather noise from the AC or some RF pollution. When a buzz comes from your single coils pickup, you can hear it change by spinning on yourself and then finding an angle that is more quiet. This time the noise was changing only by moving the AC cable. I could get arround this by reducing the gain on my preamp and boost the level on the SansAmp, therefore drawning the noise with louder signal. Oh well many old fashion good sounding preamp were sensitive to noise.

I sent them an email inquiring about the foot switch and they promptly replied with alternatives.

I was impressed testing it with a full tube head, but I was much more impressed testing it with solid state modern gear.

It makes all the difference in the world and both my GK head and Avatar cab benefit from the Sans Amp tone because not only it really sounds like old fashion tube (actually sounds much better then the lower end Ampeg stuff), it also compensates for the lack of low mid balls of this set.

It really made me discover excellent sound from that rig and I will now enjoy the best old fashion sound even in small club where I can't fit in with my big rig.

I'm keeping it.

I have heard so much about this that I had to give it a shot.

As easy to use as it could be. Started all flat, with Blend pot turned to max.

This is like an old School SVT. Awesome sound right off the box.

Great presence, imposing and deep. Very lively tone.

Great for Blues, Classic Rock, Pregressive, Hard Rock and Metal where tube crunch sound comes handy. If you consider James Gang as Funk, so let's say that this unit is Funcky.

Not suitable for Jazz/Fusion, and on the edge for Motown. You will not be able to get this Old Bassman sound that Peter Cetera had on the First Chicago LP.

Ok I already own an old school tupe head, Bassman 300 Pro, with the 215 cabinet that goes with it. So I could compare them both.

I actually had the SansAmp connected to my head's instrument input, but with all EQ set flat or disabled, all EQ buttons off and all compression off.

When I activated the SansAmp I was blown away. Really. Ok, the signal was still going through many tubes, but in a way to get the sound as natural as possible.

What strikes me the most is the presence. The SansAmp sound is very old school tube mid scoop and highs crancked to the max. So it's very crunchy.

The presence and the Crunch is VERY SVT. It is so SVT like that people that are turned off by the SVT sound will probably not appreciate the SansAmp. Personnaly I love that sound.

I tried it with Jazz 60' Precision 70' Precision 54' and Schecter Studio-5 with Bartolini Electronic,

Now this is a drive tube simulator unit, and it performs very well at emulating the SVT TONE and dept. But when it gets to the point of distortion, it sounds really like cheezy transistor distortion. But keep in mind that distortion is not the porpose of this unit.

Ok, I can get this sound from my Bassman, and much better distortion, but I need to tweek my sound heavily go get this tone. This still just shows how good the SansAmp sounds. Actually the SansAmp seems a bit more dynamic. It's definitely more catchy, because of the awesome tone right out the box.

Like an SVT, you cannot do everything with this unit, but what it does, it does it VERY well.

For the price and the absolute tone you get off this unit, I give it a well deserved 10.

Well, there is no tube in it and no digital parts either, so how better could be. Personnaly it's the chips that worries me not the tube but at least, this unit is as reliable as it could be without maintenance.

Highly recommanded.

This is really a fantastic unit.

If you own modern rig and you crave for SVT tone, get this. It's not as good for distortion but the tone and crunch is definitely there.

Now I have a problem, I have this tone with my amp already, but I have to tweek it a lot, so I'm tempted to keep the unit just for the sake of having a quick alternative in my tone. Don't know what I'm going to do.

If you plan to use this unit as a preamp, try to match it with a power amp that soun as clean and high end as possible, in order to keep the lively edge of this sound. It's just a personnal opinion.

This is a follow-on review from my earlier one dated 08/22/2005 to update the customer support & reliability ratings.

I now play a Warwick Thumb bass and I'm so happy with my tone it's not funny :)

I posted my review on 08/22/2005 - it's now Boxing Day 2007, and this unit is still going strong. Just the slightest hint of crackle in some of the pots, but that goes away after a few turns. Now that I have my settings dialed in where I want them, most of the controls don't get touched - so it's not surprising that they're a little dusty.

All manuals are available if you contact Tech 21, and they've been very helpful with some questions I had regarding my used Landmark 300 head. Very quick response time too :)

I have to drop this a point - using the Landmark 300 head has spoiled me for fixed mid frequency EQ. If I was buying again, I'd get the RPM instead - of course, that doesn't have the Presence knob, but my Warwick doesn't need much of that. Less agressive basses definitely benefit from it though. If the RBI had a parametric mid I'd never need another pre-amp.

Very easy to use. All analog knobs that can be adjusted for Drive, Presence, Bass, Mid, Treble, XLR output and Level. Pretty straightforward. Manual comes with a lot of sample settings as well.

This unit allows me to get the sound of many of my favorite bass players. You can easily dial in overdrive sounds similar to Geddy Lee, Doug Pinnick, Billy Sheehan or Chris Squire. The clean sounds can help you get nice smooth clean sounds with lots of bass and crisp highs (if you have the right bass of course).

I use a MusicMan Stingray 4 (fretted) and MusicMan Stingray 4 (fretless) and run them though the Sansamp RBI > Ampeg B2RE (only use the power amp) into an Ampeg BXT210M cabinet. The setup is great because the Sansamp sounds good through the PA so I really only need my stage rig to serve as a monitor. You will hear some noise when you boost the presence or treble settings but this is not due to the Sansamp it is amplifying previously un heard frequencies from your guitar. I don't care what people say every bass will put out some noise and this unint will expose it. Regardless it is not nearly as bad as alot of preamps and effects units out there.

It is a rock solid rack unit with no moving parts. I really can't see anything going wrong with it.

I play all types of music but predominately classic rock and progressive rock sounds. Occasionally, I do some jazz gigs and use my fretless through it. This box can literally dial in any sound you want. I have tried nearly everything out there including the Line 6 Bass POD XT (live and regular version), the 3 channel SansAmp, the Sansamp DI, the MXR Bass DI, BBE DI, everything you can think of. This unit, in terms of tone and versatility, blows them all away. This has more capabilities than the regular SansAmp DI box and can be your companion with everything.

I just picked up a used RBI yesterday. Not sure if mine is a newer one or not as I've seen two different sets of cosmetics on them- one has a grey face around the controls, and the one I have is simply a black fact all the way 'round, with white lettering.

The unit allows continuously variable controls, just like a "real" amp. There is no programability here- just plug in, dial up the tone you crave, and get to work playing (irony there!)...

The front panel control layout is pretty straight forward-From left to right-
Input jack, Drive, Presence, Blend, Bass, Mid, Treble, XLR Output level, Standard Output level, Active LED and pushbutton, and finally, a Power switch and old school looking power light... Just about as basic as an SVT or Bassman would be on the front panel...

The rear gets a little tricky! I won't go into all of the ins an outs back there, but suffice, there is also an input jack on the rear with an input level adjustment that lets you select between line level (0db and instrument level (-20). There are outputs for both the Sans amp tone and unaffected outputs. The sans amp outs have the same level padding switch as the rear input. Hopefully, the unaffected outputs are buffered I have no way of knowing at the moment (read on in customer support), and an effects loop with a switch for a 50/50 mix. This feature is one of the only things I haven't had a chance to play with yet (again, read customer support)

This unit is all analog, which to me is the real deal. So what if its solid state (read NO TUBES),It just plain out sounds good to me!!!

I got it home and plugged it into my SWR Stereo 800 power amp (currently bridged to mono) and SWR 4 x 10, hooked up my serious modified Yamaha BBN-4 (bass ass bridge, Grover tuners, Dimarzio Jazz Pickups in bridge and neck), and within a minute, got a tone that not only would make Geddy Lee or Chris Squire proud, but was pretty close to what I have heard in my head, but was never able to produce with my current gear!

You know the tone- that slightly "over the edge" SVT tone where the damn amp is loud enough to take on (or even take OUT) the Marshall and Hi-Watt boys; just at the point of going over the edge into serious grit with all that bottom end doubling and warmth? Yeah, that's the tone! Thats the tone I love and have wanted for years. Now its here! It can be dialed in to be thick (but not ot he point of sounding muddy) and gritty or biting (without harshness). This is what I've wanted from a tube amp (cost) and many speaker systems (cost and car suspension wear!!!). I have finally got it...

I should mention a bit about the gear that the RBI has replaced (for the moment). I traded off a Trace Elliot GP7-SM200 head for this. The T.E., while good, clean sounding head, just doesn't have the tone I was hoping for. In fairness, I lived with it for a year, and tried various EQ settings and such, but to no avail. I've seen guys who play upright use this amp (yes, its that clean), but it doesn't cut it for "balls out" rock.

The other item is an Alesis 3630. Before you go off and say "gee, no wonder he didn't get a good tone", let me tell you THIS 3630 has been modified to the gills, with everything from better op-amps, caps and resistor, to power supply beefing. This is my version of what the 3630 SHOULD HAVE sounded like in the first place! It will not compete against an Urei or Avalon, but its certainly better than every other 3630 out there!

With the RBI, and with the limited use that I have had over the last day, I ALMOST don't need the 3630. I say ALMOST, because while the RBI has a great tone and seems to respond to my bass guitar in a very natural way (emulated tube compression somewhere in there?), Ifind that when I try to slap, the tone just seems to be lacking a little- just not quite as meaty as I'm used to. Sure, the cut through and punch are still there, but things just aren't as even or "leveled" as they are with the 3630 in; or maybe its just my sloppy slapping ability after "only" playing for 20 years. Hehehe...

Put it this way- If I had a gig tonight, and had no chance to reinstall the 3630 into my rack, living with this box for the one whole day that I hvae, I don't think I'd be whining at the show about my tone- it STILL rocks, compression or not...

The thing seems to be built like a tank. I haven't opened it up and seen what's inside yet (I almost always do that- dont' tell the manufacturers, please!!!). The front handles actually match (in geometry, at least, but NOT in colour) the ones on my SWR power amp (the SWR's handles are black, but made from what I assume to be similar stock). All jacks and connectors have a very solid feel to them, even though almost all of them are plastic! This is the first rack with plastic jacks that I actually feel totally comfortable with!

Great look, solidly built, and, well, what else can one say? I don't think I'd consider a back up, unless I brought along my Sans Amp GT-2 just in case...

Here is where I CAN'T give this company a ten out of ten!

Like I said, I bought mine used. It came in the box, with a power cord, but missing two things- the packing material, and most importantly THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL!!!

So I figured I'd just surf over to Tech 21's website, right? Gotta be a PDF section there to DL it.

NOPE!!!
NOTHING!!!
NADA!!!

I have searched the site over about 20 times and found nothing there that even HINTS at instruction manuals for ANY of its products. Thats just plain crappy in this day and age.

In the end, I actually emailed them requesting the thing. While I KNOW how to run basics and set up a decent sound, I don't know things like "is the unaffected output buffered?" or "what is the input impedance?" Some people may not care and just plug in and away they go. I not oly would like to know this, but I'd like to see those sample settings everyone raves (or boos) about...

Shame on Tech 21 for not having this feature at their site. YUCKY!!!

Based on the lacking manual download section, how does one still justify a ten if that is the case? Easy, the product itself is simply a great sounding machine, regardless of whether you use it as an "effect", a preamp, or a full blown "rig" as Geddy Lee does in conjunction with a Palmer Speaker Emulator on some of the latest Rush material/live stuff).

Currently, I play in three different projects- one is called Silmica (www.silmica.com), the other, String Theory, and the third, Lucky-13. As one can guess, each band requires a different style of playind (and IS of course a different style of music in general).

I can see the RBI's use in each of these projects, ranging form power trio (L-13), power pop (ST) and improvised free form music (Silmica). Its range of use is pretty varied, so it most likely will NOT get left at home any time soon!

OK- finally had a chance to thoroughly check out the Tech 21 Bass Sansamp RBI. I found it incredibly easy to get a great sound, but not with any of the factory recommended settings. I apparently like a lot more low end than whoever came up with those. Regardless, this thing sounds great! I am running it as a preamp and I am able to get that big tube rig sound with my amp's eq set completely flat! There are some low-mid frequencies that seem overly scooped, but running through an EQ before it in a chain can compensate for that easily. My only issue with it is that with it being designed to emulate tube distortion and warmpth (both of which it does quite well), it's hard to get a really clean tone. That dosen't bother me in my rig, since we play heavy metal and some tube bite helps it cut through nicely, but for some other forms of music (like jazz, R&B and Raggae) where that super fat clean tone is needed, this might not be the best option. All the basses I tried through this did have active electronics, so maybe an old school passive P or J with some flatwounds would give you that tone, I'm not sure. I'd have to give this a 9 overall, with the limited EQ range and the whole clean tone thing being the only flaws this thing seems to have. Some anal retentive tube purists might be able to tell that it's not a true tube tone, but there are always people who love to nitpick shit and tell you why their $10, 000 rig sounds 5% better than your $300 processor. 99.999% of the people who hear this will just like what they hear. I would HIGHLY recommend this to anyone who wants killer tone and dosen't mind at least a touch (up to a shit-ton- I think that's the technical term they use in their manual) of overdrive bite. The manual is short and easy to understand, too.

When ran through a Carvin BRX1500 head with the eq flat at all 3's running into a Carvin BRX410 and BRX118, nice clean sound. No weird hisses, hums, snaps, crackles, or pops.

Only had it about a week, but it seems tough....

If anything happened to my gear, this would be one of the first things I'd replace. The line out and XLR out level controls are right on the front! That'll make me get along better with a lot of sound guys... If I designed this product, the only thing I would have changes is adding a headphone jack with adjustable level, then this could be your entire at-home practice rig.

The manual explains the controls, their functions and how to use each. Sample settings are a good place to start but I found myself developing my own custom settings based on the sound I liked.

Here's where it gets a little tricky. The Presence knob can create noise..yet it provides upper harmonics so you must decide how much to adjust to suite both your taste and to reduce annoyance. If you adjust the various knobs to integrate with your power amps EQ you can find many great sounds with little or no noise at all, so noise can be a problem but does not have to be. It provides warmth but it is not a true tube type of warmth..it gets very close but if you are a tube truist you may find yourself wanting a tube preamp..I am debating but at this time I am sticking with the unit because it is maintenance free and sounds great!

Tech 21 builds great gear, you won't have any problems.

See previous comments

I won't address all the bullet points as they are not necessary. My overall rating is reflective of it's ability to provide a variety of tones, including an overdriven simulation of a tube preamp. The reason I cannot give it a 10 is it not a 100% emulation for the warmth of a real tube preamp. Please dont misunderstand and take this as a negative because it is a very good simulation, but you know the real deal when you play in front of a real tube amp. The warmth just sounds like that invisable fuzziness that gets the hairs on the back of your neck up and the Sansamp just doesn't quite do th at..