Grog of British hard rock band Die So Fluid told us about her love for her Tech 21 SansAmp
Grog: At last, I get to write an ode to my beloved Tech 21 SansAmp! Full title being Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI Bass Effect Pedal. Yes it does all those things. The main reason my love affair with it began, is due to the fact it could withstand my big goth booted stomping.
She’s sturdily constructed and compact. A stompbox needs to live up to its name. I had gotten through a bunch of distortion pedals, one had a tube in it you could see from the top, that sounded really cool, but I’m not gonna kiss and tell. Especially when I had ended most of their lives violently, albeit unintentionally. Tone is crucial to the kind of music we play. And the way we play live, means I need to be able to lunge in the general direction of the foot switch and hit it at precisely the right moment to get that heavy leap in sound that steals your breath away and pumps in your chest. Most of the time wearing the aforementioned rock boots of doom. I have taken to gaffa taping over the controls once they are perfectly set, to protect them.
I love it equally for its distortion sound which is the best out there for me. There's a lot of scope for adjustment with drive, bass, treble, presence, blend, level. I just love driven sound with full warm bottom end richness and a defining top clank, my signature sound. SansAmps are able to capture that yummy desirable tube amplifier warm tone. I can DI direct from it live and have my authentic sound right there.
There are outputs to drive power amps, recording desks and PA mixers on top of incorporating it into the setup of your rig. I also own the 3 channel version which is programmable, so instead of switching from totally clean to effect, I can have a 'cleaner’ sound so it’s less like jumping off a cliff and more of a dynamic build from one sound I’ve created to another, increasing intensity. Of course then I have to look where I’m stomping more, but it’s worth it. It really is the most reliable, and indestructible, of friends.
Die So Fluid's Skin Hunger album is out now. They're on tour in the U.S. through November, ending at the Echo in L.A. on November 14.
Photo by Anabel DFlux
