Valeton Dapper Bass sounds like a deal you can’t refuse: tuner, compressor, envelope filter/fuzz, bass amp, octaver, chorus and a DI box in a small unit for under 120€. And it’s actually really good.
DISCLAIMER: I borrowed this unti from a friend to use it live and do videos with it. I have no affiliation with Valeton. They or anyone else didn’t ask me to do a video of this unit.
Features
- TUNER Hold down the Boost/Comp footswitch to activate and mute the signal.
- BOOST/COMP A booster and compressor combo with set-to-forget knobs.
- DIRTY Q An envelope filter with unique tricks for finding your vocal tone.
- BASS AMP This bass amp module enhances your bass for every musical genre. The EQ is golden with cleans and highly responsive even with the gain up.
- OCTAVE An all-analog monophonic OCTAVE module to beef up your low end, create synthy leads, or make everything crash off the walls.
- CHORUS Dive into the lush CHORUS module to take your sound to a brave new world. The single depth knob lets you decide how deep into analog chorus dimensions you want to go.
- FX LOOP Connect other effects as many as you want and make Dapper Bass the core of your rig.
- THRU and XLR out Use the THRU output jack for parallel effects or re-amping. The XLR OUT feeds a balanced signal to audio interfaces or mixers.
- Ground/Lift switch
First impressions
After a year long break of playing in church bands I was back in action in Spring 2023. I was playing guitar and my bassist friend had this cool little channel strip as his bass rig. I really liked the sounds he was getting. After I decided to join a church band as a bassist,I asked if I could borrow his pedal.
The first thing I did with it was trying it out in my studio, and use it for bass recordings of my jam track. I was able to get great bass tones righ away and I also noticed how well the unit is built. Every knob and footswitch felt solid enough that I would be confident using it live as well.
The extensive inputs and outputs cover almost every setup possibility. The Thru output proved useful at band rehearsal, but more on that later.
At this point, I was already very impressed with the Dapper Bass, both with its recorded sounds and build quality. However, the real test would come when playing with others.
USING THE VALETON DAPPEr with a band
Integrating the Valeton Dapper Bass to the bass head and 4×10 cab at the rehearsal space was a moment I looked forward to, given my role in recording band rehearsals.
Plugging in my Sterling Stingray 4 into the Valeton Dapper, I used the Thru output into the bass amp input. I dialed in a sound using the amp’s controls that sounded great in the room.
On Dapper I then engaged the boost and amp section with settings I knew to be good, because I had already recorded with it. I had the Boost/Compressor and Amp blocks on all the time and only used the tuner to mute my rig/to tune. I then ran the XLR out into the mixing console.
I’m no expert in bass tones, but I think the end result sounded great and sit in the mix well. (you can hear an example of those tones in the video above)
USING THE VALETON DAPPEr live
Based on how the band rehearsals went I was pretty confident I would get great tones live as well. We’re using in-ears at our church and when using those you get to hear your tones in a different way.
Setting up before soundcheck was fast and smooth and I really enjoyed how little time it took me to get ready. The first time I heard the bass sound through my in-ears made me happy. The tone and feel I was getting from the rig was great. Adding a bit of compression and drive to my sound smoothed out some of my inconsistent fingerpicking.
This might sound a bit silly, but it was great to have the ability to mute my signal. Obviously I don’t want others to hear me tune, but also because my bass has an active preamp. Having the instrument cable plugged in drains the battery. There are sections in the service where we come off the stage, so being able to mute everything and unplug my bass ensures I still have battery left in my bass when the service resumes.
IS THE valeton dapper bass Good And Worth The Money?
There’s little to criticize about the Valeton Dapper Bass: small, affordable, great sounding, well-built, and versatile for studio and live settings. The DirtyQ/Fuzz was the only part I didn’t connect with, but personal preferences may vary. If you want a killer bass rig on a tiny budget, this is the unit to get.
If you’re interested acquiring your own Valeton Dapper Bass and support what I do, you can find affiliate links here:
►►Get Your Valeton Dapper Bass at Thomann: https://thmn.to/thoprod/542708?offid=1&affid=394
►►Your Valeton Dapper Bass On Reverb: https://reverb.partnerlinks.io/valeton-dapper-bass
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