Amplifiers

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Fri May 02, 2003 9:06 am

V-4b's originally came with a double 15" strange sort of ported cab, very deep and very efficient, same size as an SVT cab but much deeper in depth, they sounded nice and deep, good match for the head, were pretty loud because of the efficiency too. They are very hard to find now though. I have been using SVT's (original 85lb. tube heads) for many years (1975), I think they were (and are) the best amps ever made for a bass. I have two, one a 70's and the other a 1987 re-issue, and two early 70's (original 8X10) cabs. I can play in the biggest rooms with no problems, they always sound great. One cab for small, and two for large rooms. For very small rooms I have two new B-15T cabs, with one 15" speaker in each that I use with the SVT heads (I took the solid state heads off of them),just my preference, I have nothing against SS heads, for very small room or quiet music I use one B-15T (they are 4 ohm cabs)

squirebass · Post by **squirebass** » Fri May 02, 2003 11:08 am

Hey, I have a question about the new V-4BH that I haven't been able to get an answer to. What do they sound like with an amp with a tweeter? I have an Ampeg 4x10 HE cab that has a tweeter, but with my two tube amps (both Fender) the tweeter is useless. Ampeg's website touts the new V-4BH reissue amp as a tube amp with a presence boost that makes effective use of modern cabs with tweeter's like mine. Being an old geezer I like the tube sound for bass, but having played SS for awhile I got spoiled by the detailed top end that SS amps have and their ability to make use of a tweeter. You can actually hear the tweeter with a Solid State amp! I can't find any V-4BH reissues to try out here in town, so I'm wondering if they are really as effective as Ampeg advertises. Can anyone tell me the answer to my question?

squirebass · Post by **squirebass** » Fri May 02, 2003 11:11 am

I should have mentioned that both of my Fender bass amps are old 70's vintage(Bassman 135 and a Studio Bass).
Thanks!

leftybass · Post by **leftybass** » Fri May 02, 2003 11:33 am

I had one of the V4-B setups in 1980-81, the one with the folded horn 2X15 cabinet that was the same size as the SVT 8X10. The cabinet had two Altec-Lansing 15" speakers...MAAAN did it throw some sound. I now go for ported stuff and as lightweight as possible; two Eden cabs (1X15 and 2X10 respectively) and a Hartke 3500...

philco · Post by **philco** » Fri May 02, 2003 1:48 pm

You'll laugh when you hear what I use with my 4004L (until you actually hear it in the flesh). I needed a small practice amp for my apartment, so I bought a Marshall AVT20 with a closed back cabinet. Sounded good with guitar, but the sound with my bass left a lot to be desired, as in no really deep bass. That was expected. I ordered an Eminence B102 speaker and got it mounted after finding some longer metric bolts (The B102 is built like a tank and has a cast basket that is about 1/2" thick at the mounting flange). It's only a 20W amp, but with that B102 it can rattle windows and doors in a normal sized living room. Plenty loud for practice, and it has features that many small bass amps don't have, like a reverb. The nice thing is that it also makes a rather unique practice amp for guitar as well, and can do organs and keyboards also. The treble as well as the bass is more extended now (40 Hz to 9 kHz), with a tighter and cleaner tone. It is loud all the way down to an open E-string. It never runs out of highs or lows, no matter what kind of guitar I plug in. It has great overdrive bass tones, as you would expect from a Marshall, and can emulate an overdriven tubed bass amp without the earsplitting sound levels of a regular Marshall stack. Not suitable for gigging, unless you miked it. It should also work in a recording situation where you want to emulate the sound of an old tubed bass amp, without the hassle of owning and hauling such a monster.

The B102 is a superb bass guitar loudspeaker, and costs as much by itself as many small low-wattage bass practice amps do. The whizzer cone gives a better quality of treble than a separate piezo horn and crossover can give, since all crossover distortion is eliminated. If you can find a used AVT20 at a reasonable price, you can add the B102 for about $100 extra if you order from Parts Express or similar discount distributor. The B102 also increases the weight of the amp quite noticeably. It is built way better than the Celestion speaker it replaced. Celestion has no bass speakers that can compare.

rekesbass · Post by **rekesbass** » Sat May 03, 2003 3:43 am

well, I have a loud drummer,so I use a Mesa\Boogie M-pulse 600(tube pre-amp+solid state power amp)w\a Mesa\Boogie roadready r5410(1x15 +4x10+twter)...my 4003 sound rabid through this rig. seems like a lot of people are using lower wattage amps,does anyone use a big rig any more??..I love my monster rig and would never use anything less. getting eaten up in the mix by a loud drummer and Mesa half stack is not an option for me..anyone else feel this way ?

dano · Post by **dano** » Sat May 03, 2003 4:58 am

In my younger days I would have never even considered playing w/o my rig. But as you get older your equipment gets heavier so you start downsizing (unless you make it big time and can afford to hire a tech to do this). Line6 was looking better with each passing year but I wanted to keep the big rig sound so I place a tube amp in front of the Bass Pod and WOW. I often have musicians ask what rig I'm using once they get past all the questions about my 4001.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sat May 03, 2003 5:20 am

If you have a BIG PA you don't need a BIG RIG ...

I have 3 ampeg bass heads and 3 1x15, 1 2x10, and 1 1x18 bass cabs ... this is a very scaleable soultion .... I can go as small as 1 150 watt head and a 1x15 cab ... or I can have 2 350 watt heads and 4 speaker cabs ... one amp as a slave to the other ...

I always use a line 6 pod as a tone shaper in front of the amp ... I have tried not using an amp at all ... just the pod ...

Now I start with a Ric bass ... the line 6 pod ... an ampeg head ... one or 2 speaker cabs ... and I mike one of the 10" speakers into the PA ...

The PA has 6000 watts ... 18" subs, 15's and horns ... plenty of power for output ...

I have quit bands where the drummer is too loud ... most drum sets are acoustic instruments ... if they are played too loud it ruins the sound of the band ... One drummer I played with was so loud that he drowned out full marshall stacks ... we would mike all of his drums but the sound man had to mute the mike because he played too loud ...

Remember that Geddy Lee does concerts with a sans amp going direct into the PA ... The reality is that it is cheaper to get a big bass rig than a big pa ... I can get plenty loud with my ampeg b2r 350 watts and a 2x10 and 1x18 setup

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sat May 03, 2003 8:52 am

I just got back from guitar center ... I tried out a mesa boogie combo 2x10 amp ... it sounded good ... cost about $1500 ... ouch ... ampeg makes a good 2x10 combo as well ...

There are lots of good amps out there ... one of my favorites was the old acoustic 360 from the 70's ... I also had a big sunn tube amp from the 70's a real heavy 1x18 folded horn cabinet that was about the size of an ampeg 8x10 cab ...

Also there are lots of cool 8x10 6x10 and 4x10 bass cabs out there ... sunn made a real cool 4x15 cab in the 70's that really kicked ...

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Sat May 03, 2003 10:46 am

As far as the new V-4B goes, I have not tried one, but have tried the new SVT classic heads and they are great sounding, should definitely drive a tweeter in a bass cab, they are not that much more expensive than the V-4B's, not that much heavier but put out 300WRMS, into both 4 and 2 ohms as opposed to the V-4B's 100 WRMS. 300 WRMS from a tube amp sounds like a thousand from a SS amp(in my humble opinion). Whats the matter with you all? I am geezer (50 year old) and I still haul and lift my old SVT's and SVT cabinets, but I guess when you have used the best for 25 years it is hard to compromise (I can hear the angry responses now! haha) I have found ways to ease my burden though, including wheels, a car that fits the stuff and plenty of help from my friends, for me, a Ric and an SVT (old or new) is the ultimate bass set up, two cabs is bass heaven! I do not kill everyone with them though, I like the sound, but they are also good for overzealous drummers and Marshall stacks, both of which I try to avoid in my old age. I have had many sound men look at my Ric and SVT and know that they are thinking prehistoric stuff, I insist on being miked and most are usually amazed at the sound I get, even big-time touring sound men. I also used Sunn 2000s's in the early 70's, were nice amps, had two Sunn 2000S bottoms, folded horn double 15" cabs with JBL D 140's in them, I also used a Marshall Major head with this setup (200Wrms) This band was known as the big wind! haha. I still hear well too, huh? I never liked the Acoustic folded horn cabs (370?) (not enough definition for me) but they were good enough for Jaco. With the SVT's the sound is so thick you can walk on it, that is what I like, and yeah those old V-4B cabs sounded great, all kinds of bottom. I have tried many of the new amps and have found many great sounding amps, but nothing like my SVT's. Yeah Patrick I understand.

philco · Post by **philco** » Sat May 03, 2003 1:48 pm

All this big rig stuff is OK, but what about the person that just wants to practice at home or play at a friend's place that is also using a small 5 to 15 watt guitar amp? I learned the hard way that you scale the rig to the room. And as long as you play at a place with a good PA system, as Jeff said, you don't need a big rig. There is a real shortage of high quality amps at the very low powered end of the scale. That would be around 5 tube watts for guitar and 25 solid state watts for bass. Both will play very loud in a typical living room. I have a Kustom Tube 12 packing a Vintage 8 speaker that can play over 105 dB SPL in a living room. The modified AVT20 can keep up with it on bass. What in the world do YOU guys use for home practice? Certainly not an SVT with two 8x10 cabs, I hope!

aceonbass · Post by **aceonbass** » Sat May 03, 2003 7:36 pm

For home practice and impromtu jam sessions I use a Gallien-Krueger 400RB(200 watts at 4 ohms)into one of my 2x12 Thiele cabs loaded with 2 EVM 12L's. Each speaker has it's own jack so I can play through just one, at which point the GK puts out 125 watts max at 8 ohms. Being solid state it sounds great at low volumes too.

ken_james · Post by **ken_james** » Sun May 04, 2003 4:34 am

Has anyone ever used any of the Madison speaker cabinets?

philco · Post by **philco** » Sun May 04, 2003 6:03 am

Is that Madison, or Madisound, out of Madison, WI?

I used a couple of small Madisound cabinets for a home speaker project. They were particle board covered in oak veneer. Fairly typical boxes with good construction. I cut my own holes on the baffle board to proper size. If you wanted some nice looking cabinets for home practice, they would do the trick.

I learned the hard way that you don't really save money building your own speakers, or anything else electronic that is mass marketed.

If you can find some cabinets with blown speakers at a giveaway price, then you might come out ahead, especially if you have something in mind that is hard to obtain "off the shelf" and would require a custom order.

ken_james · Post by **ken_james** » Sun May 04, 2003 6:55 am

Madison is a small new company out of Colorado. The cabinets are advertised as being solid 3/4 plywood and either