Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I just picked up the head version of this little amp. It is the best price point for a hand wired (eyelet board) 6 watt amp. It sounds pretty awesome stock,butI will put in a JJ 6V6 and either a JJ or ruby 12ax7. I might even try a 12ay7 if too much preamp distortion. Most of the other small watt tube amps have cktboards which are much harder to upgrade. And also, since it is so simple, there is nothing in the way of your sound.

http://www.vhtamp.com/vht-special.html

This is by far the best thing I have seen so far in the small watt tube amp genre!

I keep seeing their ad for this amp in Vintage Guitar,looks like it would be ideal for recording and not bugging the neighbors.

Here's a demo....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYg0_89eRR8


WHy everyone wants to show off the dirt is beyond me. I can get dirt many ways, but can I get clean? That's what I want to know.

The whole concept of these low power amps is for distortion at reasonable volume levels, clean is easy to get, with all the higher power amps on the market.

I don't think so, at least for humbuckers. Most amps have tons of preamp distortion, thanks to the Marshall. I want the output tubes saturated, but not so much in the preamp. Maybe I'm wrong, but in my experience with tube amps, it is hard to get that Blackface sparkle with multi stage 12ax7's maxed out in the preamp. I have a 12ay7 for V1 in my Pignose 60 watt, and it works well to get the clean.

With the output tubes in saturation, I can get that sweet(distorted just a tad) Les Pauly (well as close as a semi hollow can get) with the neck pup, along with the P90 in the middle. I have to use a Hotplate with the Piggy, so I bypass for sparkly cleans.

Interesting they used a $99 SX to good effect from 2:00-4:40....

http://www.rondomusic.com/hawkmnbk.html Different tail/bridge though.

I tried 2 of those little combos out in Iowa right before I left, and was surprised how dark they sounded to me. Especially considering how close VHT's old stuff was to a Hiwatt. Very nice stuff.
I'm sure, like all of the other little amps, Mercury Magnetics and Bitmo will soon have uprades to the components for tweaking things out. Scary how pricey those "upgrades" can get
Still loving my AC4, especially with the right pedal in front of it.

I have been messing around with this little guy all day. I am running into a Fender 2x12 with Eminence Legends, not quite broken in yet. If I set the tone to about 9:30, pull the boost switch but have it off via the footswitch, I get really nice cleans, and a flip o the switch and i have overdrive. This happens no matter where I set the Vol. I ran a V-amp 2 for a bit and that was nice with the modeling, but the reverb is AWFUL! I will prolly put a tube reverb in the Special 6, there is plenty of room.

I guess I like dark amps then, cuz I really love the tone, haven't even put the JJ 6V6 in yet. Oh, and I only like the small watt heads, not the combos. I like to run 2x12 for everything.

PS - This little amp allows you to use El34, 6V6, or 6L6 as it is "self biasing". The EL34 should brighten it up for folks who like that.

charlyg wrote:PS - This little amp allows you to use El34, 6V6, or 6L6 as it is "self biasing". The EL34 should brighten it up for folks who like that.

Technically, I believe it is called cathode bias, correct me if I wrong and I will go back to my corner.

Yes it is. The mktg guys used "self-biasing" which is also technically true as nothing changes but the tube. And "both" of these are different than fixed bias.

Here is a tidbit from TapeOP. Check em out.

Small-to-medium tweed amps (Champ, Princeton, Deluxe, some Harvards and some Tremoluxes) use cathode-biased, or "self-biasing" output stages, while the larger tweeds are fixed-biased."

"Cathode-biased output stages offer a spongier envelope and a bit of natural compression or "sag" to the notes that is often flattering. Fixed-bias amps, as a rule, offer a firmer feel with tighter bass and a robust attack."

Here's a link to the article, but check out their other articles. Some real good info here.....

http://www.tapeop.com/articles/80/crash ... mplifiers/