Ampeg V4 Club

[JvN]

Originally Posted by dubstylee

It's an Ampeg V4 Cabinet which I've loaded with four S2012 Basslites.

Wow! Can you post a pic without the grill? (I now see the angle from which the picture was taken ;-)...

[nysbob]

Originally Posted by BassSurfer

Does anyone have any sound clips of their V4? Would love to hear and see how other people are using them!

The bass in this video was recorded by mic only - no DI.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ETdEbHcCgU

[Ang1970]

Cool club here. 31 pages wow! I'll have to go through those tonight or tomorrow.

Came across your site googling for repair shops/persons. My v4b needs some tlc. Among other things, the hum balance pot is dirty beyond repair and the local guy couldn't figure out an acceptable replacement so... I'm fishing for repair recommendations in the northeast USA (New England hopefully). Any help is greatly appreciated!

p.s. The most hopeful prospect so far seems to be Central Jersey Music Service in Edison, NJ. (Ironically, I think they were the ones who set the amp up before I bought it at Lou Rose in the mid 90's.) So anyone with good or bad experience with them I'd love to hear from. Thanks!

[pedro]

Corey might have a suggestion.

[coreyfyfe]

Where in the north east? Rhode Island area I'd recommend B Sharp on broadway in providence. Boston area the usual recommendation is aztech in Watertown. I bring all my work to B sharp or do it myself.

[Ang1970]

Hi Corey, I'm in Western Mass. Never heard of B sharp, but providence is only 80 min drive for me so that's not too bad. I'll check him out. I've heard odd stories about the other gentleman you mentioned. You're right in beantown and don't go there - says it all. Thanks!

[coreyfyfe]

Originally Posted by Ang1970

Hi Corey, I'm in Western Mass. Never heard of B sharp, but providence is only 80 min drive for me so that's not too bad. I'll check him out. I've heard odd stories about the other gentleman you mentioned. You're right in beantown and don't go there - says it all. Thanks!

I've bought a few tube amps in the area and gotten the "recently serviced at Aztech in watertown" line and they always seem to have some serious issues - the last one had mismatched power tubes and still had a 2 prong cord with exposed wires. No competent tech would have left it in that condition, but just because someone says it was serviced doesn't mean it was. I've never actually had work done there, but I've avoided it for this reason. Dave at B-Sharp does great work but has 3-4 week wait times usually. He does quality work though, and did all the repair work on my V4 when I had it so I'm sure you'll be in good hands.

[astack]

First gig with the V4B last night! While the head's been pretty cool in practice, it gave me LOTS of warm fuzzies on stage. Just pure beastly goodness. If every show goes that like, I'll have no gas for a "bigger/better" tube head.

It was a new place, so it was hard to really gauge it, but ended up REALLY happy with the sound from where I was standing (almost on the amp -- super tight stage!) and was told by several in the audience that I cut through way better than usual, but didn't overpower the rest of the group. I've only ever gotten that comment before when I was using the Orange TB500. Must be the tubes

I usually have the volume at around noon because it sounds so good with a good bit of breakup even though in practice it's a bit overpowering. (I've even been considering using a less efficient cab to bring it down.) But last night had the volume down around 10:00 because I didn't want to be a jerk and drown out the band on the gig. Didn't bother me at all, sounded like plenty of saturation going on. I was definitely digging in more than during practice, so that could have balanced it out.

Unfortunately, the sound guy couldn't be bothered to put a mic on my cab (nor for the SVT-VR in the band before ), so I had to send a line from my pedal board. But judging from the other bands on the bill, I don't think he was putting much bass in the PA, so not that big a deal. Need to pic up a mic for next time.

Signal was the usual: stock Fender AmDlx Jazz w/ a slight bass boost on the preamp strung w/ Roto 66's --> volume modded Bass Big Muff --> Fdeck Pre set at 3:00 and 3:00 --> V4B eq'd fairly flat --> sealed 2x Deltalite 2512II cab.

[denton57]

Originally Posted by denton57

Club member #59 checking in with some pics finally. Also can show off a matching width cab I had made by LDS. 3015 non LF with no tweeter.

Attachment 312117

Attachment 312116

For those interested in a custom LDS 1x15 cab for their V4 (matching width), let me know or check classifieds. I'm going to restore a V4 cab

[the dude]

Already a member (#56,) but added a v4 cab today.
Kinda beat but sounds sweet.
Assume the cups on the bottom were added?

[hardtwister]

Those "cups" were factory on these guitar cabs. That cab will KILL if you put some lightweight modern drivers in it. They are built like a tank, but the stock CTS speakers are nothing special for guitar, and no good for a bass at all.

[the dude]

Originally Posted by hardtwister

Those "cups" were factory on these guitar cabs. That cab will KILL if you put some lightweight modern drivers in it. They are built like a tank, but the stock CTS speakers are nothing special for guitar, and no good for a bass at all.

2512s ordered.

[two fingers]

Originally Posted by astack

Unfortunately, the sound guy couldn't be bothered to put a mic on my cab (nor for the SVT-VR in the band before ), so I had to send a line from my pedal board. But judging from the other bands on the bill, I don't think he was putting much bass in the PA, so not that big a deal. Need to pic up a mic for next time.

I have also had good luck recently trying something I learned here not long ago. You can get a countryman DI Type 85. (If the PA company is any good they will have these or something similar.) And you can run "speaker level" DI. There;s a switch on the DI box that says "instrument/speaker" on it. Throw it to the speaker side. Then just run your speaker cable right off the back of the head into the DI, and another one into the speaker cab. Then when the sound guy hooks up his XLR cable going to the mains, he will be getting the full compliment of your amp. And it;s much easier to tell a sound guy "Here's my countryman DI" than "Here's my mic." We won't even know that you are running speaker level.

[two fingers]

Originally Posted by the dude

Already a member (#56,) but added a v4 cab today.
Kinda beat but sounds sweet.

That looks exactly like my B40 cab (although mine is way more beat up than yours). Is there a difference between a B40 cab and a V4 cab? Mine had the CTS drivers, cups that look just like those etc. See pic.

[jumbodbassman]

Originally Posted by Ang1970

Cool club here. 31 pages wow! I'll have to go through those tonight or tomorrow.

Came across your site googling for repair shops/persons. My v4b needs some tlc. Among other things, the hum balance pot is dirty beyond repair and the local guy couldn't figure out an acceptable replacement so... I'm fishing for repair recommendations in the northeast USA (New England hopefully). Any help is greatly appreciated!

p.s. The most hopeful prospect so far seems to be Central Jersey Music Service in Edison, NJ. (Ironically, I think they were the ones who set the amp up before I bought it at Lou Rose in the mid 90's.) So anyone with good or bad experience with them I'd love to hear from. Thanks!

good guy in danbury CT/Brookfield area. Bell Audio

[the dude]

Originally Posted by two fingers

That looks exactly like my B40 cab (although mine is way more beat up than yours). Is there a difference between a B40 cab and a V4 cab? Mine had the CTS drivers, cups that look just like those etc. See pic.

b40 is 410.
v4 is 412.

[Bass 45]

The cups on the bottom were for the original dolly which had six rubber feet pointing up. The dolly stayed connected to the bottom using two thumbscrews into the t-nuts that you see on your cab.

[jumbodbassman]

Originally Posted by Bass 45

The cups on the bottom were for the original dolly which had six rubber feet pointing up. The dolly stayed connected to the bottom using two thumbscrews into the t-nuts that you see on your cab.

all ampeg cabs prior to the tiltback option with the svt and V4B cab had this dolly.

[denton57]

Originally Posted by the dude

2512s ordered.

Sweet! I just picked up an empty V4 cab and am deciding between 2012s or 2512s.

My cab has casters added and is missing 3 handles and a grill. Ordered a new grill from fliptops last week

[christw]

Once I start getting the paychecks from my new job I'll probably get a headcase for my VT-22 and load it on the CTS loaded Marsha(ll) 410 for my new project.

Now if only I had another Marshall 410 and 4 more CTS speakers...