Ampeg VT 40 guitar amp for bass?!

vivahate · #1 06-28-2010, 08:26 AM

hey,
i m planning to buy the vt 40(the vt 22 would be its bigger brother, or the heads v2 and v4)
i sometimes play a friends v4 head with my bass rig and it sounds fantastic.
since this is half the watts, do you think this would still work out?
thanks a lot.
daniel

DaZombieWoof · #2 06-28-2010, 08:30 AM

Essentially the power section like a B25B head which is low power but sounds wonderful. VT 40 speaker compliment installed would be pretty dismal for bass.

vivahate · #3 06-28-2010, 09:38 AM

werent these meant for bass anyways since they have 4x10" speakers?

BassmanPaul · #4 06-28-2010, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivahate

hey,
i m planning to buy the vt 40(the vt 22 would be its bigger brother, or the heads v2 and v4)
i sometimes play a friends v4 head with my bass rig and it sounds fantastic.
since this is half the watts, do you think this would still work out?
thanks a lot.
daniel

A 50W amp will not take you too far. You'll be barely heard above the drummer.

Paul

KramerBassFan · #5 06-28-2010, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassmanPaul

A 50W amp will not take you too far. You'll be barely heard above the drummer.

Paul

It'll sound good by yourself though!

BassmanPaul · #6 06-28-2010, 12:30 PM

True!

2behead · #7 07-13-2011, 03:09 PM

50 watts will sqweek buy if you like it dirty. My head is all tube and 135 watts. I play @ 1/2 power through 1 evml in a nice cab. Band always says I'm too loud. keep in mind I play a DIRTY bass. If you want clean tone 50 tube watts is not enough.

solodb · #8 07-13-2011, 03:53 PM

Here's what you could do. Remove the amp chasis and put it in a seperate head case. Build that yourself or watch for one on flea bay or craigslist -they do pop up. The VT-40 was a very heavy sucker as a combo! Then either use the head with an efficient proper bass cab or seal up the original combo with some sort of reversible port system that will allow you to restore the electronics back in without permanent modification in case you want to sell it like it was. You might be pleasantly suprised how good the VT-40 sounds for bass; even though it's only 60 watts it will have a nice vintage tone that will be unmistakably Ampeg. Remember too all the V- series have two external amp jacks in the back that make feeding your pre-amp sound to another amp or P.A. support a breeze!

nashvillebill · #9 07-13-2011, 04:23 PM

I recall hearing a V2 head at a gig a few years ago. Well hearing wasn't exactly the right word. "Imagining I heard bass-like sounds" was more like it. It just didn't have quite enough oomph to carry over the rest of the band (which was only the drummer and guitar shredder). I don't recall what cab was used, though; an inefficient cab sure would not have helped any.

I would love to have a V2 head myself for guitar use only though...