Ampeg V4BH Distortion SOUNDCLIPS

[Mark Olson]

Ok, I wasn't sure where to post this, amps or effects, it's not really an effect per se, but I assume you all know you can push certain amp heads into distortion. So I did a few quick soundclips of me playing through an almost cranked Ampeg V4BH. I couldn't crank the power section without clipping out my recording device, sorry, so it is possible to get a little more power tube distortion out of this head. And I'm sorry for the low quality of my soundclips, if anyone would be curious to hear some better quality soundclips I could probably take the time (and I need a microphone) to do that for you sometime.

Here's just the cranked amp head. I like that sound, you can imagine that's why I play Ampegs, but that's just me:

http://media.putfile.com/Ampeg1

Next, same setting on the amp but I kick in a Z. Vex Box of Rock for more full on distortion:

http://media.putfile.com/Ampeg2

And last I add a Wilson Bass Q Wah to get a little crazy:

http://media.putfile.com/Ampeg3

I don't know if you can tell from my low quality samples, but the head can even get a little compressed and fuzzy if you want. Very cool. Obviously this is not a high headroom piece of gear. And I can tell all that raging Ampeg glory didn't translate so well but hopefully I gave you some idea anyway.

EDIT: Here are some higher quality clips.

Just the cranked Ampeg:

http://media.putfile.com/Ampeg1-37

Add the Box of Rock:

http://media.putfile.com/Ampeg2-60

And some wah courtesy a Wilson Wah:

http://media.putfile.com/Ampeg3-18

These samples are done with just the bridge pickup, but I have more with the neck pickup too if anyone wants to hear them.

EDIT:

Ok so I did some clips as promised of the SVT-3 Pro to compare. Again I'm using a Gibson SG Bass, which I find is good for pushing these Ampeg amps with it's burly sounding humbuckers.

First is just the amp's distortion:

http://media.putfile.com/SVT-3Pro4

And then with the box of rock:

http://media.putfile.com/SVT-3Pro5

It's a lot tighter sounding than the V4BH, which is good for the mud that comes out of the SG Bass.

[RedCoatMonster]

Dude that was killer. I especially like clip 3!

[Ryan Mohr]

Clip 2 is really nice sounding, that's what I have been wanting for my full-on distortion.

[Mark Olson]

Thanks! I haven't found a pedal with quite as much balls as the cranked Ampeg, but one thing I like about the Box of Rock is that it does kind of sound like the V4BH, but it's not as compressed and defined though. The combination of the head and the pedal is great though!

And I'm listening to the clips and they sound really tinny and whatnot. I don't know if you can tell but I had to back the recording device far away from the amp to keep it from clipping. In person it's a much more full sound, albeit a little compressed (but I don't think too much). I'll try to do some better soundclips when I get the chance and I can also do some soundclips of the SVT-3 Pro cranked as well, which is a different sound.

[RedCoatMonster]

That would be awesome, Ive been thinking of saving some cash to get an Ampeg.

[Ryan Mohr]

Originally Posted by Mark Olson

Thanks! I haven't found a pedal with quite as much balls as the cranked Ampeg, but one thing I like about the Box of Rock is that it does kind of sound like the V4BH, but it's not as compressed and defined though. The combination of the head and the pedal is great though!

And I'm listening to the clips and they sound really tinny and whatnot. I don't know if you can tell but I had to back the recording device far away from the amp to keep it from clipping. In person it's a much more full sound, albeit a little compressed (but I don't think too much). I'll try to do some better soundclips when I get the chance and I can also do some soundclips of the SVT-3 Pro cranked as well, which is a different sound.

The combination of the V4BH and box of rock definitely sounds natural, as if the V4BH was just pushed a lot more. I love the sound of the box of rock, I just wish there was more gain on tap (I know you said it has plenty), but I was hoping to use it as a full-on distortion. On a side note, can you get as much grit out of the SVT-3 Pro?

[asherthemachine]

nothing sounds like a cranked ampeg. it makes me want to make love to my svt..... per say....

[Spinal Tapper]

Sounds awesome! What kinda bass were you playing out of? Sounded like a guitar...
Also,
Is it POSSIBLE to achieve that sound live???

[Mark Olson]

Originally Posted by AqueousView11

The combination of the V4BH and box of rock definitely sounds natural, as if the V4BH was just pushed a lot more. I love the sound of the box of rock, I just wish there was more gain on tap (I know you said it has plenty), but I was hoping to use it as a full-on distortion. On a side note, can you get as much grit out of the SVT-3 Pro?

You could seriously try stacking two boxes of rock, or the box of rock and something else. You can still get a good sound stacking certain overdrive pedals, like tubescreamers for example. Stevie Ray Vaughan is very famous for stacking tubescreamers. It's just not something I normally do because I want to avoid multiple filtering, especially on bass. But I've gotten cool sounds particularly with one pedal run into a tube pedal, like the Fulltone Bass-Drive into an EHX English Muff'n. When the controlled distortion of the Bass-Drive meets the splat of the Muff'n it's a gnarly sound.

I don't find I can get quite as much gain out of the SVT-3 Pro as I get from the Ampeg V4BH. The SVT-3 has a solid state power section whereas the V4BH has a tube power section that can distort even more. With the SG Bass that I've been playing I can get a nice overdrive from the SVT-3 Pro, but personally I don't think it sounds quite as good as cranking the V4BH in it's full tube glory. But I'll try to do some decent soundclips maybe sunday or next week so you can judge for yourself.

[Mark Olson]

Originally Posted by Spinal Tapper

Sounds awesome! What kinda bass were you playing out of? Sounded like a guitar...
Also,
Is it POSSIBLE to achieve that sound live???

I was playing a Gibson SG Bass rolled over to the bridge pickup. I really like that sound. And you can certainly get the cranked amp sound live if you're willing to play that loud. The V4BH is only a 100 watt amp and I'm only running it through an 8 ohm 2x12 cabinet, so it's nothing like running a classic SVT through an 8x10.

[RickenBoogie]

I love that amp. These days, mine only gets played at home, but it's my favorite amp, ever. Not just 'cause it gets gnarly, like your clips, it also has a very sweet warm tone, as well.

[Mark Olson]

Yeah, I find it makes a really good amp for recording. I used it for most of my band's first album for it's warm clean tone.

[Ryan Mohr]

Originally Posted by Mark Olson

You could seriously try stacking two boxes of rock, or the box of rock and something else. You can still get a good sound stacking certain overdrive pedals, like tubescreamers for example. Stevie Ray Vaughan is very famous for stacking tubescreamers. It's just not something I normally do because I want to avoid multiple filtering, especially on bass. But I've gotten cool sounds particularly with one pedal run into a tube pedal, like the Fulltone Bass-Drive into an EHX English Muff'n. When the controlled distortion of the Bass-Drive meets the splat of the Muff'n it's a gnarly sound.

I don't find I can get quite as much gain out of the SVT-3 Pro as I get from the Ampeg V4BH. The SVT-3 has a solid state power section whereas the V4BH has a tube power section that can distort even more. With the SG Bass that I've been playing I can get a nice overdrive from the SVT-3 Pro, but personally I don't think it sounds quite as good as cranking the V4BH in it's full tube glory. But I'll try to do some decent soundclips maybe sunday or next week so you can judge for yourself.

Since Zachary Vex says to treat the box of rock like an amp, what boosts or transparent overdrives would be good for this purpose without changing the tone of the box of rock?

[Mark Olson]

Well just like you can run just about any overdrive into a dirty amp you could probably run just about anything into a box of rock. It's common to see a tubescreamer type pedal running into a dirty amp, so any tubescreamerish pedal would be a good place to start I'd think.

Also what does have some balls like the cranked ampeg but in a different way is my Analogman Sun Face. Really great for a heavy distortion sound. That's really a top notch pedal and I'll try to do some decent clips of that when I can soon.

[Ryan Mohr]

Originally Posted by Mark Olson

Well just like you can run just about any overdrive into a dirty amp you could probably run just about anything into a box of rock. It's common to see a tubescreamer type pedal running into a dirty amp, so any tubescreamerish pedal would be a good place to start I'd think.

Also what does have some balls like the cranked ampeg but in a different way is my Analogman Sun Face. Really great for a heavy distortion sound. That's really a top notch pedal and I'll try to do some decent clips of that when I can soon.

I know the tubescreamer is used frequently in this application, but I would like a little more transparency.

[Mark Olson]

Well the first thing that comes to mind is the Fulltone Bass-Drive in Comp Cut mode. It takes out the clipping section of the circuit, so its tone is less colored, it's much like a clean boost, but it is capable of adding a good amount of dirt when run at 9 volts, especially with the boost on.

[Ryan Mohr]

Originally Posted by Mark Olson

Well the first thing that comes to mind is the Fulltone Bass-Drive in Comp Cut mode. It takes out the clipping section of the circuit, so its tone is less colored, it's much like a clean boost, but it is capable of adding a good amount of dirt when run at 9 volts, especially with the boost on.

That's a great idea, I didn't think of that. Another thing I was thinking of is the catalinbread super chili picoso - http://tonefactor.com/proddetail.php?prod=SCP

[Mark Olson]

Yeah, pretty much any clean boost will kick it up a notch, but if you want a lot more distortion you'll need to kick up the volume a lot so it will be hard to keep a continuous level with your different tones if you require that.

[Ryan Mohr]

Originally Posted by Mark Olson

Yeah, pretty much any clean boost will kick it up a notch, but if you want a lot more distortion you'll need to kick up the volume a lot so it will be hard to keep a continuous level with your different tones if you require that.

That's a good point, I think stacking overdrives may be best for me, this way I will have two different overdrive flavors -BOR for medium gain and tubescreamer for low gain, and together I will get a full-on distortion.

[Mark Olson]

Sounds like a good plan! One pedal I'm still curious about is the Analogman TS9DX/808, or even just a TS9DX, which might be something to look into.