Behringer Bass V-AMP Pro

[CharlieC]

In short, the absolute surprise in assembling my current bass rig was the discovery of the Behringer Bass V-AMP Pro.

It's been around for a while now, costs $169 to your door, and does things I thought would never have been available at such a low price point.

I've had zero issues with the unit for the past year and I am puzzled at the lack of adoption in the bass community given what it does, so well, and for so little.

I hope this thread will be the starting point for discussion on the absolute tone it will give you, provided you give it a chance like I did.

I have a good number of user tips that I will pass along to you on this thread and I hope you can share some of yours as well.

Cheers!

P.S. Sure, there are better pre's, that use tubes, and cost lots more, but I think you cannot do better for under $500.

Have a listen to it @ http://www.zinfanus.com/vamp

... and continue reading through the thread to pick up all the user tips!

 

[bassplayerken]

I thought about checking out one of these at a local used music shop. They had it listed for dirt cheap and I was in the market for a preamp. After doing my research, it seems that the general census is that Behringer has incredibly low reliability. You pay a lower price because of the lower quality parts and wiring that come with it. Don't get me wrong, I believe that this amp could be and possibly is a wonderful preamp, but I also believe that one usually gets a level of quality that matches the price.

 

[CharlieC]

Reliability is certainly suspect on most Behringer products according to other TalkBass threads.

I myself, never gig without some type of backup gear and I would think other musicians do as well.

I keep a Tech 21 VT Bass pedal in my gig bag SHOULD the Bass V-AMP fail me while gigging. So far, it remains un-used and a big smile remains on my face for what this thing delivers to me first-hand. As they say, "Carry an umbrella and it will not rain", but certainly, should the unit ever fail me then this thread is DONE

Other users who purchased one are equally amazed at how much they like it and I hope they join us on this thread.

http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend....mp-?sku=480693

I would suggest buying NEW and avoid USED. It is dirt-cheap at $169 so why inherit other people's problems?

 

[Justice]

i have had my Bass V-Amp Pro since they first came out in July 2003. So mine is over 7 years old. The only problem I have had with it during that time was the memory battery failing (cost $3 to replace) and it still got me through the gig.

It survived a car wreck, was stolen and pawned once (i recovered it) and it still just keeps going. And its always sounded good to me as well. I liked the the Ampeg SVT model on it much more than on my Line6 BassPof XT Live.

 

[CharlieC]

Same here, Justice, my fave model is the "Rock Classic" SVT... I have some KILLER user tips to pass along to everyone, let's see where this goes! No one else on the Internet seems to care about this unit and this is exactly why I started the thread.

 

[Justice]

well don't wait, just post.

 

[caeman]

The reason? Behringer haters. They hate anything with the name Behringer on it, and take every chance they can get get to dis the name, disparage it, and utterly deprive their products of any validity, usually for reasons that ultimately only make sense to themselves.

 

[dukeisdog]

Could someone maybe post a link to a sound clip using the Rock SVT setting or something? I'd love to hear what it sounds like.

I'm considering buying this and the BDI 21 as I've also heard good things about the DI.

Thanks.

 

[wagdog]

I've had mine for several years too. For the money you can't go wrong. My only issues so far have been having to replace the (undocumented) memory battery - twice. I find getting to some of the features to be fairly confusing and still haven't figured out all the distortion functions. Other than that it's seen steady usage from both me and my keys playing son.

And, yes, do spill the beans on any and all tips you may have.

 

[jazzblade]

Honestly, I haven't looked at one of these since the v-bass came out. Are you still limited to only one effect at a time or can you cascade them? IE, SVT amp plus chorus and compressor. If so what are the limits??

 

[CharlieC]

Tip #1: Master Input Gain

The default master gain for the unit is set at 50%. This is very inadequate for most basses.

The built-in tuner will work poorly and the amp models will be gain-starved if this problem is not corrected.

If you use passive pups or if you have relatively low-output active tone controls then fix this immediately!

To set the master input gain, enter CONFIG mode, hold TAP and turn GAIN knob all the way up: Low = -6 dB, Mid = 0 dB, High = +12 dB

Your basses (like mine) may be ones that require a +12 dB boost in order to adequately feed a signal to the unit.

 

[CharlieC]

To jazzblade: thanks for the question!

The compressor is totally independent of the effects so you can have compressor + effects

1) the compressor is great, it does not really squash your tone unless you want to squash it

2) as a bass player, slight compression is all I use... maybe some chorus... this unit does it, VERY WELL with the +1 other effect, use it wisely

 

[jazzblade]

PS. IT would be great if this stayed a informational post and not the usuall "FLAME BEHRINGER" thread.

If you don't like the product, Move along. Your hate isn't required.
Thanks

 

[ChrisAlan]

Wow, this post is funny timing. I just picked one up yesterday.

Still working with it to get exactly what I want out of it but the unit is looking very promising.

What sold me (besides the price) is that it's bi-amp capable so I can just drop it into my current rig. It's in "live2" mode so the L/R outputs are just fed to my heads power amps.

The editor / library software is pretty handy too. If you have a midi interface, hook it up. It's nicer than using the front panel. Archiving your saved presets is a nice plus.

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I have a month break from gigging so I should have time to cook up some standard tone presets for each bass.

Probably a standard rock tone, some fusiony punchy tone, a slapping tone and probably a vintagy tone for a couple of songs that call for it.

I use a range of tones during a gig, this should make the changes a lot more convenient than all the eq tweaking I do throughout a night.

 

[jazzblade]

Thanks CharlieC.

Im downloading the man and spec. Ill have a good read. The only other multi-effect I have ever used was the Zoom b-2 which was ok for the $$$. It was VERY quiet and fast changing once u got it pre-set.

 

[CharlieC]

To dukeisdog: I hear ya, man, but listen

I, too, was VERY skeptical, I bit the bullet and ordered a unit through an online e-tailer and it cost me $145 to the door, no tax, no shipping, 15% off coupon code, and a 45-day unconditional money back guarantee if not satisfied

I bought it for kicks, with every intention of sending it back

I am absolutely in LOVE with what this thing does... tones, bi-amping, DI, rack-mountable, FX, no wall wart, etc. -- Note: the manual is horrible, just get past it and claim the tones you were after

It sounds as good as how you are able to play your own bass

In other words, the magic is really under your fingers, but the tones really do exist in this unit IMHO

I do not work for Behringer or MF (you know) I just took a chance and I'm happy to report that I'm very happy and I can show you how I got there

 

[CharlieC]

To ChrisAlan: Yes, forgot to mention, it has a PC software GUI if you are so inclined to use it via MIDI (me, not so much)

If you like what you see there, wait until you hear it in action

I really don't know how Line 6 sells their "X3 Pro" @ $699 ... the BASS V-AMP in many ways smokes the X3 for BASS players (and I have an X3 as well) ... don't get me wrong, I love the X3, just find it hard to justify with the Behringer unit in the picture

 

[behndy]

The reason? Behringer haters. They hate anything with the name Behringer on it, and take every chance they can get get to dis the name, disparage it, and utterly deprive their products of any validity, usually for reasons that ultimately only make sense to themselves.

anybody that is happy with Beh****er products, good for them. seriously, i don't even care a LITTLE what name is on stuff. if it sounds good, then it's good. and i'm NOT using this thread, that is s'posed to be about what you like about a Beh****er product, to bash them. again, if they work for you, i'm glad that there is a low price option that makes you happy.

that said, **** Beh****er. IMO and all that. i have a Bass V-Amp (actually had one of the desktop and one of the rackmount), and it was decent. i never dug the amp sim stuff, but i'm more of a preamp pedal guy. and the effects were interesting, but the distortions didn't do it for me and i've found individual pedals that i like a LOT more.

but reliability? pphhhhffffffff. they are AWFUL with it. anybody that has long term success with their stuff should start playing the lottery. or maybe not. maybe it took ALL of your luck to have their shoddily built equipment work for you.

i just picked up the Beh****er Bass Synth pedal. and while pretty neat tone-wise, the thing's freaking input jack broke WITHIN A WEEK. a week of living on a pedalboard. all wired up. not moving. taken off ONCE to move to another spot. and i baby my stuff.

i use a Beh****er mixer for my home tv/audio setup. and that seems to last. but i would NEVER trust their gear in a place where i would look stupid when it would inevitably fail on me.

so, yes, i would consider myself a Beh****er hater. but that's because reliability is a HUGE issue with me. what use is something if you can't expect it to work all the time?

super happy for anybody that gets good results with that stuff. good on you. but nuh uh. not for me.

just thought that it was important to point out that a lot of people that are "Beh****er-Haters" have come by that honestly. and have very solid reasons for it.

imo, ymmv all that.

 

[JDJen]

I've had mine since 2004 and have had ZERO problems with it. I use it live and for recording.

I bought it shortly after helping run sound for Naked Beggars and saw it in Eric Brittingham's rig. When I asked him how he liked it he said it was great and did the job and for the money he could buy 3 Bass V-Amp Pros for the price of 1 Line 6 Pod Pro.

I figured if it was good enough for Cinderella's bass player it was good enough for me.

 

[dukeisdog]

How would you guys say that the SVT setting compares to the VT pedal? They're about the same price, and I don't think I would use any other effects except maybe compression, but I'm not really needing compression at this point. If the VT pedal and the V-AMP Pro sound somewhat close while using the SVT setting, then I know what I will be buying.