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2013 Ampeg V-4B 100W Reissue Pt2

#2,961
[QUOTE="G On Bass But I just got the 'stop buying things' speech...[/QUOTE]

Ah, the horns of a dilemma. I guess you have to ask yourself a question: "Just how attached am I to the old girl?"

I've got a good one that even finds me great basses from time to time. She knows I'm worth it!;)
 
#2,962
dagrev said:
Ah, the horns of a dilemma. I guess you have to ask yourself a question: "Just how attached am I to the old girl?"

I've got a good one that even finds me great basses from time to time. She knows I'm worth it!;)
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In the fine state of California, I'm attached to her to the tune of half of everything I own. TB has shown that ex's seem to go after the basses first!

Kidding of course. It'd have to be a damn good piece of gear to risk throwing away 20+ years of marriage. :) Besides: Since I stopped playing Country and went to Indie/Alt Rock, I've actually been able to get her to come see a gig! Maybe the tide is slowly turning>
 
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#2,963
Got mine about a month ago. So far I've played 4 or 5 shows with it and I love it :,)
I don't know if Ampeg stepped up their QC since earlier in this thread or I just got lucky, but mine has had no issues what so ever so far. *knocks on wood*
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#2,964
Dr Earl Funkton said:
Got mine about a month ago. So far I've played 4 or 5 shows with it and I love it :,)
I don't know if Ampeg stepped up their QC since earlier in this thread or I just got lucky, but mine has had no issues what so ever so far. *knocks on wood*


Cool. Not many people have had problems with these - even from the beginning. Mine was one of the first and it has been flawless - even the tubes have held up - with quite a bit of use.
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#2,967
Not any real issues with this amp that I know of. I had a noise issue when I first got mine but it ended up nothing to do with the amp. I live in a very old apartment and I moved it to a different outlet and noise issue was gone. I've had mine for going on 3 years now with no problems at all. Ampeg knocked it out of the park with this amp. Best amp I've ever owned or played through.
 
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#2,970
Got to run my '62 Jazz with TIs today through the V-4B/212AV. Might be the best it's ever sounded. (Though I lean toward the Pbass side of the street.) But to my horror I found I left the amp on (not standby) since Wed night!:rollno: Everything was good and warmed up when I got there that's for sure. I got a call at the end of practice and someone else but my bass up and I never thought anymore of it. I guess really burned in the tubes nicely and shortened the life by a little. I'm sure my high blood pressure was harder on me for the first hour after realizing this than the power was to the amp.
 
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#2,972
dagrev said:
Got to run my '62 Jazz with TIs today through the V-4B/212AV. Might be the best it's ever sounded. (Though I lean toward the Pbass side of the street.) But to my horror I found I left the amp on (not standby) since Wed night!:rollno: Everything was good and warmed up when I got there that's for sure. I got a call at the end of practice and someone else but my bass up and I never thought anymore of it. I guess really burned in the tubes nicely and shortened the life by a little. I'm sure my high blood pressure was harder on me for the first hour after realizing this than the power was to the amp.
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On the bright side, tubes ain't light bulbs.
 
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#2,973
Let's look at tube heater power consumption in the V4B. There are four 12AX7's, 6.3V @ 0.3A each on average and four 6L6GC tubes. 6.3V @ 0.9A each. Power equals voltage times current. This works out to about 30.3W.

Putting aside the cost of the tubes, here is how to calculate the electricity cost: wattage x hours used ÷ 1000 x price per kWhour = cost of electricity. As an example, if electricity costs $0.12 per kilowatt hour and you leave this amp powered up in standby for 24 hours, it will cost (30.3 x 24 ÷ 1000 x $0.12) about 9 cents. The cost is actually higher because there are heat losses in the transformer. How much so depends on the efficiency of the transformer.

Suffice it to say, this cost isn't a concern. Tube cost is something else but heater elements in tubes have very long service lives.
 
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#2,975
dagrev said:
I guess my attempt at being "green" failed. Confirmed by beans math given the lumens to energy ratio!
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My big concern is leaving an amp on unattended. If something went wrong, you wouldn't be there to shut it down. In the event of a lightning storm, there could be a power surge.

But it never hurts to be green, every penny counts when it comes to preserving our environment.
 
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#2,976
beans-on-toast said:
My big concern is leaving an amp on unattended. If something went wrong, you wouldn't be there to shut it down. In the event of a lightning storm, there could be a power surge.
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Yes, the real danger for sure. And it was in an unattended space as well. I've had amps, soundboards, keyboards and other things hit by lightening over the years, all while not in use fortunately. I'm now an "unplug and disconnect everything" person. I disconnect everything from other things to isolate now. But it won't work if you forget!
 
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#2,978
Hi all! I might be able to, some time in the near future, get a V-4B. My current rig is a PF350 and two SVT210AV´s. With my band i typically run it at gain about 1´o clock and volume around noon +-1.

1; How would the V-4B compare volume wise with the same cabinets? Would i constantly have to push it into heavy overdrive to keep up with the band? (Most of the time that would be a good thing anyway ;) but it´d be nice to have some spare power.)

2; Would a single SVT-212AV be louder than my 2x210AV´s?
 
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#2,979
I don't have any experience with the SVT 210AV cabs but think they would do just fine. They are however medium duty cabs. JimmyM would know more since he owns the 210AV cabs and the V4B. I do own and play through the V4B Reissue and SVT 212AV and can tell you it is one LOUD and AWESOME sounding rig.
 
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#2,980
The V4b will blow the doors off the PF350, hard to say if the pairing will suit your needs, I do not own a 212AV so I can't comment. Folks keep calling the 210AVs medium duty and I don't agree I can run the master and gain on my V4b dimed into a pair of 210AVs. I've also run my Jule M700 dimed through these, I haven't been able to destroy them yet?
 

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