2013 Ampeg V-4B 100W Reissue

[coreyfyfe]

I've never had a vintage Ampeg not start and finish a gig or practice. 6 different amps over a 6 year period played exclusively. A 68 B15, a 69 B25, a 73 SVT, a 75 B15, a 76 V4, and a 76 V4B. 100% reliability rate

My 65 B15 blew its PT on a gig. So 25% failure rate on vintage ampegs at gigs for me .

 

[hennessybass]

Also, as far as the price point is concerned...

Sure you get a new amp here for $1300. Or you can buy an old V4B for half of that... let's say $700. If you are talking about actually using the amp, and having it in reliable, gig worthy condition, I can almost guarantee that within the first 6 months you will end up spending around the $150 - $200 price range. As I recall, the old V4B has a lot of caps. A full on new cap job, 4 power tubes, a few pre-amp tubes, and just time for the tech to get things right can add up really, really fast.

A new tube set for a V4B from Fliptops runs $180 for the tubes. Even if you can hold off on some of the caps, or hang on to the original pre-amp tubes, IME, it is only a matter of time before that stuff has to be replaced on a vintage amp. So over the first year of gigging, expect to pay a few hundred extra dollars to get your vintage amp right. By that time it is pretty realistic that you have spent close to $1000 for that vintage amp.

So, spending $1300 for a brand new amp, with warranty and many, many years of solid operation ahead of it is not all that crazy. IME at least.

 

[Arnie]

I want! I'll wait until it becomes "deal of the day" for $499. Lol

 

[two fingers]

its weird they didn't announce a guitar model. the V4/V4b are highly sought after by so many heavy guitar players. bands like converge/defeater/code orange kids have been recording all guitars and bass with them for years now occasionally.

There really aren't that many differences. Here is a very informative thread about it.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/ampeg-v4-vs-v4b-definitive-guide-differences-936715/

The vintage one I use is a V4 (non "B" version) and it kills for bass. I have played through a vintage V4B and it sounds just like mine. They are (essentially) the same amp.

Many, particularly vintage, amps are interchangeable. Fender Bassmans and Ampeg V4s are the first two that come to mind, but there are plenty more. I wonder if there have been many changes made to the modern version of the V4 circuit to "enhance" bass. If not, "heavy" guitar players could just use the new V4B and be happy. (Although 100W for guitar would pretty much kill you..... in the face. )

Not to mention, I'm sure we run in different circles, but in my 25+ years of doing this, playing with literally 50+ bands and doing lots of multi-band shows, and attending hundreds of shows both national and local act, I don't recall ever seeing a guitar player who played through any Ampeg amp, much less a V4. I'm not saying they don't exist, but I would bet there isn't a huge market for this like in the bass world.

 

[Right_Butterscotch64]

When I saw this had come out I thought I was going to kick myself for buying that vb-2 a few months ago. At that price, my GAS is eliminated.

 

[hennessybass]

Ya. 100w for a guitar is pretty big.

I actually sold a V4BH to a guitar player. He and his buddy were in a stoner rock doom kind of band.

 

[P Town]

My 65 B15 blew its PT on a gig. So 25% failure rate on vintage ampegs at gigs for me .

My '63 B-15 PT also failed a while ago.

I can't believe it only lasted fifty years.

It just goes to show that Ampeg can't make an amp that does not constantly need service.

Now I am afraid that come 2063, I'll be fixing my PF-500.

It worries me, because I'll be 105 year old, and probably wont even remember how to work my oscilloscope anymore by then.

 

[Bert Slide]

Ya. 100w for a guitar is pretty big.

I actually sold a V4BH to a guitar player. He and his buddy were in a stoner rock doom kind of band.

I had a 100 watt Ampeg 212 combo back in the 80's. I played guitar in our high school pep band which was made up of guitars, bass, horns and drums. My school won state in football 2 out of my four years and we played most games in the same stadium the University of Louisville played in. I can vividly remember lugging that 100 lb. beast up into the stands. What a tank but it filled the stadium with my horrible renditions of We Will Rock You and We are the Champions!

Trinity Shamrock Highschool Football Rocks!


Love my old V4B and the new one looks good. Can't wait to try one.

 

[denton57]

While I see your point, you did go through SIX of them, not one. It would be a different story had you used the same amp through all of that same time period.

I could buy 6 vintage Chevy trucks in a row and tell you how reliable they all were while only driving then for 20K miles each. But had I put an additional quarter million miles on ONE vintage truck during the same time period, the conversation would have been different. However, a NEW Chevy truck getting a quarter million miles of use is not news whatsoever. (My '99 is close to that and is still my daily driver.)

(Hey, am I the first to get a car analogy into this thread???? Woohoo!)

The point is, if new players, inexperienced in working with tubes, or listening for signs of wear and tear, can get the same tone (or reeeeeealy close) with a brand new, under warranty amp, it is a win win for them (before you even throw in the forty pounds lighter thing).

Point is, I bought them all after they were 30+ years old. I used them, they worked and were reliable. Never brought a backup amp head.

I had no idea of their history or the beatings they took before they were mine. Just my experience.. Nothing more, nothing less. I just wouldn't shy away from a 70's Ampeg for fear of failure.

I'm a full blown Fender 100T guy now, so I'm not sure why I'm even posting on here anyway

 

[GregC]

its weird they didn't announce a guitar model. the V4/V4b are highly sought after by so many heavy guitar players. bands like converge/defeater/code orange kids have been recording all guitars and bass with them for years now occasionally.

One possible reason is that they just brought out a line of guitar amps in 2012 (I think).

 

[coreyfyfe]

By the way, I have considered doing on of those "external" mods for mine. Do you have a link to that post? Maybe you could PM it to me please. Don't want to derail this thread on really big bass amp news over a gain control. The new V4 has it, so no need to go back and forth over it too much. (I'm as guilty as anyone on this.)

This is a thread talking about how to make the box you plug into the "ext amp" jack
http://music-electronics-forum.com/t1677/

When I get back to my desk I can find David's thread with the effects loop style control.

Edit: From here - an effects loop master volume control

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[z11111]

We are working now to provide VR style grilles for the SVT-410HLF, SVT-410HE, SVT-15E and SVT-610HLF. There is one already for the 810 (the 810-AV grille).

While I don't have an exact date, we plan to make these and have them available through our parts dept for order. We will be sure to communicate this out once all done. Should provide a lot of options for Ampeg users.

Oh hell yeah.

 

[greengoblin]

Very interesting! Wish they would've used the early 70's faceplate and maybe some repo aluminum knobs... I just prefer that look..

Would be interesting to see the schem to compare the differences between the new and old... And would've been nice to see a variable watts selector like Fender used?.. But all in all it looks like a sweet amp!!

Off topic:regarding old vs new. A lot of people's logic if off I feel when it comes to this topic. Why a full retube on a vintage amp? If the tubes test fine at the tech, then you are just wasting money for nothing. Most of the vintage tubes will last a very long time and won't need replaced. And most will sound just as good as new if not better! Hence why people pay more for vintage tubes. On most vintage amps, do a cap job and you are done.. And if you look around you can usually find an amp that has been recently (or at some point) been recapped.. So worse case scenario, have a tech look it over and enjoy the amp for another 30 years.....

 

[chunkstyle]

Keith Richards played through a V4.

 

[f.c.geil]

I found my next amp!

 

[3l3phantstomp]

TO BE SURE

 

[Fair Warning]

its weird they didn't announce a guitar model. the V4/V4b are highly sought after by so many heavy guitar players. bands like converge/defeater/code orange kids have been recording all guitars and bass with them for years now occasionally.

Who?

 

[WretchedExcess]

This. I mean Ampeg did sell all those $4000+ B-15's.

I'd be willing to bet that most of those $4000 B-15s don't end up being real gigging amps. I think it's safe to say that the majority of those $4000 low-watters are probably garage queens.

There -- I said it.

 

[Chef]

Shoot, I dunno.
If I spent that much coin on it, I'd sure be using it.

People say the same thing about high$ basses, and I gig those every week.

 

[jbd5015]

Yea i drove 400 miles round trip for my V4B/B40 rig on St. Patricks day last year and gigged it twice that evening. I was eating ramen noodles for the week or so afterwards, but these things are made to be played!!!

I even tell the guy i bought it from (who plays some pretty cool outdoor gigs frequently), that he can use it whenever he wants so these can be heard!!