Ampeg Micro VR stack: double duty for bass and guitar?

[McQ7]

Hi all,

I just bought my first bass! Been a guitar player for 20 years and I'm around on other forums (thegearpage, tdpri, mylespaul, etc). Now, after almost buying a bass for about 10 times I finally took the plunge! I got a Rogue VB100, which I'm excited about and have no super-high expectations about other than decent beatle-y tones, short scale, and light weight. Anyway, that's not what this thread is about.

My goal in getting this bass is to have something for writing/jamming sessions and I'd really love to be able to bring it, my guitar, and a single amp along. For guitar, I've got pedals for dirt that I'm perfectly happy to use with a clean amp (Lumpy's Lemon Drop and Liquid Lead). I play a lot of rootsy rock, blues rock, 60s stuff--things like or that are influenced by Beatles, Cream, Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones. My current amp is a kit version of the early circuit Supro 1624T. It can keep up with a drummer just fine for jamming. The places I play out I'm mic'd and go into a PA. For home use when others are around I have a Yamaha THR10 that works great.

Long story short: is the Ampeg Micro VR stack a decent amp that can pull double duty for bass and guitar? Is there any decent edge of breakup tones for guitar in there like with a V4 or SVT, and/or would it make a good clean platform for pedals?

(Also, I'd be lying if I said looks don't matter, and I think it looks pretty sweet. Not too crazy about very contemporary looking bass gear--I prefer a vintage/retro look.)

Thanks everybody! I'm very excited to finally join the club, so to speak.

 

[JimmyM]

Yes. Makes an excellent clean platform for pedals, and you can crank the gain to make a breakup tone for guitar. Is it the very best breakup guitar tone I ever heard? No. But it ain't bad, and it kills on bass.

 

[McQ7]

Thanks! In my digging around on this amp I came across a lot of useful stuff by you, JimmyM--it has all been extremely helpful in guiding my decision. I'm really glad to see you chimed in here.

What do you think about that choice for my purposes vs the newest Fender Rumble series (100, 200, 500)?

I really wish local stores carried these, but they just don't.

 

[beans-on-toast]

As you alluded to, a pedal will help compensate at the higher end tonally.

 

[McQ7]

When I first discovered that Micro VR and that it was based on the SVT, my first thought was 70s Rolling Stones guitar and bass tones. I don't expect it to be the equal of the SVT, but since the SVT amps worked for both and I love those guitar tones, I figured the Micro VR might, as well. You know, if the overdrive is only decent I would throw a Catalinbread SFT in front and be done if the platform is more or less a miniature SVT.

 

[beans-on-toast]

Let us know what you think of it when you've had some time to try it out. I recall that Will Lee uses a Micro-VR for some bass recording. He can use anything but likes the amp.

The type of guitar will also make a difference, darker Les Paul humbuckers vs lighter Stratocaster single coils. There's room to experiment there as well.

 

[McQ7]

Yeah, if I end up getting it I'll definitely let everybody know. My guitar tones tend to be on the brighter side, but with girth/fullness if that makes sense. Jimmy Page's LP tone is kind of like a beefier Tele bridge tone, in my opinion. For years the first Zeppelin album sold Les Pauls when it was actually recorded with a Tele. Keith Richard's stuff in the late 60's early 70's is a lot of LP and Tele. And I play an LP and a Tele, so it's all the same kind of tonal world, I think. Though dissimilar in many ways, I think both Page and Richards live in the world of that brighter, cutting tone that also has a lot of width and fullness.

 

[JimmyM]

Thanks! In my digging around on this amp I came across a lot of useful stuff by you, JimmyM--it has all been extremely helpful in guiding my decision. I'm really glad to see you chimed in here.

What do you think about that choice for my purposes vs the newest Fender Rumble series (100, 200, 500)?

Thanks, bro! Have not played the Rumbles with guitar, but I've played a few of them with bass, and they're good but I found it difficult to get a non-mid-scooped sound out of them. I prefer the more mid-versatile voicings of Ampegs personally.

Anyway, yeah, they definitely remind me of a smaller SVT. The cab voicing is a little higher in the low end than an 810e, but I've found it comes right back by boosting the bass a little.

Also might suggest pairing up the cab with a PF350. Same price, preamp and sound of the Micro VR, but I think the extra headroom gives it a little more oomph for bass. I dig the look of the Micro VR but I do appreciate having the headroom in the PF350, even if I don't play all that loud.

 

[denton57]

Cool and welcome. I have owned the head and cab two different times but sold them to fund other stuff. I wish I had a head and cab again. I loved the tone, and the cabs sound great. Very tight, which I love. I am sure you can get an 70's Ampeg vibe with it for guitar, however I never plugged a guitar into mine.

I am like you, except I have been into guitar lately after 20 years on bass. I'm into the same music and tones..For bass, I use a 72 V4B with a sealed 4x10. For guitar, I just picked up a GV-22 for my Les Paul Standard . I love me some Ampeg

 

[beans-on-toast]

Yeah, if I end up getting it I'll definitely let everybody know. My guitar tones tend to be on the brighter side, but with girth/fullness if that makes sense. Jimmy Page's LP tone is kind of like a beefier Tele bridge tone, in my opinion. For years the first Zeppelin album sold Les Pauls when it was actually recorded with a Tele. Keith Richard's stuff in the late 60's early 70's is a lot of LP and Tele. And I play an LP and a Tele, so it's all the same kind of tonal world, I think. Though dissimilar in many ways, I think both Page and Richards live in the world of that brighter, cutting tone that also has a lot of width and fullness.

With tube amps I use a booster to overdrive the input of the amp, with a LP, Tele and other instruments. It provides a nice creamy distortion. Page used a tone bender and other things to do this. Not sure how this would work with the MicroVR.

All you can do is try it and see if it does what you are looking for.

 

[McQ7]

This is all awesome--you all are making me feel much more confident towards the Micro VR.
denton57: yeah, man! I hear the GV22 models and the GU12 are killer for guitar for that V4 kind of overdrive at non-ear-splitting volumes.

As far as pedals go, since this is a solid state amp I wouldn't be boosting at all. If I have to use pedals, usually it's because I am not allowed to crank my amp, so I prefer "amp in a box" foundation type deals--designed to run into very clean, neutral amps. The Lemon Drop is a Vox 7120 (Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin) and the Liquid Lead is a Marshall Super Lead (with some Jimmy Page style things). The Catalinbread SFT, being designed as a SVT in a box, has a pretty good reputation for getting that Exile-era and live 70s Stones overdrive.

 

[McQ7]

Cool and welcome. I have owned the head and cab two different times but sold them to fund other stuff. I wish I had a head and cab again. I loved the tone, and the cabs sound great. Very tight, which I love. I am sure you can get an 70's Ampeg vibe with it for guitar, however I never plugged a guitar into mine.

I am like you, except I have been into guitar lately after 20 years on bass. I'm into the same music and tones..For bass, I use a 72 V4B with a sealed 4x10. For guitar, I just picked up a GV-22 for my Les Paul Standard . I love me some Ampeg

Hey! I just realized from browsing the local craigslist ads and the forum classifieds that you're the dude in my area with the Ampeg VT22 for sale! While it's not what I'm looking for, someone has got to buy that amp--great price and it's just got killer tones. Good luck with the sale, seriously.

 

[denton57]

Traded it in for the GV-22 and an empty silverface Fender 1x15 cab. I have the V4B, so the VT-22 was expendable in that I wanted a lower watt Ampeg. The GV-22 has a blown speaker and I am in the process of moving, so I haven't had a chance to really mess with it yet.

 

[McQ7]

Sweet, man. Sounds like a good trade. Was it Blue Moon by any chance? I thought I saw a GV22 in there last month. Anyway, good luck with it and the move!

 

[denton57]

It was Blue Moon! Small world. Yes, I took that dirty GV22 off his hands

I got the VT-22 from him last year. It's nice to have great gear so close.

 

[jeff7bass]

The old Ampeg 15" combo made for a great guitar amp and is still revered as one to this day. I sold my old GK 400B bass head to a guitar player and his tone was KILLER through a 412 cab. My guitar player gets great tones from a powered TECH21 speaker using a VOX tubed multi-effects board as a pre-amp. So yes, bass amps can sound great for guitar. Thick and rich tones as compared to piercing.

 

[Steve Dallman]

My practice rig is a PF-500 into a sealed single 10" cabinet. The speaker is an Eminence Beta knockoff...150 watts.

I plugged a Strat into it one day, and it was the best clean tones I've heard in years. The compressor was excellent. I wouldn't hesitate to gig with this head with guitar, using pedals for overdrive.

I can see the Micro VR as sounding great with guitar.

 

[McQ7]

Ok, so it's not the Micro VR because no one around here had one, but I spent the day playing a Rogue VB100 (violin bass) and my tele guitar through the Rumble 100 and 200 V3 series vs the Ampeg BA115v2. Here are my thoughts:

A killer bass-playing customer plus an employee in one store and an employee in another store all said that in their estimation the Rumble 100 V3 will more than handle practice with a drummer provided the drummer has some idea of dynamics. So that was good to hear because the guitar definitely sounded better through the Rumble 100 vs the 200. Way way punchier. And I'm not sure I can afford the 500, so...

As far as the violin bass is concerned, I agreed with an employee who said that while the Ampeg has definitely got that Ampeg thing baked into it, the Rumble seems to do a better job of taking what a violin bass does and amplifying it. That the Rumble works more in concert with the hollow body nature. I found it to be more versatile across genres, especially straight ahead jazz, compared with the Ampeg. The Rumble overall seemed warmer and the Ampeg overall seemed middy. They both sounded very, very good. The tone of the Ampeg is so familiar and alluring, like "hello old friend--I'd know you anywhere." But the Rumble I think seems more versatile. And there were some tunes that just seemed to call more for a warmer tone and the Rumble excelled in that area. This is testing Beatles, Zeppelin, Stones, sort of stuff as well as some jazz as mentioned before.

As far as the guitar is concerned (same genres of music): They both sounded great clean. No problem using either of them as a clean platform. Let's talk overdrive.

The Scrambler on the Ampeg is good because of the blend knob. You can crank the drive and not get overly compressed because you can blend in the clean signal. I found the tone pleasing. Of course on guitar I am like many, many other players who prefer tube overdrive. However, some pedals can come close. I feel that way with the Ampeg--I could proudly use it for overdrive tones. What does it sound like? The Lemon Song. Mids. Honky mids. Again, it's not versatile, in my opinion. I love that sort of tone, so it works for me just fine.

The overdrive on the Rumble stumped me at first, I admit. I was turning up the drive and then using the level as a volume control...too compressed, and not that great sounding. Finally I realized that it works just like a gain and master volume setup. So if you crank the level and then adjust the drive knob to taste that's where it's at for me. I messed around with the knobs and arrived at a setting that gets killer Zeppelin I album tones--think Good Times Bad Times. So it's not exactly a Supro everybody, sure, but it does that raw Fender breakup just fine. You want to cover Won't Get Fooled Again? Done. Again, it's not a tube tweed Fender, but it sounds damn good. I had two employees come over because they couldn't figure out how I was getting such good stuff out of this bass amp with my tele. An employee in another store had said "well, I don't know why I'm surprised--sounds just like a Bassman after all."

What's the conclusion? Well, I like the versatility of the Rumble V3. Good across genres. I like that it sounds like traditional Fender overdrive when dialed in just right. And I like that it weighs 22 lbs. I liked the Ampeg tone--it's a sure thing on bass. But it isn't as versatile as I like, on guitar or on bass. And it weighs over 40 lbs. And while the monitor cut-back on the Ampeg might be a good feature, it seems to add bulk to the combo overall. I also prefer the traditional look of the Rumble V3. Overall, for the music that I play with my gear I prefer the Rumble V3.

I'm not ready to make a purchase now, so I'm going to think on it all for a bit. But that's my story for today.

Here's a pic of the Rumble V3 settings (vintage button engaged) for that guitar tone, if anyone is interested:

 

[Linnin]

Thank you for that well thought out compare and contrast between Fender's Rumble and ampeg's whatever... It's nice to hear a good clean take. Thanks McQ7!

 

[Bill Kasper]

Hello and greetings from Prague, Czech Republic! My 1st post here and I'm bumping an old thread...sorry guys!
Anyway, I'm a guitar player and am wondering if anybody, 5 years later, has played a guitar through an Ampeg micro VR,and if so, what was the clean tone like? My experience with class D bass amps for guitar are positive for the most part. I owned a RUMBLE 200 head and played that through a 2x12 JBL open back cab and loved the tone so much that I sold the Rumble to fund a Quilter MP 200 head, thinking that a dedicated class D 'guitar' amp must surely be better. Unfortunately after owning it I much prefer the tone I got from my old Rumble 200...so I sold the Quilter and am back to my HEAVY [but classic!] Yamaha G100II amp.
So five years on, has anybody plugged a guitar into their Micro VR? Can it do a bright and clean, fendery pedal platform?Unlike the OP i'm not looking for breakup, just a good clean platform.