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Ampeg Micro VR

#6
I have a Micro VR and SVT210AV sitting boxed in the other room. :) Today is my b-day and my wife stopped at GC yesterday to pick them up knowing that I've been talking about them ever since I tested them out a few weeks ago. I've been looking for a quality practice setup for my office - because the reality is that I don't gig and my Walkabout Scout is overkill for my office (and lacks the aux in/headphone out for quiet practice). I've been trying to decide between the Ampeg or the GK MB series - so I picked up a GK MB115 for grins (and $50 off at GC). Tomorrow I get to line them up and compare side by side. I figure if the GK sounds better, I might just return it all and order an MB200 to connect to the Scout cabinet. Should be a fun Saturday!
 
#7
Yup they're pretty decent little heads. I've been using mine a lot more than I thought I would - the aux in/headphone out makes it great for learning songs instead of running my bass into my laptop, and it's great for short rehearsals when I don't feel like dragging out the real deal.
 
#11
For my purposes (and in my opiinion), yes it does. It's not identical, but I think it is close enough that the average joe would never know, and most bassists wouldn't notice except in a head to head comparison.

Having said that, the SVT is such a versatile amp that I can't say that the Micro could reproduce EVERY type of tone you could get out of a real SVT. For example, the Micro can get aggressive sounding, but can't really overdrive at all. But, yeah, the Micro does do the classic SVT sound very well. It will tend to sound a little cleaner and crisper, and I think the treble kinda' sits on it's own and tends not to sound as fat. It definitely feels different, but the sound is really very nice.

I also tried my SVT-VR through the 210 cab for the micro VR and it sounded great. The impedance is a mismatch, so I only dared do it for a few minutes and at low volume.


-John
 
#12
Are people finding that the Micro VR heads do not fit properly into the cups on top of the SVT210? I noticed that in several of the GC stores and unfortunately when I unboxed mine today I found the same problem. I suppose it's as simple as unscrewing 2 feet and moving them over 1/2" but still rather annoying. For $600 I expect better than that. Making me think about keeping the GK MB115 instead - or ordering an MB200 and Neo112.

Also, I briefly connected the Micro VR head to my Scout cabinet and it's a complete mismatch. Sounded cheap and tinny in the upper mid / treble range. Of course a lot of bottom because of the cabinet, but not pleasant at all.

And if anyone is interested, the headphone amp on the GK sounds better to my ears. It's a little hissy, but the GK sounds closer to playing direct (more full range) and the Ampeg sounds more like a tinny processed compressed sound. In fact, by BA-112 has a better headphone amp than the Micro VR.
 
#17
Man, this thing looks sweet and the Youtube vids sound nice. But I would like to A/B one with a MB200.. TOo bad I cant find anywhere local that has either. My GC's bass rooms look like amp graveyards unless you want a combo...

I did get to try an Acoustic mini rig in Tampa and it definately had good volume, but lost points for only 1x10.. :( Not a bad price at all though.
 
#19
JimmyM said:
that's what i would do. it'll put out some volume but not like a b2re.
Click to expand...


Hmm.. something to think about anyway. I usually dont go up past about halfway volume wise anyway, for the biggest gig Ive done. But Ive grown attached to my b2. I dont care what anyone says, this little monster is a beast. Its rugged as crap.

I might have to demo the the VR before making a final decision though.

Anyone know how good the gain sounds on it?
 

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