Ampeg tube amp for home recording

[JimmyM]

Also Jimmy, you know as much as the next guy that most mix engineers are gonna just take the dry signal and reamp it through a 1073 and a 1176 to make it sound like a record anyway!

Not unless I'm working for hire.

 

[Bantopodu]

Thanks for all the replies guys. Having weighed everything up, and having decided there really is no substitute for a P bass with Slinkys and an all tube amp, I bought myself a new V4B. I can honestly say it's fantastic. I stuck a new set of slinky on my '95 P and it's bang on the money, especially for punk. I can dial in a lot more dirt at sensible volumes and it's overall tonal range is a lot more accessible at home than the SVT. I can finally get the pre and power tubes working together at home and I'm not sure I've ever heard a better amp. I haven't bothered with my Sansamp BDDI but it's there if I need it.

 

[JimmyM]

Thanks for all the replies guys. Having weighed everything up, and having decided there really is no substitute for a P bass with Slinkys and an all tube amp, I bought myself a new V4B. I can honestly say it's fantastic. I stuck a new set of slinky on my '95 P and it's bang on the money, especially for punk. I can dial in a lot more dirt at sensible volumes and it's overall tonal range is a lot more accessible at home than the SVT. I can finally get the pre and power tubes working together at home and I'm not sure I've ever heard a better amp. I haven't bothered with my Sansamp BDDI but it's there if I need it.

Nice! The V4B is certainly an awesome amp and is more giggable than a 20w amp.

 

[Jim C]

Thanks for all the replies guys. Having weighed everything up, and having decided there really is no substitute for a P bass with Slinkys and an all tube amp, I bought myself a new V4B. I can honestly say it's fantastic. I stuck a new set of slinky on my '95 P and it's bang on the money, especially for punk. I can dial in a lot more dirt at sensible volumes and it's overall tonal range is a lot more accessible at home than the SVT. I can finally get the pre and power tubes working together at home and I'm not sure I've ever heard a better amp. I haven't bothered with my Sansamp BDDI but it's there if I need it.

Honestly, out of the 20 or so amps I've had, the V4B and Mesa WA were the best sounding with neither having enough clean power for my uses with a 2x12 cabinet. Of all the amps I've ever sold, I regret the V4B the most and by a really large margin...

 

[anthony w Jaber]

I'm about to try out a load box from a seller on reverb that claims he can make something for the ampeg svt his reverb account is Julius music box he has amazing reviews he says he can make a 400 watt 4 ohm load box with a Jensen di which would work better to handle the load of the svt. I don't know about you but recording a real svt is a pain in the butt. The fan alone editing wise takes forever and trying to get a good cracked svt sound will get the cops called to your house. (Been there done that). Looks like he's made these for others before and knows what he's talking about and for a custom load box for the same price as a two notes captor it's definitely worth trying at least. We'll see if this is worth it or see if this is going to the shop. At least the amp I own is still in warranty hahaha!

 

[Jim C]

I'm about to try out a load box from a seller on reverb that claims he can make something for the ampeg svt his reverb account is Julius music box he has amazing reviews he says he can make a 400 watt 4 ohm load box with a Jensen di which would work better to handle the load of the svt. I don't know about you but recording a real svt is a pain in the butt. The fan alone editing wise takes forever and trying to get a good cracked svt sound will get the cops called to your house. (Been there done that). Looks like he's made these for others before and knows what he's talking about and for a custom load box for the same price as a two notes captor it's definitely worth trying at least. We'll see if this is worth it or see if this is going to the shop. At least the amp I own is still in warranty hahaha!

I bought a 300 watt 8 Ohm ballast resistor and used it with a V4B.
The resistor was speaker load for the amp and I sent the pre amp out to the console. One of the best recorded tones I have after 10,000 studio hours.

 

[Patrice B]

I'm about to try out a load box from a seller on reverb that claims he can make something for the ampeg svt his reverb account is Julius music box he has amazing reviews he says he can make a 400 watt 4 ohm load box with a Jensen di which would work better to handle the load of the svt. I don't know about you but recording a real svt is a pain in the butt. The fan alone editing wise takes forever and trying to get a good cracked svt sound will get the cops called to your house. (Been there done that). Looks like he's made these for others before and knows what he's talking about and for a custom load box for the same price as a two notes captor it's definitely worth trying at least. We'll see if this is worth it or see if this is going to the shop. At least the amp I own is still in warranty hahaha!

Take care, easy to crank the volume over, going to distorted and blow the box or worse, the amp.

Rule of thumb is around 100w box for a 50w tube amp (or maybe less, not sure).

Example by @Jim C , 300w load for 120w amp:

I bought a 300 watt 8 Ohm ballast resistor and used it with a V4B.
The resistor was speaker load for the amp and I sent the pre amp out to the console. One of the best recorded tones I have after 10,000 studio hours.

I have a Torpedo CaptorX (8ohms@100w) and I'm easily able to overload it with my little Traynor YBA-1…

Just for safety, I bought a Thoman (Harley-Benton) 100w to put in parallel with my 100watters (YGL-3, YBA-3, V4). Even with this, it's easy to crank the volume beyond sanity. I will take extreme care and be very gentle with the volume/gain.

**I would never try one with my SVT…