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Ampeg V4 Club
- Thread starter birdman14
- Start date
daveobieone
Providing the "musical foundation" since 1966
Thanks everyone for the feedback and guidance!
Hopefully the pedal will be here soon. I'll do some A/B comparisons using the same cab, and report back.
If I can't get the sound I'm looking for (that heavenly V4B sound we all love), I guess I'll need an SVT-VR, and a roadie!
Well, the Ampeg SCR-DI arrived this afternoon. I've played with it now for a few hours. I must say, it makes everything I plug it into sound (subjectively) better...at least to my ears. So far, I've played it though a little Line 6 (10 inch) combo practice amp, a Kustom K200 pushing JBL E140's, and my Mesa D800 into Subway cabs.
I didn't think I'd like the "Scrambler" part, but I was wrong. I like using a little of it, quite a lot. It adds the grit (for lack of a better word) that I like from the V4B when it's being pushed fairly hard. It's very control-able. From the point of nothing (can't hear it at all), to the point of Jack Bruce live with Cream, clipping the daylights out of his 60's tube stacks...and everything in between. It's also a perfectly clean DI btw, if you want it to be, with distortion down around 0.05%, and dead-flat response. Pretty versatile little box.
What the EQ section does is considerably different. Even with the tone controls set to 12:00 (you would think flat), there is a considerable scoop-out applied in the "muddy" area between 100 and 200hz. You can't really dial this out. Not that it sounds bad...it doesn't, but I like running my V4B fairly close to flat. I would have liked the SCR-DI to deliver closer to flat response with the tone controls at noon, and let me take it from there.
As to how close this pedal comes to making everything sound like an Ampeg, and specifically our beloved V4B's, I won't be able to say for sure for a few weeks...till I'm back in the studio with my V4B, and I can make a direct comparison using the Mesa amp, driven by the SCR-DI, and into the same (Ampeg 15) cab. From my aural memory, right now, I'm thinking the Ampeg SCR-DI may get me about 75% of the way to the desired V4B sound, which isn't bad for <$200, and an extra pound in your gig-bag.
Using a combination of the "Scrambler" with the knobs at about 10:00, and a touch of the the over-drive available in the Mesa D800, I'm quite surprised at how much more "alive" the sound is. It really makes the "almost too clean" Mesa much more "Ampeg-like"...in a good way. I'm not using much of the EQ, but it does seem to play well with other amps...they don't seem to fight each other, which makes dialing in a pleasing sound a lot easier.
I'll post more info after I have the chance to do some direct comparisons with my V4B.
Dave O.
Hi Dave, great post. Did you ever A/B your V-4B and the SCR-DI? Are you still using the latter?
daveobieone
Providing the "musical foundation" since 1966
Yes...I should have updated this. Thanks for the reminder Son!
I've been gigging with the Mesa Subway D800, with the Ampeg SCR-DI ahead of it. I usually use my V4B for rehearsals...at a recording studio we rehearse at. I have brought the Mesa / SCR-DI combination to a few rehearsals as well, and done some direct A/B comparisons of that against the V4B into the same Ampeg cabinet. My V4B is the early, US built (Magnavox) one, which has fresh caps and tubes. On my bench it makes about 110-115 watts at clipping. Below clipping it measures very cleanly, so I know it's working great.
My sonic impressions go like this...
My V4B gives me the VERY best bass tone I've ever been able to achieve!!! And that's saying something after going through well over a dozen bass amp rigs in the 50+ years I've been playing.
The Mesa has loads of power in reserve, and is very clean...TOO clean for my taste actually. Running bare-foot, I greatly prefer the sound of the V4B hands-down over the Mesa D800...but I do love all that D800 power, and it sure is easy to carry. I'm a little to old to be lugging a 60 pound head to gigs...and too cheap to pay roadies.
The SCR-DI ahead of the Mesa brings it much closer to sounding like the V4B. This takes some considerable fiddling with the Scrambler and EQ sections to get there, but you can get about 75-80% of the way to V4B heaven with that combo. I've attached some shots of how I adjust it. As you can see, the Ampeg SCR-DI is doing most of the EQ work. The low and high buttons are not pushed. It's important to note, these are just MY preferences playing with a 10 piece Chicago/BS&T/Buddy Miles style horn band. Others may think this tone stinks. The good news is, there's lots of room to play. I usually play a Gibson SG bass, with flats on it BTW.
Bottom like is... Purely for the very best tone (like in the studio) nothing can beat the V4B...NOTHING! However, for gigging, the combination of the SCR-DI, driving the Mesa D800 gets pretty close, and with the huge reserve power, and light weight, that combo is what I'll continue to use for gigs. The V4B will stay at the rehearsal studio where the tone matters more, and I don't need to move it.
Dave O.
I've been gigging with the Mesa Subway D800, with the Ampeg SCR-DI ahead of it. I usually use my V4B for rehearsals...at a recording studio we rehearse at. I have brought the Mesa / SCR-DI combination to a few rehearsals as well, and done some direct A/B comparisons of that against the V4B into the same Ampeg cabinet. My V4B is the early, US built (Magnavox) one, which has fresh caps and tubes. On my bench it makes about 110-115 watts at clipping. Below clipping it measures very cleanly, so I know it's working great.
My sonic impressions go like this...
My V4B gives me the VERY best bass tone I've ever been able to achieve!!! And that's saying something after going through well over a dozen bass amp rigs in the 50+ years I've been playing.
The Mesa has loads of power in reserve, and is very clean...TOO clean for my taste actually. Running bare-foot, I greatly prefer the sound of the V4B hands-down over the Mesa D800...but I do love all that D800 power, and it sure is easy to carry. I'm a little to old to be lugging a 60 pound head to gigs...and too cheap to pay roadies.
The SCR-DI ahead of the Mesa brings it much closer to sounding like the V4B. This takes some considerable fiddling with the Scrambler and EQ sections to get there, but you can get about 75-80% of the way to V4B heaven with that combo. I've attached some shots of how I adjust it. As you can see, the Ampeg SCR-DI is doing most of the EQ work. The low and high buttons are not pushed. It's important to note, these are just MY preferences playing with a 10 piece Chicago/BS&T/Buddy Miles style horn band. Others may think this tone stinks. The good news is, there's lots of room to play. I usually play a Gibson SG bass, with flats on it BTW.
Bottom like is... Purely for the very best tone (like in the studio) nothing can beat the V4B...NOTHING! However, for gigging, the combination of the SCR-DI, driving the Mesa D800 gets pretty close, and with the huge reserve power, and light weight, that combo is what I'll continue to use for gigs. The V4B will stay at the rehearsal studio where the tone matters more, and I don't need to move it.
Dave O.
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Nice find! The tone on these are amazing. When I have my V4b and SVT-II non pro at the same time, I think the tone from the V4b was actually a little better. Although it could be partly because the vintage tubes too.
Very nice amp. The metal knobs indicate that it’s an early one, before ‘75.
First rehearsal with my Ampeg v4b RI...and my first valve amp! The warmth and organic tone is just not same with D or AB class IMHO. My band mates loved it!
I get your enthusiastic reaction to the amp. Enjoy it!
BTW, the V4B operates as Class AB.
I dig how the guard matches the grille
Automatic stylin points
!
I didn't add my last gig with the V4B here, so, here tis.
Not great pics, I'm sorry, but I was trying the V4B thru the HG410 for the first time. It was super!
Edit: this cab really lets some amps shine. It's a sealed 4 ohm 410 with one 10" driver, rear firing. So, without a rear wall, it's sorta a 310.... but with a wall/ window etc behind it, it not only has that sealed cab feel and sound, but I've found that the drummer has been able to get a better handle on the bass sound, without having to be that loud, nor angle the cab round etc.
It's a punchy li'l fecker!
Not great pics, I'm sorry, but I was trying the V4B thru the HG410 for the first time. It was super!
Edit: this cab really lets some amps shine. It's a sealed 4 ohm 410 with one 10" driver, rear firing. So, without a rear wall, it's sorta a 310.... but with a wall/ window etc behind it, it not only has that sealed cab feel and sound, but I've found that the drummer has been able to get a better handle on the bass sound, without having to be that loud, nor angle the cab round etc.
It's a punchy li'l fecker!
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A belated thank you for this post. I love my V-4B, too, and as I look across the room at it I can see that my settings, FWIW, pretty much match those on your SCRI-DI.
How effective is the unit as a headphone amp? Any hum when used in that context?
I've been considering getting the DI and now will based on your comparison.
Thanks!
daveobieone
Providing the "musical foundation" since 1966
I've not noticed any hum...ever. That would be more likely a result of a weak or undersized power supply. I just used it for a session last Saturday, and the engineer loved it!
Dave O.
I bought a V4B back in 1975,I remember it said Magnavox on the back chassis ,when did they acquire Ampeg?
More or less...
Unimusic 1967
Magnavox 1971
MTI 1980
St. Louis Music 1985
Loud 2005
Yamaha 2018
Unimusic 1967
Magnavox 1971
MTI 1980
St. Louis Music 1985
Loud 2005
Yamaha 2018
My v4b is about 1974-5. Black switches and aluminum knobs. Can anyone tell me what kind of cloth it should have? Its black now, but I’m pretty sure it had been changed before I bought it in 1989.
Blue? Silver?
Blue? Silver?
