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Ampeg V4B Cab - Folded horn enclosure

Ripper75

Ripper75

Aug 8, 2005
489
78
The Sticks, Vermont
#1
I have an Ampeg V4B that was made to be coupled with a 2x15" 'folded horn' cabinet that they dont make anymore and impossible to find an original.

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...channel=s&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&sa=N

My question is: Is this something that I could possibly build? I would REALLY be interested in cutting this plan in half, so there would be two separate 15" cabinets with folded horns that would be easier to move around. Anyone know of a similar cab, suggestions? Thanks!
 
#5
Ripper75 said:
...
My question is: Is this something that I could possibly build? I would REALLY be interested in cutting this plan in half, so there would be two separate 15" cabinets with folded horns that would be easier to move around. Anyone know of a similar cab, suggestions? Thanks!
Click to expand...

The 15s aren't side by side... The suggestion of a Bill Fitzmaurice Omni 15 is an excellent one.
 
#6
There's a reason those old FH cabs have fallen out of favor with most players - they move a lot of air but don't sound that great when you're on top of them as many stage situations dictate. I play my V4b through 2 efficient front loaded 15"s and it sounds steller and delivers plenty of thump.
 
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#8
A good friend of mine (Grooveman61) just bought a 70's V4B cab a couple months ago. He played his Jazz and my Peavey VB2 through it at a couple of his gigs and it sounded absolutely KILLER. The bar wasn't very big either.
I think one key to using those types of cabs is to not dial in a lot of deep lows. I think that causes the teeth rattling uber-mud at 20 ft. out issue.
He had a really nice live JP Jones tone going. Good punch and grind with that folded horn kind of roundness.
 
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#9
I had one of those cabinets years ago ...very heavy, but when up close you'll have issues of hearing yourself, you'll need a small 2x10 cabinet for a monitor ...those cabinets were used to get the maximum sound out of a 100 watt amp, and it worked pretty good, 20 feet out from the cabinet ...there's some really good efficient speakers & cabinet designs that can really make a V4-B sound great ..with-out the bulk ... but if you have a strong back and a truck to haul it around ..and the opportunity of get one ....go for it
 
#12
nysbob said:
I play my V4b through 2 efficient front loaded 15"s and it sounds steller and delivers plenty of thump.
Click to expand...

What kind, if I may ask? I'm looking for just such a thing. I'm loading an old Sunn 1x15 cab with a JBL K140 but I'm afraid the V4B will shred it to pieces.

Apropos of little, I played through one of those weird Fender Bassman 4x12 cabs the other day, the kind with the drivers all pointing in different directions or something. It was very loud! (60 watt Sunn Sorado) And it sounded very terrible as many people have mentioned.
 
#13
I would not even consider a horn loaded cabinet that wasn't one of BFM's designs. Pretty much every bass folded horn is 15-20 years old and was designed by dice throwing. And weighs a BAJILLION POUNDS.
 
#14
rpsands said:
Pretty much every bass folded horn is 15-20 years old and was designed by dice throwing.
Click to expand...
They all were knockoffs of Don Keele's JBL designs, which were pretty good as far as seat of the pants designs went. But as they all pre-date not only driver T/S specs and computer software but even the computers used to run said software they were primitive by today's standards. A slide rule versus a PC would be a very apt comparison.
 

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