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Ampeg V4B vs SVT Pro 3 vs ???

#21
JimmyM said:
Well when you're rich and have a crew, you can have your whims catered to :D But there's no question that running a tube amp to the Bejeezus Belt will kill tubes much quicker than not.
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I've never really cranked any of my amps much above the distortion point, I've usually been careful, I'll use a tube OD if I want that sound. I got a Valvedrive tube OD that sounds great. I can even get the Grand Funk dirt out of it.
 
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#22
bobyoung53 said:
I've never really cranked any of my amps much above the distortion point, I've usually been careful, I'll use a tube OD if I want that sound. I got a Valvedrive tube OD that sounds great. I can even get the Grand Funk dirt out of it.
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Ya, EBS made a couple cool dirt pedals. I prefer pedals for live, too. Gives me the option of clean or dirty. In studio I still prefer tube amps cranked, but I turn them right down when I'm done :D
 
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#23
bobyoung53 said:
That one had to have had a defect from the factory, maybe just a bad power tube, that's what it sounds like to me. Blasting a tube amp will wear out power tubes faster but not THAT much faster, try maybe 1-3 years as opposed to 5-10 years. Get another one if you liked it, if you have no luck try a 70's V4-B.
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This has been my experience.
This area is rich with Mostly Fenders, Marshals, a few Peavey Classic's, and the occasional Mesa.
My gigging friends (back when you could play 4 nights a week) would go many years before tube maintenance.
And Punky Meadows lived 2 blocks away so we had metal!
 
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#24
JimmyM said:
Ya, EBS made a couple cool dirt pedals. I prefer pedals for live, too. Gives me the option of clean or dirty. In studio I still prefer tube amps cranked, but I turn them right down when I'm done :D
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This is the EBS I have, it actually goes from anywhere from a nice warm clean sound to big distortion, the thing I like about it is you don't lose any bottom with it, it's also got bass, middle and treble.


EBS ValveDrive DI |
 
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#26
By distortion, I mean with a distortion pedal, just to clarify. Not sure if you guys when you mentioned distortion meant natural tube distortion, or added pedal distortion. I like a lot of dirt and a good bit of feedback can be fun too. I use the pedal even when the amp is cranked, though with less gain on the pedal of course or else it gets real hairy, real quick. Looking to get a new distortion pedal soon too. Call me sacrilegious for running a distortion pedal with a tube amp, but I am what god made me! I am going to call them up today and hopefully have them send me another V4B. I guess we will just have to see if my playing style is hell on a tube amp or not. Hopefully they can hook me up with the same deal I had. That included the protection plan for two years, they might just end up replacing a lot of tubes for me!
 
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#27
BigBigGuy44 said:
Can someone please clarify the difference in tube wear between playing at low volumes and playing at low volumes with a dirt pedal? I never heard of this but again, my tubes experience is rather limited.
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I'm not so sure that you could really get accurate data on this without a large sample test.
The differences in tolerances to include component drift, general age, condition, etc. would play a far greater difference IMO.
Also as pointed out be Andy in a previous thread, pre-amp tubes in a well designed amp should last 5,000+ hours without breaking a sweat.
My personal thought is that if anything the power amp tubes might be subjected to slightly higher wear but that is just a guess.
I don't see how the power tubes would be affected unless they were driven to distortion and even then, the difference would be very low.
All IMO/IME.
 
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#28
SPBeretvas said:
By distortion, I mean with a distortion pedal, just to clarify. Not sure if you guys when you mentioned distortion meant natural tube distortion, or added pedal distortion. I like a lot of dirt and a good bit of feedback can be fun too. I use the pedal even when the amp is cranked, though with less gain on the pedal of course or else it gets real hairy, real quick. Looking to get a new distortion pedal soon too. Call me sacrilegious for running a distortion pedal with a tube amp, but I am what god made me! I am going to call them up today and hopefully have them send me another V4B. I guess we will just have to see if my playing style is hell on a tube amp or not. Hopefully they can hook me up with the same deal I had. That included the protection plan for two years, they might just end up replacing a lot of tubes for me!
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I would be willing to bet you just had a defective power tube, if you keep having trouble with power tubes try some old GE 6L6's or something like those, RCA's etc, those old American tubes last just about forever. They're damn expensive but will last if they're good ones in the first place. Buy NOS that have been tested in a good tube tester. Plenty of them on ebay.
 
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#29
It sounds like you like have some grit from the amp and then shoving a distortion in the front of it. As Jimmy said doing that with a tube amp will for sure burn through preamp tubes quick, although I am constantly shoving fuzz into the front of my VR and it has been pretty good tube wise (1 replacement after 3 years for pre's). Although that amp has much more headroom.
If you want to get a solid state/class d there are only a few amps that will give you grit and do it well imo.

Orange OB1 series
Orange Bass Terror
Ampeg SVT3 Pro or 7 Pro(there are others in that series)
Darkglass stuff

It would all come down to taste. Personally no amp can give me the mid forward tone I am looking for other than the Ampeg tube stuff, so I just run the VR clean and get all my dirt from pedals.
 
#30
So I called today and had them send me another V4B. Same deal and I still have the protection on it. Not sure if that covers tubes... Hopefully that last one was just defective and this one will prove better. I will eventually buy a solidstate backup, one of the svt pro series or other hybrid amps as backup. But for now, I am not going to worry about it too much and hopefully not need to replace any tubes any time soon... looking forward to playing on the V4B again! It is an incredible amp. Thank you all for your excellent advice, what a great forum!
 
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#31
BigBigGuy44 said:
I'm fairly new to tube amps as well recently buying a V-4B and 212 about two months ago.

Can someone please clarify the difference in tube wear between playing at low volumes and playing at low volumes with a dirt pedal? I never heard of this but again, my tubes experience is rather limited.
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With a dirt pedal? Nothing that would ever be considered significant in any way. I've done it for years and still have amps with the stock tubes after a period of years. The damage to tubes when you crank them hard is because they run way hotter when cranked into distortion, not because of the distortion itself. So if, for example, you crank your preamp gain really hard so it distorts a lot but you keep the power section master volume low, your power tubes will run as they always do at that volume but you'll burn out a preamp tube or two quicker than usual.
 
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#32
SPBeretvas said:
Thanks for all the replies y'all. I loved the V4B, I agree there is something special about it. I eventually do want to get another one or an SVT. Also would love to try the Mesa bass tube amps.

So I have some solid(state) options now HA! I like the idea of having a graphic EQ on the SVT 3 and still having the tube sound if I want it. Really I need to try all these but won't be able to for a while it looks like... Maybe I could order one at a time on Amazon and return if I dont like it. Hesitant to make any decisions without trying the SVT 3 though as I think I'm gonna really like that one. The 7 might also be viable as long as I don't turn in up more than halfway. (Not that I would need to that thing is a beast) The price of the SVT 3 is a little much to swallow at this time but I'm sure I can scrape it together once we all get back to work finally. Definitely want to try the lightweight amps too because Ive heard great things about them.
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Check out other SVT threads on forum.I was reading some and there are some people that are very knowledgeable on Ampeg SVTs.These experts didn't have much good to say about the newer versions so be careful.
 
#36
Any amp can develop a problem...
I've never noticed much difference between any SVT that's been applied as backline for me. Tube SVT that is.

Imo, I like the SVT-VR a little better than the CL, Heritage or not.

Now, re the 3Pro v V4B...... unless you NEED the extra 350w. I'd go for the V4B every time. All the time.
The 3pro, and the 7Pro, are sweet amps, I've had both, liked both, but the 7pro a little more... but currently own a V4B and, to me, it shots all over them.... almost every ALL TUBE amp does.....IMO! I just like the all tube tone, feel, what have ya.
The 100w of the V4B is limiting if you NEED the extra volume, don't have/ don't like, monitors giving you done sound reinforcement onstage etc...
But for sheer TONE.
V4B
 
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#38
Maxfenderbass said:
It sounds like you like have some grit from the amp and then shoving a distortion in the front of it. As Jimmy said doing that with a tube amp will for sure burn through preamp tubes quick, although I am constantly shoving fuzz into the front of my VR and it has been pretty good tube wise (1 replacement after 3 years for pre's). Although that amp has much more headroom.
If you want to get a solid state/class d there are only a few amps that will give you grit and do it well imo.

Orange OB1 series
Orange Bass Terror
Ampeg SVT3 Pro or 7 Pro(there are others in that series)
Darkglass stuff

It would all come down to taste. Personally no amp can give me the mid forward tone I am looking for other than the Ampeg tube stuff, so I just run the VR clean and get all my dirt from pedals.
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Old thread but…I’d imagine you have to run your VR clean to still be at reasonable volume. If I dine the master on my V4B and turn up until there is constant OD it’s already pretty friggin loud.
I prefer clean tube tone too though, so I ended up getting a second 212av for plenty of headroom for my applications.

OP how did the second V4B treat you???
 

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