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ampeg v4bh enough power?

#21
Fuzzbass said:
It's useful to have (better to have it and not need it, yada yada), but a DI without a ground lift is hardly useless. :eyebrow:
Click to expand...

Again, my point was to be fully prepared if your DI of choice doesn't have a lift, you probably want to carry along another DI that has a lift.

[You are talking to a guy who brings a backup head, a backup for every cable, backup bases, backup everything. Maybe I am over-prepared...but that is my take on the subject.]
 
#23
I have a newer (2005) v4-av with a newer 8x10e cab. I play in a three piece blues rock band and it works pretty good. The only thing is, to get it loud enough you pretty much have to have it dimed, so you've pretty much long since ran out of any kind of clean tone. It's all overdrive at that point. Now it's cool sounding overdrive to be sure, the best sounding overdrive but that's all you get.
 
#24
Jazzman said:
Pedro, a "ground lift" is a switch that "lifts" or disables the ground on a balanced line, which can be a source of hum if the DI and mixing board have a different ground potential.



Dude, calm down. I am just saying I don't have enough fingers to count the times I have needed a ground lift...which the V4BH doesn't offer. And IMO, it is not uncommon for it to take a while for a sound man to figure out where the hum is coming from. I don't see how you can say that because you have never needed a ground lift, that nobody ever needs one...that is absurd.
Click to expand...

After being on the road with a V4BH for 3- month and 2 -month stints respectively, and DI'ing to FOH at, oh, about,
100 venues total- including House of Blues and similar size clubs, and outdoor Festivals with audiences ranging from 300-10,000, I had no issues with lack of a ground-lift.
None.

Bold. Red. Let's run that by again...
Isn't one hundred + fingers enough....."dude"??

What is really absurd is for you to state that the VERY FINE DI on an Ampeg V4BH (which has made MOST experienced FOH soundmen, the kind that get it right on first sound-check... smile big, in my 100+ finger experiences) is "useless."

Dude. :eyebrow:
 
#25
Rob Mancini said:
Well, they're both rated at 100w RMS, although the Ampeg book claims that the original V4B had closer to 120. Definitely not the same amp since the V4BH uses four 6L6's and the V4B uses four 7027A's, and the V4BH only has one channel. I'd bet it's on a par volume-wise, though.
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7027's ARE 6L6GC's. The reason that the new V4BH is lower powered than its predecessor is because it has a smaller power transformer. And BTW, no, the V4BH is NOT on par with an old V4.

Also, the V4BH doesn't have a ground lift on its DI because it doesn't NEED one. Being that it is sourced from a transformer, it is ALREADY ground-isolated.
 
#26
Jazzman said:
Again, my point was to be fully prepared if your DI of choice doesn't have a lift, you probably want to carry along another DI that has a lift.

[You are talking to a guy who brings a backup head, a backup for every cable, backup bases, backup everything. Maybe I am over-prepared...but that is my take on the subject.]
Click to expand...

Hey, I'm Mr. Backup Guy myself! We agree in principle, just not on semantics. :)
 
#27
realdeal said:
After being on the road with a V4BH for 3- month and 2 -month stints respectively, and DI'ing to FOH at, oh, about,
100 venues total- including House of Blues and similar size clubs, and outdoor Festivals with audiences ranging from 300-10,000, I had no issues with lack of a ground-lift.
None.

Bold. Red. Let's run that by again...
Isn't one hundred + fingers enough....."dude"??

What is really absurd is for you to state that the VERY FINE DI on an Ampeg V4BH (which has made MOST experienced FOH soundmen, the kind that get it right on first sound-check... smile big, in my 100+ finger experiences) is "useless."

Dude. :eyebrow:
Click to expand...


Again, just because it didn't happen to you, doesn't mean it is not an issue for some. It was an issue for this person as well.
 
#30
Casey 2 said:
But...but...
that guy played in a, ummm, less than well-wired club!
So the transformer-balanced DI on a V4BH is "useless"??

:confused::eek::cool:

AH, fawgeddabout it!
Can't you just say "Oops, I was wrong!":D?
:hiding:
Click to expand...

I will say I was wrong about the V4BH not having a ground lift switch...but I still stand by the fact that most [non transformer-balanced?] DI's benefit from them regardless if "realdeal" ever needed to use a ground lift.
 
#32
Jazzman said:
I will say I was wrong about the V4BH not having a ground lift switch...but I still stand by the fact that most [non transformer-balanced?] DI's benefit from them regardless if "realdeal" ever needed to use a ground lift.
Click to expand...

There ARE cases where transformer isolated runs can still benefit from a physical ground lift, but that is usually a case of abyssmal AC and audio wiring. (I have dealt with some.) If the lack of a ground switch bothers you that bad, you can buy ground isolating adapters for around $10, or you could make a ground-lifted cable for free; just snip pin 1's connection with wire cutters at the female end inside the XLR shell.
 
#38
RickenBoogie said:
Great amp. Hope the OP gets it and loves it. I did/do.
Click to expand...

Okay, so this head has been sitting on top of an ampeg 2x15 for who knows how long. It hasn't been more than two weeks since I last went to the shop but I walked in two days ago and sitting on top of the ampeg was some 160 watt peavey head. Needless to say, I was very dissapointed that I didn't even get to try it out.. :bawl:


I guess that means I have to go look for another tube head!:D
 
#40
Vintage V4's were guitar amps. V4B's were introduced because V4's were so popular with bass players. They're basically the same amp and they both work great for bass. I had another killer band practice tonite with my V4. Man, I love this thing!

BTW, there's a V4 and a V4B for sale in the TB Classifieds. There's also a couple on eBay for decent prices right now.
 

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