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Ampeg V4BH - struggle for volume
- Thread starter Low Sound Love
- Start date
I just got the amp back from the tech, and well ... it's friggin' AWESOME!The previous owner must 've done the worst retubing job ever, because the poor thing was failing from input stage to power tubes, with blown fuses and a bad cathode along the way.
I got home, plugged it into the 410hlf, set gain to 6 and master to 5 ... and shook the furniture! Waaay more volume than I had on monday with both gain and master maxed! I did not dare to max both out again to make the comparison (several babies and young mothers in my building, don't want to disturb them too much).
I got really really close to the tone I've had in my mind for three years now, I'm sure I can get even closer with time and tweaking.
I won't have band rehearsal for the next two weeks, but I'm pretty sure I'll be able to keep up with my drummer and guitarist now, even with my less than ideal cab. This amp with 8 10" or 4 12" speakers should be more than enough for any stage I'm playing.
Yay!
Excellent. Glad to hear it. The guy I bought my V4BH from had it coupled with a 410 HLF. It's quite louder with the 410 HE I'm using.
It's loud enough to make your ears ring. I think with another 410 HE it'll be modular and quite loud enough for most venues.
As far as the twelves - I just love it with my Mesa Scout 12 cab. Of course with a single speaker the overall output is attenuated but in the small practice room where I use the Scout it sounds awesome, and for recording that's the sound I'd want.
I think a Mesa 412 would kill. If they weren't so rare and expensive, I would have a stack of 4 Scout 12s in a heartbeat. Portable, Modular, and awesome vintage tone.
Though I haven't tried one, I'm dying to try out a Berg NV610 and NV415.
Good Luck, for anything other than stupid loud I think you'll find this to be plenty, and with the tone you seek. With sound reinforcement there's nowhere it won't work
CM
My early seventies V4B through my Berg NV 412 gets quite loud with a very unique vintage mid forward tone. Compared to my SVT VR to my ears it has a more focused rounder tone the the SVT which seems to be more of a "looser" tone. Very nice tube distortion when pushed above the 11-1130 volume postion. 
I like running my V4BH through a single Ampeg classic 15 (SVT 15N) more so than my 610HLF. It goes pretty loud but with a 5 string bass, the B string can make the amp fart (I like a cleaner tone). 4 bangers are fine for gigs though (without PA).
i play with a mid 70s V4B modded to have EL34 mounted in it (the previous owner modded the head, AFAIK this mean less headroom but more growl than standard tubes). soon as i bought the V4B i get rid of my 2006 SVT (US Made), cause the tone was better and despite having less headroom, the tone is more focused even with the same 410hlf cab (known to be not the best cab for tube heads).
if played with a svt15 cab and pbass, you nail almost exactly that 60s fliptop/jamerson tone.
i play in a 60/70s blues/rock band (stuff like fleetwood mac and similar), two guitars, drums and double vocals. ve are not silly loud but we're also not that quiet band. i've had more problems with my bandmates asking "please turn that thing down".
of course the sound is rather confused when you play acoustically-unfriendly places, but i guess this happen with every amp one can use.
just my 2 cents
if played with a svt15 cab and pbass, you nail almost exactly that 60s fliptop/jamerson tone.
i play in a 60/70s blues/rock band (stuff like fleetwood mac and similar), two guitars, drums and double vocals. ve are not silly loud but we're also not that quiet band. i've had more problems with my bandmates asking "please turn that thing down".
of course the sound is rather confused when you play acoustically-unfriendly places, but i guess this happen with every amp one can use.
just my 2 cents
An old forum, but I also have a v4bh for 4 years.2 days ago, I picked up an Ampeg 810 cab (USA mafe SLM I believe made in 06'). Sounds quite awesome. Think it will work for small gigs, rehearsal hall and the studio. As soon as I break it in, have to see how the headroom is.
I know this is an old thread, but I just played a gig with 2 v4bh's and they were impressive and plenty loud enough to say the least.
My signal chain is as follows: Bass>Boss TU-3>Darkglass B7K>Dunlop 105Q>Homemade Signal Spliter>Signal 1. Ampeg V4BH>Mesa Boogie Powerhouse 4x12.| Signal 2. Ampeg V4BH> Mesa Boogie Powerhouse 6x10.
TL : DR - Both amps set identical. Input 0 db, Gain between 2&3, Ultra Hi/Lo Off, Bass 5, Midrange 5, Frequency 2, Treble 5, Master 10. I controlled the tone mostly with my B7K. I was able to keep up volume wise with my guitar player playing 2 Peavey 6505+s running 1 Jackson 4x12 cab each.
The Long Version - I normally run my 4x12 and 6x10 cabs with my Mesa Boogie M9 Carbine at 2 ohms. This amp still had the original 900 watt power section so pushing these cabs was no problem. Gain was about 5 and Master at 10. Totally loud enough. Then about 2 weeks ago, my amp started popping resistors like fireworks. So I contacted Mesa Boogie and shipped it in for repairs. That left me with my Peavey Tour 700 amp as a backup and that was just horrible. Going from an M9 Carbine to a Peavey Tour 700 is like going from Ballast Point's Victory Sea to Pabst Blue Ribbon.
Meanwhile, a friend of mine found a pair of Ampeg V4BH's on Craig's List for an excellent price. Both in excellent condition. He asked me to borrow them for my gig so he could hear them in a live situation while he's not playing. So I didn't have much time to spend on dialing in "My Tone" but I dialed in a tone that I could use, and I have to say I was really impressed. I've never been a fan of Ampeg but now I'm having to reconsider my position on that opinion.
I read some posts saying that this amp isn't loud enough; I play in a 3 piece Thrash Metal band and that wasn't my experience at all with this amp. Maybe it's because I was using 2 amps? Who knows? All I know is that we played a bar with 85 people in attendence and the sound man used my stage volume and the signal to the PA for a little clarity.
The End. Thanks for reading!
My signal chain is as follows: Bass>Boss TU-3>Darkglass B7K>Dunlop 105Q>Homemade Signal Spliter>Signal 1. Ampeg V4BH>Mesa Boogie Powerhouse 4x12.| Signal 2. Ampeg V4BH> Mesa Boogie Powerhouse 6x10.
TL : DR - Both amps set identical. Input 0 db, Gain between 2&3, Ultra Hi/Lo Off, Bass 5, Midrange 5, Frequency 2, Treble 5, Master 10. I controlled the tone mostly with my B7K. I was able to keep up volume wise with my guitar player playing 2 Peavey 6505+s running 1 Jackson 4x12 cab each.
The Long Version - I normally run my 4x12 and 6x10 cabs with my Mesa Boogie M9 Carbine at 2 ohms. This amp still had the original 900 watt power section so pushing these cabs was no problem. Gain was about 5 and Master at 10. Totally loud enough. Then about 2 weeks ago, my amp started popping resistors like fireworks. So I contacted Mesa Boogie and shipped it in for repairs. That left me with my Peavey Tour 700 amp as a backup and that was just horrible. Going from an M9 Carbine to a Peavey Tour 700 is like going from Ballast Point's Victory Sea to Pabst Blue Ribbon.
Meanwhile, a friend of mine found a pair of Ampeg V4BH's on Craig's List for an excellent price. Both in excellent condition. He asked me to borrow them for my gig so he could hear them in a live situation while he's not playing. So I didn't have much time to spend on dialing in "My Tone" but I dialed in a tone that I could use, and I have to say I was really impressed. I've never been a fan of Ampeg but now I'm having to reconsider my position on that opinion.
I read some posts saying that this amp isn't loud enough; I play in a 3 piece Thrash Metal band and that wasn't my experience at all with this amp. Maybe it's because I was using 2 amps? Who knows? All I know is that we played a bar with 85 people in attendence and the sound man used my stage volume and the signal to the PA for a little clarity.
The End. Thanks for reading!
I don't understand either, I used a V4-B with a 215 cab for quite a while without any trouble "against" (playing with) two guitars and drums. Even did small outside gigs in parks with under 100 people, our PA with no bass guitar signal passed to it (except for maybe mic bleed).
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Two .... sounds like fun! Pics please. I'd be trying seeing one up with a real grindy tone and the other more bassy. Just to see how it goes. Enjoy!!!!
V-4's sound great, just ask Geddy.
I ran 2 V4's in stereo for years, best tone I've ever had but, got tired of carrying them around and sold them. BIG mistake ! I have a VT22 (V4 in a 2x12 combo) that I sometimes run the highs thru in a Bi-amp rig. Great tone !
I ran 2 V4's in stereo for years, best tone I've ever had but, got tired of carrying them around and sold them. BIG mistake ! I have a VT22 (V4 in a 2x12 combo) that I sometimes run the highs thru in a Bi-amp rig. Great tone !
Mine rings at precisely 13K and it drives me fn nuts...it's not the tubes...any Ampeg gurus know what's going on here and what needs to be replaced? Thanks.
Is it feeding back thru the Bass or ringing without the bass plugged in ?
Eddie
Ampeg offered me this great pearl of wisdom:
"Thanks for writing and sorry to hear about your amp! Your best course of action will be to get your amp checked out by one of our repair technicians. Here is the link to our Service Center locator:"
So I guess you took something non-conductive and tapped on the pre-amp tubes and non are microphonic ?
