BEHRINGER VAMP

I'm not really a fan of the V-Amps at all. The stomboxes on the other hand are acceptable. I had a V-Amp for guitar and it just broke within about 2 hours and wouldn't power on and I had to return it. It sounded ok but It wasn't really worth the $100 in my opinion. My brother had a V-Ampire amp head and it just completely sucked. It wasn't loud enough at all and sounded like complete crap. Those are just my experiences though, and of course, not with the Bass V-Amp, although I doubt the circuitry is different at all.

 

I have a Bass V-amp that I used for more than a year in my rack setup. I still use it when I go direct to a board. It is pretty versatile and has a lot of good tones. The amp simulations are close to the real thing. The SWR is real clean and modern sounding while the Ampeg and Mesa have that gritty tone. the effects are useable but you can only use one at a time. It has a lot of features but you need to take the time to figure it out. This is for knob tweakers though and if you are a plug and play guy then you will be disappointed. Some patches are over the top as with most processors but you can edit all 125 so you have a bunch of space to create your own tones.

I have not tried the new stomp boxes yet. If they are anything like the effects in the V-amp then you should be able to get some good tones.

 

+1 on most of this... especially about not being great for plug and play, you really have to spend some time exploring this baby. It does do A LOT though.

I too have the V-Amp Pro rack version. I had a problem with the first unit I got, it went back and the replacement seems fine. I use the amp modelling almost all the time when using the rack rig live, it's great, really versatile and some of the sounds you can get are first class. In the studio though I tend to just DI using a Sansamp BDDI.

The V-Amp effects vary a lot - for example, the reverb is pretty good but I don't really use it ("ambience" is great with a fretless, though), chorus/flange/phase just okay, don't use the drive options ('cos of the Sansamp ), wah, synth and octave effects pretty dreadful.

Bottom line - if you want to add a range of useable tones to your rig with the amp/cab modelling it's great, if you want a versatile unit for basic recording at home it may be okay. If you want a range of good effects to use and you're not interested in the amp modelling, you may be better getting stomp boxes so you can choose the ones that suit you for each effect you want to use. The V-Amp is good though for giving you some effects to try out so you can evaluate whether you would really use them if you've got them.

 

Good info above.

I have been using my Bass Vamp Pro for over 2.5 years now and have been thinking about getting a second one to keep in the home studio.

Just remember, the BVAP is a modeling preamp first, and effects unit second. I mostly use the chorus and "talk box" effects in the BVAP and have been very happy with them. I did recently get the Behringer Bass Chorus pedal and I lie it as well, its a different sounding chorus than what is built in to the BVAP. Running mulitple effects at a time is one of the shortcomings of the BVAP since you can only use one of the built-ins (chorus, flanger, delay, wah....) plus the compressor and one of the overdrive stomp models at a time.

I really like the recorded sound of the direct outs and find that they really sound very closed to what my rig sounds like at a gig.

 

I've had one for just over 2 years.

I love the amp and cab modelling.

The effects are pretty cool but not as good as my old box of boss spagetti but there are no issues with leads or knocking the knobs as once I have the sound it becomes a preset.

I've only just downloaded the software which gives you more options for creating your own tone.

Best value for money gear I have bought.

 

i picked one of these up recently. quite amazing how many sounds you can achieve with this thing.
yes, you've got to dive into it pretty deep - so it's not a plug and play kind of box.....well, i guess it could be. but there's so much more to it than the typical preset configs.

can't belive this thing was only $170.

 

I've had this too for 2+ years now. For recording stuff I think it works fine especially if you use the software to modify your tones.

The biggest con for live situations is turning effects on/off or making any changes at anytime, creates a half second delay wich is very noticable.

 

Using many digital modelers is like that. That is one of the things I hate most about my Vetta. Still, you can't deny the flexibility of the machine.

 

I've had one for about a year, and am just getting round to programming it and using it with an fcb1010. As far as tone goes, I think it's very versatile and has some nice sounding presets (altho some, typically, sound godawful). I also have a pandora pxb4, and the sound quality is of a similar (high) standard.

I thought the delay was limited to when you switched between different amp/cab models and didn't happen when an effect was switched in/out

 

The delay happens whenever you make any change to anything.

 

For the money, it's great.

I use it remove the uncertainty when using other people's rigs (e.g rehearsal rooms etc). I have set up as much of my required sounds as possible in the Bass V-Amp Pro and then tweak the amp in the room just to fine tune things. In terms of replicating various amp setups and distortions, it hasn't let me down yet.

That delay when switching patches is annoying though.

 

I too have the B V-amp Pro and use it only for the amp modelling. We recently did some recording and it worked very well. You definitely need to spend time dialing it in. It has pretty good tone shaping tools - deep, bass, mid para, high, and bright adjustments are available. I put mine in a small SKB rack case and it is very easy to transport to practice and such. I bought mine used and it is now several years old and still in great condition.