Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Early '70s Ampeg V-4B Impressions
- Thread starter Jefenator
- Start date
I'll have to compare mine to your photo more carefully when I get home. I was pretty fortunate that when I got mine it was (and still is) in remarkably good cosmetic shape. Yours look to be the same.
Maybe the phrasing in my original post was confusing - I did that particular song fingerstyle. (I was working on the pick sound during the rest of the set.)
You can have the soul card, but no one gets my vintage Ampeg!!
Maybe the phrasing in my original post was confusing - I did that particular song fingerstyle. (I was working on the pick sound during the rest of the set.)
You can have the soul card, but no one gets my vintage Ampeg!!
LOL!! Just busting your chops a little. Your soul card is safe.
Yum.
Every time one of these threads comes up, I post the same pic - I gotta branch out...
My V4B is probably one of the best amps I've ever used; I prefer the tone to it over my SVT. Unfortuneately it stays at home as it just doesn't have enough power with anything but a really large cabinet. 2x15's were barely enough for me for adequate headroom with a quiet rock band.
Never tried it with an 8x10 though.
Never tried it with an 8x10 though.
The V-4B is the amp for me. I sold the SVT after determining I wouldn't ever use it over the V-4B, though I'd have been plenty happy with either!
no, the big ampeg logo on the grills started around 74 when selmer bought them.
btw, i see in those pics a couple black line v4's with the logo on them. missed it the first time i read this thread. and it's the first time i ever saw that logo on a black line. i had a black line that never had a logo, and if i'm not mistaken, the cousin i bought it from said it was from 73. so i'm thinking there must have been a transitional period where selmer used the black line faceplates and added a logo.
After being recently bitten by the "I need an all-tube bass amp" bug and doing some research, I scored a V-4B on Ebay yesterday! I'm pretty excited, it'll be my first tube amp! It sounds like the guy picked it up at an estate sale quite a few years ago and he didn't have much info on it... I suspect it has original tubes, but I don't have a clue what 7027A's look like. 
I plan on taking it to a local amp tech to have him check it out, maybe do a retube on it and possibly a few mods (see below).
I'm a little stumped on dating it, it has the same controls as the one on the left in johnk_10's pic, but it doesn't have the Ampeg logo. Is there someplace where I can check the serial code or something to get an actual date? Just curious.
So... mods. Do you guys have any opinions on modifying a V-4B? Would that be blasphemy? I've got this little scheme that I want to build a 1x15 cab to go with this amp and (re)skin both in Ampeg Blue Diamond Tolex. I'm thinking about doing a metal grille or clear "window" instead of grille cloth and seeing if the amp tech I know can put some lights inside to make the tubes all pretty.
I'm also tempted to see if he can wire in a master volume control. These are just thoughts though, I don't even HAVE the amp yet.
I'm very much looking forward to checking out my first tube amp!!!
5sg.
Here's one of many pics from the guy's auction:
I plan on taking it to a local amp tech to have him check it out, maybe do a retube on it and possibly a few mods (see below).I'm a little stumped on dating it, it has the same controls as the one on the left in johnk_10's pic, but it doesn't have the Ampeg logo. Is there someplace where I can check the serial code or something to get an actual date? Just curious.
So... mods. Do you guys have any opinions on modifying a V-4B? Would that be blasphemy? I've got this little scheme that I want to build a 1x15 cab to go with this amp and (re)skin both in Ampeg Blue Diamond Tolex. I'm thinking about doing a metal grille or clear "window" instead of grille cloth and seeing if the amp tech I know can put some lights inside to make the tubes all pretty.
I'm also tempted to see if he can wire in a master volume control. These are just thoughts though, I don't even HAVE the amp yet. I'm very much looking forward to checking out my first tube amp!!!
5sg.
Here's one of many pics from the guy's auction:
Looks great! Congrats. The earliest models didn't come with the Ampeg logo on the front grill, I believe they started adding those around 73/74. The best way to date the amp is to check codes on the components or see if there is a date written on the inside of the chasis.
As far as mods, I wouldn't bother. These amps are pretty BA on their own, and I'd certainly try to get the best sound you can out of it before you go about modifying things.
As far as mods, I wouldn't bother. These amps are pretty BA on their own, and I'd certainly try to get the best sound you can out of it before you go about modifying things.
- Feb 16, 2008
- 21,240
- 23,636
- Disclosures
- John K Custom Basses
After being recently bitten by the "I need an all-tube bass amp" bug and doing some research, I scored a V-4B on Ebay yesterday! I'm pretty excited, it'll be my first tube amp! It sounds like the guy picked it up at an estate sale quite a few years ago and he didn't have much info on it... I suspect it has original tubes, but I don't have a clue what 7027A's look like.
So... mods. Do you guys have any opinions on modifying a V-4B? Would that be blasphemy? I've got this little scheme that I want to build a 1x15 cab to go with this amp and (re)skin both in Ampeg Blue Diamond Tolex. I'm thinking about doing a metal grille or clear "window" instead of grille cloth and seeing if the amp tech I know can put some lights inside to make the tubes all pretty.
I'm very much looking forward to checking out my first tube amp!!!
5sg.
Here's one of many pics from the guy's auction:
that amp is gorgeous, DO NOT mod it, regrill it, or retolex. you'll destroy it's value. and a clear front panel would be corny on a vintage V4B, as would 'little lights inside to make the tubes all pretty'. remember, something is only original once. just dig it for what it is, an awesome vintage tube bass head.
While I'm not usually worried about resale value with my gear, you guys do make a valid point... this is my first piece of truly vintage gear, so I should think about it differently. I don't even know what this thing sounds like, so I should probably start there.
Out of curiosity, would redoing the tolex in the same style devalue it? Not that it really needs it, just curious. What if I treated this amp as more of a restoration project like I've read about with Tom Bowlus' B-15 restoration, for example? You know, redo the tolex in the same black it has, replace some of the little rusty bits here and there, have the tubes/caps/etc. checked by an amp tech... stuff like that?
5sg.
- Feb 16, 2008
- 21,240
- 23,636
- Disclosures
- John K Custom Basses
that amp is in excellent condition for its age. DO NOT retolex it. it will devalue it. there are not many around that are all original and in that good of shape. and they do not make that style of tolex anymore anyway. (psssst.-your tube newbi-ness is showing.)
i restored mine only because when i got it, it already had an amateur retolex job (a really bad one) and the grillcloth was painted black.
i restored mine only because when i got it, it already had an amateur retolex job (a really bad one) and the grillcloth was painted black.
(psssst... I AM a tube newb!)
Fair enough... the points you guys have made have NOT fallen on deaf ears, they've been enough to convince me to leave this amp alone.
I'll post impressions as soon as I get a chance to play it through a cab! It's going to be a drastic difference, my main amp is a Shuttle 6.0! lol
5sg.
