Hi Guys, I just came across this thread, and I do own both the LEMMY 100 watt head and the VBA 400. I have to say they are two completely different animals. I bought the LEMMY stack that was at the NAMM show in 2007 or '08. I don't know if Marshall had tweaked this thing but it is a beautiful piece of art. Mine has never left my house for a few good reasons. First it is so huge. It stands about 7 feet tall, and it takes 2 strong men to move the 4x15 cab. Second it is way too loud for any venue I'm playing at this point. Lastly, I'm keeping it in pristine condition because I bought more as a collectible, than as work gear. This thing is DEAFENING. When set to the Lemmy setting, (presence up, bass off, mid on 10, treble off, volume on 10) it is impossible to get within 20 feet of the thing without it being painful. I have a JMP Super Bass that was made in 1978, and while it's similar, it's not identical, and my old JMP does not have nearly the ear splitting distortion and volume as the 1992LEM. It is kind of a one trick pony in that aspect, but at lower volume, and EQ settings it has a surprisingly nice vintage tone. It also works great with a guitar through my 1960 cab, especially if I throw an orange Boss distortion in front of it. It records well if I play it through my 2 4x12 Lemmy cabs. The 4x15 gets a little "Honky" in my tracking room. Cranked up with a Gibson Les Paul bass or my T-bird it does sound EXACTLY like Motorhead. It has had to be serviced once. The power tubes don't last forever, obviously, and the one pre amp tube need to be replaced because it was defective. (my tech said it was a manufacturing defect on the tube most likely)
Now on to the VBA 400. These things have gotten expensive. I got mine from a pawn shoppe for $800us. That was a very lucky find indeed. It did have some of the aforementioned problems, such as solder joints coming apart and there was a problem with the micro switches, they were easily rectified by my amp repair man for about $80. The head worked fine until I left it in my friends studio and his bass player decided to move the amp back against the acoustical curtains. This thing runs HOT. (hence the fan in the back) So make sure there is adequate ventilation and air circulation around it. That repair cost about another $75. My amp guy told me this is Marshal's attempt at building an SVT, but the Marshall is MUCH nicer in his opinion. Especially over the newer SVT's. On that note, this thing is SVT heavy. It's about 80 pounds without the case, which I do recommend any owner who has any intention of moving it out of the house purchase. This thing wasn't made to be thrown around by gorillas. It is a fine piece of machinery. After being tweaked by my tech, he removed any potential problems that he could find. And he did shock mount work on the boards. It has worked flawlessly for the past 3 years with no failures. (crossing my fingers under the desk.) As far as sound, I think it's the best sounding amp I own. It has tremendous head room. The EQ's are wonderful, as I can dial in pretty much any sound from a slap funk to John Entwhistle to Jack Cassidy to Bill Wyman to Stanley Clarke. The direct out is good, but I use my JDI direct box because it's a little cleaner sounding. I have never run it through any cab other than my VBC412 so I don't know what it would sound like through an SVT 810, but Marshall does make the VBC 810 and I did play through one of those and the sound is huge. I would like to purchase the 810 cab or another 412 but when I do find them they are so overly inflated price wise. I have never really cranked it up over 5 but it's trouser flapping loud, with out the ear piercing of the Lemmy head.
In summation, while both are great amps, The 1992LEM is somewhat limited in it's tonal capacity and the VBA 400 offers head room, both are very expensive if you can even find them at this date. They are large, heavy and heavier. Not maintenance free by any means. BUT I love mine like they were cherished pets and wouldn't trade them for the world.
All that being said, my current working setup is an AMPEG 115b cube and my Alembic Epic bass. It's loud enough for any gig I get now, and it sounds great direct through the board. And if someone nicks that amp after a gig, I'm out only about 500 bucks. Cheers Marshall fans.
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