http://www.marshallamps.com/product.asp?productCode=VBA400 Anyone own or ever played one of these ? It seems to follow the design of the 2001 Bass amps that Marshall made in the early 80's, but they made so few of them that barely anyone knew about them and they are quite rare today. Seems like Marshall bass amps arent too mainstream and I've never seen one in a store anywhere so I havent had the opportunity to play one.
I seriously considered one B4 buying a Fender BAssman 300PRO would've got the Marshall if it ONLY had been able to go 8 ohm! Bassman = 8/4/2ohm. VBA=4/2 ohm. Just means I'm able to use a single 1x15" or my 2x10"(both 8 ohm cabs) where the VBA I would've had 2 use two or my 4x 10 (4OHM)- played in shop-good!! Thick & warm-able to be brite & slappy too! Saw Peter Gabriel on TV playing live & his Bass Player(maybe Peter Levin????????????) used one- sounded great there! Rod.
A number of tube amps (SVT's too) only go between 2 and 4 ohm, not sure why, guess it seemed logical at the time. As it isnt as well sought after, they seem to go for pennies, saw one (in mint condition, hardly used), going on ebay for bugger all, and it included a matching 4x12! Ive not played a VBA400, but ive seen a few of them, Ive got the matching VBC810 cabinet which is awsome tho
I played one over the summer - very, very impressive. Crushing power. It speaks with a lot of authority.
Ii's a awesome amp. Sounds increadable with the SWR 15+ Goliath Jr. 2x10 setup. The DIRECT OUT sounds good as well. This bass head has a deep low roundness to it and a delightful mid punch. On the other hand, they are hard to find, but orderable thru your Marshall dealer. Expect about a 6month shipping time on it. There are rumors going around saying Marshall is moving their production to China,. So, if this is the case, thinking from a collector standpoint if you can get your hands on one of these made in England heads you'll come out gleeming in the long run.
It isnt a rumour. The last ever batch of UK made Marshalls has been released, they are in a nice blue tolex with vintage grill cloth. Look on ebay, ive seen these go pretty cheap considering its a 400 watt valve amp!
i have a vba 400 and a vbc 810 cab to match it.. it's really good for humbuckerbasses such as a P etc. with my J it sound quite honky sometimes.. It's a great allround amp since it got 3 different standardsettings awell as high and low boost.. the vintagesetting is awesome the 2:nd setting aswell and the 3:rd is awesome for raw rock... the DI didn't record as well as i hoped it would but it sounded really good, kinda low on the lows though.. i bought the whole setup used for half the price of what a new svt head costs here in sweden.. anyways it's a great amp for a really good price..
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