New: Tech 21 VT-500 Bass Amp

[Daniel Piper]

I love amp videos where people talk about speakon connections and how 2 cabinets equals 4 ohms.

Looks like a very promising addition to the world of bass amps

 

[bassfran]

The VT Bass 500 should sell for around $499 street. The matching 112 cab will be the same price. The cab weighs 38 lbs. There is no dedicated tuner output. For silent tuning you can put your tuner in the EFX loop and disengage the loop via the front panel switch. We are hoping to have the product available by mid June.

Thanks for chiming in with the additional info. I'll be looking forward to the June release date.

 

[DaddyFatBass32]

Anyone have any information/initial opinions on this? It looks like it's available for pre-sale in the UK but no US info. Might be kinda cool.

 

[wave rider]

Might be some here:
New: Tech 21 VT-500 Bass Amp | TalkBass.com

=wr=

 

[Downunderwonder]

Made in USA?

 

[JxBass]

In the video in post #25 the Tech 21 rep states that it's made in Korea, where the lower labor costs help to achieve the lower price.

 

[iualum]

Very, very nice. Can't wait to get a used one in a year or so .

 

[tombowlus]

The VT Bass 500 should sell for around $499 street. The matching 112 cab will be the same price. The cab weighs 38 lbs. There is no dedicated tuner output. For silent tuning you can put your tuner in the EFX loop and disengage the loop via the front panel switch. We are hoping to have the product available by mid June.

That looks like a killer product! Any chance that you will be attending the Summer NAMM Show?

 

[tech21nyc]

No, we don't exhibit at the Summer NAMM Show.

 

[tombowlus]

No, we don't exhibit at the Summer NAMM Show.

I didn't recall ever seeing you there, but I thought I'd ask. Either way, I can't wait to check out this new head!

 

[DaddyFatBass32]

Did a search and didn't see that, so thanks!!

 

[jimfist]

How nice of them to spend about 20 whole seconds listening to the sounds produced by the amp - out of 7 minutes worth of video.

talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talktalk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk...noodle noodle...talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk...

For the love of all that is holy...PLAY THE FREAKING THING!

 

[Fuzzbass]

If this thing sounds like my RBI into a power amp it is going to be killer. Sansamp just turned full-amp, congrats!

The VT-500 is based on the VT pedal rather than the BDDI/RBI. That said: I own both the RBI and the VT rackmount, and the VT can sound similar to the RBI if you push the Character knob left of noon which adds mid scoop similar to the RBI.

My favorite feature of the RBI is the Presence control. It adds high-end sparkle to the tube emulation, which sounds amazing with my tweeterless Bergantino NV610. I also love the VT rackmount through that cab (or any other).

Big picture: the VT and RBI have slightly different tonal flavors, but both have the SansAmp tube emulation magic, so I believe you will like the new VT amp. The Character control is a lot of fun.

 

[woodyng]

I'm sure it will be officially announced for US sale soon. It may be the just the thing to make me consider switching from Markbass. I've used a VT pedal to preamp my Markbass for years now,and really love it.

 

[silky smoove]

Perhaps an obvious question: What took so long?

This seems like such an obvious thing to do from a marketing standpoint. They've had the pre for a few years now. Class D amps have become commonplace. Slap 'em together, and get it to market! I'm glad to see Tech 21 doing this finally, but the delay is quite perplexing to my neanderthal brain.

 

[birminghambass]

Perhaps an obvious question: What took so long?

This seems like such an obvious thing to do from a marketing standpoint. They've had the pre for a few years now. Class D amps have become commonplace. Slap 'em together, and get it to market! I'm glad to see Tech 21 doing this finally, but the delay is quite perplexing to my neanderthal brain.

A few manufactures put out 500-1000w class D heads that were junk until they were revised several times (some still have issues). Maybe Tech21 wanted to get it right the first time.

 

[silky smoove]

A few manufactures put out 500w class D heads that were junk until they were revised several times (some still have issues). Maybe Tech21 wanted to get it right the first time.

Tech 21 tends to put out high quality stuff, so I can understand this logic. Even still, it's not like the Class D micro thing is new enough that they couldn't have gone through an in-house testing process ad nauseum by now. The timeline just seems long to me regardless of rationale. Again, I'm glad they finally got something like this out to market, and I'm sure it will be high quality as most of their stuff is.

 

[bebass]

Perhaps an obvious question: What took so long?

This seems like such an obvious thing to do from a marketing standpoint. They've had the pre for a few years now. Class D amps have become commonplace. Slap 'em together, and get it to market! I'm glad to see Tech 21 doing this finally, but the delay is quite perplexing to my neanderthal brain.

I have often wondered the same thing as I have been a fan of their products for a long time.

The part I am concerned with is that they waited sooo long, that now 800 - 1000 watts class D is going to be the new norm. If they would rush to meet this newer market with a version 2 IMO this product will have longevity. If they don't then it will be viable for a while (a year??who knows??), but the price point of 500w amps will go down as more of the 1000 watters go to market. Of course all this is my speculation, and right now there are the 800 watters at a higher price point.

 

[bebass]

The VT-500 is based on the VT pedal rather than the BDDI/RBI. That said: I own both the RBI and the VT rackmount, and the VT can sound similar to the RBI if you push the Character knob left of noon which adds mid scoop similar to the RBI.

My favorite feature of the RBI is the Presence control. It adds high-end sparkle to the tube emulation, which sounds amazing with my tweeterless Bergantino NV610. I also love the VT rackmount through that cab (or any other).

Big picture: the VT and RBI have slightly different tonal flavors, but both have the SansAmp tube emulation magic, so I believe you will like the new VT amp. The Character control is a lot of fun.

I played through a pedal or two but didn't spend significant time with them. But, yeah, that Presence control really does add something that I really like - and the RBI, especially with Rotosound round wound strings into 2 15's, is just killer. I had one RBI, sold it, then missed it so much I got another.
This amp would eliminate the extra devices and make life a lot simpler, yet still get "that" sansamp sound.

 

[JxBass]

Perhaps an obvious question: What took so long?

This seems like such an obvious thing to do from a marketing standpoint. They've had the pre for a few years now. Class D amps have become commonplace. Slap 'em together, and get it to market! I'm glad to see Tech 21 doing this finally, but the delay is quite perplexing to my neanderthal brain.

Perhaps it took awhile to select and set up the proper offshore manufacturing that will meet their target price point and quality requirements.