New Tech 21 VT Bass 300 Head!

[bassyRyan]

I'm already doing the VT into a Crown Microtech 1200 so, I can't see any improvement by jumping down to 300 watts.

I was thinking of doing this. Is there much noise with this setup? I was looking at a GK Neo 212 (600w) cab to go with it...any thoughts?

 

[JimmyM]

if you run a lot of distortion, you'll of course get some noise from it, but with less distorted settings the pedals are very quiet.

 

[Fuzzbass]

what the consumer really wants is a VT micro head.

Not everyone. I have zero interest in the micro heads. I'd rather have one I can rack, and 20 pounds is reasonable enough for my creaky 52-year-old vertebrae. Also, with micro heads you have to deal with eensy weensy controls, and probably fewer of them.

That said, I would prefer an 800+ watt version. Yes, I sometimes need stoopid loud volume.

 

[GreggBummer]

Not everyone. I have zero interest in the micro heads. I'd rather have one I can rack, and 20 pounds is reasonable enough for my creaky 52-year-old vertebrae. Also, with micro heads you have to deal with eensy weensy controls, and probably fewer of them.

That said, I would prefer an 800+ watt version. Yes, I sometimes need stoopid loud volume.

I'm sure that there is a market for a micro head as Bongomania suggests... however I am with you Fuzz. I don't mind, and I prefer, the larger format, rack sized, vertebrae crushing heads. The knobs are easier to see and manipulate.

I play less than 10 gigs a year. So, I don't haul my gear around that often. I don't mind carrying the heavy stuff, especially if it is half the price of the micro sized equipment. If I don't want to carry the rig, I just bring my Sansamp BDDI and an XLR cable and go direct to the board. Even when I do this, I am still going to help the drummer and tear down the PA. Those PA columns are heavy.

 

[Handyman]

interesting. not as interesting to me as the vt deluxe, but still interesting.

Yes, this seems a bit big and heavy to really interest me much. The VT Deluxe into a micro amp or modern light weight power amp looks more interesting.

I'm sure this thing will sound great, though.

 

[JimmyM]

well it seems to have more deluxe features than the vt pedals, but i don't use them anyway. but respek for a what's ultimately a good idea.

 

[Gearhead43]

I'm sorry, but 20lbs and a "normal" sized head that sits just fine on top of your average cab doesn't seem like something to bitch about.

20lbs? Come on people?? Maybe do some curls instead of only fork-lifts to your food hole?

The Non-Talkbass reality of what I see day in and day out at gigs, is alot of guys using regular "heavy" bass amps. Not everyone is as picky and whiny about their gear.

Some times this little Talkbass microcosm tends to over amplify (pun intended) perceived "problems" that aren't even there.

The average GK head weighs about that much, and tons upon tons of bass players use those every day.

Also - who cares about speakons if the thing only puts out 300 watts?

And all this criticism before anyone has even played one.

300 watts is plenty for the average club gigger - and it has two channels of switchable baddass VT Bass tone - making it very versatile without needing to bring any pedals.

The price, IMO, will be the real deciding factor on perceived value here.

 

[BZadlo]

I was thinking of doing this. Is there much noise with this setup? I was looking at a GK Neo 212 (600w) cab to go with it...any thoughts?

No extra noise that I've noticed.
Like Jimmy said, If you crank the gain into full on distortion you might get some.
I'm running mine into a Ampeg 8X10 and have no tweeter so, it's pretty hard to hear any of that super high frequency nonsense anyway.
I was previously using the Pod SVT model and find that this one has much more clarity across all frequencies.

 

[JGR]

I have a pair of the discontinued Landmark 600 watt heads, and they can really pump the volume. Too bad they didn't marry it to that, or just make it another preamp offering like the RPM/RBI. I don't have any use for that power section either. Bummer, I love Tech 21 gear, but the only 300 watt head I see sticking around is my 800RB.

 

[JimmyM]

I'm sorry, but 20lbs and a "normal" sized head that sits just fine on top of your average cab doesn't seem like something to bitch about.

20lbs? Come on people?? Maybe do some curls instead of only fork-lifts to your food hole?

The Non-Talkbass reality of what I see day in and day out at gigs, is alot of guys using regular "heavy" bass amps. Not everyone is as picky and whiny about their gear.

Some times this little Talkbass microcosm tends to over amplify (pun intended) perceived "problems" that aren't even there.

The average GK head weighs about that much, and tons upon tons of bass players use those every day.

Also - who cares about speakons if the thing only puts out 300 watts?

And all this criticism before anyone has even played one.

300 watts is plenty for the average club gigger - and it has two channels of switchable baddass VT Bass tone - making it very versatile without needing to bring any pedals.

The price, IMO, will be the real deciding factor on perceived value here.

agreed. the vt is a proven and not too expensive pre circuit. couple it with an amp and it'll find an audience as long as the price isn't too high. and i agree there are a lot of real weight wussies out there. try dragging an svt AND a vt deluxe to gigs like i do...i'm a real man!

 

[timbledum]

Wow! Looks cool! Real good for one-stop-shop people, everything in one package.

300 watts might not seem a lot, but the VT Bass pedal makes my Markbass LMII sound a lot more powerful than it actually is... I don't know how it does it but it does. I *think* it's because it attenuates power-hungry sub-low frequencies and substitutes harmonics that make it sound to the ear like it has massive lows. But that's just my theory.
.

It also has a lot to do with the tube style compression that this pedal puts out. Raises the average loudness of your signal without hard clipping.

 

[meatwad]

Wow, I was excited for the first ten seconds of this thread, then all the whining set in...

My two bits, coming from someone pretty much forced to drag around two 4x10's and an SVT-CL everywhere, is that this thing may very well be a godsend! Here's the pedal everyone keeps raving about in a very cool head format, and seems to be a strong choice to consider alongside the GK700RB-II. I was actually thinking about the GK w/ VT Bass Deluxe pedal for smaller gigs, but this kinda kills two birds!

Also, I'm perfectly at home with a 2-space head that weighs a few pounds. It would be weird for my bass to weigh more than my amp, call me old fashioned.

 

[pd1134]

I think the main reason the landmark, 300 or 600, are still really expensive is that they are discontinued and pretty rare. So I don't think comparing prices between said heads is fair. And I have talked with sansamp directly about their stand on poweramps being used with their pre's and pedals. They said, for no specific reason, that their preference was to "stay away from" class d stuff. I asked why but they insisted they couldn't go into detail, that that was sansamp/tech 21's stance. Any thoughts on this?

 

[John D Harris]

... make it another preamp offering like the RPM/RBI. I don't have any use for that power section either. Bummer...

That might be nice!

 

[Bloodhammer]

They did something just like this by making the GT-2 amp modeler the heart of a 30W guitar combo amp.

I think this company is doing very great things and certainly wouldn't mind buying a 20lb. SVT modeler-amp if I don't have to deal with a heavy tube amp that will need tubes from time to time.

 

[nightcityburn]

I'm sorry, but 20lbs and a "normal" sized head that sits just fine on top of your average cab doesn't seem like something to bitch about.

20lbs? Come on people?? Maybe do some curls instead of only fork-lifts to your food hole?

The Non-Talkbass reality of what I see day in and day out at gigs, is alot of guys using regular "heavy" bass amps. Not everyone is as picky and whiny about their gear.

Some times this little Talkbass microcosm tends to over amplify (pun intended) perceived "problems" that aren't even there.

The average GK head weighs about that much, and tons upon tons of bass players use those every day.

Also - who cares about speakons if the thing only puts out 300 watts?

And all this criticism before anyone has even played one.

300 watts is plenty for the average club gigger - and it has two channels of switchable baddass VT Bass tone - making it very versatile without needing to bring any pedals.

The price, IMO, will be the real deciding factor on perceived value here.

+1

 

[rpsands]

20lbs and 300 watts is so 1994.

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

Interesting thread...

Think of this from a marketing/product placement perspective: You are Tech21, and you want to create a "line" of bass amps based on the wildly popular VT bass. You know that the current "marketspace" (sorry for the buzzwords, but I used to be a marketoid) calls for a few offerings: Small/simple and Larger/complex, as well as something in the middle. You want to have distinct products that address the demands of potential customers, but you don't want a "one size fits all" solution; Rather you want a "path" solution that gets folks into your products then has them buying MORE.

Say I'm the new PM bass amps division of Tech21. I'd propose the following:

My small solution: Take the VT bass pedal, as is, and made it with a 300 watt class D power amp. Small, simple, affordable but lacking the options and power of...

My Big solution: Take a VT Deluxe pedal, made it with a beefier class AB amp putting out say 500 watts. Give it a pedal to control the Deluxe preamp settings

After about a year, I introduce a middle solution (or two!) A beefier amp based on the VT bass, so it's simple but has more watts... and a another amp that's has less oomph than the "big boy" but has the VT deluxe options. This way, you can get the "early adopters" to buy again while satisfying the needs of a new market segment.

What I would *not* do is try to market cabs. There are too many folks doing too good of a job at that right now; Why bother? Stick to what you are good at - and clearly, tech21 has the whole preamp thing down pretty darned good.

Obviously, tech21 should contact me about a job!

 

[rpsands]

What I would do is buy the standard class D modules that are out and offer ~200, 500 and 1000 watt models with class D power. They just aren't that expensive.

 

[JimmyM]

What I would do is buy the standard class D modules that are out and offer ~200, 500 and 1000 watt models with class D power. They just aren't that expensive.

there are many who will argue that class d just isn't as stout-sounding a platform as class ab with normal iron transformers. i don't know if i agree with that, but it seems to be recurring with some folks that they try a micro amp and go back to their regular heavier amp because of it.