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New Tech 21 VT Bass 300 Head!

this actually does nothing for me. i love Tech21. they make awesome products and try interesting stuff. and i've used their stuff as a preamp for awhile now. first a PBDI, then a VT Bass into a PBDI, and now a VT Deluxe.

but i like having the preamp at the end of the pedalboard so there's a post efx di going for the board and for the on stage amp. and if i'm carrying a rackmount power amp (20 lbs IS nothing, my QSC GX5 is like 30 lbs i think, and that is plenty light) i'd rather have a 2 channel with loads of power, or a throw in the gig bag micro head.

it's a cool idea, and i'm glad they're trying new things (or improving old things), but it isn't something i'd be at all interested in having. i also like having more save spots like on the VT Deluxe.

and why does it matter that it's only 300 watts with no speak-ons? i like speak-ons better for the firmer (giggety), locked-in connection (giggety giggety).
 
First thing I saw was no mute, then I read about the footswitch. I may look into this down the road. I'm already used to hauling a 6 or 8 space rack. Have the Landmark series proven to have reliable amp sections?

There are more options for bass players now than ever before. I live in a small town and remember years ago having to drive 1 - 3 hours just to drool over a handful of products that didn't have the Peavey or Fender name. Thanks to the internet I can drool at home.

I can finally say bass players are spoiled with selection.

Almost.
 
I think most of you guys (VT Bass users, potential VT300 buyers) would have rather had a smaller, 1 channel 300W amp, than the 2U 2 Channel?
For the power range (200W ~ 300W) the biggest weight save is more with the powersupply than the power technology itself.
 
included footswitch. that's what i like to hear. none of this nickel and diming people over it like some companies i won't mention.

I wholeheartedly agree with this. When I dropped $450 for my brand new Peavey Tour 450, I was shocked that it didn't come with a footswitch (it was my first "new amp, I didn't know that this was standard practice at the time).

There is value in a customer walking away with everything they need in the original purchase. If I were king for a day at JoeMamma Amplification, I would make sure that each amp shipped with a footswitch and each cab shipped with a 4 foot speaker cable. It is just good business... thats the way we roll here at JoeMamma.:hyper:
 
I second the notion that Tech 21 NYC produce a 1U rackmountable VT Bass unit -- with a blend knob, configured similarly to the RBI and RPM models! Imagine the sonic combinations possible pairing such a unit with a RBI or RPM! The head does look cool, though.
 
i just like the immediacy of response from the Tech21 crew. they saw that they had a winner with the VT so they hear/see all the mods being done to the 'already a hit' VT and use an existing platform and put the VT guts inside and badda boom, VT Deluxe. they see that as a welcomed addition so they take another existing platform of theirs and serve it up with the VT guts (VT Bass 300) and now there's 3 levels of VT for many players, for many needs.

a lot of companies might not react so quickly or wisely. I dig 'em


\m/ \m/
 
i just like the immediacy of response from the Tech21 crew. they saw that they had a winner with the VT so they hear/see all the mods being done to the 'already a hit' VT and use an existing platform and put the VT guts inside and badda boom, VT Deluxe. they see that as a welcomed addition so they take another existing platform of theirs and serve it up with the VT guts (VT Bass 300) and now there's 3 levels of VT for many players, for many needs.

a lot of companies might not react so quickly or wisely. I dig 'em
agreed. the amp isn't something for me, but it will find an audience.
 
I think this looks like it could be a really cool amp if it sounds great and is reasonably priced. I like the size, it's laid out for making easy & repeatable drive and eq adjustments on the fly, can get a little tricky with the small form factor amps. I'd wager this would still be the lightest/smallest amp on the bandstand of the players who are in the target market. The lack of a speakon connection is a curious marketing oversight, even though it's totally irrelevant in delivering the amp's rated power.
 
Allow me to respond to some of your questions and comments.

The 300 watt analog power amp in the VT Bass 300 can actually exceed it's rated output and even if it starts to clip it will do so in a musical way much like a tube amp.It was meant to be as loud as an SVT without the weight. This amp will more than hang with any loud drummer and like most bass amps is meant to be your onstage monitor or your primary sound in the average club or venue. If you are playing on a concert stage you will more than likely be using a bigger rig and be pumped through the PA as well.

The difference between an analog amp and a digital amp in terms of power is that a digital amp cannot exceed it's rated output as digital distortion is completely unusable. This is why digital amps have built in limiters. They also don't produce transients in the same way a well designed analog amp can. The benefit of digital just like analog solid state is lighter weight and a smaller amp. We all know how much an SVT head weighs.

As for our amps not offering a 2 ohm output, just remember that although many amp manufactures rate the maximum power of their amps at 2 ohm's (hence the big output ratings) this is not the safest way to run any amp as the amp can easily over heat and short out.

We chose to use conventional 1/4" speaker outs rather than speakons for a couple of reasons. One is convenience. Most cabs have 1/4" jacks and 1/4" speaker cables can be found in most music stores. The other reason was that we felt there was no need for the speakons as they are designed for higher current applications which is why we used them in our Landmark 600 amp.
 
Allow me to respond to some of your questions and comments.

The 300 watt analog power amp in the VT Bass 300 can actually exceed it's rated output and even if it starts to clip it will do so in a musical way much like a tube amp.It was meant to be as loud as an SVT without the weight. This amp will more than hang with any loud drummer and like most bass amps is meant to be your onstage monitor or your primary sound in the average club or venue. If you are playing on a concert stage you will more than likely be using a bigger rig and be pumped through the PA as well.

The difference between an analog amp and a digital amp in terms of power is that a digital amp cannot exceed it's rated output as digital distortion is completely unusable. This is why digital amps have built in limiters. They also don't produce transients in the same way a well designed analog amp can. The benefit of digital just like analog solid state is lighter weight and a smaller amp. We all know how much an SVT head weighs.

As for our amps not offering a 2 ohm output, just remember that although many amp manufactures rate the maximum power of their amps at 2 ohm's (hence the big output ratings) this is not the safest way to run any amp as the amp can easily over heat and short out.

We chose to use conventional 1/4" speaker outs rather than speakons for a couple of reasons. One is convenience. Most cabs have 1/4" jacks and 1/4" speaker cables can be found in most music stores. The other reason was that we felt there was no need for the speakons as they are designed for higher current applications which is why we used them in our Landmark 600 amp.

Muchos Gracias!

Can you tell us what the street price is going to be on these beauties? :D
 
Some thoughts and questions while we wait for more deployment news... So the input is flat, or +10 dB via the gain button. That's the only way to adjust input before the preamp section. No peak LED on input so you will just have to listen for overdriving. This gain button boosts gain for both channels at the same time. The DI is always post (so the character and drive and EQ affect the output), but level buffered to flat of -20dB of whatever the level is set with the "level" knob. With the VT pedal, the level was the first thing I adjusted,then brought it back down to compensate for the increase in volume I got from the drive and character settings. This level knob is now the volume knob for the amplifier section as well. Turning this turns down both the amp and the DI output. If I turn down the stage volume while in channel 1, the DI level drops. If I don't adjust channel 2 down as well, and switch to it later, stage level goes up and sends a hotter DI signal to the soundman after has adjusted for the decrease in channel 1 signal earlier. This could make it hard to use both channels live if you tend to adjust stage volume levels. Hopefully I am misunderstanding...

I wonder how seamless the switch from channel 1 to channel 2 is? Does it drop out momentarily?
I wonder if output goes up when you run in mixed channel mode, or does it stay the same as only using channel 1 or channel 2.
I wonder why the DI output is stated as 0 or -20dB in the literature, but states o or -10dB in the picture of the back of the amp...
All of my questions about the VT300 are the same questions I would have with a Landmark 300...
Wes
 
i just like the immediacy of response from the Tech21 crew. they saw that they had a winner with the VT so they hear/see all the mods being done to the 'already a hit' VT and use an existing platform and put the VT guts inside and badda boom, VT Deluxe. they see that as a welcomed addition so they take another existing platform of theirs and serve it up with the VT guts (VT Bass 300) and now there's 3 levels of VT for many players, for many needs.

a lot of companies might not react so quickly or wisely. I dig 'em


\m/ \m/

+1 again. Tech 21 is awesome...
 

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