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After gigging with the VT this weekend twice, I will say that it is very much like an SVT. My tone was muddy and brittle, and I had a hard time getting the definition I like from my bass, just like when using a real SVT!
Okay, that's a bit tongue-in-cheek, but true. I enjoyed it however because that was what I was after at one of those gigs...a more rock oriented tone with a Pbass. For that gig, it was awesome. It reminded me of why I love SVT's in a rock band!
On the other gig, (a latin combo with a jazz bass) I used it for the first set and was just struggling the whole time to get a tone I liked. I kept twiddling the knobs, boosting mids to make it cut, and then cutting treble to keep it from sounding so brittle. Reminded me of all the reasons I dislike SVT's for pretty much anything other than rock. So after the first song on the second set, I just turned the damn thing off, and everything was instantly fixed! There's a quick clip of that gig here - .
I don't mean for this to sound like a negative review. It's actually a POSITIVE experience. I typically dislike Ampeg and SVT's for all but those traditional, rock settings. It was perfect for that, and sounded like the real thing. That's also what made me dislike it so much on the other gig.
So, I give this pedal a HUGE +1 for doing exactly what it claims to do...bring those vintage tube tones in a small package. I'm keeping this little guy and will use it whenever I need that sound.
Nothing more I love than buying new stuff and taking it to a gig without trying it first. It's fun!I did...quite a lot, both alone and at rehearsals. It's pretty easy to use actually. But it does such a good job of emulating those vintage tones, that it's virtually impossible to get the kind of tone I prefer out of it for most of the gigs I do. Again, that is a good thing. I've never met an SVT I liked outside of a rock gig. I tried it at the gig on purpose just so I could confirm that "Yes, it sounds like an SVT at a jazz gig, and I hate SVT's at jazz gigs."
It all depends on the gig to me and how much freedom I have to get away with noodling. There are some circumstances where it's not possible to do that without it causing problems. It also depends on the equipment and what I'm testing. For all the "issues" people have reported learning the VT, it's pretty straight forward I think. Character knob goes from muddy SVT tone at the left, to grindy, mid-centered shrill as you move it to the right. Drive increases the overdrive. The rest is EQ and gain. If you know what those classic amps sound like, it's pretty easy to dial one of them in pretty quickly. The included sample settings work pretty well to get you started depending on the output of your bass. For my Lakland's, running them in passive was great for those suggested settings. Putting the bass in active immediatley caused way too much overdrive and I had to back of the Drive knob a good bit. Still, it sounded as much like an SVT as anything I've ever heard without having the real thing. It was MUCH better than any of the Line 6 POD stuff I've tried in the past.
Nope, it's physics. Got a little 1/2 lb. box trying to duplicate what an 85 lb. amp into an 810 does. If you use an 810, you can get some of that back, but there really is no substitute for your signal traveling a convoluted path of tubes and transformers. It's why I still lug an SVT or B-15 to my gigs when I have a LMII and VT.
IME/O, the key to using these types of modeling devices is to have a really flat amp and a fairly colorless cabinet. Beyond that, it's just a matter of having enough cabinet to move the amount of air required to get that physical sensation you are after.
IMO it really SHINES when thru a tube amp & used like this- either as a 'cranked SVT' sound or just at the 'sweet spot' of a tube amp -sound. Sounds GOOD thru the other amps but BETTER thru a tube amp- well so does ANYTHING IMO! 
