I own an old SVT-II and also a 70's V4 so I know what you mean, it took me awhile to trust if my V4 would cover the gig or not. I'd say you should bring your SVT-II along for your first couple gigs just in case.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
The official Ampeg V-4BH thread
- Thread starter TSanders
- Start date
I own an old SVT-II and also a 70's V4 so I know what you mean, it took me awhile to trust if my V4 would cover the gig or not. I'd say you should bring your SVT-II along for your first couple gigs just in case.
Reviving this dead thread with my new to me and V4-B(H)! I love these amps enough I traded for a second one. So I'm the proud owner of two of these great sounding US made Ampegs! I still love my V-4B reissue, but there's something special about the old BH versions.
I bought one of the last ones a few years ago and love the tone. I was looking to trade a sell/trade a Ampeg 3Pro and received an offer for an early V-4B Classic Series and was thrilled. The tone is killer. Might even sound a little better that my newer version (I know the tubes are different. EH in the pre and JJs Power amp vs Ruby's in my other BH). It's not as loud as the one I had for some reason, however. It has fairly recent tubes with low hours so I'm almost certain it's not that. But I bought it for home use and will work just fine for that. But if something happens to my V-4BH it might struggle a little. But for now there's no reason to spend money on it.
I know some have issues with the volume if loud is necessary--but man to they sound good!
I bought one of the last ones a few years ago and love the tone. I was looking to trade a sell/trade a Ampeg 3Pro and received an offer for an early V-4B Classic Series and was thrilled. The tone is killer. Might even sound a little better that my newer version (I know the tubes are different. EH in the pre and JJs Power amp vs Ruby's in my other BH). It's not as loud as the one I had for some reason, however. It has fairly recent tubes with low hours so I'm almost certain it's not that. But I bought it for home use and will work just fine for that. But if something happens to my V-4BH it might struggle a little. But for now there's no reason to spend money on it.
I know some have issues with the volume if loud is necessary--but man to they sound good!
Last edited:
I had a V-4BH Head (all black graphics). It sounded sweet except for my B string. At band volumes it didn't like it. 4 strings were great though.
I thought I was the only one who loved em. I owned one of the V-4B’s back in the late 90s & now I own two of the updated V4BH’s from the 2000s. I’m running each through its own SVT 112AV cab. Dark shoegaze metal in Drop A & Drop E0 This set up rips. I was using my 4 pro & SVT 212AV cabs but nothing hit like V4BH’s I’m re-tubing one of em now. I’ll post pics of the full glory after the weekend.
Attachments
I’m playing mine in drop A & drop E without issue. No flab & no blowout. Re-tube with all JJ tubes. It makes a huge difference in overall tone, power & tightness
Glad to see there is still some love for these amazing heads. I still have two of them (in addition to the more recent B-4B AV). The AV is nice and has more volume, but doesn't have the sweet tone of the older Classic versions. My main head sounds fantastic through the Heritage 410. I'm prefer more than one speaker, but the Fender 115 below is nice for a single.
