Vintage tone/modern rig?

[JimmyM]

Have you picked out a name for the horse? For what a new V4B costs she might even get one with some teeth left.
Looking forward to the review....of the amp.

LOL! I get a little bit of a discount, so no, she won't get one with any teeth

 

[Tonegasm]

 

[gastric]

I've been using a SVT for the past year, and had a V4 for a short while. Band went on hiatus and I wanted something more portable and smaller. Bought a MESA Walkabout and Aguilar TH350 and stuck with the Walkabout. Just had more of that lively tube tone and feel to my ears that I'd been enjoying with the Ampeg all-tube gear. Very grindy when you dig in, has that really dynamic feel to it. The Aguilar has a vintage tone, but still felt a little more solid state to me.

Pros to the Aguilar - it's super tiny. Mind boggling tiny and light.

 

[Sliderbass]

BTW, I've had a PF350 for 2 years and it's been a tank. Even dropped it Saturday and on Sunday's gig it worked great.[/QUOTE]

Didn't realize you we're now Ampeg QC TOO...

 

[JimmyM]

Huh?

 

[jumblemind]

It looks good, a but more that I was thinking spending as I was considering the TH500 or the PF500 and then hanging on to my 2x12 cab.

Depends on if you want kind of awesome tube emulation sound, Ampeg sound, or real tube sound. TH500 for the first, PF800 for the second, and a Genz Benz Streamliner for the last one. The Genz is a tube amp in a 6lb package, and the 600 model is right in your range. It can get tube breakup, tube compression, all that. The TH500 is a fantastic amp but does have a signature sound. The Portaflex is a great Ampeg sound, but 13lbs or so is about twice other micros, though still a great deal less weight than a V4B.

 

[chuck3]

So, this is my first thread. I have been reading many on the Ampeg PF500 and the Aguilar Tonehammer 500; I am hunting for the right rig. Currently I have a mid 70's Ampeg V-4B I run through a 4x10 cab. I also have a Genz Benz GBE 600 I run through an Avatar 212 Neo. I love vintage Ampeg tone as so many do, not stoked on lugging the weight around. The Genz Benz is cool but not quite the tone that stokes me. I am considering the Ampeg PF500 or an Aguilar Tonehammer 500. Undecided best way to go as I read a lot of positives and not so positives re. both esp. the PF500. I am also thinking of trying a Tech21 Sansamp VT-bass pedal and running that through the Genz Benz to warm it up and see if I get a vintage type tone that moves me. Looking for input, re. keeping the weight light and the tone warm; looking for vintage tone in a modern rig.

when I'm playing rock through a Genz Benz other than my Streamliner (which I do sometimes, for ease of using a Shuttle), I go in through an EBS Valvedrive, which has a tube in it and warms up the tone nicely.

 

[karl_em_all]

Try out an Orange TB500. Go on, give it a try.

 

[Bobcat11]

Thanks for all the input. What it all comes down to is, there are a lot of options. I did check out a Vt pedal through my GBE600, a PF500 through a 210 as well as TH 500 through the same cab; which was about all my store had worth checking out. All perfectly cool in its own way and my search did not get any easier and what I really love is my V4B. It has it's limitations, but so does everything. It's a back breaker to load and unload, but for right now I think it's worth it. However, at rehearsal tonight it was tweaking out. started crackling as though the was maybe a blown speaker but not; confirmed that with my other head through the cab. I think it my V4B may need a filter cap replacement. I am going to take to a local tech her at place called Crucial Audio. They did great work on my SF Fender Princeton. But just wanted to see if anybody had any feedback on that.

 

[JimmyM]

Could be. Could also be a wonky tube.

 

[Sliderbass]

Huh?

I meant that you drop tested he amp.....

 

[JimmyM]

Oh, I get it now...sorry. Seems rather obvious now that you explained it

 

[Bobcat11]

So, I have had a 73/74 Ampeg V4B for nearly a year, decided it is more than I want to lug for the kind of playing I am doing; living room jams, cafe and small club gigs and some farmer's markets etc. I now also have a Genz Benz Streamliner 600 that I am playing through a Genz Benz focus 210 (will be getting a Focus 115 at some point as well). I am really digging it, esp the size and weight with the great tone. I am still a bit more partial to the tone I get from my V4B and thinking of getting and eq pedal (Boss GEB-7 or MXR M108) or possibly the Tech 21 VT bass pedal to have more tone shaping capability with the Streamliner and just wanted to get some feedback on others experience. If you got opinions on this with this head I am open.

 

[Korladis]

I find that cabs have more effect on tone than the amp. For vintage tone get a sealed cab.

Plenty of cabs were ported, back in the day, too. This idea that ported cabs are some recent invention is just bizarre.

 

[nysbob]

You've got an amp that you love the sound of.

No pedal will duplicate it, and if you sell it, you'll kick yourself within a month...guaranteed. Man up and carry it around. We've all got a our crosses to bear.

 

[Mosfed]

I find that cabs have more effect on tone than the amp. For vintage tone get a sealed cab.

+1

Option 2 would be a Darkglass Vintage Microtubes.

 

[10cc]

So, this is my first thread. I have been reading many on the Ampeg PF500 and the Aguilar Tonehammer 500; I am hunting for the right rig. Currently I have a mid 70's Ampeg V-4B I run through a 4x10 cab. I also have a Genz Benz GBE 600 I run through an Avatar 212 Neo. I love vintage Ampeg tone as so many do, not stoked on lugging the weight around. The Genz Benz is cool but not quite the tone that stokes me. I am considering the Ampeg PF500 or an Aguilar Tonehammer 500. Undecided best way to go as I read a lot of positives and not so positives re. both esp. the PF500. I am also thinking of trying a Tech21 Sansamp VT-bass pedal and running that through the Genz Benz to warm it up and see if I get a vintage type tone that moves me. Looking for input, re. keeping the weight light and the tone warm; looking for vintage tone in a modern rig.

Just heard one last night. Vintage tone from a vintage amp. 1962 Masco ma 60. Small and light too. This thing kills my SVT and every other amp I've ever heard.

 

[Bobcat11]

So, I am playing around with both a Boss GEB-7 and a Whirlwind Bass Ten EQ. I am loving the Whirlwind and now loving by Streamliner, which I loved before, but a new world has opened. I never really messed with an EQ outside of what was equipped on a given bass head. I started out with the GEB-7 which was fun, but once I got the Bass Ten I didn't want to go back to the GEB-7. I am on a learning curve here with the eq pedals, but having fun with it.

 

[cchorney]

Get just about any micro amp, add a tube or tube sounding compressor (EBS MultiComp is what I use), and a Tech21 BDDI or VT Bass or any other modeling DI (heck my Zoom B2.1u has some great amp/cab sims too). Voila, lightweight and versatile rig.

 

[zonoluc]

I had a very similar dilemna ( weight vs. Warmth) and chose to go light and small with the shuttle 6.2, but as great as this amp is, the vt bass pedal I picked up last week was a revelation to get vintage sound w modern gear. I get the subtle grind I'm after with this configuration. I highly recommend this combination for you. Good luck.