Hey it's a bass amp question, but at least it's audio related, right?

I love Ampegs, my drummer (who is actually a pretty good bass player)
is looking to get a nice amp, he's into more of a classic "buttery
tone".

I told him for cheap to check out the B100R "rocket" combos and he
said it was cool, the tone he was looking for but he wants something
louder.

He likes my B2R a lot, but I was thinking for him, maybe a V4BH would
be kinda cool. Given that a B2R runs about $500, plus a rack for it,
he'd be within $200 of a V4BH.

Now those heads are rated at 100 watts, but given it's a tube amp
(power section is four 6L6's) and an Ampeg I'd think that thing has a
ton of balls.

I mean an SVT, at 300 watts will wipe the floor with my B2R which is
rated at 350 watts, so I'd think that a V4BH would be loud enough for
him.

I'm just looking for people's experiences with this head, as knowing
what my buddy is going for tone wise, I think a tube amp with 15"
speakers is what he really needs.

Analogeezer

I'm just looking for people's experiences with this head, as knowing
what my buddy is going for tone wise, I think a tube amp with 15"
speakers is what he really needs. BRBR

Years ago there was a company in NYC called Andre Audio. They were great. There
was a hispanic guy at the couter who would take in the repair work. He would
patiently listen to you describe symptoms and eventually smile and say "Check
Complete!" - and that's all he'd write on the ticket. The amp always came back
sounding great. One cool thing they did was buy out all the old blue tolex flip
top cabinets from one incarnation of Ampeg - like thirty years ago. They would
load them with speakers and screw the top shut and sell them with "Andre Audio"
nameplates
My favorite rig of all time was a circa 1974 V4B driving two Altec 421-8H
speakers, each mounted in what used to be Ampeg B-18 bottoms. Andre redid the
front baffle to accomodate the 15's.
We (the band) also owned an SVT, but if I wanted to get just a touch of
clipping out of the bass amp, the SVT would have to be at a level that was WAY
too loud for the stage. A stock B-15 was WAY too weak.
The V4B was just right (think Goldilocks and porridge).
I got drunk one night and gave the rig to the engineer most resposible for the
success of my studio during it's last couple years. - Lenny Stote. It still
sounds great.
You're right on target with your suggestion.






Kevin M. Kelly
"There needs to be a 12-step program for us gearheads"

I'm NOT a bass player but have had several good-tone bass players in my life
who liked really haggling about what WORKED as opposed to what was
'impressive'. With them in agreement with me, the V4B was my
how-can-I-choose-between fav bass amp right next to a Fender Showman head.
Still is.
V4B thru a pair of SUNN 2000s cabs w/JBL's was awesome: warmth, punch,
tone, power....ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

what's the V4B-H ?

For sheer joy of overall tone range, a good Precision through the Fender
Showman driving a tone-ring single-15 Showman cab with a Tremolux cab on top
was enough to melt anyone's heart. Better than playing thru the Big Boys'
studio monitors.

absolutely HATE the SVT.

Analogeezer at wrote on 7/16/04 8:41 AM:

Hey it's a bass amp question, but at least it's audio related, right?

I love Ampegs, my drummer (who is actually a pretty good bass player)
is looking to get a nice amp, he's into more of a classic "buttery
tone".

I told him for cheap to check out the B100R "rocket" combos and he
said it was cool, the tone he was looking for but he wants something
louder.

He likes my B2R a lot, but I was thinking for him, maybe a V4BH would
be kinda cool. Given that a B2R runs about $500, plus a rack for it,
he'd be within $200 of a V4BH.

Now those heads are rated at 100 watts, but given it's a tube amp
(power section is four 6L6's) and an Ampeg I'd think that thing has a
ton of balls.

I mean an SVT, at 300 watts will wipe the floor with my B2R which is
rated at 350 watts, so I'd think that a V4BH would be loud enough for
him.

I'm just looking for people's experiences with this head, as knowing
what my buddy is going for tone wise, I think a tube amp with 15"
speakers is what he really needs.

Analogeezer

--
John I-22
(that's 'I' for Initial...)
Recognising what's NOT worth your time, THAT'S the key.
--

Kevin Kelly at wrote on 7/16/04 11:25 AM:


My favorite rig of all time was a circa 1974 V4B driving two Altec 421-8H
speakers, each mounted in what used to be Ampeg B-18 bottoms. Andre redid the
front baffle to accomodate the 15's.

I have a pair of 421's that I haven;t been able to GIVE away... weren;t they
GUITAR speakers?
I also have a bass player friend with a B12, 15 and 18... hmmmnnnn...

--
John I-22
(that's 'I' for Initial...)
Recognising what's NOT worth your time, THAT'S the key.
--

I have a pair of 421's that I haven;t been able to GIVE away... weren;t they
GUITAR speakers? BRBR

I guess since nobody ever told my precision we were playing through guitar
speakers, everything was OK.

(All these years I thought the 421-8H's were designed for bass instruments)
Kevin M. Kelly
"There needs to be a 12-step program for us gearheads"