VTypeV4

Oh, that's rough - and painful by the sounds of things!

Thanks! 😃

These monsters were collected over the weekend from a lovely chap near Southport. Barely used, I now have an SVT CL, 410HE and 115E! Really, I've bought it all for the studio but always kinda fancied an Ampeg rig and is something of a contrast to my usual Trace Elliot setup(s!). Initial impressions are very good both in terms of build quality (these are chinese examples) and performance - the biggest surprise is that EQ being very powerful and flexible - I had no issue dialling my usual noise. Whilst I've not yet used it at 'stun' or 'kill' volumes, power certainly doesn't feel like it's going to be an issue! 😀

I decided to give the little SMX a quick once over yesterday and it seems all is well inside. It's good and reassuring to see the Clive Button power amplifier section in there as I had suspected it might have the somewhat more troublesome bi-polar bear - I assume the CB was factory fitted judging by the date stickers and gobs of hot glue. It didn't really need it once I saw how clean it was but I felt better giving the old girl a quick dust out by the fan / heat sink and a squirt of contact cleaner.. 😀

We had this very setup at college back in 2000 / 2001 - it replaced an A&H GS3/V and a 16-track, half-inch tape machine. The only addition to the we had to the Mackie setup there was a TC Finalizer which was usually inserted at the end of the chain via the mini patch bay. I always thought it was ok - it certainly seemed capable and stable although as a teenager who was more interested in being the next Marcus / Stanley / Mark (etc!), I only ever really used it when I really needed to. Today, as someone who regularly uses Yamaha 02Rs (with TC Electronic cards) of the same era, this old stuff still can sound awesome in the right hands and very much capable of running with modern systems - as we all know, it's usually the operator that makes the difference!

My setp-dad built 'Beavis' back in 1996 as part of an electronics course he was doing at the time and a couple of years before I picked up playing. Heavily rebuilt from a burned out Linear L50 chassis with the transformers and chassis being the only retained items, it essentially became a hot-rodded 50w Marshall using 3x ECC83 and a pair of EL34. I've had it modified a few times over the years including the addition of a master volume plus a change of output valves - it's had 6550s and KT88s although now, it has JJ KT77s and apparently makes about 60w. Beavis is very musical and I have gigged it on many an occasion with it offering (just about!) enough power / volume for my needs before heading into 'Lemmy' territory. To be fair, in terms of power, it doesn't really feel like it was much less clout than my Fender 135. It became my first bass amp as my step-dad never really got on with it - he was a Fender / clean guitar player and Beavis didn't really do the 'chimey' thing particularly well although, looking back, it was probably the speakers he used it with more than anything. I made use of it with a pair of Goodmans Audiom loaded WEM 1x15" for bass duties although these days, it's paired with a JBL K140 loaded Ashton 1x15"..

Brilliant! 🤣

Hi Mike, I thought the V4BH was the one with the same pre-amp and cosmetics of the SVT CL but with the smaller, 4x 6L6 100w power stage rather than the the 'full fat' 6x 6550 300w?

I'd not considered an SVT 2 - it's an option..

I feel I've been a long time contributer to this wonderful corner of the internet - nearly 11 years if I'm not mistaken. To me, this site is still the best place to chat bass. 🤣 Most of my posts are waxing lyrical about the virtues of those old green / grey / black boxes emblazened with the words 'Trace' and 'Elliot' and I get even more excited if they have those magical, glowing glass bottles in them. Talk of mixing consoles, outboard gear and mixing are sometimes equally up lifting too.. Enough of my indulgence, anyways - I want to talk Ampeg. 😃 At the studio, I'm expanding our range of amplification and whilst my Trace 400SMX and associated cabs have done the lions share of the work (and continue to do a great jpb) since I moved into the Sun Street building, I want an Ampeg setup. I foolishly hesitated on a V4BH a few weeks back but am keeping an eye out for SVT CL too.. My question is, are the V4BH and SVT CL tonally similar? I'm aware they have the same pre-amp and that main difference is the output stage. The power deficit isn't an issue - I've gigged with 60w (just about) and have also used my Fender Bassman 135 on many an occasion too - it's the character that is more important. I don't much fancy the current re-issue V4 or SVT VR nor do I like the idea of the 350 / 450 or hybrid models, I'm pretty set on either a V4BH or an SVT CL.. Any opinions, experiences or thoughts welcome. 😃

Sadly not, only Kirk Brandon with Theatre of Hate (Friday afternoon) and Spear or Destiny (Saturday early evening). Lovely festival with a very relaxed feel. I particularly enjoyed Jo Boxers - super tight group. 😃

One for the V-Type fans - my new phone has a fancy camera and thought this came out rather well. 😃

No 02R or DM in todays reply but this good old M7 was still doing the business at the 'Sign of the times' Festival (Hertfordshire) over the weekend. An identical console on-stage was running the monitors also. Many years ago, it was suggested to me that the M7 was a bigger, more user friendly version of the LS-9 - all these years later, I'd still agree. 😃

The last few months, it's all been about that wonderful Status Energy but I took the Yamaha on the job today - it's such a solid tool. Versatile and capable, a very useful member of the clan. 😃

This is my latest purchase, a DM1000 - a close relation of my much larger DM2000. It came from eBay at a very reasonable price as it needed a new screen and some of the faders sorting but it's all fixed now and ready to go. I've not done any shows with it as yet but given it's packed with features and compact dimensions, I'm reasonably sure it'll see plenty of work in the coming months. 😃

Very happy to be part of the Status club again - this one is a keeper. 💯

Thank you - it's a keeper! 😃 The Trace rig isn't light by any stretch of the imagination but it is dinky as it's a mega compact 15, four-by-eight and the head is the smaller sized 300w rather than the usual 4x10 / 1x15 setup. I love it - especially given I don't have to move it very often! 🤣

It's been a long time since I've owned a Status (the last was sold in 2006 to buy a motorbike) and is one of a couple of regrets about basses I've sold over the last 25 years. This one cropped up in the local shop and I simply had to have it - I never thought I'd get the opportunity to get my hands on another as they don't seem to come up all that often let alone at an affordable price. Whilst this one is different than my previous example (the last one was a six-string for starters), it exhibits that exact same 'instant playability' and feel - something I've found unique to Status basses and even my beloved Warwick needed tweaks and a setup to get it exactly where I wanted it. It sounds absolutely killer through the Trace Elliot 'mini mighty' rig! Super tight, punchy with that 'immediacy' that's quite tricky to put into words. Suffice to say, I'm very pleased with it and it's great to have a Status back in the collection - I feel it fits in great with the Warwick, Jazzes and Yamaha. ❤️

The big SMX and it's cabs happily sat in the live room at the studio. I've not used it myself much this year although it's seen some action featuring on a few sessions and sounding great - as ever. 😃 There have been no issues and the rig remains 100% reliable - no doubt, it's just as good as the day it came out of the factory. 💯 Up in the control room, the 'mini mighty' rig now sit's in the spot previously occupied by the 400. 😃 The two setups do sound (a little) different but I'll put 90% of that difference down to the 4x8 vs the 2x10 - both fifteens feature the same driver plus it goes without saying, the pre-amp stage is identical. Yes, the 400 has more I/O options and features but in terms of tonal control, there's no difference One thing that is apparent is that the 300SMX is a little noisier both in terms of fan and background noise. I'll do some 'gut shots' when I get chance as I've not yet been inside this one. I assume it's fitted with the notorious 'bipolar bear' power stage although the previous owner didn't mention any failures and he'd owned it all from new.. 😬

I love this bass, it's become the studio 'go-to' Jazz. It's only a Squier Affinity but it's got a great sound and has made it onto more recordings at the studio than any other. 😀 I've done some mods including the knobs, tin work and pearl / shell 3-ply scratch plate. And the VM series Squier that is still almost certainly the best passive bass I've owned. 😃

Great pics, Mike - nice! Glad you're keeping busy too, I know so many that have thrown the towel in after the pandemic. I've done a few shows on the SQ platform (all 7s) now and, I have to say, they were brilliant. Everything where I wanted it, plenty of hands-on controls and above all, I found them really intuitive - arguably the easiest 'walk up' compact digital I've used. I really don't have a bad word for them. 😀 My favourite of the newer generation lot also goes to A&H - this D-live back in September (much like the SQ) was fantastic - no scrabbling around to find things or adjust parameters, simply a pleasure to use. 😃 On the Digico front, I've had a few good shows on a Quantum (225?) - again much like the SD range - pretty straight forward and trouble free. I also did the Victoria Hall job again for a Christmas show and thankfully I also got an SD12 to mix on. I think Digico have got it right and feel they took a leaf out of the Yamaha book in as much, if you have used any one of their consoles, using a different model is a breeze with plenty of commonalities between them.

This thread is so old now but I thought I'd just drop a quick post to show that in 2022, my 'home / ex ITV' 02R is currently being used to mix a live album due for commercial release in April.. 😀 Still going!

My 'in use' lot at the min. Next to the sofa so close enough! From top to bottom: Recently purchased from this lovely community, a tidy '99 Yamaha Rbx765a. A great 'modern' bass. A Squier VM Jazz dating from 2006 which makes it an early one. I've had this since about 2009 and is to date the best passive bass I've ever owned. Definitely a keeper for both vintage and modern requirements. Another Squier next - this is part of an arrangement with one of my students. She preferred my old Legend (Aria) Jazz so I said we could swap for a while. It's a lovely bass, modded with a chrome work and a new scratch plate, it sees plenty of action. And lastly my good old Warwick Streamer LX5. Purchased brand new by me in 2001 when I was merely eighteen, it still delivers with that focused low-mid punch and growl. I'll be buried with this thing. There's my cheap 6-string too but that was at a friend's place so didn't make the photo. It's a KHL Wolf Bass - walnut and maple with a through neck and weighs a ton.. If you read this far, thanks for looking. 👍

I acquired this lovely little lot the other day: AH300 SMX, 4x8 and matching 1x15. Ultra compact cabs labelled as V-type extension - presumably for the 4808 and 115 V-type combos. I've had lots of trace rarities over the years (including a 4808 combo) but never seen either of these in the flesh before. It sounds superb! 😀 The little 8" drivers are Celestion BG8-60 units as found in the 4808 combo and early SWR Henry 8x8 cabs. They certainly punch well above their size might suggest - a lovely driver. The 15" is slightly less glamorous loaded with the C15H which is a custom version of the Celestion K series. They were in the 1153 and the 250 / 300w combos - a great sounding 15 despite only a modest spec. As a size reference, notice how big the Squier Jazz seems in the top pic and the horizontal format 400SMX / 2103H / 1153 in the lower one.. I've dubbed it the 'mighty mini rig'.. 😊

In the Bassman, Quilly? I put a new set of JJ 6L6s in it not long after I had it which must be about 4 years ago now. It doesn't feel like it's gone weak or soft in that time. When I bought it, it had a pair of what I assume were it's original US (GE or maybe Sylvania) valves alongside a pair of no-name Chinese or Russian tubes. I replaced the Chinese pre-amp valves with tall plate JJ ECC803 and the driver / inverter with a JJ '81 at the same time the 6L6s went in. It doesn't see extreme use or mega hours (these days, at least) so it doesn't have a tough life - it mainly sees studio work currently.