VTypeV4

135 and V4 by VTypeV4, on Flickr What I took with me on Monday.. Glass and Iron!

Thanks Stevie. The box is a kind of 'inbetween' size - originally I'd considered a 2x15 but the drivers were such a tight fit even diagonally positioned, I decided against it..

I've got a half built enclosure that was originally going to be a very compact 4x12 for guitar. It belonged to a friend but he lost interest in the project and I've had it ever since. My plan is to slightly re-engineer it as a 2x12 + HF and have it as a 'vintage looking but modern sounding' bass cab. It measures 27 x 27 x 14 internal inches which gives around 180 litres (ish) box volume. I'm happy to make it vented or sealed - which ever suits the chosen drivers best plus it doesn't need to flat down to 38Hz, a usable response down to about 65Hz is more than adequate for my requirements. I'm trying to voice the cab similar to my existing SWR cabs by having a slightly 'dull' sounding 12" that rolls off at about 2kHz (or lower) causing a slight dip before the HF component picks up at 3.5kHz. I already have a passive HPF from a Hartke cab that is 12dB / oct at 3.5kHz. Normally I'd crack out my copy of Eminence designer but I've recently changed computer and it doesn't like it. Real shame as I've lost all the updated T/S specs from Eminence too. My preferred speaker is usually Celestion as they seem to have the performance / price point just about right plus my experience with them has been very positive through the years. I'm happy to consider models from all companies if they're suitable and not horribly expensive. Can anyone offer any driver suggestions / sealed / vented / tuning frequency as a starting point? Power handling is not a massive concern either - The biggest amp it will be driven with is a 200w valve amplifier plus I'm not trying to kill anyone at 50 feet! Many thanks, Matt.

Well, I took it to rehearsal last night as planned. I paired it with my two SWR Golly Jr, the NE-1 and LMB-3 but couldn't take the Warwick as I'd left the gig bag at the studio so took the Jazz bass instead.. I thought the amp would 'cave in' and sound loose at rehearsal volume and that'd be it - I even took the V4 as a back up. It seems I was wrong. It stayed tight, punchy with fat compression on every note and it sustained this over a wide volume range. At elevated volume, the Jazz bass sang with the harshness and clank I'd experienced the day before all but gone.. It's one of the best bass sounds I've had with the Jazz - the Squier / Fender / SWR combination pi$$es all over the Peavey combo at the studio. The only thing I didn't test was it's line out which I understand is power amp derived so recording without a mic might be good. I'll have to get a load box so I don't have to maul a cab for a recording session. As a last point, it doesn't have the 'big horsepower' of my V4 (I'm not starting a Class D / compact war!) but it has more than enough to keep up through what I would consider average sensitivity cabs. I have a half built cab knocking about so I might have to load it with an efficient pair of 12" and a compression driver but that's another story.. I think it depends on the application but in my case, agreed. I've read many a thing about the Fender EQ but it's interactions at various settings kick up some 'interesting' results..

I've done a bit of experimentation this afternoon.. First of all I tried various ways of plugging the NE-1, the LMB-3 and linking the channels. To my surprise, all the different combinations I tried didn't seem to make a great deal of difference although linking / blending of the channels throws up some great tonal options. With the Fender tone controls being interactive, they are in equal measure both intuitive and frustrating although a little experimentation yields a lovely sound. The controls react differently than those on the V-Type (although they're based on the fender circuit) but their overall characters aren't a million miles apart plus the fact the Fender has the controls twice makes things interesting.. Secondly, I found running the gain controls quite hot (about 7 on the dials) suits my sound best. They don't distort (even on 10) but they do compress very smoothly and naturally which gives the amp a really 'solid' sound helping every note to be defined. I don't know what brand of valves are in the pre-amp or how much of their own character is being imparted on the overall sound but it works. Lastly (and to my surprise) I felt the Bassman responded better to the Warwick than the Jazz bass. It could be that the Squier needs new strings really but the low-mid growl of the Warwick was really flattered by the smooth character of the Fender. The Jazz sounded a little 'hard' but reducing the mids on the EQ just made it sound too scooped with too much upper mid clank. Even altering the the centre frequency of the NE-1 didn't seem solve it. Don't bet me wrong, it still sounded fine but it just wasn't as good as the Streamer. I'd like to think new strings will solve it and put them both on equal terms.

Well, as mentioned, I managed to borrow said amplifier and it's much better through my SWR cabs rather than the Ashdown in the shop.. Bass 135 by VTypeV4, on Flickr Bass 135 by VTypeV4, on Flickr It sounds great but I'm gonna take it to rehearsal tomorrow for an 'in the deep end' test..

[quote name='P-ZARN' timestamp='1510006520' post='3403270'] Looks like the AH150 so almost certainly 150W [/quote] Almost certainly, the 250w / 350w (MK5 only?) and 500w models were the slightly larger (3u) box and had the UV strip light too..

I think my 60 watt custom amp would give it a run for it's money in terms of perceived volume - I know it's only ~3dB in theory but.. They do look really cool and the sound is great - I really should try it through my cabs. I understand the cabs show their age too - the 4x12 more so than the 2x15. Some of the double fifteens came with dual JBL D/K140 which were undoubtedly better than the usual Jensen? / Utah? / Oxford? / Eminence? speakers of the day despite the enclosure not being ideal for them. I can find very few reports of anyone suggesting the 4x12 was anything like good as a bass cab. Most threads talk of it being heavy and awkward, of it shaking itself to bits and the drivers being far from up to the job. If I do end up buying the head, I'll keep an eye out for the 2x15 as it's a bit more compact plus I expect finding drivers suitable for it would be much easier than for the 4x12. My re-coned Goodmans seem to work really well in a small sealed box so they could be an option plus they're era appropriate. I'm getting ahead of the game here but, well, you know!

I've long had a bit of a 'thing' about these (and the '100') but there's never been one local to try.. Until today.. I've read any number of threads about them on the internet and as ever, everyone has a different opinion about their character, qualities and shortcomings so as per the norm with these things, it's best to try myself. The example I played earlier today was what I believe to be a later unit with the black as opposed to silver faced control panel. It apparently has had some work done recently including some new caps and a set of new valves all of which it was in need of when it arrived at the music shop. It was plugged into an Ashdown MAG series 410 which had seen better days and I used two different jazz basses during the half hour or so I played the amp. I started by plugging into the 'Bass channel' which was OK but with pretty much the same settings, the 'Normal' channel just sounded better. I can't quite put my finger on it but it just felt warmer and better defined although the 'bright' switch didn't do a great deal. As obvious as it sounds, the whole thing has that oldskool Fender thing going on which was tonally lovely. Every note had a softly compressed feel to it which added to it feeling fat and warm. I imagine linking the channels and using my NE-1, it would have been perfect and no doubt very similar to my V-Type Trace. The Trace Elliot V-Type pre-amp is based on the old Bassman circuits. Where I felt the amp fell down a bit was a lack of headroom. With the bass full up (passive - no fancy active circuits), the input gain on 5 and the EQ set T6, M8 and B8 plus the bright switch on and the master anywhere above 7, the amp began to break up nicely although I didn't perceive it to be particularly loud. I'm sure the cab wasn't doing the amp any favors but I'd also read of a few reports on forums about them not being particularly 'loud' for their (over inflated) rating of 135w - they're probably 100w realistically. Lots of forums suggested they were much better as a 'clean' guitar amp rather than being suited for bass. Despite this flaw, I really liked the amp and thought it sounded wonderful - I bet it'd sound ace through my SWR cabs or the K140 JBL cab I have knocking about. I might see if the shop owner would allow me to borrow it as I've known him for many years to try it with my cabs. I don't think it'd stand up as a gigging amplifier but as a recording tool it may be ideal.. Anyone had one, got one, used one or had any experience with this or the 100 model?

As a follow up to this thread.. I've used AD for a few projects over the last month or so and it has worked perfectly. It does have some limitations but all in all, it's a great bit of software. As suggested above, I did start doing an ITB mix after I'd completed my OTB mix but I just couldn't get it to sound right. I also put the files into a PT session and tried an ITB mix but I couldn't settle with that either - makes me wonder if those old Yamaha consoles I use have more going on than I think they do... I experimented with a few of it's bundled plugins some of which are pretty good - the pre-amp thing is very good indeed offering a comprehensive channel strip and a character section. The latter is the best part which when used sparingly gives a warmth and a little grit to help things 'sit' - I used it on my OTB mix on the vocal channel. The modulation (chorus, phase, flange etc) are serviceable too, nothing overly fancy but they do the job well enough. I felt some of the reverbs were a little lacking being a little false and harsh but I wonder if it's a MOTU thing as the inbuilt reverb in the later 828 interfaces is similar. Maybe it's just a design characteristic or that I'm just that used to the Yamaha and TC styles but either way I wasn't a big fan. The software allows third party plugins to be used although I can't remember which format which may be handy although I haven't got that far with it if I'm honest. I'll report back as and when I do some more..

+1 for Ozone (I have version 6) and T-Racks - I still have an ancient copy of this when it was T-Racks 24 as well as a modern version..

It'd all been going too well lately hadn't it? I think I've had a PSU fail in one of the 02Rs at work - nothing lit up except the meter-bridge which was cycling through what looked like a self test routine. There's a thread on another forum of another console doing the same thing which turned out to be PSU / connector related so fingers crossed it's nothing horrendous or too expensive. I'm dropping it off for repair tomorrow. The console isn't the same one that failed before, it's the 'other' one that came from London via eBay. It has a couple of sticky faders so I'll get the repair man to address this too.. For now I swapped the cards and O/S chips over into the 'spare' console that was used for tracking on Monday so everything is at least usable at work.

Ha, I know - the computer is equally vintage too! It's an old P4 based machine running XP and CuBase SX but it allowed me to keep the recordings going at work after a recent sucession of increasingly frustrating failures of much newer machines. Thankfully that's all sorted now with me back on Win 7 / PT / AudioDesk there so it seemed logical to put this in our rehearsal space and make use of it.

Well we've started to re-record some of the tracks that were done a while back as they've changed a bit in the time since they were originally recorded. I've been using lots the gear I've acquired over the last few years including the big Allen & Heath, one of the MOTU interfaces and of course one of the three Yamaha 02R consoles amongst bits of outboard and what feels like miles of cables.. [url=https://flic.kr/p/YqCNKo][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/YqCNKo]Broken gun mk2[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/78773723@N02/]VTypeV4[/url], on Flickr [url=https://flic.kr/p/Z7uGaG][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/Z7uGaG]Broken gun mk2[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/78773723@N02/]VTypeV4[/url], on Flickr [url=https://flic.kr/p/YqCNsj][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/YqCNsj]Broken gun mk2[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/78773723@N02/]VTypeV4[/url], on Flickr [url=https://flic.kr/p/YqCMBw][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/YqCMBw]Broken gun mk2[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/78773723@N02/]VTypeV4[/url], on Flickr [url=https://flic.kr/p/Z7uFeo][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/Z7uFeo]Broken gun mk2[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/78773723@N02/]VTypeV4[/url], on Flickr [url=https://flic.kr/p/YqCMrb][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/YqCMrb]Broken gun mk2[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/78773723@N02/]VTypeV4[/url], on Flickr The drums have been tracked as has the bass, rhythm guitar and wurlitzer piano but theres plenty more recording to do before we start to mix. I've used the Yamaha as the 'in' using up to eight simultaneous direct outs switched to post fader / eq. It will all later be mixed on the big ML via the out board and some plugins within the software (old CuBase). Of partiicular note are the analogue cards in the 02R as they were recently purchased from Althemusicwizard of this great online community - I rather foolishly sold my original ones a few months back. We live and learn!

I don't blame you; between the tape machine and the ML you've got a very cool setup there, Al.. I'd love a tape machine but I just can't justify it at the min. As for the PFL issue, I'm not sure there is a work around. Our old GL3000 didn't have an independant PFL / AFL bus level control - as you suggested it was simply dictated by the headphones level. On my 5000, there's not a level control as such but it does have a trim of + or - 12dB to balance between mix / solo but again no speciific level control for the solo bus..

[quote name='mr4stringz' timestamp='1507030352' post='3382814'] The awesomeness of Ashdown customer service right there. [/quote] +1 I've never had an Ashdown and other than a CTM, I probably never will but this level of service really is to be applauded.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/Y1rQnN][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/Y1rQnN]Audio desk[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/78773723@N02/]VTypeV4[/url], on Flickr I started my OTB mix yesterday and other than having to increase the size of the sample buffers, it works great. Again, I'll report back when I've done a bit more..

I've downloaded AudioDesk 4 from the MOTU site (it didn't used to be but it's now free!) to see how it is for audio sequencing. As a test, I've recorded a band (live) this evening although I won't get chance to have a look at mixing it until early next week. It's a straight forward interface and vaguely resembles PT with each channel vertically presented on the 'mix' page. From top to bottom we have a number of inserts followed by sends with mutes and pre / post on each, a selection of 'buttons' with solo, mute, record-arm and monitor input functions. Beneath that there's a pan function (although this vanishes on OTB setups when the output is changed from main L/R on mono channels) with a balance indicator. Lastly there's a fader with a position indicator and at the bottom is the I/O config. On the 'edit' page, it's once again similar to PT with the recorded wave files shown on the horizontal axis with the channel info / routing as well as automation options on the left of each. It's easier to name the channels on this page too. There's also a third box which is multi configurable but I used it as a meterbridge to monitor the 12 or so channels I recorded this evening. Conveniently it shows level inputs with reasonably fast rise and fall balistics and has a clip inicator which stays on until it's reset. I'll make an ITB and OTB - the latter being my preferred method - patch to see how it goes both ways. The software comes with a number of plugins / fx built although I don't know if there's anymore that can be downloaded and integrated with it. Initial impressions are good with everything being roughly laid out in a reasonably logical manner and most things being where you'd expect them to be found. On the down side, I don't think it sequences midi and I believe it only works with Motu interfaces (although I could be wrong on both) but for my live recording setup, it seems to have worked without incident this evening. I'm going to have a closer look and get into it a bit more this week so I'll report back when I'm a bit more dialed in. I figure this thread may be useful for those using it in a similar way to myself especially as it's free software..

Familiar waters.. [url=https://flic.kr/p/YsqQKy][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/YsqQKy]Yamaha 02R returns[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/78773723@N02/]VTypeV4[/url], on Flickr

I know! Despite it's bulk, I'd be happy to take an 02R anywhere to do anything because of it's flexible internal struture and facilities. I know the 03D shares much of this but there's that thing in my head of me arriving somewhere to do something and having to compromise rather than doing the job properly on an 02R.. £180 sounds like a bargain but I'll stick with going back to the larger format machine.

Change is once again on the horizon.. I'm having the 02R I sold back in p/x for the 03D!

Thanks Mike, we'll see how it goes.

Well, I havent got a massive amount to say about it if i'm honest although I'll share a few observations.. 1: Gain.. The pre-amps seem to have a different structure and a I guess a clue to that is the different figure (26dB vs 20dB) on the pad compared to those on the 02R. It's not a problem as appropriate settings are easily dialed in but simply required the pot in a different position than that of the larger console. I tested microphones in channels 13 and 14 to see if I could coax enough gain to make them useable (channels 9-16 are line only really but are still a balanced input) and whilst are a little borderline (requiring a 3'o'clock position on the pot) attained an acceptable result without noise. Whether the noise would be acceptable in a recording environment, I couldn't say but live it wasn't noticeable. Lastly, the 60mm faders reduce resolution a little with small movements making more difference than I'm used to. Secondly they only operate to a maximum of +6 as opposed to the usual +10 at the top. Neither are deal breakers but just a little different than the norm.. 2: Effects.. They're a different set with different parameters than those on the 02R. Some of the reverb presets have the same patch names as in my REV 500 fx units and a number of the dual effect patches have more comprehensive parameters. There's also lesser spotted amp simulator and freeeze fx too. I haven't thoroughly gone through them but some of the stereo reverb / delay patches are very expansive creating a warm and large soundscape. 3: Navigation and control.. Something I didn't really notice at first but the lack of dedicated controls such as EQ and group assignments can slow things down a little. The jog wheel works in the same way but the navigation buttons and enter button are in a less 'comfortable' place positioned up on the the right rather than the lower right compared the 03Ds bigger brother. Again not really an issue in itself but the layout of the whole thing is a bit cramped. On the menu front, it's a little different again by the use of tabs along the top of the menu which is a nice touch and speeds navigation. To help further, a mouse can be plugged in so the tabs and parameters can be clicked directly rather than nav buttons, jog wheel and enter button. As for the rest of the console in terms of operation and sound, it's very much the same as the 02R. Gates, compressors and EQ have the same facilities and seem to react in the same manner. I did however read somewhere about 44 bit internal processing as opposed to 32 bit in the 02R but I can't hear any improvement or difference - it might not even be a thing anyways. Overall it's a very capable unit in a small footprint - theyre rackmountable with a kit - and some of the compromises are understandable. I'd rather take an 02R with the Unity card everytime (live, recording or otherwise) but as a little 'take anywhere, do anything' desk, it's a very useful tool.

[url="https://flic.kr/p/Y6qXDE"][/url][url="https://flic.kr/p/Y6qXDE"]03d test[/url] by [url="https://www.flickr.com/photos/78773723@N02/"]VTypeV4[/url], on Flickr [url=https://flic.kr/p/YpLG13][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/YpLG13]03d test[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/78773723@N02/]VTypeV4[/url], on Flickr 03D in service this evening - the 02Rs can be been looming in the background on the lower pic. Initial impressions are good as it's essentially a 'mini 02R' with some compromises / cuts but also some better ways of doing things. I'll discuss it in a little more detail tomorrow..

[quote name='mike257' timestamp='1504902460' post='3368259'] Doesn't the 03D have a desperate shortage of mic preamps? [/quote] Kinda.. It's a bit like the 02R with only half being on XLR but there's also no pad (also less than ideal) on the second half either. On a positive however, they're still a balanced input and seem to work with a mic plugged in to them. Obviously no phantom available and a little more gain required as it's like the pad is in all the time so potential for a little extra noise too although I've not yet found out if that's an issue. The 02R handles every dynamic mic I've ever plug into 9-16 and with 'shouty' bands I usually use the pad anyways.. I'll know more after a shakedown show on Wed (acoustic night) so we'll see. The jury is still out...