Merton Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 (edited) [quote name='stevie' post='370197' date='Jan 4 2009, 06:35 PM']Are you going to post details of your self-build? There's always lots of interest on here, as you know.[/quote] If it goes well The modelling in WinISD is quite interesting, let's put it like that... It's a design ripped off (i.e. identical to) the V-Type combo I am selling - a 15" driver (Eminence Beta) in a pretty small enclosure so it's loud and small but doesn't go very low at all. -3dB point is ~ 90Hz, the max SPL with 350W input power (e.g. theoretically the LH500 running flat out with just the one cab at 8 ohms, never going to happen in the real world) is 125.something dB (edit: at 100-something Hz). It's a totally rubbish design and I can see why, but it sounds good and *shouldn't* have too many issues getting anywhere near Xmax... He says... Edited January 5, 2009 by Merton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Got one on of these from Coda and the EQ was faulty Lots of crackley nonsense and dropouts/thuds whenever the pots were sweeped, initially thought it was dirt but it got worse, rather than better with lots of sweepage. Waiting for a replacement. It was supposed to be a crimbo pressy for my son so not too pleased really! What I heard was very loud and clean though, should be really nice as a first 'proper' amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raggy Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Just ordered one from Absolute Music, I need a backup head and at this price it should be ideal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wotnwhy Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I'm having trouble sorting the head for my new rig, and for the last month or so have actually been using a Phonic PA head... this will do nicely as a stand in while i get my new one together, and i'm sure will then work great as a backup later! thanks Absolute! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raggy Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Result.... Mine has just turned up, cant wait to finish work and try it out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarky Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 Had a very quick play with mine yesterday. Nice tone. Was a bit surprised at how low volume it is with gain at 12 o'clock (my Markbass is well loud at nine o'clock) but the volume seems to increase exponentially beyond that. Looks perfect for what I need Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wotnwhy Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 got mine yesterday and had a play around with it in my room. gotta say, i absolutely love this amp! Volume, bass, mid, treble. could it get any more simple?! [quote name='Clarky' post='373123' date='Jan 7 2009, 03:04 PM']Had a very quick play with mine yesterday. Nice tone. Was a bit surprised at how low volume it is with gain at 12 o'clock (my Markbass is well loud at nine o'clock) but the volume seems to increase exponentially beyond that. Looks perfect for what I need[/quote] glad you said about the volume thing as my experience was exactly the same, playing with the volume at 12 o'clock getting a little worried because it didn't sound 250 watts loud look forward to trying it in anger! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben604 Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I've also had a quick play in my bedroom and I'm impressed too, really round and warm sounding. Can't go wrong for £185! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wotnwhy Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 i look forward to 50 posts in a row in the 'show us your rig' thread sporting pics of this new head! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 [quote name='wotnwhy' post='375124' date='Jan 9 2009, 02:00 PM']i look forward to 50 posts in a row in the 'show us your rig' thread sporting pics of this new head! [/quote] Mine will be there tonight, sitting atop a "Big One" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raggy Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Mine sounds/looks bloody great sat on top of my NV610 using my P Bass. Using it in anger tomorrow night. Not dissimilar to my GK but (I have to say this) less 'sterile'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tee Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Thanks to this thread, Absolute Music have sold about 8 or 9 of these amps in quite a short space of time (judging from the stock). I bet it was everyone here buying them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Fuzzy pic of my LH500 atop the bareface[b]dB[/b]ass Big One: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnylager Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 (edited) [quote name='Merton' post='375698' date='Jan 9 2009, 10:18 PM']Fuzzy pic of my LH500 atop the bareface[b]dB[/b]ass Big One: [/quote] That amp would look even nicer with an extra knob Edited January 9, 2009 by johnnylager Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 [quote name='johnnylager' post='375726' date='Jan 9 2009, 10:40 PM']That amp would look even nicer with an extra knob [/quote] The extra knob is standing in front of it playing a Status bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverfoxnik Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 [quote name='Merton' post='375802' date='Jan 10 2009, 12:11 AM']The extra knob is standing in front of it playing a Status bass [/quote] So how does it sound then Mert? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 [quote name='silverfoxnik' post='375969' date='Jan 10 2009, 10:28 AM'] So how does it sound then Mert?[/quote] Awesome. Full review a bit later - had a great afternoon A/Bing the V-Type and LH500 with Dom (cwbass) and will give a full report when I'm not using Nic's in-cred-ib-llllll-y slooooooooooooooooooooow laptop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 [b]So, the verdict? Well, first the tests:[/b] 1. V-Type into its internal speaker 2. Hartke LH500 into V-Type's speaker 3. V-Type into the Big One 4. LH500 into the Big One 5. V-Type pre into LH500 power into the V-Type speaker 6. V-Type pre into LH500 power into the Big One 7. LH500 pre into V-Type power into V-Type speaker 8. LH500 pre into V-Type power into the Big One Fun! Test basses were my Status Groove fretless and Dom's Ibanez Blazer. A few points to make as well: 1. The V-Type fx loop is pre-EQ, while the LH500 is post EQ, so tests 7 and 8 were a bit dumb as both tonestacks affected the sound. 2. The V-Type has two Sovtek valves, the LH500 one Raytheon. [b]Observations on the amps:[/b] The V-Type has a lot more "balls", seems to have a fatter bottom end and less glassy tops. Designed to be overdriven, it has more of an old-school vibe. The LH500 in comparison was almost impossible to overdrive, a very slight break up occurred if we dug in lots but nowhere near the V-Type clipping. The LH500 has far glassier, harsher highs and a tighter but less present bottom end. The volume control had to be pushed to 6 to get it to produce the same perceived volume as the V-Type with the volume on 1. Overall Dom and I agreed the V-Type has more bass thump and is less "hifi" than the LH500 (not that you can really call the LH500 hifi vs anything more sophisticated ). The LH500 had a helluva lot more hiss, the V-Type was virtually silent in comparison. The V-Type sounded truly thunderous with the tone controls on 5; the LH500 can create those thunderous tones but with a lot more knob twiddling. As an example, with the V-Type controls on 5, the LH500 had to have the bass cranked to 7, the mid on 4 and the treble on 2-3. Or vice versa, with the LH500 tone controls all on 5. to get the same tone from the V-Type, the bass was on 3, the middle and treble on 8. [b]The cabs:[/b] Obviously the V-Type cab is a 15" in a tiny enclosure. If my laptop hadn't got a virus I'd be able to post a plot of its frequency response - you'll have to wait for that! It has a massive peak at ~110Hz IIRC which leds itself to giving a huge bass tone without forcing the cone out of its frame or destroying walls. It's a nice warm but punchy tone which suits the amps very well. The Big One is a different beast altogether. This has the first iteration of the crossover so there's still a peak around 1kHz apparently but other than that it's about as flat as a flat thing. The mid driver really highlighted the LH500's hiss and treble response, almost making us feel the tone was lightweight in comparison to the V-Type. If I had a V-Type preamp and a 1000W power amp the Big One would be my choice of cab. With the LH500's harsher top end I was less keen on the mid driver; taking the treble control down to around 3 tames those highs though. I suspect the mid driver would come into its own when up against a drummer and 2 Marshall 4x12s - that'll be this time next week then The 15" driver in the Big One is a joy to behold. It just carries on giving more and more, never once getting close to giving up. To be fair, we weren't exactly doing gig-level tests as my neighbours would've got mighty angry, but the amps were certainly getting a reasonable rehearsal-level workout. [b]Conclusions[/b] The LH500 isn't *that* far off the V-Type in tone, but it does seem to lack some low-end thump and authority. The more prominent top end and added hiss makes the amp seem more lightweight, plus the volume control taper being wildly different from the Trace's - it sdoesn't seem to take off until after 5, something which Peter had already noticed a few pages back. Of course the Trace's volume control means I'm getting 100% of its power by about 3 or 4, so it seems louder than it actually is... The Big One is simply stunning. I can imagine once the redesigned crossover is in then the mid driver will sit nicer for me; the 15" driver is just fan-bloody-tastic. I can't wait to try this LOUD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverfoxnik Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Great review Mert! Thanks for sharing that... Apart from you now being in Alex's probably ever growing queue of customers, has the test made you rethink selling the V-Type? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 [quote name='silverfoxnik' post='376477' date='Jan 10 2009, 09:44 PM']Apart from you now being in Alex's probably ever growing queue of customers, has the test made you rethink selling the V-Type?[/quote] Er, yes, a bit... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexclaber Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 I've posted a couple of useful plots over in the build thread so you can see how the new crossover will change the sound. Regarding the LH500 not tending to overdrive (which is common to all the Fender/Alembic variants) have you considered trying a clean boost pedal in front of the amp? Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 [quote name='alexclaber' post='376718' date='Jan 11 2009, 12:31 PM']I've posted a couple of useful plots over in the build thread so you can see how the new crossover will change the sound. Regarding the LH500 not tending to overdrive (which is common to all the Fender/Alembic variants) have you considered trying a clean boost pedal in front of the amp? Alex[/quote] Yeah, I spotted those Alex, think it'll make a noticeable difference As for the overdrive, that's not really a criticism or something I particularly want, just something that was part of the overall observations to highlight the points you have been making throughout this thread that it's not design for that sort of sound! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KennysFord Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Please forgive my ignorance but what speaker is the V type,thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 [quote name='kennyrodg' post='376725' date='Jan 11 2009, 12:43 PM']Please forgive my ignorance but what speaker is the V type,thanks.[/quote] I'll forgive you It's an Eminence Beta 15, not the original driver I guess but it sounds good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KennysFord Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Thanks Merton, now then,that leads me to ask in what cab :ph34r: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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