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sat4n
Published on 08/22/08 at 17:49
The Ampeg V-4B was originally introduced as the little sister to the SVT. It produces about 100 watts of power, where the SVT produces 300. For reasons to complicated to go into here it is not one-third as loud as the SVT but more like eighty or ninety percent as loud.
It has two inputs, with input one going through an extra triode in the preamp for slightly more gain than input two. Each input has its own volume, and they share a three-band active eq in which the midrange can be assigned to any one of three frequency bands. There is no master volume, nor should there be. There is also a bright switch, which is really useful in compensating for the differences in tone between flat- and round-wound strings on two different basses, or between picking and fingering. There is also a Low Boost switch which actually just seems to cut the treble and is basically useless.
There are two speaker jacks on the back, and a handy impedance matching switch which allows you to select from 2, 4, or 8 ohms.
Due to its huge transformers the amp sounds magical and weighs roughly the same as a girlfriend. It uses 7027a tubes, which have recently become available again, though I've heard mixed things about these new production 7027as. Mine still has the original tubes in it and they sound great.
Mine is a late-seventies production, so it's not exactly like the one pictured. It's got no polarity switch and a three prong plug.
UTILIZATION
Plugged in to the right speaker cabinet (I use an early-2000s Ampeg 8X10) this amp cannot sound bad. I have heard some people complain about volume or tonal balance, and these people usually turn out to be using crappy speakers or too few inches of speaker surface. I usually just leave the eq flat, maybe cut or boost one of the knobs a hair to compensate for the room, and turn the volume to the right level. I've played large clubs with this and never had to turn it past 10:00.
SOUNDS
It is the sound of rock. It is not quite an SVT, of the same era, but it is ninety-nine percent as good as one and will cost you about a third the price on the vintage market. It also sounds way better than anything Ampeg has made lately, including their various attempts to keep the SVT alive. The new SVTs and the reissue, non-master-volume SVTs are both a waste of time compared to this. If you are choosing between two bass heads, and this is one of them, and the other one is not a 1970s SVT, do not hesitate to choose this one. The second best bass amp ever made for rock music, and at a significantly lower cost than the all-mighty SVT.
OVERALL OPINION
Just to be clear, I'm talking about a mid- or late-seventies V-4B, not the more recent 100 watt tube head that Ampeg makes, and which has a similar name. I used to have that thing, and it was not such a good amp.
There are people who say tube tone doesn't matter for bass, and maybe that's true in other kinds of music. In rock music, both heavy and light, you need a good tube head, and this is one of the best ones ever made.
It has two inputs, with input one going through an extra triode in the preamp for slightly more gain than input two. Each input has its own volume, and they share a three-band active eq in which the midrange can be assigned to any one of three frequency bands. There is no master volume, nor should there be. There is also a bright switch, which is really useful in compensating for the differences in tone between flat- and round-wound strings on two different basses, or between picking and fingering. There is also a Low Boost switch which actually just seems to cut the treble and is basically useless.
There are two speaker jacks on the back, and a handy impedance matching switch which allows you to select from 2, 4, or 8 ohms.
Due to its huge transformers the amp sounds magical and weighs roughly the same as a girlfriend. It uses 7027a tubes, which have recently become available again, though I've heard mixed things about these new production 7027as. Mine still has the original tubes in it and they sound great.
Mine is a late-seventies production, so it's not exactly like the one pictured. It's got no polarity switch and a three prong plug.
UTILIZATION
Plugged in to the right speaker cabinet (I use an early-2000s Ampeg 8X10) this amp cannot sound bad. I have heard some people complain about volume or tonal balance, and these people usually turn out to be using crappy speakers or too few inches of speaker surface. I usually just leave the eq flat, maybe cut or boost one of the knobs a hair to compensate for the room, and turn the volume to the right level. I've played large clubs with this and never had to turn it past 10:00.
SOUNDS
It is the sound of rock. It is not quite an SVT, of the same era, but it is ninety-nine percent as good as one and will cost you about a third the price on the vintage market. It also sounds way better than anything Ampeg has made lately, including their various attempts to keep the SVT alive. The new SVTs and the reissue, non-master-volume SVTs are both a waste of time compared to this. If you are choosing between two bass heads, and this is one of them, and the other one is not a 1970s SVT, do not hesitate to choose this one. The second best bass amp ever made for rock music, and at a significantly lower cost than the all-mighty SVT.
OVERALL OPINION
Just to be clear, I'm talking about a mid- or late-seventies V-4B, not the more recent 100 watt tube head that Ampeg makes, and which has a similar name. I used to have that thing, and it was not such a good amp.
There are people who say tube tone doesn't matter for bass, and maybe that's true in other kinds of music. In rock music, both heavy and light, you need a good tube head, and this is one of the best ones ever made.