jwindham

Very interesting to see your thoughts on the VR. I actually had the same exact experience with this amp on several occasions. In the past 5 years years Ive ordered the SVT-VR 3 times, and also found it to have a very aggressive, unmusical, one-dimensional tone. Not at all what I was expecting. There must really be something off with the current production of these, because "bad sound" is not this amps pedigree by any means. Also, I know a few players with earlier US/Vietnamese made VR's that find them identical in tone to the originals- very loud, but still round, warm, and harmonically rich. I do have some experience with the new V-4b reissue, however, and its a very nice sounding amp. May not be as powerful as a VR, or SVT-CL, but it has a very musical tone that is pleasing to the ear IMO. Always good to try things out though, and I'd be curious to hear what a proper vintage SVT or VR sounds like in person. All that said, glad to hear your digging the vba400

I got to test out the Orange ob1 500 recently with a few different cabs: Ampeg 610hlf, SWR 610 goliath sr, and Fender pro neo 610. Upon plugging in, I found a very punchy, warm tone with all the controls at noon. The eq is pretty effective, and allows one to push the mids, add significant bass (or less), and treble to taste. I compared it to an svt 3 pro, and found them to offer very similar output, and capable solid "classic rock" tone. The orange definitely seems more versatile than the tb500. It certainly has its own tone, but not quite as "baked in" from my experience with the tb500. In that regard, it seems a bit more open to different styles of music. In comparison with the 3 pro, I felt the Ampeg may have had just a touch more definition with a bit more upper mid definition/focus. That said, the Orange was still plenty warm, with a touch more lows. The Orange's eq can get quite close to that Ampeg tone, however, and offer its own unique flavor. The overdrive on the ob1-500 was pretty cool, though I honestly prob wouldn't use it much more than very subtly. Increasing the "harmonics" does punch up the upper mids a tad, and slightly saturates the signal (without much distortion). A pretty cool effect when one might want a lil push without full on crunch. Comparing from memory of the Fender Bassman 500, the Orange is definitely a bit more to "plug n play". In particular, I found the mids of the Orange a bit easier to dial in right away, and create a full sound that would cut through the mix pretty well. The Bassman 500 is no slouch though, and has a nice warm, refined, classic Fender tone. If I had to pick one, I might personally lean toward the Orange for its simplicity, but the Bassman has its own sound that kicks too. Both amps are capable of plenty of volume...After playing a few different amps the last few months, including the new v-4b reissue, I'm still making up my mind which amp suits my style best. But, these are all cool amps with unique tones/features to offer.

[quote name='gillento' timestamp='1432280571' post='2779897'] Do you have a link to that clip? I did not find it with a quick search. [/quote] Just saw this- here it is I believe: https://www.facebook.com/PMTSouthend/videos/10152670715396750/

You know it!

An 8x8 stack would make a mighty rig,indeed! I have played through the abm 1000, and thought it had much more [i]clean[/i] headroom vs the evo III I tried. If looking for breakup, it may not quite compress, or "hit the rails" like a gk 700rb power section, as it has [b]so[/b] much headroom. However, the valve drive can add some grit, growl, etc. That said, I'd be curious to try out the new abm 600. Ashdown seems to have updated with some new eq points, plus a refined valve pre circuit. On Ashdown's facebook page there is a [i]very[/i] quick clip that compares the abm 500 with the new 600. Not sure if the amps were setup with similar eq/levels, but the new abm 600 sounds a bit more forward, present in comparison. Of course, always good to try in person

[quote name='planer' timestamp='1428521939' post='2742167'] Hi Josh, Welcome to the mad-house! [/quote] A fine mad-house, indeed

Thanks!! Feeling most warmly welcomed

Hey folks, I recently spent some in-store testing with the new Fender Bassman 500. My first impression once unboxed was- wow this thing is LIGHT. Even in the headcase, it can literally be tossed in the air! I was able to try this amp with a Fender Bassman 115 neo, and the 610 neo. First off, this head is not lacking in volume. Its a very stout 500 watts. Thru the 8ohm 115 neo it was warm, round with a bit of high mid cut. This should be plenty loud for most players for practice, and gigs. Both channels offer a lot of versatility, but the vintage channel just has a warm, sit in the mix tone. It does not quite have the extra depth/saturation of power tubes, but it does give quite a bit of clean headroom- more than I remember with the 100t I played. Running at full power thru the 610 neo, the 500 was even more stout, girthy, and cutting thru the midrange. The 610 neo has a lot more attack thru the midrange, while still keeping a pretty warm tone. In a dense loud rock situation with Marshall stacks, this may be the preffered cab. That said, the 115 neo has a very 'classic', fuller tonality, but can still crank. I also liked the slightly beefier bottom, more full spectrum, rounder top end of the 115. I preferred the tweeter off on both cabs- and felt the amp could dial in a bright enough tone for most folks run that way. I was using a passive precision, but i'd imagine it would pair well with a variety of basses. Overall, its a fairly impressive amp from my short experience...However, I would Love to give the Superbassman a proper spin. The extra warmth, & depth of a well designed all tube amp can be quite special, as we know. Ive been trying some different amps the last few months from Ampeg, Ashdown, Fender etc. Next on my list is the orange ob1-500. My experience with the Bassman 500 is limited to in-store only, and I would have liked to explore more of the features and options. That said, it seems to be really well-designed, and would make a nice lightweight, powerful amp. For those already in love with your all-tubers, it may not replace the 'feel' of those amps. But, I could see it being a very solid backup, or lead amp when the extra weight could be a bit much. I'm also curious how it would compare to the rumble 500, as they share the same poweramp.

Hi folks, My name is Josh, and I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm from New Orleans, Louisiana, and I play in a rock trio currently called The Chaplains. I'm primarily a 4 string passive precision player, and have a few different working basses with pickup swaps (Emg Geezer p/j, Fender original 60s, and a Klein epic 62). The past few years Ive been using an Ampeg ba-115 100 watt combo with the tweeter clipped. It's not the loudest rig out there, but gets the job done for recorded tones. I like everything from New Orleans R&B, Motown, early rocknroll thru modern art rock, experimental, world music, etc. I have recently been trying out some different amps to put together a stage rig. I enjoy trying out new amps. Most recently, Ive tried out the new Ampeg v4-b, and the new Fender Bassman 500. Both fine sounding amps, just different flavors of good. I also have an Orange ob1-500 on the way to try late April. Ive already met some of you through PMs over the years, but I enjoy sharing my experiences when it can be helpful to another player. So, please feel free to drop me a line sometime Best, Josh

Thanks Sean- sweet setup you got there. Looking forward to hearing some gig reports

Hi Sean, I really dig the tones you recorded- very nice overtones and harmonics on both clean and distorted settings. I was curious which cab you are currently pairing the ob1-500 with?