VTypeV4

HSL's good old M32 once again doing a sterling job at Bloodstock. Like most by now, I'm a little bored with the interface and graphics but I can't fault them at all really - they sound great, have more than enough toys to do 95% of jobs and are nearly as reliable as a Yamaha. I also had the pleasure of talking to the lovely PR ladies from Midas which was super - I even got some T-Shirts and a hoodie! 🥰 The ML recieved a bit of love recently, too - I removed the meterbridge and had Kev (K. Edwards Electronics) replace all the bulbs with LEDs. It looks like new! Honestly, I've even convinced myself it sounds better now. 😅 And the classic 02R here working on a live recording from home. The recording in question is a band I work with frequently - Captain Stingray who play afro / dub / world / reggae originals. There's now 9 in the band so quite a channel count and it also marked the first recording to be taken from the M32 at The Rigger. ❤️ I've got NHC coming up again plus some more Kirk Brandon dates in September. I'll lay good money on the statement that not one of the shows will be using an 02R (or even a DM) but hopefully I'll see and use plenty of fun stuff along the way. 👍

I'll play.. 😃 1: Trace Elliot V-Type - the full-fat all-valve examples.. 2: Trace Elliot SMX - almost certianly the 400w version but the EQ and compressor in the preamp are very special.. 3: Ampeg SVT CL - a lovely sounding and surprisingly flexible tool.. If I was to add a fourth, I'd go with EBS, probably an HD350.

The VM with some favourable filtering - still a super tool. 40th anniversary enoying a session with the recently acquired Trace combo..

No 02R on this job, rather an Allen & Heath SQ with a well set up cluster of L'Acoustics ARCS - another enjoyable seesion with Kirk and the boys in Blackpool at the Winter Gardens. Thankfully, we did the Friday night just before Toyah (who was brill) so witnessed nor experienced any of the troubles. ❤️

Oh Mike, that really is so cool! 😬 I've never done a proper mix on a big SSL / fancy outboard although there's still time yet. ❤️ By contrast, as I type this I'm sat next to an X32 that I'll be mixing tonights show on at the S & G in Manchester.. @Owen I didn't know many others visited here either - glad you enjoy it! 👍

I love it.. It weighs too much but the sound is truly magnificent - there's a bit of extra EQ (two little graphic pedals) and an Ampeg Opto Comp in the FX loop but the V6 is a fantastic tool..

Out in the wild - the V6 & cabs plus the 40th anniversary and VM Squier Jazzes..

Still going ! 💯 The studio based (and my original) example here being used to have a look at a recent live recording. 🥰

Thanks for that ^^ @MoonBassAlpha - I'll go through the cable and pull the cab apart again but typically, nothing has misbehaved since. 😬

Agreed - 100%. 💯 ❤️

'06 VM after I'd been out with it the other day - it's 'only a Squier' but there's no doubt that this is a 'real' Jazz.. ❤️

+2 on the DEQ2496 - they're pretty comprehensive and sound pretty good too. ❤️ As for a digital mixer, I'm 100% with @Phil Starr here. it feels like a big step and it is to be fair but, if you take the time to learn the basics and get comfortable with it's operating platform, you'll never look back. I first used a digital console in around 2010 and bought my own just a few years later. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of tablet based mixers but it's not that there's anything wrong with them, I just really prefer some physical / tactile control and actual faders. The Soundcraft UI24 was the last one I used and it had all the usual suspects with dynamics and EQ on all the I/O plus the 4 FX units were pretty serviceable too..

At 15 years old back in 1998, I purchased a little Trace Elliot Boxer 30 as it blew everything else I'd tried that day out of the water. It played louder, cleaner and offered a reasonably 'big boy' sound out of a manageable size box. I've had more than a few different brands over the years and they have all been great but I always come back to a Trace of some description - they just work for me. I had a V-Type combo for many years - it was the 4808 which was a slightly later variant with the green furr and four 8 inch Celestion drivers. It was loud, capable and stupid heavy. I loved the sound of it and did many gigs although I eventually sold it to buy an Ashton BV300 plus speakers. I still go backwards and forwards on whether the 4808 or the TwinValve Combo sounded better - both were pretty knockout. On the V-Type subject, the V4 MK2 and and V6 are amongst the finest pieces of bass amplification I've owned and as such, are definitely keepers. I'm in Hanley so not a million miles from Audley - I've probably passed it many times. 👍

I'm very familiar with the SMX but the extra bells and whistles of this later preamp with the Harmonic Emphasis and Variable Valve stage are particularly useful - it sounds killer with the anniversary Jazz. ❤️

I don't think I've ever used a Sennheiser that I didn't like - the 935 / 945 is generally well liked and again, in most situations, just a bit 'nicer' (for want of a far more descriptive term! 🤣) than a stock Shure 58. Hoping the O/P gets it all together and sorted. ❤️

Not yet - I'm 41 so hoping I've got a few years left yet. 😬🤣

If you've got an AH500X, It will work in stereo but not if you use the input via the front panel - all GP11 / GP12 have a single, mono instrument input. To do two inputs, you'd have to go in via the individual L/R fx returns but then you'd likely lose all that lovely EQ plus you'd almost certainly need a separate preamp / line amplifier to get enough level to drive the individual power amp sections in the AH500 adequately..

Ha, all good Phil - hoping it helps those in a similar situation. 😀 As for the 57A, I find they work well in most situations. They offer a generous pickup pattern, a healthy output level and great feedback rejection but are aften overlooked and overshadowed by their siblings, the 58 and Beta 58A. I've found the 57A superior in nearly all applications, not just vocals. 🥰

Ok, I'll play.. I have two with both dating back to 2006: 1: A mid nineties 6-string Status - I think it was an Energy Artiste with a wooden neck but it had the two-band EQ and was the 'other' body shape so not 100% on what it actually was. I do know it played like butter and was a beautiful instrument but I sold it to buy a 600 Suzuki. 2: One of the early Fender Jazz Deluxes. It was in a beautifully vibrant semi-transluscent blue colour and being a '96, had the 50th anniversary thing on the back of headstock. After an incident with aforementioned 600 Suzuki and a broken wrist, I had to sell it to pay my council tax and pay for repairs to the bike. 😬 I replaced it with a Japanese Marcus Miller signature at about half of the value of the deluxe. I never got on with it, sadly so sold it a few months later. These days things tend to stay so I've become something of a hoarder..

Hey Phil.. 😃 With regards to the 'bright' thing, as echoed many times in this thread, EQ (parametric or graphic) inserted on the main L/R output will be your friend. People will often talk about something being a bit 'toppy' or 'tinny' (I really hate that term) but the offensive frequencies nearly always reside in the upper mids somewhere between 1.6 and 4kHz. Certain singers and mic combinations may also accentuate this frequency range so again, corrective use of channel EQ can help smooth things out. If your mixer is really clever, it may have dynamic EQ or more likely a multi-band compressor which could also help although I'd suggest you start gently with those as they can cause as many problems as they solve. As for mics themselves, first of all make sure singers are singing 'into' them rather than at them as proximity effect may also expose this upper mid problem. A lovely Shure Beta 57A may work better than a standard 58 or a £20 Behringer XM1800 may out perform both of them - it's a combination / application thing and one size generally doesn't fit all. I did find the sE V7 mic works very well in lots of situations but I rather think your problems aren't really to do with the actual gear but with the setup of it. There's plenty of good advice and plenty of options to try here but if I were to offer my own a words of wisdom.. Only change ONE thing at a time and return it to it's original position before trying the next thing. Take as long as you need doing this and only then can you decide which are making the most useful changes and which combinations are going to work best. Good luck. 👍

Old but gold there, man - they're tough old things and will be a 'good' 150w per ch. Bi Polar Bear power amps were only fitted to SM, possibly some early SMC, mid production SMX and the earlier V-Type hybrid models. None of the pro-audio or stand alone products used it. If I remember correctly, the RA300 and the later PPA-300 don't even have a fan so given a little air flow, I would expect they'll outlast us all. 😃

A slightly more compact solution - I love the glowing panel and it sounds incrdible. 🥰