VTypeV4

Monckyman: If you were to ever play The Rigger (or indeed any show I was mixing), rest assured you'd have a great sound and would be well looked after. It's a little sadening to know other local venues aren't so dilligent especially considering our local scene isn't too bouyant. And yes, the LS9 is a love / hate relationship. Which side of the fence do I sit with it? After a few years using them, I'm still unsure! Chedatom: Love you man! Spacey: Bad form.. Such attitude, rudeness and short sightedness would be inexcusable. And I consider myself to be one of the 'nice' ones.

I never went lightweight although the SWR cabs are the lightest cabs I've ever owned.. Amp wise, I like iron and glass. Nothing against lightweight amps, just prefer the V-Type.. PA wise I largely use Macrotech Series Crown power amps (a lead / iron / concrete hybrid amp) but time with Lab Gruppen 3400 and 6400s has shown they're comparable. And expensive!

[URL=http://s778.photobucket.com/user/VTypeV4/media/FullSizeRender4_zps01cca32b.jpg.html][IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/FullSizeRender4_zps01cca32b.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Although I did quite enjoy using the 02R as FOH. I might replace the 328 monitor desk wiith an 02R as the Aux send on faders was very quick and convenient..

[quote name='Monckyman' timestamp='1427321895' post='2729001'] all getting a bit snarky. My advice is, if any of you are interested enough in live sound to have a negative opinion about everybody else's efforts, perhaps some dedicated study of the real problems facing sound engineers, often mixing bands who's stage sound is awful, through an unbalanced rig, in 10 minutes, so they can do the other 4 bands who insist on "our check, man". It really is invigorating. Then you can move on to moaning about the onstage sound, the lack of mics on the bass amps, the predominance of guitar amps in FOH and singers who barely breathe into their mic and deal with that. Happily, I don't do much of that anymore, but you're welcome to, seeing as it's so easy : ) [/quote] I said I wasn't going to bite this time... And I'm not, but... The above is perfect and I whole-heartedly agree! Except I still work most nights, lucky enough to have an acceptable rig and adequate room damping! I've found those interested are willing to learn and quickly share the enthusiasm in understanding the job and doing it well. On the other hand, those who criticise and make sweeping statements often have little understanding of mixing / system and room limitations. When offered the console (digital or otherwise!) to do a 'better job' very quickly baulk. I like the wife of the singer in the middle aged rock covers bands best! And just a little note on digital consoles. Used properly, they make life better and more effiicient for the engineer AND musician. The Soundcraft consoles I use do not have 'Vocal EQ' or 'Kick drum gate' presets (the Yamaha does but I don't need them and don't often use it for FOH) so when you start from flat, you start from flat and the only 'saves' in their memories are the ones I have put in using my ears and experience. They conveniently remember everything except input gain and hpf in / out which is very helpful for multi-band events. Personally, I'd hate to have to go back to an analogue console with no memory, a giant rack full of gates, compressors, FX units and EQs. All week at a festival with 40 shows and no support? I'd even rather use an LS9!

+1 SM57..

I rather like the cream / black combination.. It looks smooth an means business IMO.

Every thread on these goes bang doesn't it..

I too have been following this so please, keep posting..

Loving that old 250! I've never tried one but I did have a dabble on a 350X once and that was a monster too..

Whilst the Free thing isn't really my bag, Andy's Bass playing was always very interesting. He had a unique approach and as such, carved himself a niche to become a legend amongst bass community. RIP Andy.

Just need a V8 and we've got the same! I commentedd previously that the head versions of the TV have a balanced direct out however mine (and a number of others I've seen) don't.

I did a bit of an A/B with the Twin Valve this week and I love both of them so they're both keepers.. I love the traditional GP7 and 12-band SMX graphic Trace amps but there really is something special about the valve models.

I love my VM Jazz but it's totally different animal to the LX5. Totally agree with the above ^ An SS2 is on the bucket list..

Hey Tom, If I use it sparingly, it's great but much past 10 o'clock, it starts to get a bit harsh and fake. I have a cut around the 2 - 3 Khz on my EQ and as such tames the violent mechanical 'clank' which the enhancer can over-emphasize.. I might have a go at a sounsclip later.. Hope you're cool anyway dude.

I had a tinker with my LMB-3 this week.. I posted previously that I was never too hot on the feel of it's compression and it's lack of comprehensive controls to be a frustration however, I've had some truly excellent results especially with the Jazz bass. I put it in the FX loop on the Trace before the NE-1 which is also in loop and it seems to work great configured like this. With just a little tweak on the enhance allied to a low ratio (2.5:1 - I'm guessing as it's not labeled) and an intermediate threshold and I'm very happy with my sound. It's funny how perceptiions change over time isn't it? I've never really struggled with 'my sound' and for around ten years or more, I percieve it to have been pretty much variatiions on a theme. I first had the LMB-3 when I was about 17 back in 2000(ish) I used it all the time and needed it to achieve that particular result up until about 2003-4 but it slowly fell out of favour and even at that point, only ever used it's enhance function having never really gotten on with it's compressor. I have barely used it at all since '06 until this week after a chat with Neil. I think it's gonna once again become part of my frontline setup as with the particular config of Jazz, V4 and Goliath Jr, it's the right sound straight away. It works nicely with the Warwick too although that seems to need less compression possibly due to it's omni-present low-mid growl. I still use the compressor on the amp too as its super sweet and squashy as well as the pedal although I think it may be after the FX loop as I have to dig in a little harder to get it to kick in. So in a change from my previous 'No, I don't normally use a compressor' I'll go to 'Yes I do, in fact, I use two'.. Super smooth and fat without being squashed to death.

I have both copies of 'Valve Amplifiers' by Morgan Jones.. A great read, very in depth and an excellent sense of humour too.

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' timestamp='1425932268' post='2712500'] Most of the more complex stuff would take away from the point of a valve amp. Sure a DI output would be useful, but then you might as well just use any of the small valve-based preamps around instead of carting in 25Kg of 100W+ head, because without the output valves it will sound just the same. Lots of outboard compressors etc too. However the SS rectifier would be pretty much a given, and nice & easy to implement. Realistically you'd be looking at an amp containing 6 valves: 4 output, 1 pre-amp and 1 phase inverter - certainly not a complex build. [/quote] To be fair, I love my V-Type Trace Elliot and most of the stages (except for the over-drive interestingly) in that are valve hence it having 7x ECC83s. I like the fact its a 'one stop shop' with the exception of a parametric (taken care of by the NE-1) for every situation. It's a shame they never did a stand-alone pre-amp of the MK2 V-Type amps. Now that would be very useful actually, copying and building that front end with that glorious squashy compressor! Once again, ambition and talent are not currently in proportion with each other..

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1425893648' post='2711783'] That's quite a list! For my needs I'd be quite happy with <100 watts with just three big knobs and a bright switch on the front. A post power amp DI out would be cool, but I'd lean towards keeping that outboard for the soundguy acceptance factor (as a rule they seem happier dealing with a DI box than taking a line out from the back of an unknown amp). [/quote] Thats why it'll never happen! Ha! That MJW build on another thread would be the sort of thing I'd be into albeit way beyond me!

I'd love to build my own one day... 100 - 200w Class A/B output stage (4 x KT88) SS rectifier User adjustable bias 4 and 8 ohm operation All valve pre-stages ( a number of ECC81 and 83) Passive EQ (Fender style) Input gain and Master volume FX loop Compressor w / threshold + ratio Balanced DI out Muteable output stage with no-load-safe studio operation It'll never happen but the V4 has most of the above. I understand the theory (mostly) but have zero experience at a build level. I've changed caps, resistors, fuses and valves but thats as far as I've got sadly. If they break and things aren't apparently black it gets more in depth, I send the amp to a pro..

As suggested above, as long as there's no nasty noises you'll be just fine.. Don't expect to rule the world SPL wise or much response below 100Hz but I found quite an acceptable sound using one of these with a zoom 506.