VTypeV4

We did a support for 'Dirty Vertibrae' this eveing.. Throughly enjoyabale all-round. [URL=http://s778.photobucket.com/user/VTypeV4/media/DSC_0075_zpsceigqtr6.jpg.html][IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/DSC_0075_zpsceigqtr6.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

A ~50w kit (a bit like the above) with two EL34 / 6L6 / 6550 would be excellent and borderline useable for bass guitar. It'd probably be an advanced kit with the added complexity of grid bias, the risk of bigger voltages and the possibility of a more advanced pre-amp section too.. I like the idea of the little kits but they'd be of little use to me except for maybe the 36w variation..

The 'box of matches' kit looks a very handy thing to have, shame it's only rated for 30w tho..

Excellent..

Loovely amplifier.. Probably not the question everyone is going to ask but.. How are you finding the Celestion 3070s?

Yeah, I gave it a good wipe over with polish and squirted some contact cleaner in the valve bases for good measure.. I cleaned the outer wooden case too which also looks much better now. [URL=http://s778.photobucket.com/user/VTypeV4/media/DSC_0073_zpslniq6oc6.jpg.html][IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/DSC_0073_zpslniq6oc6.jpg[/IMG][/URL] I got Beavis back today too after it died the other week. I took to it rehearsal and it sounded weak and underpowered so decided to swap some valves out but that ended play after a bit of a fizz, whistle pop then silence. Game over. I took it to Neil who had Barry look it over and apparently it gave him a headache. Some new screen grid resistors, some new capacitors, and some new valves and it's back on fighting form. I had Barry install and re-bias for some second-hand KT88s I'd got knocking about. The Tung Sol 6550s that were in it were an old pair from a quad I'd bought for the V4 back in 2004 so they were probably past their best to be fair. I've had in on for a few hours this afternoon and it hasn't popped, spat or hummed so I'm happy it's back on form. Might take it on Monday to rehearsal..

Some pictures would be great.. I love the look of the MM Jazz.. I had a Japanese Marcus Miller Jazz and sadly never really got on with it. I was hoping it would magically do 'that sound' but found it too scooped and lacking low mids which wouldn't punch through a group mix live. Shame as it played awesome and looked lovely but I traded it for an American Jazz.. Fast forward ten years and I have the Squier VM which when played through the V4, the NE-1 and those lovely little SWR cabinets, it sounds just like I hoped the MM Jazz would. It's funny how we go down certain paths in an attempt to achieve one thing and it doesn't quite work out so we change direction (tonally, stylistically, or whatever) and wind up closer to the thing we started out trying to get to in the first place.. Hope you're happy with your new bass.

Very much lesser spotted Peavey CL400.. Also very cool (and heavy!) indeed.. Nice one.

As I may have mentioned before, I love glass bottles that glow!

Git! Ha! Haven't used it loud yet so can't really tell how these valves differ in character but there's a bit less background noise now which is cool..

I have used many a Peavey based system for PA. I'm not a big fan of their power amplifiers but I think the speakers are still about the best bang to buck ratio - especially second hand. My HiSys 3s still sound sweet in smaller rooms and the HiSys 4s whilst sounding a little brutal without corrective EQ will go surprisingly loud over a good distance with excellent dispersion characteristics. Our 118XT subs aren't spectacular but they do well for a small 1x18 box I never muched like the DTH Concert series, the 44T HF component was always very hard sounding and even with comprehensive EQ they were difficult to correct but the 'anti axial' subs worked well. The biggest and best of the lot was the old HDH4 system (the old Bullet system) which worked great especially with big Crowns driving it. Most importantly out of all this (and more that I've used in the past) I only ever did a couple of BW drivers and the odd 22XT which firmly cements their reputation as being tough things.. I'm still happy to use Peavey boxes to this very day. With a little time and effort, Peavey speakers are quiite capable of great results. As for the bass amps, I never used the new ones but at college we had old TKOs which were hammered daily and I never recall one failing even once. As I remember, their were two of the 'Blue Line' ones with Scorpion speakers and a newer Black one with a Sheffield driver. That was 15 years ago and I think they're still going to this day! Greg has an old TNT 130 (parametric EQ version) which still bangs along well too! I put a JBL D140 in as an improvement on the Scorpion which made it sing.. It will be very sad if Peavey fold as I have great respect for their gear. And stated, what would happen to TE.. I would hope that such a company will sort their issues and get back to making decent, affordable equipment.

V4 with some clothes off and new EHX '88s.. [URL=http://s778.photobucket.com/user/VTypeV4/media/DSC_0071_zpsvmxaimxk.jpg.html][IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/DSC_0071_zpsvmxaimxk.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Thats a lovely old thing is that Hiwatt.. [URL=http://s778.photobucket.com/user/VTypeV4/media/DSC_0071_zpsvmxaimxk.jpg.html][IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/DSC_0071_zpsvmxaimxk.jpg[/IMG][/URL] New valve day..

[quote name='longtimefred' timestamp='1424972139' post='2702516'] best amp ever this! it was just breaking my heart touring around it was starting to get bumped and bruised being lugged in and out of venues all the time. Not what i wanted to see happen to it so i let it go back to its owner for safe keeping. [/quote] Love you man! I loaded those EHX valves in today.. Some valve porn on its way! [URL=http://s778.photobucket.com/user/VTypeV4/media/DSC_0068_zpsmsckmrl1.jpg.html][IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/DSC_0068_zpsmsckmrl1.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s778.photobucket.com/user/VTypeV4/media/DSC_0069_zpsznodhbix.jpg.html][IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/DSC_0069_zpsznodhbix.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s778.photobucket.com/user/VTypeV4/media/DSC_0070_zpsqnlqz5qq.jpg.html][IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/DSC_0070_zpsqnlqz5qq.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s778.photobucket.com/user/VTypeV4/media/DSC_0071_zpsvmxaimxk.jpg.html][IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/DSC_0071_zpsvmxaimxk.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s778.photobucket.com/user/VTypeV4/media/DSC_0072_zpsu4bwdzmz.jpg.html][IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/DSC_0072_zpsu4bwdzmz.jpg[/IMG][/URL] The PM valves have gone back into the Twin Valve and the Tung Sol 6550s will be kept as spares. The couple of GT ECC83s have been dropped in as a matter of course. I believe these two valve positions are the driver and inverter stages. The JJ are probably fine but I know these GT are as good as new.. Back on all cylinders!

My first V-Type model was a 4808 combo which was a 300w hybrid 4 x 8" little big monster.. Very sweet sounding, lovely and punchy but it was very heavy. As it turns out, I prefer the Twin Valve combo I have now but it was a belter. The V4 was purchased as NOS from Gavin at GM Audio who was dealiing with all the warranty claims after Trace Elliot were shut down by Gibson. As I remember, I made the purcase around September 2003 after stumbling across his site. I used the amp regularly until mid 2008 when I sold it to Long Time Fred as a PX with a VBA400 Marshall. And here we are today.. Everyone should try a V-Type even if a conventional 7 or 12-band Trace isn't for you. Although there is (IMO) a certain bit of character there, they're a lovely thing, even the hybrid ones are nice enough.

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1424857236' post='2701127'] Agree 100% The only thing more useful than eq and compressors are the faders.... [/quote] Ha, brilliant! So true..

I'll post some better pics when my new valves arrive.. A V4 and a V8 would be bass heaven! Oh and a V6 for good measure!

I've found good results can be had even with cheap compressors. For many years I used Behringer rack units in various models and all seemed to work well with their simple but comprehensive layout and metering. I'm not entirely sure the labels on the front panels were always telling the truth but they were often my first 'go-to' point of sonic manipulation as and when needed. Today I use digital consoles with dynamics processors built into each channel so the Behringers sit in the rack dormant but tricks used on them often translate well. On a slightly geeky note (and I don't know if it's just in my head) I find the compressors in my 02R to be much better sounding than those in an LS9. Might be in my head but I'm sure there's a difference even with the same settings. Compressors are one of the most useful things from an engineering perspective, probably only second to comprehensive EQ. IME at least.

Have a closer look at your drivers, make sure their voice coils are good with a multimeter. A typical 8 ohm speaker will read about 6, a 16 ohm unit will read about 12 ohms whereas a 4 will read just less than 4. I have a perfect looking JBL 2226 but it's coil is fried open circuit. Check them mechanically too, rubbing coils usually manifest themselves as 'fuzz pedal' type sounds. Double check your connector panel too, if you have a ropey socket or connector then it won't matter how much power that big VBA makes if the juice can't get to the drivers.. Hope that helps.

[URL=http://s778.photobucket.com/user/VTypeV4/media/DSC_0066_zpsiuy0f6f0.jpg.html][IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/DSC_0066_zpsiuy0f6f0.jpg[/IMG][/URL] The other end of the ~200w spectrum. Big V4! I'll take some more detailed pics when I re-valve it next week. The heaviest and bulkiest I ever used was a Hiwatt 200. That was worse than the Trace or even a VBA!

Now thats sweet.. Those big '88s look very Shuguang to me which is no bad thing! Lovely!