VTypeV4

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!

Always thought they were a lovely looking amp.. Glad you're pleased.

Glass, heat, big iron and big voltages.. All adds up for me. There's a warning on the power-board inside which says 'Danger: Up to 720v may be present' Lovely stuff!

A bunch of old Crown Power Tech amps.. Are they yours, 1970?

As a result of running the V4 again, the Twin Valve has 'lent out' its power valves so I can't really do an A/B with the two but I'm sure I can feel (and hear) a common thread between them. It may indeed be psyschological of course! I'll know more when the big-bottle '88s land.. And the T/V can have its 6550s back.

As a parallel to Long Time Freds new amplifier thread, I thought I'd celebrate by starting this one.. I'm very happy to have my old V4 back, I had a rehearsal on Monday and took my lovely little SWR cabs and it was absolutely cracking! It's got a mish mash of valves in at the moment so I ordered some EHX '88s to install but it still sounded wicked.. [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] [URL=http://s778.photobucket.com/user/VTypeV4/media/DSC_0067_zpsurixrqmf.jpg.html][IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/DSC_0067_zpsurixrqmf.jpg[/IMG][/URL] I'd forgotten how lovely and squashy the compressor was too.. The only down side is that the big Ashton has to go. It's been a great amp and if this opportunity hadn't come up then I'd be very much keeping it as it sounds sweet but I simply couldn't say no to this. I'd have given my left leg!

Hey dude, glad you're happy with the new bigg'un. Can't remember if it was a fully parametric on the TC but as ever, if you need a hand.. Ordered some EHX '88s for the V4 yesterday..

Does it sound like it should? IME, no two ever sound quite alike (when tested in A-B situations) anyways but they certainly have a common theme if you catch my drift.. In the past I hooked two '20s together using the CV / Gate in and it was epic! I always found Duncans example to be a little angrier than mine, his oscillators almost seemed more distorted / grittier somehow. The little '10 was great and I loved the PWM but being single osc, it never sounded as big as my 20 and with the odd exception, if I could do it on the 10, it was replicable on the big one. Even with with just one osc, the 20 was always warmer and bigger by comparison. I'm sorry for all the non-descript and wooly expressions during these thoughts but there's certain 'thing' about these synths and those that have spent anytime around them, I hope will get it. I tried a new one in Academy of sound and found it very good. The filter and tuning controls had a little more resolution than my original which was a little spooky but short of its physically reduced size, I'd be hard pressed (in isolation at least) to identify which was which.. Hope you're happy with you're kit, it really does look very cool..

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1424261461' post='2694447'] Hah, as in the other thread, obviously there are exceptions. Whenever I see a gig and you're doing the sound, the bass is nice and fat. However, if you go to a few rock gigs in the "city center" (naming no names) you'll see what we're on about. Having said that, it seems to me that a lot of these modern heavy bands are scooping the bass on their recordings too, so when the bass is on it's own, it's a fairly good sound with loads of low end and some distortion on top, but then when the guitars kick in, you can't hear the bass at all. It seems really weird, but this is the sound they like, so I guess some of the sound guys are copying that studio sound for the live shows [/quote] Thanks Tom..

Im not biting this time..

Wicked, thats really cool.. I've had my original MS-20 for many years and would never let it go. I did own an MS-10 for a while too. Great synthesizers!

If you like the style of them, why not remove the old drivers and install more modern ones? It wouldn't be particularly cost effective and you'd have to do some research into what models would work well in a small sealed box.. Might be a ball ache or it could be fun, depends on how far you want to go really? My experience of WEM cabs in that they're solidly built and will put up with a hard life. My two 1x15 are still alive and kicking. One has a '90s HH speaker and the other I use as a low frequency enclosure loaded with a JBL 2225 and neither flap or distort even when worked hard.