dub Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 (edited) Hi Dave I used to own an ampeg V4 but I got tired of carrying it around a long time ago and sold it. It did have a certain tone about it that I really liked. Not so much the distortion which it did well at high volume, more the slightly woolly compressed tone at reasonable level that I would like to recreate both for recording and live. My experience of valve preamps is that although I like what some preamp valves do, they usually add more high end harmonics to the tone which is not really what I'm looking for. Some of the more recent digital effects come pretty close. The problem with the digital stuff is the slight delay although this is getting better these days. I am aware that the output transformer of a valve amp might part of what creates the tone that I am looking for but is it possible to simulate this using a small light box? Edited May 31, 2008 by dub Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHA Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 [quote name='dub' post='210035' date='May 31 2008, 10:54 AM']Hi Dave I used to own an ampeg V4 but I got tired of carrying it around a long time ago and sold it. It did have a certain tone about it that I really liked. Not so much the distortion which it did well at high volume, more the slightly woolly compressed tone at reasonable level that I would like to recreate both for recording and live. My experience of valve preamps is that although I like what some preamp valves do, they usually add more high end harmonics to the tone which is not really what I'm looking for. Some of the more recent digital effects come pretty close. The problem with the digital stuff is the slight delay although this is getting better these days. I am aware that the output transformer of a valve amp might part of what creates the tone that I am looking for but is it possible to simulate this using a small light box?[/quote] I really do believe the only way to get the tone you want is with an output transformer and output valves. Some digital effects try but don't get there IMHO. We have our VTX range which is available in a pre-amp version which we believe generates this tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dub Posted June 2, 2008 Author Share Posted June 2, 2008 Thanks for the reply Dave That sounds like a good solution, I'd be interested to hear a VTX sound clip if you could get one on your site. Even one note clean followed by through the preamp would be great to hear what it does to the tone. cheers dub [quote name='DHA' post='210182' date='May 31 2008, 05:10 PM']I really do believe the only way to get the tone you want is with an output transformer and output valves. Some digital effects try but don't get there IMHO. We have our VTX range which is available in a pre-amp version which we believe generates this tone.[/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHA Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 [quote name='dub' post='211235' date='Jun 2 2008, 05:14 PM']Thanks for the reply Dave That sounds like a good solution, I'd be interested to hear a VTX sound clip if you could get one on your site. Even one note clean followed by through the preamp would be great to hear what it does to the tone. cheers dub[/quote] Most of the first VTX amps are with me at the moment as I have a modification I am doing on them all. Hoping to complete this week so they will be back with their owners very soon. After that there should be reviews and sound clips available. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rimskidog Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 A Designs Reddi does this well too. As does Ampeg's own standalone DI/Pre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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