Sean Posted December 23, 2017 Author Share Posted December 23, 2017 1 hour ago, basshead56 said: I love my VBA400!!! more power than I have sticks to shake at it . I’ve always fancied one. Amazing bang for buck secondhand. My Laney Tube 400 has the same 8xKT88 layout but very different front end. How versatile is the VBA? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Dare Posted December 23, 2017 Share Posted December 23, 2017 1 hour ago, Sean said: That’s absolute bonkers! What’s the set up? Master/slave? I suspect the lower case contains the power supply. That many KT88s or 6550s are going to need pretty beefy transformers unless it's an OTL design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Passinwind Posted December 25, 2017 Share Posted December 25, 2017 On 12/23/2017 at 00:44, Sean said: That’s absolute bonkers! What’s the set up? Master/slave? The top box holds the amp section and one set of transformers (outputs, I think), the other one holds the other (power) transformers. The builder posted a full schematic on DIYAudio.com, and also participated in a thread I posted on Talkbass. He did a "cute" little mono 500 watter before this one as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disssa Posted December 25, 2017 Share Posted December 25, 2017 On 23.12.2017 at 09:47, Sean said: How versatile is the VBA? I love my VBA400. A lot of power, but it is not the most versatile amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grenadilla Posted December 26, 2017 Share Posted December 26, 2017 (edited) Reeves 400 Edited December 26, 2017 by grenadilla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Posted January 21, 2018 Author Share Posted January 21, 2018 On 12/26/2017 at 20:14, grenadilla said: Reeves 400 http://www.reevesamps.com/amplifiers/reeves-custom-400-bass-amp/ Interesting that it's a 6xKT88 400w amp. Most 400 watters are 8xKT88. And now we're into manufacturers' power claims Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
28mistertee Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 I love my Mywatt 400, mine has 6 KT88’s. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTypeV4 Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 The 'inspiration' for the Reeves and Mywatt amplifiers - Hiwatt - claimed 400w from 6 valves as did Trace Elliot with the V6. There may be some number juggling but can't imagine there's much in it under real world conditions.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Posted January 21, 2018 Author Share Posted January 21, 2018 (edited) 10 minutes ago, VTypeV4 said: The 'inspiration' for the Reeves and Mywatt amplifiers - Hiwatt - claimed 400w from 6 valves as did Trace Elliot with the V6. There may be some number juggling but can't imagine there's much in it under real world conditions.. My 4xKT88 MJW is 253w clean and 544w fully clipped. If you multiply that by 1.5 for 6xKT88 (not strictly accurate or scientific but a guide nonetheless) you get 375+ clean and 800+ fully clipped. It would be interesting to know what the big 8xKT88 amps are on the scope. If anyone wants to come and measure my Laney, please let me know. Edited January 21, 2018 by Sean 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
28mistertee Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 3 minutes ago, Sean said: My 4xKT88 MJW is 253w clean and 544w fully clipped. If you multiply that by 1.5 for 6xKT88 (not strictly accurate or scientific but a guide nonetheless) you get 375+ clean and 800+ fully clipped. It would be interesting to know what the big 8xKT88 amps are on the scope. If anyone wants to come and measure my Laney, please let me know. Is that a BB2024X? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Posted January 21, 2018 Author Share Posted January 21, 2018 1 minute ago, 28mistertee said: Is that a BB2024X? Yep - the one in my Avatar. Finest passive rock bass ever. Bought it new in 2010 and it's on my lap as I type this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
28mistertee Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 Just now, Sean said: Yep - the one in my Avatar. Finest passive rock bass ever. Bought it new in 2010 and it's on my lap as I type this. I have the standard 2024, bought it last year and couldn’t agree more. I love mine 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HazBeen Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 Didn’t the ‘70s Fender PS400 put out 435watts? Must be up there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartelby Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 There is, of course, this monster... http://www.chambonino.com/construct/const9.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 On 23/12/2017 at 06:56, basshead56 said: I love my VBA400!!! more power than I have sticks to shake at it I`ve wanted one of these for ages, used to have the VBC412 cab which was amazingly good. But then I played with a band last year who had one, and it took two guys to lift it on top of the stack (cab on top of flightcase). At that point my desire waned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 On 23/12/2017 at 08:47, Sean said: How versatile is the VBA? Bruce Foxton, from The Jam used one for a long time, so they`re not just rock sounding amps. He got a really nice focused/bite with his, linked to the VBC cabs. Prob why I`ve wanted one for so long, was so impressed with the sound from his Precision/VBA set-up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basshead56 Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 On 12/23/2017 at 21:47, Sean said: I’ve always fancied one. Amazing bang for buck secondhand. My Laney Tube 400 has the same 8xKT88 layout but very different front end. How versatile is the VBA? They are very powerful and 'big' sounding. And yes, second-hand they can be got for very good money. It's a shame they were a tad obscure back in the day as I reckon they have to be one of the best bass amps ever made, at least in terms of sheer power. But in terms of dialing in different tones, they aren't the greatest. They sound like a big old valve amp. Different to an SVT sound but still very useable. Just depends on what you're after. But if colouring is what you need, just chuck a good pre like a VT Deluxe in front of it (i quite often do that) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basshead56 Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 3 minutes ago, Lozz196 said: Bruce Foxton, from The Jam used one for a long time, so they`re not just rock sounding amps. He got a really nice focused/bite with his, linked to the VBC cabs. Prob why I`ve wanted one for so long, was so impressed with the sound from his Precision/VBA set-up. I use mine with two VBC412s and its usually an old precision i put through it. Some lovely old school tones indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basshead56 Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 (edited) 12 minutes ago, Lozz196 said: I`ve wanted one of these for ages, used to have the VBC412 cab which was amazingly good. But then I played with a band last year who had one, and it took two guys to lift it on top of the stack (cab on top of flightcase). At that point my desire waned. Yup, i'm not exactly an Olympic weight-lifting champ either, so getting them in and out of the truck has its moments! worse when all three parts are in their road cases haha. Still though, feel like a champ when loading in at a big outdoor gig/festival haha Edited January 21, 2018 by basshead56 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scalpy Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 27 minutes ago, basshead56 said: I use mine with two VBC412s and its usually an old precision i put through it. Some lovely old school tones indeed. I just had to double check that, you gig with two 412s and a 400w head? Where on earth do you get to do that?!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basshead56 Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 1 minute ago, scalpy said: I just had to double check that, you gig with two 412s and a 400w head? Where on earth do you get to do that?!?! To be fair, the big rig only comes out about 2 or 3 times a year at best these days, (mostly using one of the SVT rigs for anything decent, the PF rig for smaller stuff.) usually open air stuff, festivals and things like that. Last one was in a circus big top which was cool. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aitkenaudio Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 22 hours ago, Sean said: My 4xKT88 MJW is 253w clean and 544w fully clipped. If you multiply that by 1.5 for 6xKT88 (not strictly accurate or scientific but a guide nonetheless) you get 375+ clean and 800+ fully clipped. It would be interesting to know what the big 8xKT88 amps are on the scope. If anyone wants to come and measure my Laney, please let me know. I'd love to put it on the scope to check that as those numbers seem a bit over the top without running the valves really hot or running original gec valves. I've got a 400watter I made but It was to heavy and impractical Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Posted January 22, 2018 Author Share Posted January 22, 2018 1 hour ago, aitkenaudio said: I'd love to put it on the scope to check that as those numbers seem a bit over the top without running the valves really hot or running original gec valves. I've got a 400watter I made but It was to heavy and impractical What approx figures would you expect? The valves are JJs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aitkenaudio Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 With the JJ's around 160 - 200watt depending on voltage and output transformers, The reissue gold lions will hit around 220watts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Posted January 22, 2018 Author Share Posted January 22, 2018 1 minute ago, aitkenaudio said: With the JJ's around 160 - 200watt depending on voltage and output transformers, Thanks 1 minute ago, aitkenaudio said: The reissue gold lions will hit around 220watts. really! I've got a set unopened that are there as spares... Hmmm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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