Ampeg Venture V7 amp review from a blind player's perspective

[JGSpector]

Overview.

I’ve been playing bass for nearly 30 years now and gigging for around 26 of them. Over that time I’ve owned and played through amps from pretty much every bass amp manufacturer with one exception, Ampeg.

 

I have looked at Ampeg offerings on and off over the last decade but to be honest, none of them have appealed to me at all. Then the new Venture series was announced in 2023 and my interest was piqued. I was particularly interested in the 700w Venture V7. So, I got myself one to properly try out. Here are my thoughts about it.

Disclaimer: I’m just a dude who plays bass in a few projects and bands for fun, I am by no means a professional reviewer. All views are my own and I have not received any payment or other incentives to produce this review. I am only reviewing gear that I actually own or that I have access to due to items being on loan from various friends.

Build Quality.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the V7 as the only Ampeg amps I’ve ever experienced in real life were SVT 300s, which of course have their own aesthetic. I was pleasantly surprised however, as the V7 is a really nice tidy little amp. It’s incredibly cleanly laid out and is reassuringly solid feeling. It’s got a nice aluminium body and the front panel is angled back, meaning that the controls point up slightly rather than straight forward. This gives slightly easier access to the controls when the amp is on top of a cab.

Amp Dimensions & Power.

Dimensions:

- Width, 11.42” (290.1mm).

- Depth, 10.78” (273.8mm).

- Height, 3.7” (94mm).

Weight: 6.13 lbs (3.10kg).

Power: 350 to 400 watts into 8 ohms, 700 watts into 4 ohms.

Knobs & Switches.

I can’t tell if the knobs on this amp are light weight aluminium or plastic to be honest but they feel good. My only problem with them really is that the line that indicates where the knob is pointing is barely tactile enough to feel with a thumb nail let alone with finger tips. I imagine that these knobs are used for aesthetic purposes so that the Venture series ties in with other Ampeg product lines, so I understand why they are used, it’s just a little frustrating from my perspective as a blind player.

The power, ultra low and ultra high switches are all rocker style and have a nice solid clunk under the finger when used. The -15db pad, mute, SGT and SVT/B15 switches are all toggle style and also feel good and solid. The DI ground lift, DI pre/post and DI -20db pad switches are all sliding style and are pretty solid even though they are mini switches.

Features, layout & ease of use.

The V7 is a very compact little amp and the front panel is very neatly laid out. This means that it doesn’t take very long at all to figure out what’s what, as shown below.

 

Front Panel, from left to right

Input attenuation switch (top): Left position is 0db, right position is -15db.

1/4” Instrument input jack (bottom).

Compression knob (bottom): All the way anti clockwise turns the compressor off. Turning this control clockwise increases the amount of compression applied to the signal. The compression LED to the left of this knob illuminates when compression occurs.

SGT Switch (bottom): Up position is on, down position is off. This switch is disconnected when a foot switch is connected at the rear panel.

SGT Voicing switch (bottom): Up position is SVT, down position is B15.

SGT Duel Grit/Level Knob (bottom): The inner knob controls the amount of grit applied to the signal, turning this knob clockwise increases the amount of grit. The inner knob controls the output level of the SGT circuit, turning this knob clockwise increases the output level of the SGT circuit.

Gain Knob (bottom): Turning this knob clockwise increases the amount of gain driving the pre amp.

Ultra Low 3 Way Switch (top): The left position cuts 20db at 40Hz. The centre position disengages ultra low. The right position boosts 40Hz by 2db and cuts 500Hz by 10db.

Bass EQ Knob (bottom): 14db cut or boost at 40Hz. Low frequency output is flat when this knob is at the 12 o’clock position.

Mid EQ Duel Selection/Level Knob (bottom): The inner knob controls the mid frequency level giving 14db of cut or boost on the selected frequency. The outer knob selects the mid frequency to be adjusted by the mid level knob.

Treble EQ Knob (bottom): 14db cut or 17db boost at 4KHz. High frequency output is flat when this knob is at the 12 o’clock position.

Ultra High 2 Way Switch (top): The left position disengages ultra high. The right position boosts 8KHz by 9db.

Peak LED (top): This LED illuminates if the amp input is too high. Use the -15db switch and/or reduce gain when this occurs.

Mute Switch (top): The left position mutes the amp. The right position disengages mute.

Master Volume Knob (bottom): This knob controls the output level of the amplifier. It effects the speaker, headphone and pre amp outputs.

The rear panel is similar with its straight forward and intuitive layout, as shown below.

 

Rear Panel, from left to right

 

Ground Lift switch: Up position engages the ground lift, down position disengages ground lift.

DI -20db Pad Switch: Up position is disengaged, down position is engaged.

DI Pre/Post Switch: Up position is pre. Compression, SGT drive and EQ are not sent to the DI when in this setting. Down position is post. Compression, SGT drive and EQ are all sent to the DI when in this setting.

Effects level mini knob (top): Use this control to adjust the effects level.

Effects send 1/4” jack (top).

 

Effects return 1/4” jack (bottom).

Pre Amp Out 1/4” jack (top).

Power Amp In 1/4” jack (bottom).

Aux In 3.5mm stereo jack (between Pre Amp Out and Headphones jacks).

Headphones 1/4” jack (top).

Footswitch 1/4” jack (bottom).

2 x speak-on sockets.

IEC power socket.

Sound quality.

As I’ve never actually owned an Ampeg before and considering I played through an SVT 300 a couple of times well over a decade ago, it’s fair to say that I don’t really have any previous Ampeg experience to compare the V7 to. So rather than trying to make any sort of comparison, I’ll just talk about my impressions from using the amp at several rehearsals.

With the Ultra Low and Ultra High switches not engaged, the SGT drive not engaged and the EQ set flat I actually found the amp extremely bottom heavy and too dark sounding for my personal taste. Tweaking the EQ and engaging the Ultra High switch helped enormously and I started to enjoy playing through it more.

I played around with the Ultra Low switch a fair bit and found that I liked it in the neutral middle position best for quite a lot of music styles but switching it to the left position which cuts 40Hz by 20db made the amp sound pretty modern. Switching it to the right position boosts 40Hz by 2db and cuts 500Hz by 10db. I didn’t like this at all to be honest as it made everything too bottom heavy for my taste and playing style. Having said that, I can see that in the right circumstances and for certain styles of music it would be an excellent option to have.

The compressor on this amp is very useable and not particularly noisy. I tended to have it set so that it only engaged when playing quite hard just to even out any major peaks and it did a good job.

I really like the SGT (Super Grit Technology) circuit on this amp. The option to use it with either a B15 or an SVT voicing is a really nice touch and gives the amp a ton of versatility. The B15 voicing has a nice rounded warmth to the tone whilst the SVT voicing covers a surprising breadth of tube emulation that ranges from subtle grit all the way through to full on tube overdrive. I found that I played with the voicing switch set to SVT with a moderate amount of grit and it was a very satisfying and playable tone that could be left on all of the time.

The DI is nice and quiet with a very useful -20db switch and the standard pre/post and ground lift options. There is no cab simulation on the DI out which is a bit of a shame considering how many amps have it as standard these days but I don’t think it’s a major issue and doubt it would be a deal breaker for most players to be honest.

The aux in and headphone out options are great for quiet home practice and both do their jobs well. There’s an effects level mini control on the rear of the amp which is a nice addition to an already pretty well equipped amp.

The V7 Gig Bag.

When I bought the amp I also bought the official Ampeg V7 gig bag for it. The bag is very well padded, has good strong zips and a detachable shoulder strap. It has a large external pocket which is almost as big as the bag itself meaning that there’s plenty of room to fit cables and ear protection, spare batteries if you need them plus any other bits and pieces you might need. What I particularly like though is that the amp fits in the main compartment really snuggly so that it doesn’t slide around meaning that the amp is very well protected.

Conclusion.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect with this amp. Having never owned an Ampeg before, I was pretty open to seeing what it was like and indeed what I would most want to play through it. I like a quite clean punchy tone, maybe with a little grit to give some texture and to be fair, the V7 can do that. I think where it really works best however, is when the SGT circuit is pushed more to bring in more of that classic Ampeg tone. I guess that’s what Ampeg are known for best and why the Venture series of amps will appeal to fans of the brand, particularly those who are looking for a smaller, more back friendly solution to a full SVT 300 rig.

For me, the V7 was brilliant for rock and blues, it just fit perfectly in the mix and sounded great.

I think the design of this amp is very nice. It’s compact, light and packs quite a punch with its 700 watts of power. The gig bag is also very well designed and put together. If you buy one of these amps, I would highly recommend you get the bag for it as well.

If you are a blind player and are an Ampeg fan, this amp really is good. There are two things to consider however. The knobs are really not very tactile at all and I must admit, I found this to be a major let down for me. Even if I could see I’m pretty sure adjusting this amp during a gig would be pretty difficult on a dark stage. The second thing is that there is no centre detent on any of the EQ controls. Not a deal breaker for me to be honest, but from a blind player’s perspective a centre detent on EQ controls is a real help in easily setting the amp to a flat EQ position without too much faffing around. If you absolutely have to have a centre detent on your EQ then this amp is not for you. Both of these points can be worked around and you can get used to them but they do make the amp that bit less accessible for blind players.

I won’t be keeping this amp. Not because it’s rubbish or anything, but simply because the Ampeg tone is not really my bag. The controls of the amp being barely tactile is also less than desirable from a practical standpoint for me.

To find out more about the Venture series and other Ampeg gear, visit the Ampeg website at: https://ampeg.com

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