Newbie with a Torpedo Live.

I received a Torpedo Live from Sweetwater last week. I plugged it in, connected everything and was able to get the exact sound I was after in about five minutes. The two cabs I use most are modeled in the Torpedo Live and they sound pretty close to what I wanted, got to love that.

I have one question that I haven't been able to find the answer to by searching the forum or the web, I'd really appreciate hearing your thoughts and experiences.

My main clean amp is a 1962 Fender Bassman. This amp uses the the blonde Fender 2X12 piggyback cab, (mine has factory installed JBL speakers from '62 but the model sounds pretty close) I want to use this amp with the Torpedo live occasionally, but it is a 4 ohm output and was built long before switchable impedance was a feature for Fender. I know that using a 4 ohm amp into an 8 ohm cab is usually fine, but will the reactive load in the Torpedo be as forgiving. My initial though it to not do it unless I find out that it's not an issue. The amp is quiet enough that I can use the cabinet for recording whenever I need to, and it's not a huge issue.

Any thoughts or experiences?

JT

Hi Impulse 101, I'm happy to read that the Torpedo Live fulfills your expectations; .)

The impedance matching is a kind of a grey area, where most of the time the only reasonable but totally unsatisfying answer must be: it depends.

I have done plenty of demoes with a 4 Ohms Fender amp into the 8 Ohms input in the Live. In theory, the only downside si that the amp will only deliver half of its power (if I simplify, a lot). In the context of a loadbox and kind of silent recording, I guess that is find.

We do not recommend doing that in the manual, but I wouldn't worry to much about that. Don't push the amp too hard, check for any suspect behavior, that will be enough IMHO.

I will give it a try and keep a spare pair of 6L6's handy. For the most part my VHT Deliverance 120, (run very conservatively) gets most of the playing time into the Torpedo. The D120 sounds great clean too, so the Fender will just be used for certain final tracks on recordings where nothing but "that" sound will do. I was really happy to see the '63 Blonde model in the stock cabs in the torpedo. Those old Fenders are overlooked most of the time.

Thanks,
JT

The Blonde comes from the private collection from a friend who happens to be the sound Engineer of a very famous French Rap band, and he is a real vintage gear lover (his pedal collection is quite impressive too).

Mine is epic as well. My father bought it in 1962, Factory loaded with JBL D120's. My favorite clean cabinet of all time.