Ampeg VL-502 - tell me about this amp

[Neeklaus]

I've got one of Paul Gilbert's old Ampeg V-4 cabs

as in owned by PG?

Yes, it was originally his

wow. FUCKING JEALOUS.

cool shit brother

 

[CaseyCor]

I've got one of Paul Gilbert's old Ampeg V-4 cabs

as in owned by PG?

Yes, it was originally his

wow. FUCKING JEALOUS.

cool shit brother

Haha, thanks man. I wish it was in better condition. My uncle gave it to me, after he beat the fuck out of it, replaced the speakers with 2 V30's, a Peavey Black Widow and a Peavey Scorpion, and then blew the speakers and ripped the cones on them. He's a good guy, but kind of an idiot

Couple years after he gave it to me, he called me up and told me he found the speaker grill while packing up his stuff to move. It was green, just like Paul's V-4 cabs he used in Racer X. He had 8 of them, 4 green and 4 pink. So I immediately e-mailed Paul with the serial number to see if it was his originally, and it actually was! Pretty cool shit.

I need to get it loaded up with some speakers and use the thing, since Paul told me I should use it. I just don't like 4x12's these days, such a pain in the ass IMO. The thing is heavy as fuck too I guess I could load it up with some cheap Warehouse speakers or something.

 

[Neeklaus]

yeah dude, throw SOMETHING in there....that's a cab with instant mojo.

if you EVER think of parting with it, loaded w/ speakers or not, please let me know.

 

[CaseyCor]

yeah dude, throw SOMETHING in there....that's a cab with instant mojo.

if you EVER think of parting with it, loaded w/ speakers or not, please let me know.

I'll get it loaded up with something here in the future. I've always planned on it, and put it off because of more important needs. I've got so much gear I want/need. I want a Marhsall style amp to A/B/Y with my Mesa, a Fender or Vox for cleans with the previous rig and as a portable rig with a pedalboard, an HBE Frostbite Flanger, ISP Decimator, a Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail, EHX Small Clone Chorus.

Could really use a nice Strat and an Explorer, all new cables and a MIDI set up for all of my pedals and channel changing.

And I haven't even listed drum gear yet...

 

[bravedude2]

the reverb tank is a accutronics # 4AB3C1B . it's mounted on the top of the head shell.

 

[Neeklaus]

yeah i pulled it out of the odd sleeve type thing and it's an accutronics....but as i said it's just kinda hanging out in that sleeve. I think i'm just going to pull it out, I don't ever use reverb....as blasphemous as that may be.

 

[Neeklaus]

oh and I've been playing it for the last hour or two and DIZAMN I like it. lots of tones in this mofo...some good some bad but lots of tonal ground covered. it's not BOOTEEEK but I think it's going to get me by for a while. haven't tried out the loop but i boosted it with a bad monkey and well...

 

[CaseyCor]

oh and I've been playing it for the last hour or two and DIZAMN I like it. lots of tones in this mofo...some good some bad but lots of tonal ground covered. it's not BOOTEEEK but I think it's going to get me by for a while. haven't tried out the loop but i boosted it with a bad monkey and well...

Badass man..good to hear you're liking the sounds. I was just hitting my Mesa with my Bad Monkey and my Angry Beaver Fuzz, and getting some really cool sounds. Still not got the fuzz dialed in great yet, but it's cool regardless.

 

[just42dave]

Ill take the old tubes if you will..
and the tank....

 

[Neeklaus]

think I'm gonna hang on to the tubes. I have severe lack of a tube inventory in the event of a failure...
But give me a few days to get more aquainted with everything and I'll likely send you that reverb tank. I'm pretty sure it's going to be useless to me. PM me if you don't mind!

 

[Gitfiddler]

oh and I've been playing it for the last hour or two and DIZAMN I like it. lots of tones in this mofo...some good some bad but lots of tonal ground covered. it's not BOOTEEEK but I think it's going to get me by for a while. haven't tried out the loop but i boosted it with a bad monkey and well...

glad you like it. i boosted mine with a bad monkey and thought it sounded good.. backed the gain on the amp to where the knob "redlines"

what do you think of the attenuator?

 

[Neeklaus]

yeah I've been keeping the gain right about at the redline and the preamp knob down a bit lower than half way, plenty of saturation and sustain while still having touch sensitivity! I love it!

so far, with my VERY limited use of the attenuator, I'm going to have to agree most folks and say it's not all that great. sounds like a put a blanket over the cab and then opened a can of bees in there lol.
with that said, I'm still in the INFANT stages of getting to know this amp, so we'll see.
But I'm pretty happy with it so far!

 

[Gitfiddler]

lee jackson has/had a couple of forums where he will answer tech questions, etc. I asked about the heater mod and he got back to me quickly

 

[Devilinside]

yeah I've been keeping the gain right about at the redline and the preamp knob down a bit lower than half way, plenty of saturation and sustain while still having touch sensitivity! I love it!

so far, with my VERY limited use of the attenuator, I'm going to have to agree most folks and say it's not all that great. sounds like a put a blanket over the cab and then opened a can of bees in there lol.
with that said, I'm still in the INFANT stages of getting to know this amp, so we'll see.
But I'm pretty happy with it so far!

So I shall be hearing this Sunday?

 

[Neeklaus]

absolutely.

and by absolutely I mean, as long as I finish the heater mod by sunday

 

[Neeklaus]

just got done jamming on it for a while, I found a pretty cool sound I like for a main rhythm tone. still working out the clean channel. it's bright as FUCK lol. I'm thinking of putting JJs in the pre but I'm a little worried about their reliability thanks to some bad stories online recently.
came with EL34s installed so far i like them...haven't played super loud yet
still diggin it boosted with a bad monkey. it can get PRETTY EVIL with a boost.
played around with the loop...works great with my DD-3 and Smartgate in there, so I'm not too sure what the negative comments were about- could anyone clarify?

oh and I can't find a favorite among the frequency selector... 1 is pretty much mud to my ears, 2 3 & 4 are awesome and 5 sounds good with a little extra tweaking but it can get ice picky quick.

got the logo working, it wasn't lighting up originally but the middle bulb busted. outer 2 bulbs work, but that's all minor.

 

[Schaf]

just got done jamming on it for a while, I found a pretty cool sound I like for a main rhythm tone. still working out the clean channel. it's bright as FUCK lol. I'm thinking of putting JJs in the pre but I'm a little worried about their reliability thanks to some bad stories online recently.
came with EL34s installed so far i like them...haven't played super loud yet
still diggin it boosted with a bad monkey. it can get PRETTY EVIL with a boost.
played around with the loop...works great with my DD-3 and Smartgate in there, so I'm not too sure what the negative comments were about- could anyone clarify?

oh and I can't find a favorite among the frequency selector... 1 is pretty much mud to my ears, 2 3 & 4 are awesome and 5 sounds good with a little extra tweaking but it can get ice picky quick.

got the logo working, it wasn't lighting up originally but the middle bulb busted. outer 2 bulbs work, but that's all minor.

You may want to check Lee's site and take a look at the Q and A section. He has a little thing on tubes. He recommends against the jj's pre's. Says they sound dull in the amp.

 

[Neeklaus]

cool will do. Thanks for the suggestion, I check to see what he says and take that into consideration

going on the premise that the dirty channel is a hotrodded 800 (correct?)
what pre amp tubes would you all suggest?

 

[just42dave]

bump for the vls