what gives VHT thier signature sound?

Capulin Overdrive

Capulin Overdrive

New member
i've loved every VHT i've tried, but they just have a certain (weird mids :LOL: :LOL: ) tone that once it gets under my skin, it drives me crazy!



was wondering if it's caps, or what?
 
Probably the way the tone filters are set up. Pre-gain filters change what frequencies are most prominent at the input of a gain stage. A small shift can make a big difference in sound and feel.
 
It's the cabs. Those fatbottom cabs are what really deliver the signature VHT sound.
 
other than thier PCB's having cool stuff printed on them, i don't think that's it?


and not the cabs or KT-88's. i've had allmost a half dozen VHT's, but never had a one of thier cabs.
 
Capulin Overdrive":107ic5bq said:
and not the cabs or KT-88's. i've had allmost a half dozen VHT's, but never had a one of thier cabs.
Click to expand...

Bull :D You guys can "pick apart" little stuff like transformers, bat rays, and flux capaciters, but the signature VHT sound that consists of a very dry, clean, super tight gain comes a lot from their cabs. I haven't had a 1/2 dozen of their heads, but I have had two AND the matching fatbottom cab.

Every head I tried on my fatbottom cab immediately took on some of those characteristics, with obviously a Pittbull head on top making it sound correct.

I use my CLX head with my Diezel german made cab, and it sounds pretty darned close to the Herbert through the same cab.
 
I think a lot of it is the attack .very fast percussive .immediate almost SS like .and the fact there is very little compression and a dry unsaturated tone .that and the Kt88 .. which were not really used much at all when the UL came out
 
RJF":3ssoqv3u said:
Capulin Overdrive":3ssoqv3u said:
and not the cabs or KT-88's. i've had allmost a half dozen VHT's, but never had a one of thier cabs.
Click to expand...

Bull :D You guys can "pick apart" little stuff like transformers, bat rays, and flux capaciters, but the signature VHT sound that consists of a very dry, clean, super tight gain comes a lot from their cabs. I haven't had a 1/2 dozen of their heads, but I have had two AND the matching fatbottom cab.

Every head I tried on my fatbottom cab immediately took on some of those characteristics, with obviously a Pittbull head on top making it sound correct.

I use my CLX head with my Diezel german made cab, and it sounds pretty darned close to the Herbert through the same cab.
Click to expand...






horse apples! :LOL: :LOL: you're splitting hairs over front loaded vs rear, and p50 eminence vs Celestion.

yes, thier sig sound is dry, tight and clean. guess you may have me in the regard that perhaps i didn't phrase my question correctly.

i'm refering to the fact that there's something distictive in the voice of all VHT amps, that you can tell they're a VHT. be it Sig-x which juicier and a tad bit loser, or a Pitbull, etc. etc.


the purpose of this thread is to see if could snag a VHT and swap something simple, and get the voicing more to my liking.
 
JakeAC5253":2itgineh said:
Sixtonoize":2itgineh said:
Pre-gain filtering, cathodyne phase inverters, and big, clean power sections.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:

What exactly is a cathodyne phase inverter?
Click to expand...

A cathodyne is a PI that only uses one triode, as opposed to the "standard" long-tailed pair PI that most amps use. With a cathodyne, you're basically using the triode as a regular preamp gain stage (inverting) with a gain of one AND a cathode follower (non-inverting) at the same time. With a LTP, you're using two triodes - one makes the inverting signal, one makes the non-inverting signal.

The advantage of a cathodyne is that it's a lot cleaner than an LTP, but the LTP sounds better when it clips (as evidenced by any Marshall recording, ever). But, if you're designing an amp around a clean power section, you want to make sure that the PI isn't clipping anyway. Also, since you're only using half of the triode, you can use the remaining gain stage to do something awesome...like add more gain.

RJF":2itgineh said:
Bull :D You guys can "pick apart" little stuff like transformers, bat rays, and flux capaciters, but the signature VHT sound that consists of a very dry, clean, super tight gain comes a lot from their cabs. I haven't had a 1/2 dozen of their heads, but I have had two AND the matching fatbottom cab.

Every head I tried on my fatbottom cab immediately took on some of those characteristics, with obviously a Pittbull head on top making it sound correct.

I use my CLX head with my Diezel german made cab, and it sounds pretty darned close to the Herbert through the same cab.
Click to expand...

That's funny - I played my UL through a Behringer cab once, and it totally did NOT catch on fire.
It also sounded like an UltraLead, but Behringer is known less for their tone and more for their combustion.
 
Power section, pre gain stuff, and the transformers are the big ones for me.

Great amps and even better if you have the chops for them.
 
Capulin Overdrive":9h7s9avf said:
RJF":9h7s9avf said:
Capulin Overdrive":9h7s9avf said:
and not the cabs or KT-88's. i've had allmost a half dozen VHT's, but never had a one of thier cabs.
Click to expand...

Bull :D You guys can "pick apart" little stuff like transformers, bat rays, and flux capaciters, but the signature VHT sound that consists of a very dry, clean, super tight gain comes a lot from their cabs. I haven't had a 1/2 dozen of their heads, but I have had two AND the matching fatbottom cab.

Every head I tried on my fatbottom cab immediately took on some of those characteristics, with obviously a Pittbull head on top making it sound correct.

I use my CLX head with my Diezel german made cab, and it sounds pretty darned close to the Herbert through the same cab.
Click to expand...






horse apples! :LOL: :LOL: you're splitting hairs over front loaded vs rear, and p50 eminence vs Celestion.

yes, thier sig sound is dry, tight and clean. guess you may have me in the regard that perhaps i didn't phrase my question correctly.

i'm refering to the fact that there's something distictive in the voice of all VHT amps, that you can tell they're a VHT. be it Sig-x which juicier and a tad bit loser, or a Pitbull, etc. etc.


the purpose of this thread is to see if could snag a VHT and swap something simple, and get the voicing more to my liking.
Click to expand...

You might like a Deliverance. I found the mids and treble on that amp to be a lot less weird than the Pitbull's.
 
skoora":s6ywc7dv said:
Capulin Overdrive":s6ywc7dv said:
RJF":s6ywc7dv said:
Capulin Overdrive":s6ywc7dv said:
and not the cabs or KT-88's. i've had allmost a half dozen VHT's, but never had a one of thier cabs.
Click to expand...

Bull :D You guys can "pick apart" little stuff like transformers, bat rays, and flux capaciters, but the signature VHT sound that consists of a very dry, clean, super tight gain comes a lot from their cabs. I haven't had a 1/2 dozen of their heads, but I have had two AND the matching fatbottom cab.

Every head I tried on my fatbottom cab immediately took on some of those characteristics, with obviously a Pittbull head on top making it sound correct.

I use my CLX head with my Diezel german made cab, and it sounds pretty darned close to the Herbert through the same cab.
Click to expand...






horse apples! :LOL: :LOL: you're splitting hairs over front loaded vs rear, and p50 eminence vs Celestion.

yes, thier sig sound is dry, tight and clean. guess you may have me in the regard that perhaps i didn't phrase my question correctly.

i'm refering to the fact that there's something distictive in the voice of all VHT amps, that you can tell they're a VHT. be it Sig-x which juicier and a tad bit loser, or a Pitbull, etc. etc.


the purpose of this thread is to see if could snag a VHT and swap something simple, and get the voicing more to my liking.
Click to expand...

You might like a Deliverance. I found the mids and treble on that amp to be a lot less weird than the Pitbull's.
Click to expand...



i do like the Deliverance, i had a D60. they are a little deferent, but still have THAT sound! :LOL: :LOL:
 
Sixtonoize":261t2nvn said:
JakeAC5253":261t2nvn said:
Sixtonoize":261t2nvn said:
Pre-gain filtering, cathodyne phase inverters, and big, clean power sections.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:

What exactly is a cathodyne phase inverter?
Click to expand...

A cathodyne is a PI that only uses one triode, as opposed to the "standard" long-tailed pair PI that most amps use. With a cathodyne, you're basically using the triode as a regular preamp gain stage (inverting) with a gain of one AND a cathode follower (non-inverting) at the same time. With a LTP, you're using two triodes - one makes the inverting signal, one makes the non-inverting signal.

The advantage of a cathodyne is that it's a lot cleaner than an LTP, but the LTP sounds better when it clips (as evidenced by any Marshall recording, ever). But, if you're designing an amp around a clean power section, you want to make sure that the PI isn't clipping anyway. Also, since you're only using half of the triode, you can use the remaining gain stage to do something awesome...like add more gain.

RJF":261t2nvn said:
Bull :D You guys can "pick apart" little stuff like transformers, bat rays, and flux capaciters, but the signature VHT sound that consists of a very dry, clean, super tight gain comes a lot from their cabs. I haven't had a 1/2 dozen of their heads, but I have had two AND the matching fatbottom cab.

Every head I tried on my fatbottom cab immediately took on some of those characteristics, with obviously a Pittbull head on top making it sound correct.

I use my CLX head with my Diezel german made cab, and it sounds pretty darned close to the Herbert through the same cab.
Click to expand...

That's funny - I played my UL through a Behringer cab once, and it totally did NOT catch on fire.
It also sounded like an UltraLead, but Behringer is known less for their tone and more for their combustion.
Click to expand...



how hard would it be to switch a Ultralead to LTP just for shits and grins?
 
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