japetus
Moderator
That is crazy. They are cool but not $1000 cool IMO. I still seem them for $350-400 around town though so Ill keep that in mind.
J
JQuick
New member
Definitely if you’re seeing them that cheap absolutely worth snatching one up and if nothing else holding onto it
MetalHeadMike
Well-known member
I sold mine on Reverb in 2019...guy paid $900 all in. I agree that they're cool but not that cool.
J
JQuick
New member
Right there with ya. I ended up selling that and a Dual rec to get funds for a VHT Deliverance and a pitbull CLX imo much much better amps
MetalHeadMike
Well-known member
Which Deliverance? I had a D60, UL, and a 50CL...all great amps but think I liked the D60 best. Just got a F70 loaded FB412 and am digging it. Would've sounded cool with any of those amps I bet.
J
JQuick
New member
It’s the first Gen 120 with a half power mod and a loop mod
japetus
Moderator
For sure, even though I have had 3 fail...lol. I still love the metal tone that much. Since they were made 10 minutes from my house, I guess that's why there are a lot of them around here. When I hear back from my friend who worked from them with the info, or if I see any killer deals on the amps here, I will bump this thread.
M
mikey
Active member
Ironically, I bought one of these to replace a problematic Laney AOR and also had a lemon Marshall before that, figured SS was the way to go. I got about 4 maybe 5 years out of it and it let the smoke out. I replaced it with a Recto (which turned out to be a pre-500).
japetus
Moderator
Now that is a badass Recto but you owned that Ampeg for 4 years, did you dig that tone?
M
mikey
Active member
Yeah, I did like it, not sure how I would react to it today...? Most people I knew were using rack gear at that time, MP1's etc. The Ampeg was cool in that it helped me have a unique tone, I ran it straight to PA right out of the onboard D.I. I do remember seeing a guy with the 2x12 combo once but they were very uncommon around here.
H
Holy-diver
Well-known member
Do you still have the recto? That’s a big win imo
japetus
Moderator
The 2x12 combos were the most common around here. I almost never saw any with the celestion 85 watt speakers. They nearly all had the Ampeg branded stock speakers. The head was much more rare to see but I will see them pop up for cheap out of nowhere from time to time.
M
mikey
Active member
Unfortunately no. About 20 years ago I traded it for a 100 watt Jubilee (which I still have). It was cool, black diamond plate/chrome chassis, wish I had kept it! I replaced it with an SLO a few years later.
M
mikey
Active member
I still have the cabs, a slant and straight. Mine came loaded with English T75s dated '88-89. They've been pummeled but sound pretty decent.
Smash
Hack
Definitely grab that thing. Who knew we could start a thread that made people lust after Crates?I have one, i also have the XLP which is the gx130c preamp and i dont find them all that similar to the vh, the crate is much smoother and dosent have the grind of the ampeg, the ampeg is much more versatile too. one day now that my recording skills are a little better ill have to do a proper comparison cause they really arent that close. I looked on reverb and what do you know? theres a GT3500 half stack a town over from me, maybe ill grab it and see what the deal is. its either that thing or the VTX that was supposed to be the ampeg, both of them came towards the end of SLM and i havent seen many of either
https://reverb.com/item/33816751-crate-half-stack-gt3500h-shockwave
Smash
Hack
I am telling you, this is what I have been wanting for like 2 years. I even downloaded the schematic and asked an EE buddy of mine if he would recreate it. They (Ampeg) put the preamp schematic on their website for free, probably because they were getting so many emails about it. Unfortunately, he is lazy and unwilling. But it sounds like the power section is pretty important as well for that sound. But if people are paying a grand for a used one, I would definitely drop 1200 on a new one that was well built..There is a market.
Smash
Hack
Where the hell do you live?! I have an SS 140 down the street for like 250 i have been thinking of picking up. But i don't know that much about the differences. someone says it has less grind. Should I buy it and a grind pedal, lol?
japetus
Moderator
I live in STL, really close to where they build Ampegs.
japetus
Moderator
Hell yeah, I also still have the 4x12, same speakers. Gigged it to hell, never let me down!
J
Jack Luminous
Well-known member
Anyone familiar with the VHD SNK pedal (https://www.snkpedals.com/product/vhd-distortion-preamp-black) ? It's a VH140C preamp clone. Thinking about buying the damn thing because I really love that old-school death-metal tone.