Ampeg V-4B Bass Head

It has the expected all-tube amazing Ampeg sound and provides all you need for up to medium-size gigs and probably even more. It is a great sounding amp either paired with the 212AV or two 210AV, mostly suitable for studio work.

But even though it is not the top model of Ampeg I would expect a better build quality. For example the tubes are not mounted properly and steadily as in the case of the SVT. Additionally they are mounted at the top instead of the bottom as in the SVT which is also the logical and safe way I believe. For these quality issues I am reluctant using it at a live performance and use it only at home.

Conclusion: For this price tag the build quality issues I mentioned shouldn't appear. Hopefully no issues will appear any time soon - even though the build quality unfortunately suggests otherwise. Highly recommended in terms of sound but with caution.

My Ampeg V4B Bass Head arrived today. The packaging was damaged in transit which might be expected for a heavy package. The outside box had been opened and there were holes in the second box within but as Thomann pack their stuff in the outside second box luckily nothing was damaged. The Ampeg box has the amp sitting on supports and the chassis has a suspension system also so no valves were damaged. Good packaging therefore.

I took off the grill to check the valves and was disappointed to note quite a lot of sawdust inside. I had seen questionability of quality so this was a point of quality for me. Then again, it's not a Heritage and comes from China. Still £200 cheaper than the UK with the good Euro exchange rate so can't complain.

The grill seems to hold on well although I've seen this questioned for quality. Velcro stoppers essentially.

A further question mark on utube is the loudness fan but mine is fine. I'm in a 10 ft by 10ft box room and I can't hear it at all.

It gives off quite a lot of heat so no room heating needed for the winter. After using it for an hour I noticed that the metal front and the input cable end were quite warm. To be expected.

One thing to note is the power switch. Unlike the UK, power is with the switch flicked up instead of down. This is normal for American amps apparently. It is not a quality issue.

It came with the ssnake Powercord UK C14 and I had ordered another so a point to watch. It is quite short as well if you've got 2 large cabs on top of each other so I had to swop it out for a larger cable.

The sound is awesome. very warm at 12 O'Clock with the ultra lo bass switch on but the top end is very clear also. I've been playing disco octaves with some slap and pop to Abba's Gimme Gimme... the notes on the G string are very clear with warm low end on the E. Very very clear slap and pop even with the mids at 12 o'clock so should be even better scooped.

I was advised against the amp as being too powerful for bedroom use. I've got the gain at 9 and the master at 12 and it is fine with lots of headroom.

Love it's sound. Very good value for money IMHO.