Ampeg V2 amp, thoughts?

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 7:09 pm

So, I was searching Craigslist and found someone selling a V2 amp. Anyone have any opinions on these? About how much would one expect to pay for just the head?

laterallateral · Post by **laterallateral** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 7:53 pm

I don't know how common these are around STL but here, they're quite common. They generally go for about $500-$700, depending on year and condition.
I've played bass trough a couple and have always liked them. They basically get you the typical Ampeg snarl but at much more manageable volumes than an SVT ever would.
I hear they're pretty good guitar amps, too but I haven't got any experience playing guitars trough them.

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 7:56 pm

I'm thinking of doing guitar through it. It's apparently an early 70's model. Have you tried running guitar through it? I'm looking for something that could function as a backup or replacement to my 65 Twin RI

And thanks for the price check, is that Canada dollars? This one is $400 USD but he claims its in working order and all that, with newish tubes. Is that a deal?

laterallateral · Post by **laterallateral** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 8:07 pm

Yeah, that was Canadian dollars. It's kind of hard for me to account for how desirable these are in your area or how the US/CAN dollars stack up against eachother but I can tell you that if I saw a V2 come up at $400, I'd be extremely tempted to snatch it up.

I guess you might have missed my edit but no, I've never played guitar trough one though I am told they're very capable in this respect.
You'd have to mess with your effects a little bit to dial it in, if you were using it as a back-up and your Twin shat the bed. It's not going to sound or respond anything like it.

Here's a nice vid about what you might expect it to sound like, running some boxes in trough one input and your clean to the other.

[youtube][/youtube]

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 9:28 pm

Hmm, thanks for the info. I think this isn't what I am looking for then, for some reason I was thinking these were bright and clean like a traynor or a Twin. I think I'm going to pass then, it's 100 miles away so that would be a trip to pick it up anyway.

laterallateral · Post by **laterallateral** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 9:55 pm

Weren't you running an old Univox U1011, or something? That would be WAY closer to sounding like a Twin than anything Ampeg...

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Fri Oct 04, 2013 1:44 am

laterallateral wrote:Weren't you running an old Univox U1011, or something? That would be WAY closer to sounding like a Twin than anything Ampeg...

Yeah, well that guy is kinda broked....I really do need to take it into the shop and just get that one fixed.

71Smallbox · Post by **71Smallbox** » Fri Oct 04, 2013 2:21 pm

The V4 will sound awesome, think the Rollng Stones mid 70's live sound. $400 is a deal! I think it would be a great backup to a twin.

George · Post by **George** » Fri Oct 04, 2013 2:43 pm

videos of it sound awesome

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Fri Oct 04, 2013 3:03 pm

It does indeed sound awesome, but I just emailed the guy back this morning passing on the deal. From the several vids I watched, it breaks up waaaaay too much for me. Loud and clean is what I need. I'm still searching for that Traynor YBA-3 I'm sure I'll find one day.

laterallateral · Post by **laterallateral** » Fri Oct 04, 2013 4:07 pm

There's one on ebay for just shy of $900 but the shipping would KILL YOU.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Traynor ... 0732393833

Even up here in the land of cheap Traynors, the YBA-3s are ridiculously priced. The last one I saw was priced at $1400 for the head and $800 for the "Big B" cab.
I mean, uh... That's how much a vintage SVT and 8x10 would cost, WTF? Anyway, you might want to look into the V4s if you're going to go Ampeg, theoretically, they should have about twice as much headroom than the V2s. A much more affordable and less scarce Traynor option would be the YGL-3 It's basically a Twin power section and eq with verb and tremolo but with a vaguely Marshallesque preamp circuit.

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Fri Oct 04, 2013 5:20 pm

Yeah that's waaaaaay too much for an amp. If I were going to drop that much money I'd get the Dual Showman that's at my local shop.

This thread did remind me to get my ass in gear and get my Univox head into the shop, so some good came out of it at least.

George · Post by **George** » Sat Oct 05, 2013 9:01 am

Pens wrote:It does indeed sound awesome, but I just emailed the guy back this morning passing on the deal. From the several vids I watched, it breaks up waaaaay too much for me. Loud and clean is what I need. I'm still searching for that Traynor YBA-3 I'm sure I'll find one day.

Yeah I'm the same. I think having a clean blank canvas as a base gives way more flexibility and predictability