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I might be getting one of these soon, and well.. gotta ask, those that use them, what do you play them through? Guitar amp and say fuckit? Bass amp? Guitar head + bass cab?

Just wondering.

Great question and depends which you want it to sound like. Want a bass? Stick it through a bass amp. It still isn't going to sound exactly like a bass but you're getting closer by using the bass amp. Want a really low guitar? Guitar amp. But be aware of the low frequencies.

I use my Gretsch with a bass amp currently.

years and years and years ago i used a tele "sub-sonic" thru a fender jazz king. both are long since discontinued but the sub sonic was a bartone tele made in the 90's and early 2o00's and the jazz king is a guitar amp WITH A FUCKING 15' SPEAKER!!!
shit was made for eachother! but like i said.... the jazz king has been discontinued and i doubt they will do any sort of re-issue for it. i would try to seek out a large speaker guitar amp. you can always fiddle with the eq, or thro a pre-amp of sorts in front to get some lower tonez

when i played Subby's inside Al's studio it sounded FUCKING MASSIVE.

as soon as i hit the first couple notes, internally i said OHH YES THIS IS THE FUCKING SHIT, I WANT ONE OF THESE NOW.


i have no idea what i was plugged into though

it may have been plugged into that thx amp in the corner, i don't know what cab that was going into tho.... the amps just kinda of blend into the background.... or rather... the night and its events just sort of blend into one another. i remember playing that bass VI into the bassman ten that they had in thier garage practice space, and i think i also played thru his special edition twin, both sounded fantastic, tho i am biased to the bassman ten for its closed back metal tonez.

I've got the japanese baritone jag thing tuned E-e, and I play it through a 2x12 DeVille with a 2x15 Bassman cab. Sounds huge but is WAAAYY loud.


I reckon a 4x10 with the 2x15 would be a better match, but I've never been able to try that out

ekwatts wrote:Great question and depends which you want it to sound like. Want a bass? Stick it through a bass amp. It still isn't going to sound exactly like a bass but you're getting closer by using the bass amp. Want a really low guitar? Guitar amp. But be aware of the low frequencies.

I use my Gretsch with a bass amp currently.

Pretty much this. However, with the EQ set right on a bass amp, you're not going to notice much difference between a VI and a 4-stringer.

I run mine through my Peavey T-Max & Carvin 115, it sounds bassy as fuck using the middle or neck, or neck+bridge. Less bassy in the bridge alone
I run mine through my Fender Twin Reverb, it sounds less bassy, but still pretty damn cool. Reverb with VI sounds phenomenal

Recently I've taken to bi-amping with it, splitting my output through my Boss CEB-3, sending to both the T-Max and Twin, and, really, this is the optimal sort of set up for the VI. You get the bass, and you get the articulate highs, each amp filling in the other's shortcomings. I haven't used this live yet, though, as it'd be a bit of a headache on stage (well, on the roadie front).


EDIT - I rarely take my bass amp to gigs, and have run my VI through all kinds of different bass amps and cabs; some take a little more tweaking than others, but small bass speakers are just as good as big ones to get bassy tones. Honestly, a 410 is likely going to give a better sound than a 115. Even with a 4-string, I find 15" drivers tend to accentuate mids more than lows; 10" gives a more balanced sound. YMMV.