ROAD TESTED AMPEG GVT15-112 Ampeg is well known for their legendary bass amps like the SVT, but that’s not all they can do. The J-20 guitar amplifier is pretty spectacular, and in the 90s they offered a hot rodded high gain amp designed by legendary tech Lee Jackson which actually had an ignition key so nobody else could use your amp. Today Ampeg offers the GVT15-112, a combo amp with a 12” speaker and classic Ampeg styling which will feel instantly familiar to anyone who has so much as glanced at an SVT. SPEAKING MY LANGUAGE The GVT15-112 runs at 15 watts, switchable to 7.5 watts. The power section rocks a pair of 6V6GT tubes, while the preamp has a duo of 12AX7s. The rectifier is solid state. Controls are minimal: Gain, Treble, Middle, Bass, Volume and Reverb. There’s only one input (no Hi and Lo inputs here), and while the Power switch is fairly standard, there’s also a three-position Standby switch. The Center position is the Standby mode, but the top option is the full 15 watts and the Half option is 7.5 watts. The single 12” speaker is a Celestion, one of the most respected names in the speaker biz. OPEN AND SHUT CASE The two button foot switch controls reverb and effects loop on/off. It’s sold separately or you can use any other compatible device. It’s a TRS jack so a wide range of two-button single-lead foot switches will work. There are five speaker outputs: a pair of 4 ohms, a pair of 8 ohms and a single 16 ohms (this is connected to the internal speaker). And that’s it! The back panel is technically an open-back, but it has only a relatively small opening which is covered by a grille. You can’t stash your cords in the back like you can with most open backed speaker boxes.
PACKING A PUNCH The GVT15-112 looks like it might be a good solid state jazz amp - it just has that ‘I do consistent cleans’ vibe about it. But it is most definitely a tube amp, as you’ll find out pretty quickly when you crank the Gain and Volume controls and lay in. Because it’s a 15 watt amp and can be dropped down to 7.5, you can get some great warm overdrive sounds at relatively neighbourfriendly volumes. And at a certain point these tones start to compress and punch. The treble can be controlled and corralled into a smooth, buttery texture, and the low end is just loose enough for the blues but just tight enough for dirty country. Humbuckers seem to compress a little further, while single coils have that classic vintage blues rock punch. The reverb does a fairly good job too, and helps to add atmosphere and shimmer when you need to get all jangly.
The MiBass 550 may not have the same kind of visual appeal as amps like the Ashdown Little Bastard, but it has plenty of charm of its own, and is a great way for non-rock players to get Ashdown quality with a smaller footprint.
AGUILAR TONE HAMMER 500
By Peter Hodgson
Price: RRP $899 (MiBass 550), $499 (VS212) Distributor: Music Link Phone: (03) 9765 6565 Website: www.musiclink.com.au
Distributor: Music Link Phone: (03) 9765 6565 Website: www.musiclink.com.au
more analog transformer warmth. The 80Hz high pass filter was perfect for cutting out any unwanted noise and would be very useful in a live setting. Anything that allows the mixer to not touch the EQ is a good thing, right? We recorded a snare with an SM57 on the top and the AE5400/LE on the bottom. The AE540/LE’s -10dB switchable pad came in handy and gave us some extra freedom recording a loud source. Have no fear as the max SPL the AE5400/LE can handle is a huge 147dB. On female lead vocal it really shone. The transformer really warms up the lower mids and the clarity in the high end is something to behold. The high end is crisp and detailed with out being brittle and harsh. The vocalist was so impressed with how the AE5400LE captured and portrayed her vocals she did not want to part with it. In the studio environment we used a pop filter however we quickly realised that the inbuilt windshield and filter are fantastic and would hold up to the rigors of live vocals as the AE5400 was intended. Plosives and sibilance are nulled and the high end is still clear. Phantom power is require with this baby so check with venues or get your own power. The AE5400/ LE’s frequency response is 20Hz to 20,000Hz making it useful for many studio applications. By Will Teasle
MIXDOWN NO. 214
TAKE A LOAD OFF I tested the amp with the Ashdown VS212 2X12 300 watt speaker cabinet. This box, part of the company’s Dual Tube range, weighs 31kg and is designed to complement the company’s Dual Terror bass heads. It looks great, if a little out of place with the MiBass. The MiBass uses a Bang & Olufsen power section, and it has an incredible warmth compared to other Class D amps, and it seems to be especially proficient at handling the rounder feel of passive pickups. It’s easy for a Class D amp to sound killer with an active bass but the MiBass is very versatile with whatever bass you plug into it. And rock players, who normally find themselves shackled to bigger, heavier amps, will be able to scale down their weight load. Aah, but those players who need real slap-pop sounds for pop, jazz etc can get some very sub-and-tweeter vibed sounds. Active players might especially like that the MiBass has an EQ Bypass switch, which lets you basically run the amp as a power amp, using your bass’s preamp as a surrogate amplifier preamp. The VS212 provided a good range of highs, lows and mids but I would love to try this amp through a dedicated full range speaker setup, especially for those hi-fi tones.
Price: RRP $949
RAW POWER The AE5400 is designed with the same large diaphragm element as the renown AT4050. The AT4050 is a classic and is a must for all project to professional studio. The AE5400, however, is a live microphone that has studio features and allows singers to reproduce the clarity and performance they get from a condenser mic from the studio to the stage. Basically it is a studio condenser packaged in a solid live mic style 18cm body with some awesome live features.
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panel of the amp with other colours, or design your own and attach it to the amp.
By Peter Hodgson
The GVT15-112 is a surprising offering from Ampeg. It looks very much like a member of the Ampeg family yet it sounds more like a boutique handmade blues rock amp. There isn’t much in the way of tone sculpting, since the foot switch only controls the loop and reverb rather than (nonexistent, in this case) channel switching, but that’s okay because this is definitely a set-and-forget amplifier.
To celebrate their 50th Anniversary Audio Technica have released an even better version of their already awesome AE5400 cardioid condenser microphone as the AE5400/LE. Audio Technica are one of the world leaders in manufacturing microphones and headphones. Best of all, there products are very high in the value for money rankings.
NICE AND CRISP We first tried the AE5400/LE on male backing vocals. It really stood up and provided solid clarity in the lower mids and a super flighty high end that rivals studio mics twice the price. The new output transformer really warms up the sound and in the digital recording world what is wrong with a little bit
Bass players are at a distinct advantage compared to guitar players. Their amplification requirements have more to do with clean headroom and punchy power compared to tube saturation and speaker distortion, and this allows them to get away with much, much smaller amps than the hulking behemoths that guitarists often have to contend with. Bass players can have large tube amps, of course, and many classic rock sounds have burst forth from them. Now, Ashdown does the big bass amp very well indeed. But they enter the small, small amp fray with the MiBass 550, which packs 550 watts of Class D power into a teensy case measuring just 8.3 by 2.6 by 6.3 inches - including an internal power supply! Class D amplifiers generate a square wave where the low-frequency portion of the spectrum is considered the ‘wanted’ output signal, and of the high-frequency portion serves no purpose other than to make the waveform binary so it can be amplified by switching the power devices. The unwanted highs are smoothed out by a passive filter and, minus a few important by eye-crossing details, there you have it. Ashdown also offers the MiBass 220, which is 220 watts and with similar features. SPLASH OF COLOUR The MiBass 550 includes active and passive instrument inputs, precision interactive tone shaping via semi-parametric three-band EQ, Deep and Shape switches, an EQ In/Out switch, an output level control and the it-wouldn’t-be-an-Ashdownwithout-it VU meter. There’s also a panel-mounted line input with level control to jack in an MP3 player or what have you. Around the back you’ll find combination Jack/Speakon speaker outputs, a Pre/Post switchable balanced DI output for direct connection to a PA system or recording console, an effects loop send and return and a headphone jack. And here’s a fun feature: you can change the front
AUDIO TECHNICA AE5400/LE
GENUINE CLASS “What’s new in the LE” I hear you say? Well, the main inclusion in the LE model is a custom transformer that really warms up the sound. Audio Technica have packaged the LE in a super sleek matte silver body with blue accents and have etched a serial number on the body that screams class. Through in a wooden box and this limited edition is a truly special package to add to anyone’s mic arsenal.
ASHDOWN MIBASS 550 & VS212 CABINET
Price: RRP $595 Distributor: TAG Phone: (02) 9519 0600 Website: www.tag.com.au
FEBRUARY 2012
Aguilar make heavy duty pro-bass gear – made for studio and live work with good tone and reliability. With models such as the DB751 and AG500 featuring on stages and in studios all around the world they have more than proven themselves as a quality name when it comes to bass gear. Typically though higher end gear has come at higher end prices putting it out of reach for a lot of players. This isn’t necessarily so anymore and the fact that these lines have blurred somewhat in the last few years means many manufacturers have expanded their lines to cover more ground without compromising tone and quality. And they can do it smaller and cheaper! LAUNCHING THE WEB Based on the fully sweet Tone Hammer pedal the 500 is the ‘legendary Aguilar sound’ in a superlight package according to their web spiel. It’s certainly light at just under 2 kilos and with dimensions of 27.3 cms x 21.6 x 7 it makes for an easy carry/fit in a gig bag. Couple the Tone Hammer 500 with a small cab and you’ve got a nifty little rig. INDICATORS ON The faceplate is logical with an input jack and -10dB pad button, gain, drive, mid level, mid freq, bass and treble controls. You then get send and return jacks for the effects loop, a master volume control, balanced xlr out with post/pre button a ground lift button and the operate/ mute button. Giving you clear indication of what’s happening with your amp there are lights for operate (when the power is turned on) and then standby (comes into play with the operate/ mute button) and clipping in case your level is getting a little on the rowdy side.
operate button and you’re away. Then it’s just balancing the Gain and Master volumes and some EQ tweaking. Three bands of EQ is quite standard and all of these react well on the Tone Hammer 500 gradual and usable with no huge jumps. The Mid Freq knob is great also, giving you the ability to refocus what frequencies you’re actually adjusting. Gutsy and clean I found the Tone Hammer to be fat and punchy. Not too pristine but definitely not old school rubber band round styled either. I played it at a smallish pub gig through a 2x10 cab with a Fender Jazz with great results. Clean, fat and dynamic and whereas sometimes with other amps I find myself turning up to get heard the Tone Hammer’s punchy low end and lower mids cut into the mix superbly and had me locking in without having to crank it into the muddy mix territory. With just a vocal PA and smaller venue I actually had one guy comment that the tone was great and he was assuming I was running through the PA as the spread and tone were huge - awesome! LITTLE KILLER Sleek and clean in appearance I like the little things like the rounded edges and cool tone knobs. More than anything I love the tone of this amp and it’s the first time in quite a awhile where I’ve thought ‘I want this’ within about 10 seconds. Some may prefer the effects loop on the back for neatness purposes and there aren’t a million extra bells and whistles but the Tone Hammer is one killer little amp (little in size but not in tone and volume). Very impressive. By Nick Brown
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HAMMER TIME Light and portable, it’s also a cinch to get up and running. Flick on the power and then the mute/
Distributor: Intermusic Distribution Phone: (03) 9765 6565 Website: www.imd.com.au