Ampeg GVT15H

[alex73013]

Hey, does anyone have the Ampeg GVT15 Head or Combo? I just got the head version a couple days ago for $250 used. It came with Sovtek tubes. I swapped the preamp tubes with JJ long plate tubes. Im thinking about also changing out the power amp tubes for JJ or something else that will warm up the amp a little more. I find this amp to have plenty of highs which I’d like to smooth out a tad. Once interesting is that this amp has quite a bit of headroom even with the gain knob dialed fairly high. The tone controls are different than your typical guitar amp in that it’s a coaxial eq. I had to read up on it. I find the mid control really influences the gain and volume a lot. I plan to take it to a jam tomorrow and see how it sounds with a drummer and at louder volume. I also have the Ampeg Micro VR bass amp I’ve been using as a guitar amp. I find the two amps can produce somewhat similar sounds if dual in the treble eq on the bass amp high. The bass amp obviously doesn’t have tube breakup because it’s 200w solid state.


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[67Mopar]

Re: Ampeg GVT15H

I have both the GVT15H and GVT5H w/GVT112 cabinets. The best upgrade you can do, is changing out the stock speaker. I use a Celestion Alnico Blue with the GVT5, and a Alnico Cream with the GVT15. Get yourself some NOS RCA 6V6 power tubes as well. If you have a TS808 (or TS9) and Fulltone TTE (EP2/EP3) laying around, throw those bad-boys in-front, and prepare yourself! The loop works great, but has slight hum that will not increase as you advance the volume. The hum is caused by the proximity of the heater trace to the loop return. The mod is relatively easy to do.

[67Mopar]

Re: Ampeg GVT15H

I love these amps so much, I picked a GVT15-112 combo today.

[ItsaBass]

Re: Ampeg GVT15H

Put it in a real-world live mix, and you'll be glad you have that treble on tap. It'll be pushed to play with a full rock band, so you will want that cut. Definitely take advantage of big external speaker cabs to make it more gigable without good sound support.

I almost bought one of those when they were out, but I decided to keep leaning on my J-12T instead.