Marshall VBA400 Head

Made in 2005. Variety of sounds limited compared to some other amps but sonically has a wonderful creamy 3d tone & big tight bass that cuts through. Features as other reviews - would possibly like wider tone shaping but its pretty versatile. Amp used for loud non-pa gigs playing classic and original rock, volume is - ahem more than adequate for all known applications.

Use USA Jazz with standard pickups and still sounds good. No known hisses or hums - sounds? see above. Used with 4 1 x 15" Ashdown MAG cabs for wonderful full deep tight bass without excessive volume which could set off car alarms or at present an Eden 2 x 10" XXXL or whatever and a 1 x 18" SWR big ben - lovely old boy. Gentle pursuasion of the gain switch can add an nice edge to the proceedings.
Would mark this section as a 10 but whichever thick clot decided to use `awesome` as a rating should have their testicles used as an elastic band target - how naff.

No known problems in this department Rodders.

Never used but have only heard good things from those who have.

Have been playing for donkeys years as if its any of your business. Until a couple of weeks ago also had an Eden Highwayman 500 and a Markbass SA450. Sonically the Eden ran rings around the Markbass (proven by comments after gigs from band and audience where the MB was used for the first set - Eden the second :- wow sounded miles better in the second set) and the Marshall runs rings around the both of them at least for the sounds I am looking for. The Eden has been sold and the Markbass is going on Ebay this week. Not the cheapest of amps - had to pawn the dog = the canine had to go as well.

2004 amp (i think ?) Just enough knobs to get a sound, has a certain sound that may not suit all styles and players, doesn't need much fiddling just set gain and off you go (almost)

The sound is pretty good, and not far behind tye mesa for power and clarity, not quite as in your face, only used it with matching 4x12 cab so maybe not fair to compare to 4x10's. certainly loud enough for most gigs i do (big clubs mainly)
sounds better with my 90's Jazz bass and 70's precision than with the Musicman stingray. seems to work somehow. has a nice edge when pre-amp driven hard, but power section gets bit nasty when master up too high.
Usual settings master volume 1/3, both hi & deep switches IN, treble halfway, middle halfway, mid contour halfway, bass just over 1/3, input gain 3/4..

So far so good, been used for 40-50 gigs and seems ok. still on 1st set valves i presume, front grille seems a but dusty as fan is so powerfull so may need a clean out to stop overheating.

marshall customer service is second to none, I haven't needed them for this product, but in the past, with other amps they have been helpfull fast and incredibly cheap ! (and the factory is only 1 hour from me !)

generally a great amp, not hugely different to an ampeg, but with a different character, that will suit alot of rock based players. i wanted sonething as a spare for my Mesa 400+ setup, and wanted something different, i remembered my DBS system was pretty good so happy to give the thumbs up to marshall again.

This is the greatest amp i've ever tried. It's so easy to use and it got plenty of output so it works great in any live situation.
This is what i call a vintage style amp with wery little tone control. you can adjust bass, middle and treble + deep and bright switches and a contour knob. I usualy just makes sure all the knobs is at 12 o'clock
and then just gain it up to the point the sound start to break up and then back it up. That's when the DI output sound the best. If i want another sound, the easiest way is to use another bass guitar. So, this amp is not the most versitale amp i've tried but if you're looking for a amp with a rich fat tone, this is a good choice.

I have many bass guitars ranging from old rickenbacker and fender's and some new high tec bass guitars, my conclusion is that this amp sounds defenetly the best with a vintage instrument. However. i got a killer sound with my Sadowsky jazzbass in studio a few weeks ago. I plugged in a rack equalizer and a vintage rack compressor in the effectsloop. Used the 412 cab and a electroharmonix big ribbon mic + the DI output, after some fine tuning i got the most perfect bass sound ever. So now i will start to use the effectsloop more often.

Marshall is built like a tank. That means it's still a TUBE amplifier and the tubes are not everlasting like transistors. Don't throw your amp
around (especialy not when the tubes are warm) and when gigging. always have backuptubes (or amp) since i bought this amp i have traveled alot with it on tours and studio sessions and it has never failed. I am wery carefull with it though. I have good flightcase for it and I have this rule that i change the tubes every year, because new tubes sound alot better than old ones. But as with all tube amps. if you break a tube at a gig.. your'e fucked. be sure to change the tubes sometimes and keep the old ones in backup.

haven't used it yet. Probably wery good i guess!

I love this amp, but not everybody does. it's wery heavy and got wery little features. If you want to buy ine of these, you should try it for like a weekend or something before you buy it. I tried it for a week and i bought this amp instead of the mesa boogie 400 +. this amp is much more versitale and i think it sounds better.

This is a 2002 model VBA400, used long and hard for the last few years. A big, full0on sounding amp. It has the barest minimum of twiddly things - Master volume, bass mid and treble pots, a three-way contour switch - which is OK I suppose, just try em all out, find the one that suits your bass best - gain, and then "deep" and "bright" switches. The deep switch adds a low fundamental underneath the signal. This sounds great but I can't recommend it at high volume - I pressed it once by mistake, and shook the amp to pieces literally. Bright switch adds some brightness and sparkle to things.

FX loop, DI (pre/post switchable, also with earth lift) and switchable 2/4 ohm speaker outputs. also has a tuner send, which is activated by the tuner mute switch on the front of the amp, and lo/hi fan speed switch.

Used with ESP C304, active EMG's, and a load of lovely distorto boxes.

Amp sounds great, big and punchy like an ampeg, but a lot lot smoother. If an ampeg sounds like a race-tuned 1000cc motorbike, this would be a ferarri - they both sound great, but this amp does things differently.

Low end is full and rich, stock valves were a little sketchy but now there's a decent set in, is it big and beautiful.

Not too much top end from the amp, so I find the bright switch is definitely useful here. However, if you want to get that gain knob cranked, this beast is the one for you. Really filthy, broken sounds at high gain.

Again, when using the distortion/fuzz effects that I am with the current band, the amp takes off into a league of its own. Much nicer tone that an ampeg if that's the sound you're going for.

Hmmm... this is a slight problem.

Been used pretty often, carried up and down stairs, in and out of venues, slid about in the back of a van. BUT, I've never had the case of the disappearing resistor, as what happened when the deep switch was pressed accidently during a gig. Amp cut out, dead. It was an easy fix - just replace the component and off you go - but its hardly encouraging.

Apart from that, no beef.

Marshall are great. Couldn't be happier. Shipped the amp quickly to my LGS when I wanted it. Lost a fuse holder - they sent one out next day for me (I had a gig in a short space of time) free of charge. lovely!

Great bass amp, I don't think I could part with it.

Bougfht the 8x10 too - these are great boxes, with the handy addition of a flip-out handle on the bottom - makes life so much easier than with Ampegs.

Bit gutted they're now about 200 quid cheaper, but what the hell.

Price Paid: 1450 USD

Features: 10
What else could you want? It's got Gain, Bass, Mid, Treble.. 3-way Mid contour switch, Deep & Bright switches and a Master Volume. There is a tuner mute, which is very handy considering the volumes this beast can put out. Plus a Basic effects loop. DI with selectable Pre/Post switch, depending on what sounds you need.

Sound Quality: 10
Used with a Sadowsky Jazz bass. I have never experienced such crystal clear tone. I can finally hear what My Sadowsky really sounds like. Plus I can crank up the Gain & get some serious growl. You'd think it was Geddy Lee himself while jamming "The Spirit of Radio" with no effects Just Pure Marshall Tube Tone. I tried an Ampeg 300 Watt SVT & it doesn't come close. Ampeg was way muddier.

I have only Gigged with it twice but I Trust Marshall and I don't abuse my equipment.

I live 20 minutes from an authorized Dealer/Repair center. The few questions I had were answered immediately.

After 28 years, I have finally found the sound I was seeking. I am truly blessed to have A sadowsky 5 string J-Bass with a Marshall VBA-400 Through a 2000 Watt Avatar Kappa Pro 410 cabinet.

400 w all tube head (not rectifiers) active and passive inputs, gain- master volumes, 3 band eq, 3 pos. "contour" sw. fx loop, DI. out, with pre or post eq, and ground-lifting-switch, plus muter.

Wery warm-sounding amp, that tends to be a little slow. Extreemly good mid-treble bite, but a bit slow and muddy on the the bass side. Contour sw. has the most to say, 1 for trb-sound, 2 for mid, and 3 for bass-sound, this is a feature, wich i could do without. So play it loud through 10"s or slow'n low through 15"s.

this amp is build up around pc boards (even the tube sockets), this is not well-suited for 8; 6550 tubes (1,5 amperes each), and as a result of this, my amp has burned down twice. Took a week or so to fix.

tube equiptment... it'l cost! My repairs has run up to around 300$.

good and warm sounding bass-amp, also cuite an awesome guitar-amp. Lotts of tube-driven mids, but rather slow and muddy in the bass departement, yet still very sweet and 3-d-ish, with lots of headroom.

There is nothing this amp can't do. It is simple, yes, but VERY effective!
Basic controls here, Gain, Bass, Mid, Treble.. 3-way Mid contour switch, Deep & Bright switches and a Master Volume.
If needed there is a tuner mute, which is very handy considering the volumes this beast can put out.
Basic effects loop included.
DI with selectable Pre/Post switch, depending on what sounds you need.

Used with a variety of basses, including a hyper-modern Gus G3, Gibsons and Fenders.. all of which shine in their individual styles through this amp.
Gain can be cranked way up without distortion, which is a very neat thought.. enabling modern styles to be just as appropriate on this as any hybrid/solid state equipment. Although there can be dirt if required. By the bucket load! The manual actually suggests and encourages plugging active basses through the passive input for some serious distortion! Perfect for those dirty rock'n'roll moments.

If you've never heard a valve amp running at full tilt.. you'll be missing the incredible deep & 3-D quality it brings to bass playing. With this amp is particularly noticeable.. and I have used Ampegs, Trace's & many others. Marshall aren't many peoples first choice for bass, but really should be!

The only questionable area is the DI. I seem to have a very noisy signal out from the amp.. whether or not this is due to a rigue valve somewhere, I don't know.. but I have avoided it in favour of an external Sansamp DI plugged into the effects loop.

Built like a tank. Marshall know how to build amps and cabs. Their reputation is legendary for a reason. This is no exception.

Never had a problem so far, other than the noisy DI. I have been in contact for other reasons & they've been very helpful, as you might expect. Not sure what it'd be like for overseas purchases though.. maybe a touch tricky?

I've been playing for almost 8 years and never come across an amp that put so much enjoyment back into the playing. This is how I imagined bass would sound when I started out. Forget ya fluffy fancy features.. this does what Marshall are best at.... it rocks. Plain and simple.
If you are serious about bass... check this out. Trust me!

3 preset eq shapes on the front - very handy to quickly switch sounds, bright & deep buttons to instantly add depth or warmth - deep is unbelieveable if you really want to shake your neighbour's brain out through his nose! 14 valves in total - there really is no messing around with this amp! full array of outputs clearly labelled, and the option of pre or post tube DI, although why anyone would use such a beast and then skip the tubes is beyond me. Tuner-mute switch is essential.

i use a Yamaha BBG 4S through this, which isn't really doing the amp any justice. I have played a brand new USA precision through it, and it sings. A beautiful sound. Will cut through anything (especially with the 8x10 cab!) and sound beautiful. When I get my vintage Rickenbacker, there will be nothing else to buy...

It weighs a ton. So solid you could probably drop it from a plane and nothing would happen to it. Utterly dependable.

Haven't needed to contact Marshall since I had it specially shipped - which was reasonably fast and efficient

Unbelievable amp. Its a professional piece of kit, but I couldn't honestly recommend anything else. I play rock/blues, which suits the warm overdriven tones, but I cant think of a player who would want anything else. Sell your amp. Sell your car. Sell your mother, just buy this amp!