Ampeg V-2

I have a late 70s version with the master volume, and white switches. Mine was actually a VT-40 combo converted into a head and it's heavier than the standard head versions! (I also have another non-working V-2 head) Has 2 7027 power tubes for a very loud 60 watts. 2 inputs and one set of EQ, I guess if you were to get an A/B box you could set one gain higher than the other and have 2 channels. I use this head in my original band (90s alternative, space rock stuff) and it sounds wonderful. Does everything I ask.

I mainly use a '79 Tokai Les Paul with the stock pickups (early Tokais used gotoh pickups). My chain looks like this
Les Paul->Fulltone 70->Ibanez TS-9(boost)->Barber Direct Drive->Co-Pilot Gyroscope->Boss TU-2->Roland RE-301 Chorus Echo->Ampeg V-2 into V-2 Cab or Peavey Cab.

I have the amp set to a semi clean sound and how much overdrive i get depends on how hard I pick. This is amp is very sensitive to your playing style. It can go from Fender clean to a nice pretty overdriven sound, nothing I would use as my main gain, but then again thats just me. The amp is fairly quiet, there is noise with the Direct Drive on but thats to be expected. The amp responds to pedals very well and sounds great with everything i use.

Has been really reliable, however it has a problem blowing fuses. I havent gotten it checked out since i bought it which could be the problem. It only happened once at a gig where there were other amps I could use.

Never dealt with Ampeg.

I love this amp! If it were stolen, I'd use my other one, but if that were stolen as well, I would find another one. They are not expensive but are becoming very hard to find, especially the V-2s.

Incredible amp. Tube 60 watt RMS,7027A Power tubes, 12ax7 pre's, made in the States. Magnavox Era from crica '74. single channel; Tube reverb. I play alot of melodic prog rock stuff and some metal and its got an exellent overdrive break up after you reach 5 on the volume(with a ts-9 u get a Andy Timmons sound). Runs great with any pedal, no effects loops, but it does have two Ext amp jacks( which i used to run a Marshall MG100hdfx as a slave for the distortion), two cab jacks and a foot switch jack. The front panel is simple with its two inputs w/volumes each, bass, mid, treble and reverb and four interesting rocker switches which are for buffereing the two volumes(for a rythm and lead volume difference) a hertz selector and a high boost. One draw back in the polarity switch which if is up will shock you if your touching ur guitar and a microphone(especially during a set, my lips were numb)other than that its quite a reliable amp, i have giged with it before indoors and out and the volume wasnt a problem, it has been retubed several times but i always get Sovitek tubes and they sound great. I cant go any higher than 7 for this because of it being a single channel amp.

Amazing, i cant believe i spent $450 on it, its loud and proud and breaks up exellenty(nice round controlable tone. Like i said im into prog and metal but also rock as well and it can handle all those plus lower volume jazz because of its crystal clear clean tone(70's fenderish). Mine makes this funny humming sound when its on stand by, has since the day i bought it. The rocker switchs add alot of tonal possibilitys with a combined 9 different settings.

quite reliable, gigable but id bring a back up just incase( it is over 30 years old)

ive been playing guitar for 12 years(im 24) and ive mostly played solid state equipment and korean guitars but this has to be the best amp for the money, if i lost it id die, it has sentimental meaning(first head i ever had)

1972 V-2, two inputs feeding the same eq section; frequency switchable mid-range control, huge transformers, very well built amp. The tone stack sits kinda unusual, and the midrange boost/cut control has a triple triode all to itself. This is a great amp design, building up the gain slowly thru many tubes, instead of the simpler designs of many other amps. Those famous honky Stones and Faces sounds of the early seventies that you can achieve MAYBE with other amps too, they're all right here in the V2 and V4. By using two different flavor pre-amp tubes in the first stages; setting the gain switches different; and using an A/B type footswitch, you COULD actually consider this a two-channel amp. You could also use the volume knob on your guitar (Keith and Ronnie did, back in the day!)
People have sworn by the reverb; I don't have much use for it. (I liked my Boogie verb, and of course the old Fenders, but thought the Ampeg V series was not quite up to par. Tastes differ)

These have been dubbed the Workingmans' Amp because you could imitate so many other amps with it. Flick-o-the-switch and you'd be cloning Fender, Marshall, VOX tones, so all the guys in the pre-modelling-days pickup bands used them.
I refer to the V-2, V-4, VT-22, VT-40, since they're all basically the same amps.
A lesser known detail is that the V-2 / VT-40 uses considerably higher voltage on the entire amp than the V-4 / VT-22. With four power tubes, the V-4 has always been considered the powerhouse, and the two-tube V-2 was the little brother, not to be taken quite as seriously.
The higher voltages result in a different overdrive characteristic, and you can clearly see why Mick Taylor, with his beautiful lyrical style, LOVED the two tube version; why Ron Wood played the V-4, and why Keith insisted on the 300W SVTs...

So, why is the Ampeg not as widely recognized as the Marshalls of the period? I have no idea. It's like the VHS and Beta video systems: not always does the best one win.

This is a GREAT amp; I've bought my first VT-22 brand spanking new in 1978, used many many of them all throughout the eighties. I did find out that I like the old ones (square graphics, black rocker switches) much better than I like the later ones (distortion and master volume; white switches) but others may disagree. They have a slightly different flavor to the sound.

Power Tubes, there is your magic word. As long as you keep a good set in there, you're fine. In 17 years of gigging with them, I had ONE power transformer fail (a tranny with a hidden flaw that worked just fine for 20 years until one day a winding broke) and I have owned at least a dozen of these amps (always buying, and then selling the least favorite, that's how you eventually end up with the cream of the crop hehe...)

They're a breeze to work on, too.

Oh, regarding power tubes: if you can't find the good (old) ones, I'd personally stick with a set of NOS 6L6 before I'd throw Sovteks in. Good 6L6es will take the abuse, and honestly, A/B-ing blindfolded, I could hardly detect any difference between them and the 7027. Or, you could go to 6550's. Plenty of info on the web how to switch things over.
One word of advice: in the biassing circuit, put a 25K pot in series with the 75k resistor between the bias diode and ground, and you can now bias the amp to use 6L6.

I DID deal with customer support, in the Magnavox years!!! They were great, very helpful, very prompt.

Been playing the guitar for 39 years; electric 34; have been full professional player for 24 years; am now constructing guitars (the Rolls Royce among electrics: www.teye.com )
I have played (just to mention a few:) Gibson '57 Les Paul, several SG's Flying V's and a Firebird; Gretsch 6120; two (original) Ampeg Dan Armstrongs; Zemaitis Pearl-Front; Zemaitis Metal Front; and now the Electric Gypsy (honestly, the best of them all).
AMPS: VOX AC15/30; Fender 61 Bassman; 64 Tremolux; 58 Champ; Ampeg VT-22; V-4; V-2; GU12; Boogie Mk. II; Boogie Subway Rocket; VOX Escort; Orange TT; Kasha Brick; a few Valve Juniors for the modding... etc etc etc.

Somebody said: I've never met an old Ampeg that I didn't like.
Could not agree more.

The only bad thing about them: gravity! It pulls with incredible force!

Mid to late '70's model with distortion and normal channels. The distortion circuit uses diodes and sounds pretty cheesy by itself but if you crank the amp and blend in the disortion control judiciously, it adds a nice edge and drive to the amp's natural tube distortion. These are extremely solid, road-worthy amps with massive transformers, rubber suspension mounted chassis, and a lock-down for the reverb unit. This was pre-channel switching but does have a pre-amp output jack and a power amp input jack. Wide ranging active tone controls (not just passive attenuation controls like Fenders and Marshalls) with selectable midrange control frequencies (300, 1000, and 3000Hz)

Classic late 60's-70's tone. Plenty of power tube grind, not that tinny, buzzy pre-amp overdrive stuff. Not metal-type overdrive, think Stones on "Get Your YA-YAs out" or Ronnie Wood's sound with the Faces (Rod Stewart years). Much fuller bottom end than plexi Marshalls. When I first bought this head in the early 80's it still had the original electrolytic caps and 7027 power tubes. Over the years I always felt it was a bit muffled/constricted sounding in the midrange, without much edge or bite. As I've learned more about tube amps, I ended up recapping it and replacing the power tubes with Svetlana 6550s (these amps were designed to use 6550s as an upgrade with only rebiasing needed). Also got some Weber Blue Dogs and 1230's. What a difference! It's now a joy to play. The late 70s models had no negative feedback which results in nice smooth transition from clean to overdriven sounds. There is a warmth and touch sensitivity to the amp that beats out both my '65 Bassman and '66 JTM45 clone. These are both great amps but the V2s distortion is richer in even-order harmonics than either of these. This amp is loud! Plenty of clean head-room. I use an attenuator to get the saturated tones at more reasonable levels.

Very dependable. Massive overdesigned tranformers which is why this weighs a ton. Only problem I've had was a burned out inductor used in the midrange control. Took me years to find a replacement. No problems since.

No dealings.

Started playing in the mid 1960s. I own several of 60's/early 70's era Fenders, and a MetroAmp JTM45 Marshall clone. The V2 is one of my favorites. It has it's own unique tone which rivals any of my other amps. These are still relatively affordable for vintage amps and with proper recapping, retubing, and biasing are as good or better than just about any other vintage amp out there.

2 chanels controlled by 2 pots
60 watts
3 position sensitivity switch
3 position mid cut/boost switch
3 position hi/ultra hi cut/boost switch
bass/mid and hi pots
preamp out
reverb spring typ
pcb board typ circut built very well

One of the best dollar for watt buys out there.
the sound is like fenders breeding with old laneys. in fact its pretty close to an old laney but a little on the sweeter side
thats not a knock on the laney btw i happen to have 2 60s laney plexis.
and a couple of 60s marshalls and a few other things to compare this to.
but the mids tend to be a bit grainy the gain is a little less then a marshall or a laney but this amp was born to rock
this amp is in good condition and seems to have seen fewer miles then most.
it is 1/2 of a V-4.
it has massive volume.
the tone controlls are very wide sweep and thats kinda nice but kind of a pain.
people said a great bass amp i tried it out it was ok
but my sunn 2000s was much better in my opinion.
id say judge for your self on that part.
folks say rolling stones but from what ive seen that was hiwatt
at hyde park after Brian died. then off to the USA where they seemed to have leased a bunch of ampegs but i duno if they were actually used on the recordings.
the clean sound of this amp is amazing!
driven into tube distortion its also great but plan on buying new glass for your house not to mention blowing out your 4x12 vin 30 box easy!

Folks fear not being able to find output tubes for these - dont worry
they are wired to accept 6l6 and several other tube typs.
folks also fear the printed circut board amps.
its true there are disadvantages but not nearly as bad as some may say.
the hand wired amp will be an easier fix and easier amp to mod
thats it nothing more.

a printed circut board may break while replacing components but in all my years since the 70s ive never seen it happen.
my only gripe is PCB boards are cheaper manufacturing and im glad manufacturers are being forced to produce hand wired amps again.

setting all that aside Ampeg built rock solid Amps in the 1960s and 70s but these are old and may need service
never let a tech tell you its too far gone.

every thing ive seen out of techs since ive been playing make me want to strangle them at times.

just because your tech says he knows what the problem is doesnt make it so.

if you think its too far gone sell it on ebay
dont throw these away

warranty gone long ago.
lots of guys love these and there is help all over the net.

i dont really pick favorites
its like having a favorite color for oil painting perhaps you have one but if you use that too much you over use it.

alot contributes to the over all sound,
typ of pick up
typ of wood in the guitar
how long your guitar cord is
1st position preamp tube
how many efects your using
typ of speaker used
speaker front or rear loaded.
typ of wood in the speaker box
open or closed back on the box
where the bias is set for your output tubes
types of strings. ect ect

ive seen guys get mad at amps when it was really there own lack of knowledge to blame.
what can i say an amps an amp and there all different
in fact they change the sound as much as a guitar will.

the rating system here is kind of funny it doesnt really work so i give every thing a 10 but its really a matter of choise.

if you dont have cash to spare dont buy without playing 1st.
that can be hard because theres alot of junk around in recent years
but if you want a taste of an old classic this is a good place to start and if you dont like it you should get most of your money back out of it.

thats not the case for line 6 HD heads is it?