hollowdan Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Last Week I posted that I was waiting on my new VHT Special 6 Combo Amp. After I excitedly posted that info, the seller informed me that they were out of the Combo. Probably attributable to the demand for those cool little hand wired amps. What he offered was the Special 6 Head and Speaker Cab for a great, great price. This is Rich's Music Exchange in New York. Well, I am still waiting, but when it comes I will give you a review and share my reaction. It is getting harder to wait as the days go by. http://images6.thomann.de/pics/prod/240614.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supersonic Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Sweet, I'd rather have the head and cab setup instead of the combo for sure. More options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaSTuS Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Yeah, kind of reminds me of the old Tom Petty song. Hang in there, the longer the wait, the greater the excitement when you finally get hold of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaSTuS Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Sweet, I'd rather have the head and cab setup instead of the combo for sure. More options. +1 For sure, the same head can sound so different through alternate cabs etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollowdan Posted July 26, 2011 Author Share Posted July 26, 2011 Glad to hear that, as I have less experience with amplification as a lifelong acoustic player. I got into electric and blues the summer of 2010. I think I will be able to utilize the head and cabinet more readily in small coffee house gigs. The combo is very nice, but it may have been less flexible that way. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicmaker99 Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 Glad to hear that, as I have less experience with amplification as a lifelong acoustic player. I got into electric and blues the summer of 2010. I think I will be able to utilize the head and cabinet more readily in small coffee house gigs. The combo is very nice, but it may have been less flexible that way. Thanks! I own one combo (Fender Twin) and three 1/2 stacks.........real fake rock stars play through stacks, always! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollowdan Posted July 27, 2011 Author Share Posted July 27, 2011 Half stack has "rocker" written all over it! Yeah, funny thing is I was looking to add a plug and play, combo low wattage amp such as a really cool Fender Super Champ XD, but this business about the VHT Special 6 kept showing up on all the message boards. I started reading and was drawn in to the real tube sound vibe, the modding potential and the hand-wiring aspect for the low cost talk. So I committed to the Special 6 Combo amp, but turns out I had an opportunity to get the Special 6 Head and Cab for way too good of a price. So, I took the plunge and changed my order. I am not being patient. I want to play my blues on it now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 I own one combo (Fender Twin) and three 1/2 stacks.........real fake rock stars play through stacks, always! Like this guy ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaSTuS Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 Like this guy ??? ROFLMFAO, What a ripper response Damo, is that for real, or faked, a fake of a fake if you will ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 It's real Rob.......It's amazing how many guitarists actually do this still........ In the " old days " when stacks were needed, players used multiple stacks.. As PA systems improved, multiple stacks weren't needed..But, the " look " became important...So, hence the rows of stacks, usually with only one stack actually being used.....I stopped using a full stack in 2002............................... I'll always enjoy this photo....It's so, overkill !!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaSTuS Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 I'll always enjoy this photo....It's so, overkill !!!!!! In Oz we used to use a heap of bass bins and horns, particularly on the wings of the stage, bass bins were big heavy chipboard boxes with 2 12' or 15" woofefs near the back, and a sculpted front face projecting out from them in a horn shape, the horn boxes were made of the same crap but had 1 or 2 4" high output drivers in the back, again sculpted out to the front face again. They were cheap, but extremely powerful, the stacks were mainly positioned in the back corners of the centre-stage to each side of the drummer, usually. I have a half stack, but the quad box isn't powerful enough (320w) to cope with the head (350w) anywhere near it's limits, I need a matching quad and go full stack to be able to open it up, one day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianh Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 In Boston back in the day (80's), there was a band I can't remember which one, a Ramones type punk trio that always showed up with huge stacks to line up behind them. They were real quiet and business-like backstage and didn't share much, but on one gig, I noticed that each stack had only one 12" loudspeaker loaded, all the other openings were loaded with blank covers. This explained why the amp mics were always aimed at the same place. I don't know where they learned this (apparently it's common knowledge now), but it made me realize that I was a total doof for dragging fully loaded cabs around. Saves your back, saves on gas, and most importantly, it allows for a stage volume that lets you hear yourself in the monitors and the house sound guy to get a good mix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaSTuS Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 My favourite job was lugging, you'd work your arse off for 30 - 45 mins, lugging all the gear in, setting it up, doing sound checks etc, then do nothing but drink free booze till the band was finished, then tear it all down, lug out, make it all fit into a space only half what's needed, the backs of those trucks seem to shrink the more booze you've consumed, LOL. It became complicated when you had to do sound or lights during the performance, your were still expected to help with the lugging, then work through the whole thing, there are set breaks, but that's hardly compensation when you peer over and see the luggers getting blotto for nicks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollowdan Posted August 3, 2011 Author Share Posted August 3, 2011 Well, I wasn't kidding you guys-- I really did order a VHT Special 6 Head and Speaker Cabinet. Today it came. What I received was a new VHT Special 6 Head in new condition and a VHT Special 6 Closed Back 1X12 Seaker Cabinet with some wear from display (a 2-1/2 inch scratch in the tolex on the right side). Otherwise, the speaker cabinet is virtually new. I paid $200.00 total for both-- shipped, which is the best deal I have found. Of course, it wouldn't be possible to get this again since I got what appears to be the floor model on the Speaker Cab. Nevertheless, I am very pleased at the condition for the price I have paid. I am going to work on a review, but I have a lot to learn about this amp and speaker. I will make some initial comments, having plugged this rig in and played through it for 30-40 minutes. The first thing I noticed was the tone-- great on both my Riviera P93 and my Telecaster. It was easy to hook everything up and get started. Then I plugged in and began to play blues rifts--- which is my primary purpose for this amplifier. I plugged in to the high input, Turned both Volume and Tone knobs up to 10, switch the power to high (you have the option of low at 3 Watts vs. high at 6 Watts) and pulled the volume knob out until it clicked for the "boost" mode. It breaks up beautifully with these settings and is loud, loud, loud! Would it be loud for Metal, no, but it drives a very strong signal which if played through a mic on stage could stay with any rocking band and a loud drummer. With this head and cabinet combination, it is louder than I would expect or have needed for my rare gig and primarily home use. I played with combinations on the pickups, power mode from 3 to 6 watts, the boost in or out, and variations of the Volume and Tone to see where it breaks up in a quieter setting. So far I am getting great clean Fender-like tone, and I mean great full, clean tone. My Telecaster was acoustic-like in its fullness of tone and strong, but not muddy, bass end. This VHT Special 6 was full on both ends of the sound spectrum, with rich and clear mid-range. The amp in louder settings gives a real, 1960's Fender overdrive that breaks up naturally, with increased strength on the pick. Wow, does it beat my Fender Deluxe 90 DSP's solid state overdrive! I have a great deal to figure out and I am sorry for not being too complete in my review yet, but I did want to keep my promise and give some initial feedback. If anyone has any suggestions as to how to operate the settings in order to get the most from this amp, please feel free to share that information. I am open to critique or suggestions. So far, I feel like this VHT Special 6 Head and closed back Cabinet with a VHT Chrome-back 12 inch speaker is more than I could have hoped for-- it is an amp rig that I would proudly play with my blues trio in small to medium venues, without hesitation. Beyond that, I would mic it with an SM57 and proudly sing and play Texas Flood or Stormy Monday in bigger room. The fit and finish is A+. The warm, pure tone is remarkably authentic. The knobs, corners, and hardware are high quality. The boost foot switch was included, in case someone needs to know that. The speaker in the closed cab is the real deal. I have no thoughts of replacing tubes or speaker and plan to play it for a number of weeks before I consider mods. This is supposed to be one of the most mod-able amps in this price range, which sounds more like $500 than the $200 the head normally goes for and the $164 the cabinet sells for most often. I recommend the VHT Special 6 line, wholeheartedly. Thanks for reading! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaSTuS Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Congrats RP93, glad to see you're so happy with your new amp, looking forward to a review and pics, enjoy, HNAD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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