agarner
90 posts
Dec 04, 2021
4:06 PM
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Hi all. If anyone who plays through a VHT special 6 regular or Ultra would share their experiences that would be great. As I play with the depth and tone controls I'm getting lots of usable sounds but would like to get feedback on what you use.
I had an Epiphone Valve Jr but this VHT is really an upgrade, albeit with more options to play around with.
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Lou
127 posts
Dec 06, 2021
8:27 AM
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I had one & liked it can't remember settings but I replaced the speaker with an 8" Patriot and it really improved the sound well worth the 50 bucks. Also did a tube upgrade to it but that didn't really improve things much. There nice little amps have fun !
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Poe
15 posts
Dec 17, 2021
12:30 PM
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I have the Special 6 or as you refer to it, a regular. Bought it used. It already had a JJ 6V6 power tube and I installed a JJ 5751 in the preamp. Tried an 12AT, 12AY and even a 12AU but found the 5751 had the best result of lower gain without eliminating the punch of the amp. Also installed a 10' Eminence Lil Buddy speaker on the advice of this forum, Rick Davis and many a youtube video. There is 1 of Nick Clark making the amp just sing with this speaker which is well worth the watch.
It's a ceramic 50 watt guitar speaker which adds significant weight to the amp itself but it brings out some great harmonics, adds volume as well as really good low end. So much so that I can dial the single tone knob to 12:00 or higher depending on the harp key/mic which is pretty unheard of for most guitar amps used for harmonica. The stock speaker is not bad though either. Amp punches well above its rated 6 watts and I have used it un-miced with a full band albeit a band that does not employ excessive volume. Put a PA mic in front of it and it will handle any gig this side of a double bass drum, full Marshall Stack hair band!
As you know, the amp has many features including a pull boost as well as low/high inputs. I generally don't use the boost and do use the low input so I can crank the volume to get good power tube saturation from the 6V6. I also use a Harp Attack, Break, Octave for extra dirt if/when needed and a Boss DM2 delay. She is one of my favorites and gets used all the time!
Had the Epi VJ as well and sold it to 1 of my string plucker buddies who loves it. Not fan of EL34 based combos for harp as they get a bit fizzy for me. The Epi is a bit boxy sounding for my tastes as well with its 8" speaker. It was a fun little amp and I got some good sounds out of her with my pedal rig but I think the 6V6 based amps are just better sounding...at least for me.
I've never had the opportunity to try the Ultra 6 but Im sure it sounds great with a 12" speaker. 2 Preamp tubes right? My Special 6 Regular has single preamp stage.
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