im looking to change up my gear. currently i'm running:
-guitar: peavey vortex w emg's
-amp: traynor yba200 bass head (all tube. i used to play bass)
-cab: marshall 4x12
-pedals: marshall guvnor overdrive, rocktron triwah, boss noisegate, yamaha magicstomp

basically i want a tighter/more aggressive tone, and more flexibility.

should i trade the head for a guitar head? (ive found a used randall for equal value). should i just get a preamp instead of the od pedal? (something like a v-twin?). ideally i'd like a jmp-1 w poweramp instead of the traynor, but that might be beyond my budget. any suggestions for cheap mods or par trades i could make with this stuff? thx

Get rid of the pedals, they suck ass. Buy a preamp (Mesa V-twin, Engl 530, rocktron piranha or the peavey rockmaster sound very, very kickass. They're not like 547 preset midi preamps but this is under $500 land.. :-)) and use your bass amp as a power amp / dedicated clean channel. My bet would be either the 530 for all around godlike tone or the piranha for presets and midi and all that stuff.

Mods: Seal the inside of that 4x12 with silicone caulking or similar, around all edges. Make sure the speakers are fit tight, you don't want any air leaking. Stuff the back, top, bottom and side walls of the cab with insulation (the stuff used for insulating houses works very well).

If thats an MG/AVT cab, dont mod it, just sell it. The speakers are shitty so its not worth the work. Get a higher end marshall like a 1960 or even a randall cab.

If that randall head you're talking about is tube, i'd say jump right on it. For flexibility... well that depends what you want to play, so if you could provide that little detail we can probably help you out a bit better.

Pedals... well i dunno... keep what you use, sell/trade what you dont.

A bass head probably wont ever tighten up for metal guitar playing, no matter what you do with it... so dont just plug a preamp into it... thats just a waste of money to achieve sub-par tone

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it is an mg

the randall is a g2 rh250, solidstate i think. never heard one in person.

the idea of keeping the bass head was to add some tone to a budget preamp. do you think a pre and power rack combo for under 500 will sound better?

as far as tone, i'm not too picky (especially for the price) but i'd like it to remain clear and warm when tuned down to c. i'll be playing mainly death in the vein of suffocation cc etc.

you could do a rack setup... but you might want to keep a piece of it tube... like have a tube preamp and SS power, or the vice versa. Trust me... going from tube tone to SS tone will make you wish you didnt hahaha.

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You play suffocation? Sell all your shit, buy an Ampeg VH140-C(either combo or head with any decent 4x12), and use the money you saved on Suffo merchandise. Suffo used that amp on earlier records, it's a legendary SS amp widely used for death metal.

And you'lll be extremely pleased with the sound, of course.

That bass head may have done damage to the MG cab... guitar cabs aren't supposed to handle the superlow frequencies of bass amps. Plus the MG cab is like less than 100W RMS so it could cave in if you crank it too much. So yeah definately get rid of it.

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soeru has good advice, but don't sell everything thinnking you're automatically guna find a vh140... theyre not made anymore and everybody wants them... so its way easier said than done. Just try to find one before you decide to sell your shit.

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actually an old friend is selling his ss140c stack ... i've never heard it. how does that compare?

The SS series is the predecessor to the VH("Variable Harmonics", which means it emulates tube amp characteristics).

Some people say the SS is less high gain geared more towards rock than the VH but I think that's bullshit, I mean go listen to some oldschool Assück or something, they used SS-150's and their tone is barely different from Suffocations on Effigy, in which they used the VH140-C(and both albums were recorded in the same studio)..

Definately grab the SS-140C if it's in good working condition and the price is right!! Solid amp right there.

Indeed the VH140C is highly sought after but it isn't THAT hard to find. It will take you 2 weeks tops to spot an auction for the VH, and you can do with playing ampless for 2 weeks can't you?

I would personally grab the VH over the SS simply because it has better reviews at HC, apparently the SS gave more people some problems but regardless it's still a great inexpensive high gain amp. And if your buddy is selling it for cheap then give it a whirl and you'll be pretty impressed.

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Well lookie here: http://cgi.ebay.com/Ampeg-Amplified...1QQcmdZViewItem

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i have the ampeg vh140c and it's really really nice definatly get it, in addition to that half stack listed now i belive theres two other combos both under $300

so i played through the ss140 head ... its pretty sick ... but friend wants $500 and $400 for matching v412 cab. worth it? should i hold out for the vh140?

Tell your friend that if he's really a friend he wouldn't rip you off so bad on it.

There's a VH140C half-stack on ebay right now going for 500$:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Ampeg-Amplified...1QQcmdZViewItem

Won't sell for over 600$ probably, the amp heads sell for 400 bucks, but the cabs -since they aren't that great(but better than your MG)- sell for only 200-300 bucks.

Here's something even better:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Ampeg-Guitar-Co...1QQcmdZViewItem

In super good condition with replaced jacks and speakers, buy that shit man! I asked them for a shipping quote twice but ignored me. :/

Or if you miss it there's another VH combo on ebay too

Also, go to froogle and search Ampeg SS, and you'll find a ton of results from a used gear site selling used Ampeg SS-70(mini-head format, 2x10" combo and 1x12" combo) and SS-140 (2x12 combos and heads) for very cheap.

I would personally get the VH combo I first posted simply because it's more modern than the SS and might be a tad more reliable, especially after those upgrades..

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^ fuk, got sniped ... did one of u guys get it?