Hello friends, I need to move out my Ampeg V4B (early 70s) and replace it with something lighter because I am old and my back is shitty and the last time I gigged I lifted that thing and I felt terrible for three days. I am thinking about the Hilbish Beta clones. I mostly play bass but also guitar sometimes. Does anyone have experience with these beyond the samples they post on their website? My main pedals are dirt, so I like how it would be pretty light and also eliminate the need to bring my pedalboard everywhere. Any knowledge about this stuff is appreciated.

I got to mess with one for like 10 min, and from my limited time with it, I can say if you like the sound of the Sunn you will dig this. It is extremely well built too. The folks at Hilbish seem extremely cool, and if it's good enough for the Melvins, who are we to say no?My old V4 also fucked up my back, though I still have a Traynor YBA-3 so my days of moving heavy tube amps is far from over.

weezy wrote:they were pretty midrangey and the low end was lacking, even with the low freq. knob dimed.Absolutely--I've been listening to the (few) clips a little more and I completely agree (I already find the V4B can be a little too midrangy for my tastes--though that could also be because I need to change up my pedal situation).

owen wrote:I got to mess with one for like 10 min, and from my limited time with it, I can say if you like the sound of the Sunn you will dig this. It is extremely well built too. The folks at Hilbish seem extremely cool, and if it's good enough for the Melvins, who are we to say no?My old V4 also fucked up my back, though I still have a Traynor YBA-3 so my days of moving heavy tube amps is far from over.Yeah, it's beautiful without trying to look like an Macbook. I like the Sunn sound but maybe not enough to marry it.Maybe I'll just keep that Ampeg around a little longer...

Haven't played one or heard one in person. I know somebody who has one and Hilbish told them it's a 1:1 copy of the original.....my experience with 2 different Sunn Beta Bass heads was they were pretty midrangey and the low end was lacking, even with the low freq. knob dimed. Same dude said Hilbish can mod/increase the gain of the bass EQ to add more low end though.Too bad about the V4B, I only got mine last year but it's the best bass amp I own right now.

Just out of curiosity...- We talking "Will Run On United States(120 volt) Power..."?- Is there a minimum "Loudness"/"Voltage" need to shoot for?

i have had one of the hilbish clones for several months now and would be happy to answer any questions you might have about it. my own observations are : it's loud. as in, ridiculously so. it plays well with different poweramps and is built like a tank. as to tone, it sound like a more hifi sunn to me.lots of mids and sounds more bassy with the mids dialed down. works well with passive guitars and basses ( if you dig that sunn thing,that is) and the eq seems tuned a little better for wood instruments than aluminum ones. it takes pedals well - nothing i've used in front of it or in the loop did anything weird or made the preamp react strangely from what i could see/hear.