VHT Special 6 – Hand Wired Goodness In The Mid Range

Controls:
Features:
Performance:
Value:

• Check Price on Amazon
• Check Price on Guitar Center
• Check Price on Musician's Friend

Amp heads are usually something reserved for those who have bigger budgets at their disposal. Even so, that is more of a suggestion rather than a rule. VHT Special 6 is a perfect example of an awesome tube amp, of all things, that is pretty affordable. If you have up to $300 available to drop on an amp, this is one of the better choices out there. There are many reasons why this is the case and we are going to go into several of them right now.

Controls

One thing you will quickly notice about tube amps in this price range is that they come with fairly basic controls. VHT Special 6 follows that ideology as well. Aside from the hi/low power switch, you only get a single volume knob and a single tone knob. In a context of what this amp was designed to do in the first place, having such limited controls is not all that bad nor detrimental to what you can do. VHT cut down on just about everything in order to give you a genuine tube experience in what is essentially still an affordable price range. If you are familiar with tubes and how to make them work in your favor, you won't have an issue with this head.

Features

When it comes to features, VHT Special 6 is one very interesting beast. This small head packs some 6 Watts of power, which you have probably already figured out from its name. They've installed one 6V6 tube in the power stage and one 12AX7 in the preamp stage. On a first glance, Special 6 looks like a single channel amp. However, with the addition of the footswitch that comes with a gain boost button, it becomes a standard two channel setup. Hand wired, VHT's Special 6 comes with a pretty modfriendly board. If you are prone to experimenting with your equipment, this head will give you lots of room to do so. Finally, you have the attenuation switch and 4/8/16 Ohm speaker jacks in the back.

Performance

In terms of performance Super 6 is full of surprises. The device's cleans are just out of this world. We say that considering how much you are asked to pay for one of these. Aside from the single tone control, you can also add definition to your cleans by activating the hi/low switch. Put it on hi and you get a bit more juice in the tone. Once it is time to kick things into overdrive, Super 6 dishes out some of the sweetest organic overdrives we've had the chance to work with. There isn't too much grit in there, but more than enough to make your guitar growl. In a way, you could say it brings a perfect amount of dirt considering its power.

Conclusion

VHT Special 6 might be a pretty cheap tube amp, but it is also one of the most versatile ones you can get in this price range. We are talking hand wired circuitry with room for expansions, great tone and a compact size. If you are looking for a great rig to use at home or in a studio, VHT Super 6 is definitely worth checking out With that said, it might be a bit underpowered for gigging.

For more info about the VHT Special 6, click here.
For more guitar amps under $300, click here.