1996 VHT Pittbull 45 head

History:

VHT was an American guitar amp company started by Steven Fryette in 1989 and in Los Angeles, California.

Fryette moved from Seattle to Los Angeles in 1976 and started working at a repair technician at Valley Arts Guitar. He did repairs and mods for Eddie Van Halen, Steve Lukather, Duane Eddy, and many others.

His favorite guitar amps were Hiwatts. He owned a Hiwatt 50 watt amp, then traded it for a Hiwatt 100w amp that he modified to fit his own playing style and cover more tonal ground. Respected amp builders Paul Rivera and Randall Smith both offered him jobs but Fryette turned them down, saying he didn’t want to make amps for a living. Then the 2150 power amp prototype Fryette built got him many orders, and his amp making career began.

Fryette started VHT Amplification in January 1989. After the surprise success of his power amp he developed multi-channel guitar amps with the name Pittbull. Around 1994, Fryette released the Pittbull 45. The Pittbull 45 combos became one of their most popular models, but the head version was more rare with only 165 produced (JT’s was #23).

In 2009 Fryette rebranded his amp company as Fryette Amplification and sold the name VHT to another company who would make budget amps under the VHT brand. Fryette Amplification is the continuation of what was VHT in the 1990s and 2000s. The Pittbull 45 stayed in the lineup until around the time of the name change.

Use:

JT’s VHT Pittbull 45 head was made in May of 1996 and shipped from VHT’s shop to Rock Block Music in Nashville, TN. It was eventually purchased by JT. The VHT head accompanied a mid ’60s Fender Bassman head in JT’s session amp rack, and was still brought to sessions and set up on the floor in front of him after the Orange AD30 head took the VHT’s place in the amp rack.

Throughout most of the 2010s the VHT head lived on the amp shelf at JT’s personal overdub studio.

Specs:

The following specs are copy/pasted from an archive of the Pittbull 45 manual in 2005 and lightly reformatting for this site:

PITTBULL FORTY- FIVE 1X12 COMBO MODEL C-5084-T
SUPER THIRTY COMBO MODEL C-3084-S REVISED 05/09/05
FRONT PANEL FUNCTIONS, LEFT TO RIGHT

• INPUT HIGH– High sensitivity input (also has a brighter tone)
• INPUT LOW– Low sensitivity input (also has a slightly darker tone)
• GAIN– Amount of overdrive. Initial set-up: 2 O’clock
• DRIVE– Toggles between Drive and Clean channel
• VOLUME– Pre FX loop. Initial set-up: 10 O’clock
• BOOST– Switches from low gain (clean to slightly dirty) to medium gain (crunch to medium overdrive)
• TREBLE– Initial set-up: 2 O’clock
• EDGE– Frequency dependent gain boost; gain increases as you play up the neck.
• MIDDLE– Initial set-up: 10 O’clock
• SHIFT– Shifts Treble, Middle, and Bass shelving down
• BASS– Initial set-up: 12 O’clock
• VOLUME– Gain and volume for Clean channel, pre FX loop. Initial set-up: 9 O’clock
• BOOST– Gain boost for Clean channel
• TREBLE– Initial set-up: 2 O’clock
• BRIGHT– High frequency boost ( becomes less active as Volume increases)
• MIDDLE– Initial set-up: 10 O’clock
• SHIFT– Low midrange boost between Middle and Bass frequencies
• BASS– Initial set-up: 12 O’clock
• STANDBY– 1=operate , 0= standby
• MAINS– Lovely emerald green, don’t you think?

• REVERB– Initial set-up: 8 O’clock
• EFFECTS MIX/LEVEL– Initial set-up: 5 O’clock (not provided on earlier models).
• EFFECTS SEND– Send level set by preamp volumes
• EFFECTS LOOP LEVEL– Sets overall level of loop (Out = 0dB, In = -10,dB)
• EFFECTS SERIES/PARALLEL SWITCH– Sets loop for series or parallel operation (not provided on earlier models).
• EFFECTS RETURN– Overall level adjusted by Hi/Low switch, then feeds to power amp
• FOOTSWITCH JACK– 6Pin Din Connector
• LINE OUT jack– Power amp line out
• SPEAKER OUTPUT– Parallel wired
• IMPEDENCE SELECT– 4,8,16 ohm
• CLASS A/CLASS AB SWITCH– Sets operation of power tube to Class A or Class AB mode.
  Forty-Five models only. Not available on earlier models.
• MAINS FUSE– AC line fuse. 3A Slo-Blo (USA), 3.5A Slo-Blo (Japan), T1.6A Time Delay Fuse (Europe).
• GROUND SWITCH– 4,8,16 ohm. US and Japan only. Normally set to “0” position unless fully grounded outlet in not available. Set for minimum hum.

TUBE FUNCTION AND LOCATION CHART
Each 12AX7 has two sections/functions. Section A is shown first, Section B is second. Factory recommended tubes are listed under each location. Numbering sequence is right to left looking at back of amp starting with the row closest to front panel of amp.
V1 (shielded tube): 12AX7WB Russia // Reverb return amplifier. Input Gain Stage 1 and signal splitter for both channels.
V2: 12AX7 China // Tone Control Driver, Drive channel. Gain Stage 3 for Drive channel.
V3: 12AX7 China // Gain Stage 2 for Clean channel. Gain Stage 2 for Drive channel.
V4: EL84 (1995-1999), EF86 (2001-2004), 12AT7 (2005-) // Reverb Driver. Not interchangeable between 12AX7, EF86 or EL84!!!
V5: 12AX7 China // Phase Inverter, Power amp input stage.
V6-9: EL84 Russia // Power Tubes
V10: 5AR4 // Rectifier Tube (Forty-Five models only).
REVISED 05/09/05