Ampeg half stack sounds...too warm.

[OkkultistBass]

So, I recently got an SVT 350 and an SVT 410HE. I've been playing it every day for the past two weeks and no matter what tone I dial up, I seem to get an incredibly warm tone.

This is my first half stack, so I have no idea if this is common with a half stack, if it's a mixture of my bass and the amp, or just the amp itself.

I like a really dark, bassy tone. This is warm and trebley. Not really something I quite enjoy. I didn't pay much for this (About $280) so I'm not upset. I'm just wondering if this is common with Ampeg, and if so, if I should try to sell/trade my stack to get something else.

[fenderhutz]

That head is known to not do Ampeg tone at all. Keep the cab, sell the head and buy a PF350 or a PF500.

I had a 350H about 5 years ago. Got it cheap and hated it.

You could probably sell the head to almost cover the cost of a PF350 outright, the PF500 is a much better deal for 100 dollars more.

[vin*tone]

Agreed. I love the 410HE but it isn't known for it's bass extension either.

[mazdah]

Sell 410HE, buy 410HLF. Problem solved :]

[JimmyM]

First time I ever heard someone complain about warm tone...usually that's the goal

If you're looking for deep low end response, Mazdah's right. The 410HLF sounds more up your alley than the 410HE.

[OkkultistBass]

It was a $200 cab, so I hopped on it. :P

[JimmyM]

Well if you want to make what you have work, turn off the tweeter, turn down the treble on the head, and throw some more bass response at it. Still won't go as low as the 410HLF, but should make it more to your liking.

[OkkultistBass]

I have the treble completely rolled off on the head and my bass's EQ.
v.v

[fenderhutz]

Where is the attenuator on the back of the cab set?

[tdub0199]

Go with a 410HLF and problem solved.... I had the brig brother to that head which is the 450H and I did not like it at all......

[JMac4strngr]

Make sure the tweeter attenuator is all the way off..... I had one of these amps once upon a time and I wouldn't call it bass shy by any means, and I was running it with sealed cab as well. Even though it wasn't by far the greatest sounding rig I ever owned, It got the job done and never let Me down.

Couple of questions though:
1) Are You using the parametric(graphic EQ section)?
2) Are You running it with the mids scooped out?

Things I learned to keep in mind with this amp(when I had one).

1) Setting the gain properly is the key to getting it to sound "right".
2) The mids are Your friend. If You use the graphic EQ section You can add some low mids to get a thicker sound, without cranking the bass and cutting the treble. Cranking the bass up doesn't help a lot, just makes things more boomy.....

[stiles72]

+1 For the 410HLF - the HE sounds more mid focused to my ears, and any time I jammed through one I could never get any dark low end out of them.

Try playing around with your EQ section. Bump the bass, and dip the "ultra mid" (500hz) a bit. Also try cutting 600 on your graphic - that would emulate the Ultra Lo setting on an old SVT. Sometimes just cutting one of those frequencies creates the illusion of a more "bassy" tone even without bumping the bass knob.

[nysbob]

"Warm" is typically used 'round these parts to describe a fat, pillow-y midrange.

Your description indicates that your rig sounds thin.

If you all the treble rolled off on both your head and bass, it seems that you may be going for some kind of dub tone.

Maybe if you tell us what kind of bass and style of music you're playing, it would easier to point you toward something you'd like.

I don't think the HLF is necessarily the answer. It wouldn't be for me anyway.

[NKBassman]

+1 for turning the tweeter off at the cab. Tweeters don't belong anywhere near Ampegs, IMO.