Ampeg Pro's--Tell me if this will work.

[JoshuaRyan]

I just bought a Heritage SVT-410HLF, the Ampeg 410 that's USA made and has black sparkly grill cloth

I adore the sound of Ampeg B-15's--overdriven, cranked, all-tube. HOWEVER, B-15's are just WAY too expensive for me right now. Here's my dilemma: I want a 15-30 watt all-tube amp that cosmetically matches my black-sparkly cab.

Enter the new Ampeg GVT guitar amps. The 15 watt is all-tube, black and sparkly (this is a must). If I bought that guitar head, would it sound decent through my bass cab? Any experience out there?

[JoshuaRyan]

The GVT amps have a Baxandall tone stack that boosts mids when the bass/treb are cut and vice versa. I think that that would prove useful when attempting to get a dimed SVT sound.

[JimmyM]

Boy, that is a good question. I've never played one. I've been told the transformers would struggle to keep up with the demands of bass and would make them break up sooner than guitar amps, plus they would cut the lows, but for what you're looking for, that may work out for you. I'd try before I buy, though. It could be very nice for guitar and be so so for bass.

[JoshuaRyan]

Have you seen this on the back of those amps?

[JoshuaRyan]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Boy, that is a good question. I've never played one. I've been told the transformers would struggle to keep up with the demands of bass and would make them break up sooner than guitar amps, plus they would cut the lows, but for what you're looking for, that may work out for you. I'd try before I buy, though. It could be very nice for guitar and be so so for bass.

Thanks JimmyM. I'm just looking for that balls-to-wall tube tone. The kind you CAN'T get out of a pedal

[carl h.]

Originally Posted by JoshuaRyan

Have you seen this on the back of those amps?

Attachment 265341

must be an export model

[JoshuaRyan]

They had to have done that in response to the outsourcing uproar we raise on this forum everyday. Here's a thought, though: if you're going to give us Chinese parts at Chinese quality, why not let us have the Chinese price too? Anyway, back to guitar heads.

[JimmyM]

Well I wish I could tell you it would work for sure, and you probably have your best bet for a low wattage tube amp that works with bass through Ampeg, but I've not heard much good bass tone come from anything less than a B-15 before. If you want a sure thing, hold out for an orphaned B-15 head or a beater B-15. They're not exactly all over the place, but they're not uncommon. They're not spec'ed to run at 4 ohms, but Jess Oliver, who designed it, said they can take a 4 ohm load no problem, and would often replace the speakers in his customers' B-15's with 4 ohm speakers.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by JoshuaRyan

They had to have done that in response to the outsourcing uproar we raise on this forum everyday. Here's a thought, though: if you're going to give us Chinese parts at Chinese quality, why not let us have the Chinese price too? Anyway, back to guitar heads.

Ever see what similar heads from other companies cost? Those ARE Chinese prices.

[JoshuaRyan]

Alright, touché. I'm going to go to a music store and give it a shot.

[JoshuaRyan]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Well I wish I could tell you it would work for sure, and you probably have your best bet for a low wattage tube amp that works with bass through Ampeg, but I've not heard much good bass tone come from anything less than a B-15 before. If you want a sure thing, hold out for an orphaned B-15 head or a beater B-15.

What about the Portaflex 500s? Do they sound tubey?

[JimmyM]

To a certain extent, yes. But they get a bit milder overdrive than cranking a tube amp, and while they do sound tubey to me, discerning ears can tell the difference.

[stiles72]

I tried a P-bass through one of the GVT amps and it sounded great. If you look at the specs, the EQ points are what you see on many of the Ampeg bass amps. Definitely has an Ampeg bass tone - so if ear splitting volume isn't needed, I'd say go for it!

[Bearded Wizard]

I've got an Ampeg GVT15H. I actually really like it on bass. It's great for clean tone at low recording volumes or heavy distortion with a high output bass if you crank the gain. It's a nice alternative to my V4 for light playing situations. My only complaint is that the reverb is noisy, but I don't think most bass players would be using that anyways. The amp seems really solid. I think it's a great buy for the price of admission if you like the Ampeg tone and don't want a lot of volume.

I've attached a short clip of a clean, bassy muted blues tone with it at low volume.

[JimmyM]

Sounds pretty Ampeggy.

[victthoe]

I think that that would prove useful when attempting to get a dimed SVT

[Bearded Wizard]

You'll have to forgive the clams, but here's a quick take just doing a little blues solo'ing, with some light drive from the amp. The gain is on full but the master is really low since it's late. But you get the idea. Also put on the reverb a bit for grins. Gives a Jack Bruce kind of vibe, but I'm playing an EB-0 so I guess it should.