Ampeg SVT-300 Power Amp-No Green LED-Possible Issue???

nervousmike · #1 08-04-2011, 09:59 PM

Hi All,

Long time lurker, first time poster. I recently bought an Ampeg SVT iip preamp along with the SVT-300 power amp (it's basically the SVT ii non-pro setup, just as separate pieces) and I love it, it's the bass sound I've always heard in my head and I finally have it. The only down side is that when the guy sold it to me, he said the only issue is that the red LED on the front used to turn green when it was ready to go out of standby, and it stopped doing that a few years ago. I didn't think much of it at the time, but when I started doing some research, I noticed that the later models had that as a fault warning, basically that if the light on the front doesn't go green, there may be an internal issue, like the bias being off, or something along those lines. The thing is, the amp plays just fine and sounds great. I've called different repair centers and Ampeg (Loud Tech) directly, and I've gotten about 5 different answers. I'm bringing it to a tech on Saturday, but does anyone have any experience with this? Is there anything in particular I should have the tech look for? I'm going to have him first check the tubes on a tester and bias, and I've read that if the 12au7 driver tube died it can effect bias as well. Also, just so I'm not completely wasting a bench fee, I'm going to make sure the green LED hasn't just died, or something simple along those lines. Any help or advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks either way,
Nerves

**B-string** · #2 08-04-2011, 10:05 PM

PM Jerrold Tiers here on TB. Best advice I can give, the man was probably around during R&D.

JimmyM · #3 08-04-2011, 10:24 PM

Wow, you really are Nervous Mike

Honestly, if it sounds good, it's probably fine, or maybe it got out of bias. At the worst, it sounds like you may have to replace a handful of tubes, but if it's working, it's probably nothing major.

nervousmike · #4 08-05-2011, 12:44 AM

Hahaha, you really nailed it, I'm a world class worrier JimmyM!

B-string: Thanks so much for the quick reply, I took your advice.

You guys are the best!

anderbass · #5 08-05-2011, 10:28 AM

On your model, that red/green LED is just a standby indicator, is not a bias light like SVT-CL models have 2 of. If your amp tech truly knows how to repair SVT's, he wont have any trouble diagnosing/repairing that little minor problem your amp has there.