Ampeg SVT 450h/810e

[ChiefFrancis]

Hello Talk Bass community.

Here's what I've got:
1 Brand New Ibanez SRA 500
1 Brand New Ampeg SVT 450h
1 Old Ampeg SVT 810e

Here's what I do:
I run my bass through to the 450h head through a monster instrument cable. I then connect my head to the 810e via a Speakon cable into the left input socket. My band plays in our drummer's garage with tennis ball and boogie board soundproofing (along with extra junk laying around the garage).

Here's the problem:
I need to turn up my head to about 8 gain and 8 volume and I find it hard to compete with the volume of my guitarists whom don't need to try to hard with their half-stacks. Am I doing something wrong or is there something wrong with my gear/setup? Maybe one of you guys can tell me how to look for and diagnose the problem in order to fix it!

Thanks in advance!

[acubass]

What are all of the EQ settings?

[ChiefFrancis]

Originally Posted by acubass

What are all of the EQ settings?

I have the equalizer turned off. But when it's on, most of the low end switches are turned up as opposed to the higher end switches turned down.

[maevinj]

make a frowny face with the eq and try it

[ChiefFrancis]

Originally Posted by maevinj

make a frowny face with the eq and try it

Would there be any other options? But I will take that into consideration but I don't think it would really solve the problem of not being loud enough compared to smaller half-stacks. I'm not quite sure on the specs but I believe ONE of the amps may be tube, which could explain that one.

[ChiefFrancis]

Further more, it just doesn't seem like I'm getting the full power that I'm expecting from a "450 watt" bass head.

[eyeballkid]

try setting all knobs flat, put on the EQ and add a bump in the low mids..(mids are what make you cut thru, and the low mids add warmth and presence if you dont over do it.

unless your playing in a mad loud band, the 450 should cut it very nicely... mine did in a stoner rock band with the gain at about 2 oclock, and the volume at about the same.

check the battery in your bass.

also, guitar amps usually have massive headroom as they dont have to push the lowest freqs.

[ChiefFrancis]

Originally Posted by eyeballkid

try setting all knobs flat, put on the EQ and add a bump in the low mids..(mids are what make you cut thru, and the low mids add warmth and presence if you dont over do it.

unless your playing in a mad loud band, the 450 should cut it very nicely... mine did in a stoner rock band with the gain at about 2 oclock, and the volume at about the same.

check the battery in your bass.

also, guitar amps usually have massive headroom as they dont have to push the lowest freqs.

So, set all knobs at 12 o'clock and put up the low-mid EQs?

Yeah my band's playing pretty loud!

My battery should be fine seeing as how I bought the bass a little over 2 months ago, but I have no problem switching it out. I believe the SRA 500 is a passive bass with an active EQ.

[eyeballkid]

yeah, try that and maybe add a LITTLE on the bass knob... It should give you low and low mid presence to cut thru.. if that doesnt QUITE do it, add a little on the graphic at about 1.5k....
by 'flat' I mean knobs at 12 noon.

It also may be that your guitarists are just playing stupid volume wars to the point that its just...well... stupid. Cos that combination SHOULD be able to keep up unless you have guitards that just dont care if ANYTHING else can be heard over them.

I appreciate loudness, but sometimes guitards go right past USABLE loudness into the dumb zone.

[ChiefFrancis]

Alright I'll try that.

Well they're loud enough to play along fine with the drummer. He has a little drum kit but it's surprisingly loud. That's what you get with Gretsch Jazz I suppose. I just feel like my setup doesn't get the little star during practice!

[nightcityburn]

I'll be honest, I had a lot of trouble with my 450h. I felt like it was constantly underpowered in a band where we were not practicing at loud volumes.

Your EQ settings are probably part of the problem, I know I had to cut a lot of the lows.

I moved to a pre/power set up and I am a lot happier.

[georgestrings]

Originally Posted by ChiefFrancis

Further more, it just doesn't seem like I'm getting the full power that I'm expecting from a "450 watt" bass head.

That's because you're not - Ampeg's SS and hybrid amps are all underpowered for their ratings... Compare your head to any of the following:

G-K 700rb-II
Little Mark II or III
Genz-Benz GBE 600
Peavey Tour 450
Peavey T-Max


All of those amps are considerably louder, yet share similar wattage output ratings... In short - you got ripped off when you bought your Ampeg SS amp...



- georgestrings

[ChiefFrancis]

Yeah I was thinking of getting a Tech 21 Sans Amp Bass Driver to give me better and warmer sound.

And are you saying that I need to lower the the low-end graphic EQs, or heighten them?

[nightcityburn]

Lower them.

The Sansamp will help, but I have always run one of those before my head anyways.

My suggestion is to flip your head for something with more power. The head itself is pretty anemic in my experience. IF you are determined to make that head work, lower the low end of your graphic EQ, mid-scooped sound will never truly cut in a mix the way you are looking for it to.

[JimmyM]

ya, too many frequencies you feel but can't hear so well, and not enough frequencies you can hear. that rig should rip your head off with volume, but it's using all its power to produce massive low end. you'll notice that when you solo the bass, most of these bands you think have massive low end really don't. go listen to some solo bass tracks of famous songs on youtube. there's tons of them.

[ChiefFrancis]

So all my power is going to the low end? It technically is giving me wattage by making my band just feel fuller in general because of the low end I'm covering. It's just that I'm covering the kind of high end you typically hear in mastered recordings but essentially, there's nothing wrong?

[Sartori]

Don't boost your lows so much, boost your mids. When I had the 350H, the 450H's predecessor, I cranked the mids up nearly all the way. Sounded pretty honky and awful by itself, but it worked in the band.

[Mimazo]

Well, I recall running into that issue using the exact same rig of yours; question, have you tried switching the inputs on the back of your cab?, the back panel of that cab has two speakon inputs, try switching positions with them and play; don't remember exactly what's the usage of each one of those but I do recall that they made a huge difference when I hit the right one, the amount of air that that thing moves is awesome so trust me, that head has plenty of power on its own. Currently I'm running this thing by skipping the preamp phase on the 450H using the SVP-Pro preamp (in combination with a VT Bass on the effect loop) - summarizing, try changing positions on the inputs on the back of your cab and also try changing those eq settings, listen to Sartori above, the man is right on that too

Hope it helps

[georgestrings]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

ya, too many frequencies you feel but can't hear so well, and not enough frequencies you can hear. that rig should rip your head off with volume, but it's using all its power to produce massive low end.

Sorry, Jimmy - but that's a load of crap... All of the heads I listed put out as much, or more low end - and are all way louder than that anemic Ampeg excuse of an amp...

In fact, the 700rb-II will put out WAY more low end, and is WAY louder than the Ampeg 450... I know you love all things Ampeg, but please stop with the excuse making...



- georgestrings

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by georgestrings

Sorry, Jimmy - but that's a load of crap... All of the heads I listed put out as much, or more low end - and are all way louder than that anemic Ampeg excuse of an amp...

In fact, the 700rb-II will put out WAY more low end, and is WAY louder than the Ampeg 450... I know you love all things Ampeg, but please stop with the excuse making...

sorry to you too...the 450h/b2re are far from what i think of when i think of ampeg, but i've always been able to get a good head of steam out of one.