Dear ampeg, why do you love the 5 position mid switch?

[Whaaaapsh]

The best eq I've ever used is the one on old SVT's and V4's. They had a toggle for frequency center and a mid boost/cut. Why is the 5 position selector mid switch so prevalent? I'm only guessing it must be cheaper, but in practical application, I've never been happy with any one voicing of the five selections.

I needs a bit more, ampeg! On the same tip -- I don't like the 5 modes on an Avalon U5, only the flat one. Actually, on that SAME tip, I don't really like parametric EQ's. I just absolutely DIG the old school Ampeg mid EQ. It's the perfect bass tool. With para eq's I feel there's too many options for crappy tones, and the 5 selector model is way too dumbed down.

Mr. or Mrs. Ampeg, please grant my wish for the awesome old EQ, I'd really like to see it in something that doesn't weigh as much as the SVT-VR.

[rbonner]

SVT-4PRO, a graphic eq and a regular switch. I have a big pile of them for sale. :-)

BOB

[Mike M.]

I've always been a fan of simplicity myself. Use to have a '74 SVT head that I used for years and I loved it. Had what I needed and no more. Fact is, I'm playing thru an SVT head that you're describing at one of the church gigs that I do (it belongs to the church) and I still can't hear one shread of differance to the sound when I change that 5 position mid switch from one position to the other. (Got to be something wrong with it). I also always turn the graphic EQ off.

I also play guitar...know what my favorite practice amp at home is? My Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue!! I diconnect the main in-amp speaker and hook it up thru a closed back 1X12 that I made. Of course, it's at a fairly low volume level and it wouldn't work with a band but the tone is wonderful. So smooth and rich sounding. I play a Fender 5 string Jazz bass and with the onboard EQ playing thru that little amp I can get a lot of tonal variation happening. One of these years I wouldn't mind finding a good, powerful bass amp that has the tone and the simplicity of my Fender.

If it wasn't for my back problems I would have kept my '74 SVT. I'll tell ya, that last trip up the basement stairs with it did a number on my back, but good!

[bassfart]

Turn the bass and Treble down to 9 o clock then mess with the 5 position mid. Play a long sustained note and go through the positions, you'll hear huge changes in the mid freq.

[coreyfyfe]

Three of the five positions on the mid-switch are pretty close to those on a vintage SVT or V4. The 5-position on the SVT-CL/new amps are 220, 450, 800, 1600, and 3000. On the V4 it's 300, 1000, 3000, on the V4B (and I believe SVT) it's 300, 800, 2500. Not too far off.

My main amp is a 70s V4, but I use an SVT-4 Pro like Bob suggested for rehearsals at a friends house fairly regularly, the mid switch should work pretty well. Either your amp isn't working right, or something else is going on.

[Whaaaapsh]

From the manual of the old Ampeg V4 (thanks to the awesome ampegv4.com site):

MIDRANGE CONTROL/MIDRANGE SELECT -
The midrange control in combination with a three position rocker switch is adjustable for three key frequency ranges: 300Hz, 800-1000Hz or 2500-300Hz. Each frequency is adjustable for 20 dB of boost or attenuation. This midrange feature provides the flexibility to generate any sound: hard rock, jazz, or country.

...ahh remember the old days when there was just hard rock, jazz and country?

IME, the 5 position switch gets close, but not with as much flexibility or, to me usefulness. Yet it's on almost their entire product line.

[IvanMike]

if anything, mids are where you usually end up needing the most sonic control. I'm not a huge fan of the ampeg preamp sound, but i do like the mid switch.

[fdeck]

In my experimental bass preamp circuit, I've got a midrange control with variable center frequency, using two transistors (the first transistor is just a buffer). I think that something like this must be possible with triodes, using no more parts than the Ampeg midrange circuit, and no inductors.

Of course this would require changing something.

[Jerrold Tiers]

Originally Posted by Mike M.

Fact is, I'm playing thru an SVT head that you're describing at one of the church gigs that I do (it belongs to the church) and I still can't hear one shread of differance to the sound when I change that 5 position mid switch from one position to the other. (Got to be something wrong with it).

You DO need to have the mid control either boosted or cut for the switch to have an effect..... The switch says "where", the control says "how much".......

[JimmyM]

doesn't bother me. as long as there's an 800 on all of them (there is), i'm set. 800's my frequency for being heard.

[My name is Mudd]

My MIA B210sp has some form of five-way switch also, but I cannot find anything that tells me specifically which five are being altered...anyone know where I might find this info?

[Sartori]

Here you go, Mudd: http://www.ampeg.com/pdf/BA210SP.pdf.

Says it's the manual for the B210SP. The 5-way switch seems to go: 1) Deep scoop at 500hz. 2) Shallower scoop at the same frequency. 3) Flat. 4) Boost at 2000hz. 5) Cut at 50hz.

[My name is Mudd]

OK this is weird, cause I've had that for about six months and somehow completely failed to notice it until now...um, thank you, and oops...