Differences SVT II Pro and Non-Pro?

[Colonel Monk]

Howdy ALL:

I'm a former SVT II Non-pro owner. Due to a crappy paying job, the music I was playing at the time, and the need for a new bass I sold it for the low low price of 700 bucks about 7 years ago.

I had seller's remorse almost immediately, because I knew that it was a GEM and I had just had it retubed by my brother.

Lately, though I'm digging my Walkabout rigs I'm thinking about getting another SVT II. I've been emailing the guy I sold it to a few times a year to see if he'll sell it, so far no dice.

I'm curious though about the diffs b/t the "Pro" and "Non-pro" versions. Yes, I've looked at pics of them, and I remember that mine only had a volume knob. I know the Pro has a gain and drive knob in addition.

One of the things I didn't like about the SVT II was that it didn't have that mojo unless it was cranked up, which wasn't all that great for practice volume, and downright worthless for bedroom practice.

One would imagine that the PRO version with the drive and gain might solve a bit of that problem, though if the master isn't cranked up it's unlikely you'll get that power tube mojo anyway, but I suppose at a smaller gig you could get some of the grind before hitting a volume that makes people run away from the stage.

I have heard guys say that the Non-pro has a Mojo that the II-pro just doesn't have. What are the differences?

If you have experience with it, can you describe it?

I want the SVT sound back, but I like having control over the gain and drive as well.

Thanks,

Colonel Monk

[Alex1984]

The pre-amp of the II was apparently very close to the original SVT in design. The II Pro had 1 more band of graphic EQ. Other differences include outputs and stuff.

I'd go for a non-pro. If you're concerned about volume, perhaps pad it using the graphic EQ and/or just pair it with some low sensitivity cabs like ACMEs.

[jellymax]

you cant match the tone of a cranked tube amp by cranking only the preamp, low
volume or otherwise... sorry---you can get close though.

here is a better solution.

get;
a B15 fliptop for the bedroom
a v4b for practice
a non pro for gigs
stop selling your tube amps
problem solved

that will be $9.95 please
payable to bass solutions inc.

[weary hobo]

Start here, with post #518. There are doubtless other theads that cover the same question, so you can do a search as well.

[Tim1]

I have owned and gigged both. The nonpro has that SVT magic in spades over the pro. The pro is still a great amp, but I wish I still had my nonpro. My fond memory of the nonpro is so easily getting that natural tube grind form about ten o'clock on (sob!).

[cascadian_grind]

Originally Posted by jellymax

you cant match the tone of a cranked tube amp by cranking only the preamp, low
volume or otherwise... sorry---you can get close though.

here is a better solution.

get;
a B15 fliptop for the bedroom
a v4b for practice
a non pro for gigs
stop selling your tube amps
problem solved

that will be $9.95 please
payable to bass solutions inc.

Genius!!

[Colonel Monk]

Haha, yeah, kick a brother when he's down, down with the cold hard reckoning of what he's done finally sets in...

You cold-hearted SOBs you....

Haha, look I owned the damn thing for close to a decade, I know what it does. I just never played any other SVT, so while I'm considering SVT-dom again I wanted to know what the differences are.

Appreciate the dude who pointed me right to the post that answered my question. Threads with 650 posts are difficult to go thru when you don't have much time on your hands.

Didn't make me feel better though, what it says is my stripped-down non-pro is a tone weapon of mass destruction and I got rid of it not knowing it was a little bit special.

OTOH, though they might be different I'm thinking that just about any SVT out there is a decent "booby prize" until I can find an SVT II.

Thanks,

Col Monk

[Tim1]

Having owned a nonpro and currently owning a VR, I can say that I think the VR comes closer to my memory of the nonpro than does the CL. However, the VR does seem to stay clean a bit longer than the nonpro before it starts to "grind". This may or may not be preferable to you.

[Munjibunga]

FYI, GC La Mesa has an SVT2 Pro on the floor for $1099. I imagine they'll come down.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

I didn't think they were too similar, the 2-Pro is a nice amp . . . just not as nice.

You aren't going to get the same cranked sound using just a preamp tube drive.

The 2-Pro has a few extra's, post #520 in the link above gives a bit of a breakdown.

[cascadian_grind]

Originally Posted by Colonel Monk

Howdy ALL:

One of the things I didn't like about the SVT II was that it didn't have that mojo unless it was cranked up, which wasn't all that great for practice volume, and downright worthless for bedroom practice.

One would imagine that the PRO version with the drive and gain might solve a bit of that problem, though if the master isn't cranked up it's unlikely you'll get that power tube mojo anyway, but I suppose at a smaller gig you could get some of the grind before hitting a volume that makes people run away from the stage.

I have heard guys say that the Non-pro has a Mojo that the II-pro just doesn't have. What are the differences?



Colonel Monk

I have the svt II pro and svt vr, and the 2pro definitely has that "mojo", but like you were saying, you do need to crank the master volume to get it. Basically it wants to be played loud and won't sound good until you turn it up. The thing I really do like better about the 2 pro is the Drive knob. Sounds killlller.

[meatwad]

I think the biggest factor between ALL the SVTs (II, II-PRO, CL, VR, ect..) is in the quality of tubes. I'm sure a II-PRO with a nice tube set and everything biased in correctly, could sound as good as any other SVT around.