Got my MTI SVT. Anything special here?

Dougdenada · #1 03-05-2011, 02:44 AM

Just received the 80's Japanese MTI SVT today. It sounds amazing. Sounds like any vintage SVT to me but what are your thoughts, and is there anything special about it besides being very clean.

waleross · #2 03-05-2011, 05:24 AM

Never seen one of those monsters before. Since you have it then you can tell the Forum all about it. I own an Svt4pro and a CL but from Japon, never.....

DLEE · #3 03-05-2011, 06:31 AM

I used to have one.Great SVT tone for days.There's lots of threads about these,just search them out.Yes,it is a REAL SVT with all the tubey goodness you can handle! Congrats!!!!

JimmyM · #4 03-05-2011, 08:14 AM

love mti svt's! great score!

fu22ba55 · #5 03-05-2011, 12:02 PM

What's special about it is all the awesome WHOMP you will lay on your listeners.

+1 to what Jimmy said. Loves me some MTI SVTs. Use it in good health.

snowblinder · #6 03-05-2011, 07:57 PM

Fantastic amps. Mine sat on the bench for a long time while I had a love affair with the GK 800RB. Now that it's back and sounding better than ever, it's hard to imagine playing through anything else.

The GK will make a nice reliable and portable backup amp though, for longer tours.

Dougdenada · #7 03-06-2011, 07:07 PM

Thanks for the replies everyone. My backup is a GK 800RB too! This thing is so loud and clear! changed out the incredibly loud fan for one got from Fry's 17 bux! I keep reading these aren't the same as older SVT's but I don't really know what the hell people are talking about. It sounds like every vintage one I've heard and hear with 12DW7's even more so and the wiring is sublime! Anyone?

Dougdenada · #8 03-06-2011, 08:52 PM

Here are a few more pix. Turned it up and scared myself a little!

Dougdenada · #9 03-06-2011, 08:53 PM

Can we start an MTI SVT club? now?

JimmyM · #10 03-07-2011, 01:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dougdenada

Thanks for the replies everyone. My backup is a GK 800RB too! This thing is so loud and clear! changed out the incredibly loud fan for one got from Fry's 17 bux! I keep reading these aren't the same as older SVT's but I don't really know what the hell people are talking about. It sounds like every vintage one I've heard and hear with 12DW7's even more so and the wiring is sublime! Anyone?

it's an issue of people seeing "made in japan" on the back panel rather than "made in the usa." just like today...the vr's and cl's that come out of south korea are also excellent and sound as good as the old stuff, but they don't say "made in the usa" on back so people automatically assume they're inferior. but an mti svt is as much an svt as any other. they weren't the best-run company ever, but they made sure they got the svt right.

Supa Scoopa · #11 03-07-2011, 02:03 AM

Japanese make good stuff.

Dougdenada · #12 03-07-2011, 09:41 AM

Are they making VR's in Korea as well as Vietnam? I think there is a little bit of a difference in being owned and run out of Japan vs being outsourced to Asia. I don't know why they can't hire Americans in America. The sad part is they keep the price of the amps at the same price as when they were built, then they build the AV an Anniversary amps in the U.S. and charge almost twice as much? That bums me out because I love SVT's so much.
Oh well, I got my MTI and loooooove it!

Dougdenada · #13 03-07-2011, 10:08 AM

Hey why does some MTI's have the Ampeg face plate on the correct side and some on the left side? Weird.

jackcheez · #14 03-07-2011, 10:29 AM

That is a very clean SVT ! Nice.

FWIW, my old beast has the nameplate on the left. Never thought about it before.

JimmyM · #15 03-07-2011, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dougdenada

Are they making VR's in Korea as well as Vietnam? I think there is a little bit of a difference in being owned and run out of Japan vs being outsourced to Asia. I don't know why they can't hire Americans in America. The sad part is they keep the price of the amps at the same price as when they were built, then they build the AV an Anniversary amps in the U.S. and charge almost twice as much? That bums me out because I love SVT's so much.
Oh well, I got my MTI and loooooove it!

in 1980, there was very little difference between public perception of what got made in japan vs today with korea and china. as for vietnam, ampeg hasn't used vietnam for over 2 years now, and yeah, their stuff isn't cheap, but i've used plenty of it, and ever since they moved out of vietnam, their stuff has been stellar and just as good as the us-made stuff, and in some ways like the cabs, even better. even the vietnamese stuff sounded great when it worked.

and considering that moat major manufacturers in the us have chinese divisions, too, and all of them use chinese parts even if they're in america, i think it's silly to pick on ampeg.

Dougdenada · #16 03-08-2011, 04:20 PM

i wasn't picking on Ampeg. I obviously love em, but the price for American Reissues is bloody steep. Didn't know they were in China now...

JimmyM · #17 03-08-2011, 04:33 PM

they do make several products in the usa still...the heritage line and the pro neos are all made in the usa. but in a world where people always want to spend as little as possible, it's not easy to compete with the advantages of manufacture in china. and if they hadn't moved, all svt-cl's would be the price of the heritage svt-cl, especially since the manufacturer of the transformers refused to make them anymore. so apparently you can have low prices or made in the usa but not both.

Surly · #18 03-09-2011, 09:57 AM

All SVT's are special to me.

If your amp has 12DW7's like 70's SVT's, it's from the early 80's. As far as I know the difference with the MTI's are the black caps which are Elna. The transformers may be different as well. I have an early 80's SVT and the internal construction and soldering are flawless. I'd like a newer one because of the easy biasing though

Dougdenada · #19 03-09-2011, 12:36 PM

i don't have 12dw7's but am gonna get em just because I'm such a geek. :-)

Dougdenada · #20 03-16-2011, 08:28 PM

Putting in JJ DW7's tomorrow...