Ok, now educate me on SVT's!

[santucci218]

Any time I dive into a new company I like to be well versed in all their models. Ampeg has a ton, and I read all the specs on their site and such, but I need players opinions. I was looking at the SVT 2 Pro, SVT 3 Pro, and SVT 4 Pro. All of them seem nice. The 3 is in my price range, but also seems a little weak on the wattage side. I'll be getting a Ampeg 6x10 or 8x10 to compliment it. My drummer plays LOUD. Actually, I'm doing guitar in the band, but all the bass gear is mine too. Anyways, I want something with some grit and grind to it without breaking the bank. Educate me! Any others I should be looking into?

[Thombas]

JimmyM, get up!!!

[4001]

Big, warm, loud and heavy.

[Jonathan1990]

Do you also pay for your drummer's kit? Then you can tell him to play quieter.

[Tractorr]

A friend of mine owns a 3 and I have played it many times. I have not however played it in a gig scenario. My friend however uses this head with his band and he finds it to be somewhat under powered. He plays with a two guitarist. One guitarist plays through a dimed Fender Twin with some distortion pedals and the other plays through an old 60 watt Fender Bassman with some distortion pedals ahead of it. He says he has a hard time hearing himself on stage. I have only played it at modest volumes but it seemed like a great head to me.

[Duke21]

Save your money and buy an Ampeg PF500, it is SVT tone, 500w light and quite cheap.

[Duke21]

Originally Posted by Thombas

JimmyM, get up!!!

Yes Jimmy, it a brand new day now also on your time zone!!!

[BassmanDk]

IMO and FME; avoid the Ampeg SVT3Pro like the plague if you wanna play loud!

I only have good memories with all other Ampegs, SS or tube. But the SVT3pro is no-good! IMO!

I have the SVT Classic myself and it plays like expected; loud, warm, detailed and just plain GOOD!

[JimmyM]

Gotta run and do a doubleheader today, so sorry for the brevity, but the SVT VR, 2 Pro and CL are the king daddies, the 4 Pro is excellent, and the 3 Pro is a lot better amp than some are making it out to be. But for my money, the Ampeg amp to get if you don't get a VR or CL is the SVT 7 Pro. Lightweight and tons of balls. The PF stuff is also great, but I've yet to play an SS or hybrid that I like better than the 7 Pro. Having said that, I'm playing a PF350, which is absolutely stunning as well.

[santucci218]

Originally Posted by Duke21

Save your money and buy an Ampeg PF500, it is SVT tone, 500w light and quite cheap.

I have one of those at work, with the matching cab. Not only is it not grindy by any means, its hardly loud.

[4001]

I might have bought Ampeg stuff but my money printer dosen't allow for that much.
Two SVT's of most models are a bit out of my cash league.

[stiles72]

If you have the $$$ I would go with the 2-Pro out of the amps you listed. But I went with the 3-Pros about ten years ago just because of the fundage. They are not underpowered like many make them out to be- you just need to run them on a 4 ohm load and ignore the flashing red idiot light. Crank the gain, bump the master EQ slider and adjust your tube gain (plate voltage) to taste. More than sufficient - and often times I'm told to turn down.

[coreyfyfe]

Originally Posted by santucci218

I have one of those at work, with the matching cab. Not only is it not grindy by any means, its hardly loud.

I have one that I use with 2x15 cabs. It can get very loud. As with any ampeg, it doesn't get going until the gain is at or above 1 o'clock. Up against a loud drummer, one guitarist using a mashall/4x12 and a twin reverb and another guitarist running through another marshall/4x12 it's loud enough through an ampeg B25B 2x15 with the volume around noon. With my cover band, playing against a reasonable drummer and a triple rec/2x12 using an SWR big berth 2x15 I can't go above 9-10 o'clock on volume before it's too loud. It does the SVT thing well enough for a $400 solid state amp.

I think if you're looking at the SVT series and don't want to go full tube, Jimmy is right and you should go for the 7-pro. Otherwise the only real SVT is an all tube SVT.

[lokikallas]

The 3 is a beast, but I agree with Jimmy. Save up a few more bucks for the 7. I played a 3 in a loud metal band through an 810 for years. It's not as loud through my 410hlf, obviously, but it is the headroom you lose with the low end extension from the port IMO, which might apply if you go with the 610. The 2 and 4 are cool if you have the cash and like hauling stuff, but the 7 is the best bang for your buck in svt ss line.

[FrankLowend]

For me the SVT3Pro has a killer sound, this is a question of taste...
My sound sounds heavy and bright with an of this.

[codethechode]

The svt 3 pro is a great sounding amp and if you have PA support wattage really isn't an issue. I've used this amp in gigging situations ( with PA support ) and had no problems hearing myself on stage. however recently I've gone to a bigger rig and a different amp. But I sill use the svt 3 for recording, the tone is simply killer. I cannot really speak for the other amps.

[santucci218]

seems like 7 is the one I want. Does it do a good grindy overdrive sound? Or should i get a pedal for that...

[Sartori]

For grindy overdrive, I'd go with the 2pro.

[lokikallas]

The 7 gets great fuzz when you boost the gain. It's what sold me on it. You can tame it a bit with the compressor and get it at any volume too.

[Buster Brown]

I am going to take a little bit of a different direction here.....Go with the CL....buy it and be done with it. No experimentation, no guess work, no regrets.

Last amp you will ever need to buy. Period. End of story.