Shopping for a new Head, advice appreciated!

[gotly]

Hi all,

After the timely (it was old) death of my GK 700 RB I'm ready to move up in the amp world.

Here's some vitals:

Cabs
Avatar 2x10 Neo 500 watts 8 ohms
Avatar 2x12 Neo 500 watts 8 ohms

Bass
Ibanez SR 500 (2 active Barts)

I play everything from Rush to Fugazi to my own weird stuff with a glass guitar slide. Bottom line, I like to get a lot of different sounds out of my amp

I also want to use my cabs to their closest potential, meaning I need an amp that puts out 700-1000 watts at 4 ohms. I occasionally will be using only one cab when I do smaller gigs but 90% of the time I will be using both cabs for practice and gigging.


Tried out a bunch of amps today!

Genz-Benz Shuttle 6.0 - This is all they had at any store. Very unimpressed. Dubious build quality, tone wasn't that great, really missing some bottom end. I wasn't playing it out of the nicest cab but still. I'm glad I tried it out in a store first. Fake edit: I'm going to throw it in a bigger cab (was playing it in a 2x10 by its self) and see if I like it better.

Ampeg SVT-4 PRO - I'm in love. This is the perfect example of what I want from a bass amp. Too bad it'll overpower my cabs. They can handle 500 each and they'd be getting 625. (I think? http://www.ampeg.com/pdf/SVT4PRO.pdf)

Orange Tiny Terror BT500H 500W Bass Amp Head - This thing sounded really good. I'm looking for about double the wattage though. I also hate how it looks.

Ampeg SVT-3PRO - Flat sounding compared to the SVT-4. Opposite problem here, only 450 watts.

Mesa Boogie M6 Carbine 600W - Sounded good, but definitely didn't sound $1,000 for 600 watts good. Overpriced.

Does Ampeg make a 700-1000 watt SVT-4 sounding head? I'm still searching.

My budget is $700-1000ish. More if I feel it's worth it

[Rockmusician]

I had a deal with Ampeg and tried an SVT 4 Pro. I didn't like it. I couldn't seem to dial in any clarity and it actually seemed under powered. I have been using GK since and have had good luck. Recently, I have been looking at Eden and EBS.

[will33]

Sounds like you need a 4PRO.

Hint: Do a little searching and reading on the whole over/underpowering thing.....then don't worry about it, your cabs will tell you when they're getting too stressed.

[bassgrant]

A hartke lh1000 would see you nice on the power side but the sparse amount of controls is not to everyoned taste

[will33]

Should add....

Did you try these amps with your bass and your cabs or just whatever they were plugged into in the store? It will make a big difference.

[t bake]

Been useing 4pro for years I play many diffrent styles and in diffrent bands the 4 pro handles all . I use it with a 500 watt 2x15 cab and a 8x10 svt cab and 2x10 1x18 combo cab sounds like you are worried about to much power(IMOM no such thing) just use restraint and dont blow the cones onto the floor. So many good amps in my mind allways your ear will tell you what you want..I got a gk 800 and a micro bass but the 4pro is my day to day work horse.

[nasr20de]

I believe that Orange makes a terror 1000 now which would hit your watts.

[RickenBoogie]

+1 the 4Pro will not "overpower" your cabs anymore than any other amp may. +1 test the amp with YOUR cabs, it makes a huge difference. Also, forget about what the cabs say on the back re: power handling. That is the thermal rating for the voice coils, and has nothing to do with how much actual power the cabs can take. Your ears are the best guide to keeping the speakers from getting blown- watch your overall volume and low end eq, and all will be well.

[dmot002]

I would not rule the M6 Carbine out .. That head is a crushing 600 watts. Why not the M9 if you want the extra headroom. Those amps have gorgeous tone.

[gotly]

Thanks guys! That makes sense about overpowering. I never thought of it like that. The SVT-4 is just awesome. I can get it for $800 used from a variety of places. That seems like an enormous discount for a brick and mortar store. I can almost buy two used ones for the price of one new one. I've heard that SVT-4's are tanks and rarely break. I really can't justify buying it new for the sake of the Ampeg 5 year warranty. Thoughts?