SVT-3Pro EQ

[seanm]

Went to a new rehearsal space that was fully equipped. I get there expecting to see the ubiquitous Peavey setup or maybe a GK if I was lucky. Turns out they have an SVT-3pro into a fridge.

I was very disappointed with the sound: very thin with no bass. Caveat: I had no time to play with the EQ. This is a new band and I have to concentrate 100% on the music.

However, I get a second chance to play with it. Last time I had it basically flat with the gain just below clipping and the tube gain at about 2:00. I tried boosting the bass a bit, but a 50Hz boost into a cab that rolls off at ~60Hz doesn't do much

From looking around, it seems I made a couple of mistakes. One, I want the clip light to come on when really hitting the strings. And two, I probably want the tube gain at 11.

We play mainly classic rock, Motown, newish country. I don't want a bright tone. Any other quick tips? I probably won't have much chance to play with it this time either, so no chance to just try all the controls

[JimmyM]

Crank the gain hard...like around 3:00. Tube gain all the way up. Then turn knobs until it sounds good to you. Used to use that exact config. Never wanted for balls, low end response, or anything except power tubes.

[WardEarth]

I've used the svt-3 pro for a few years. If I bought another amp it would have more balls, but this works well for now. Have you pressed that low boost button? I agree mostly with Jimmy, a little extra gain and the tube gain can be cranked. And you are right about the clip light, it should blink some when you play heavy.
You can always turn the bass knob some or turn on the band eq and start boosting the low end.

[lokikallas]

Forget the clip light. Crank the gain until it sounds too nasty, then back it off a hair. The brightness, bass and treble boost buttons can be used for some signature ampeg sounds, but I prefer them out. The real key to that head is the sweepable mid control. Max and min each mid frequency to get a feel for them. Pick a boost or cut you like and jam away. I don't use the graphic eq, but if you do a little goes a long way.

[Toastfuzz]

I'm surprised at the advice you've gotten so far, that nobody's told you the secret of the 3Pro!

Tube gain: cranking it to the max pretty much negates even having a tube pre-amp, gives a very bright hi-fi solid state tone. Minimized, gives the warm tubey feel with a more vintage tone, it won't break up and overdrive like a real SVT but it'll have the tube warmth and girth. I know its backwards from what you'd expect, but follow the next 2 points of advice and get up to a good volume and THEN play with the tube gain, you can hear the difference.

Master / Gain: Turn the master up to 3/4 or more, and control your volume with the Gain knob on the left.

I've also found the tone on the 3Pro to be cleaner and more rounded if you have the amp doing most of the work. What I mean by that is if you're feeding it a hot signal, engage the 15db pad button to lower your input gain, so you can crank up the pre-amp gain and master volume more. Too much gain coming in your input jack, you have to be really conservative with the master / gain controls. This is with my active basses and an array of pedals that produces a pretty hot input signal.

edit: with my amp set up as such, the EQ works as would be expected, either the knobby EQ or the sliders. I tend to use the knobs more, mid freq. switch on the lowest mid setting, bass and mids at 1:00 and treble at noon or 11.

Of course this is all my opinion, but its what works for me and I have no need for another amp (was really tempted to downgrade to a high-watt mini amp, but only for weight / moveability reasons and the 3Pro tone is too good, I know I'd regret it)

[JimmyM]

Cranking the tube gain to the max makes the driver section a tube driver section, and cranking it down makes it solid state. And turning the master up and the controlling volume with the gain makes it super clean and non-ballsy, which I don't think is what Sean is going for.

[lokikallas]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Cranking the tube gain to the max makes the driver section a tube driver section, and cranking it down makes it solid state. And turning the master up and the controlling volume with the gain makes it super clean and non-ballsy, which I don't think is what Sean is going for.

I agree, I would use the master as just that, a master volume control. Use the gain as just that, a gain control. I prefer it on the scorching hot side, but if you want a cleaner tone , back it off a little. The tube gain is hard to hear the difference between 0 and 10 until your pushing hard.

[Groover]

Also something to try.. Don't use the EQ at all (as in turn it off); Then just use the tone knobs.

Or.. Use the EQ, set flat-ish and raise the EQ volume level (far right) then tweek from there.

Set the MID 1-5 selector switch alse where the sound is fattest, I think 3 or 4 (I don't recall)

Good luck

[seanm]

Thanks for the replies. I really wish I had the time to play with it and get the tone right. I can't even go in early since we have to be quiet due to other businesses in the same strip mall.

But I am sure I can get something good out of it.

[rickdog]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Cranking the tube gain to the max makes the driver section a tube driver section, and cranking it down makes it solid state.

Actually, I think that's just backwards. The "Tube Gain" knob controls the regulated power supply to the tubes that drive the output transistors. Turning it down (counterclockwise) decreases the voltage, and lets those tubes saturate earlier - instant tube distortion. Turning it clockwise "to the max" gives those tubes more headroom, so you're more likely to be able to drive the transistors to their limits for a crisper, more solid-state character.

This doesn't have a very obvious effect unless you're really pushing the power amp hard. Which leads to the next topic...

Originally Posted by JimmyM

And turning the master up and the controlling volume with the gain makes it super clean and non-ballsy, which I don't think is what Sean is going for.

That's right, crank up that gain. I get my favorite sound from my SVT-3PRO with that "Gain" knob at about 1:00-2:00, and the "Peak" light coming on a lot. Good saturated tube sound at any volume level! Unlike an all-tube amp, a lot of the character of this thing is in the preamp.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by rickdog

Actually, I think that's just backwards. The "Tube Gain" knob controls the regulated power supply to the tubes that drive the output transistors. Turning it down (counterclockwise) decreases the voltage, and lets those tubes saturate earlier - instant tube distortion. Turning it clockwise "to the max" gives those tubes more headroom, so you're more likely to be able to drive the transistors to their limits for a crisper, more solid-state character.

Hmmm...just read the manual online, and I guess you're right. Knowing that now, I find it odd that I greatly preferred the knob turned all the way to the right. But I guess when I owned it I was more into clean sounds than I am now.

[WhoDidTheElf]

If you don't want to bright of a tone keep the bright and high switch off, keep the mid selector knob under 4, maybe at 4 for more attack, but 5 is quite bright for mids IMO.

The lo switch is cool for noodling around, but doesn't do much in a mix, and, at least from what I've experienced, cuts some of the more growly mids out.

I personally run it as such... (clock references)
Gain: 1-3 (I ignore the little red light)

Bass: 1
Mid: 12-3 (Depends on the bass)
Mid Selector nob set to 3
Treble: 10-12

Tube gain: 7-9

Graphic EQ on:
33Hz: Slight cut
80Hz: Flat
150Hz: Flat
300/900Hz: Slight bump
600Hz: Flat
2kHZ: Slight bump
5/9kHZ: Flat

I run this with an Ampeg SVT-810e.

Very warm sound, little sluggish on the attack, but oh well. Sits in the mix very well for me I've found.

If you need a little bit more attack you can adjust the tube gain knob up a bit or move the selector knob over to 4 which will give you a bit more bite but you may need to bump your overall volume up. If you need a bit more in the low end you can drop the tube gain knob down all the way drop the mid selector over to 2 and you can really get a big warm sound of out of the amp.

That's just what I've found, take it with a grain of salt.

[GizmoTheOne]

Here's how I set mine :

GAIN so the red light flashes very often. (say, 60-75% of the time)
BASS 11 o'clock
MID 2 o'clock (something like that)
MID SELECTOR -> 1 (225 Hz, low-mid FTW)
TREBLE 10 o'clock
MASTER to taste
TUBE GAIN 10 o'clock

Then I engage the graphic EQ.

33 Hz : cut almost 6 db
80 Hz : cut about 2 db
150 Hz, 300 Hz : Flat
600 Hz : boost 1 db
900 Hz : cut 2 db
2 KHz : cut 2 db
5 KHz : cut 4 db
9 KHz : Flat

[prd004]

The SVT-III PRO, takes some getting used to, in order to get to know how it really works, as evident by all the great posts in this thread.

I only use my graphic EQ to fine tune my sound to fit the room environment, but if you're not getting the bass response you are looking for out of the bass knob, certainly there is frequency in the graphic section that ought to do the trick for you, just play around with it.

I've also found with mine, it doesn't do any good to dial in your sound at a lower volume and then turn up to play with the band. Cranking it opens up the upper mids and highs so tweak those knobs at the volume you will playing at

[Jazz Ad]

It is an awesome amp. I played on it for years with great results.
The EQ is really efficient but yeah, most people don't know how to use it well.

[mattplaysdabass]

Originally Posted by GizmoTheOne

Here's how I set mine :

GAIN so the red light flashes very often. (say, 60-75% of the time)
BASS 11 o'clock
MID 2 o'clock (something like that)
MID SELECTOR -> 1 (225 Hz, low-mid FTW)
TREBLE 10 o'clock
MASTER to taste
TUBE GAIN 10 o'clock

Then I engage the graphic EQ.

33 Hz : cut almost 6 db
80 Hz : cut about 2 db
150 Hz, 300 Hz : Flat
600 Hz : boost 1 db
900 Hz : cut 2 db
2 KHz : cut 2 db
5 KHz : cut 4 db
9 KHz : Flat

I agree, this will cut through the mix really well and lower the tube gain to get a bit of grit.

[Toastfuzz]

Originally Posted by WhoDidTheElf

If you need a little bit more attack you can adjust the tube gain knob up a bit

Thats what I was trying to say with the tube gain. Having it turned all the way down gets tubey-er, where turning all the way up is hi-fi solid state. Really where you hear it is in the attack, in tubey mode you have a softer attack but a swelling warmth in your notes, when its turned to the max its instant response ala solid state. To my ears at least. Also +1 that you'll never tell the difference without pumping some serious watts.

After practice yesterday, I have to maintain what I first said about Master and Gain. I keep my master knob at 3:00 (~3/4), and tweak volume with the Gain knob (which ends up lingering between noon and 3:00.) Tube gain is best right in the middle, to get the best of both worlds in solid state attack with a full tubey sound.

This is probably a very subjective opinion, but I also like having the Bright button in (not Ultra High, Bright) and then turn off the tweeters on the cab so its not too harsh. Gives a nice trebly shimmer without squealin and I can kick on my Big Muff at any time and not worry about the tweeter sounding like crap.

[seanm]

Update: Things where better tonight. I am going by memory here (and I was in a hurry), so take the EQ settings with a grain of salt. Gains are more accurate. As usually, using clock settings.

Gain: between 1 and 2
Bass: 12
Mid: 1
Frequency: 1 (maybe 2, but I think 1)
Treble: 12
Master: between 2 and 3
Tube gain: 3

Graphic EQ engaged and flat except a small boost to 300/600/900

This was into a the classic series SVT-810E.

Sound was usable. I, hopefully, will get more time next week to fine tune.

I had the clip light coming on almost every time I hit the E string (except the quiet parts) and most of the time for the other strings.

Volume was a bit of a problem. As you can see, I still have a bit of headroom although I do not know how much is left. May try cutting the lows more next time and boosting the mids.

And I did not really play with the graphic EQ at all. The previous user left it with the small gains at 300/600/900 and larger gains in the treble which I set flat. They also boosted 33, which I found strange since the cab is -10dB at 40

So thanks for the suggestions, they really helped. And FWIW, I really didn't like the tube gain at < 12... it just sounded mushy to me.

Oh, and for those who don't know (why should you?), I play a P bass with flats

[JimmyM]

The clip light is not a clip light. It is an input light and should be pretty steadily lit when you hit a note. Use your ears instead of the light...you still have room to crank that gain some more before audible clipping sets in.

[seanm]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

The clip light is not a clip light. It is an input light and should be pretty steadily lit when you hit a note. Use your ears instead of the light...you still have room to crank that gain some more before audible clipping sets in.

Not too much more if I want to stay clean. At 3:00 it was starting to get... distortion is too strong a word... some grit. However, it definitely didn't sound bad at 3