Vintage Ampeg SVT2 Pro vs Newer SVT2 Pro

jjlent · #1 10-21-2012, 10:53 AM

Hello all you Ampeg SVT 2 PRO user,historians and techies,
I have an option to buy the tone beast, I am at a fork in the road, do I buy vintage USA made( Used) and possibly spend half the amps value retubing,biasing and replacing old failing parts that are no longer available? or Take my chances and buy a new one say a prayer and hope for the best? Either way I see the same risks.

What's your opinion?
Do you know of a better ALL TUBE bass head?

Thanks

J

JimmyM · #2 10-21-2012, 11:30 AM

Good question. My opinion is that it's all good. An SVT is an SVT. I have an old one and I love it, but I play new ones all the time on the road and they all sound like SVT's to me. Feature sets are a little different and old parts get replaced with new parts over the years, but I have never plugged into a bad SVT. Plugged into some that needed work, but it's amazing to me how consistent the sound is no matter which model you get.

ampegfuzz · #3 10-21-2012, 12:05 PM

SVT 2 pros have only been out since the early 90's they are not that old. Pre amp tubes rarely fail and they are cheap to replace. The 2 pro's are also probably not going to have weird un-replaceable parts IMO. If it really needs power tubes a set shouldn't run more then ruffly $200, something to consider. But "if its not broke don't fix it" applies their. I owned a SVT 2 non pro for years and never had a problem with it. I also think it sounded better then newer ampegs. I dont remember biasing the 2 but i imagine its fairly easy with a $10 multi meter.

Turock · #4 10-21-2012, 01:03 PM

I'd go for the USA made.

jjlent · #5 10-21-2012, 02:06 PM

well I agree with tubes are tubes are tubes I have herd of quality issues with new ampegs (aka nampegs) which are now made in Korea. any feedback would be great.

JimmyM · #6 10-22-2012, 09:59 AM

Not tubes are tubes are tubes...SVT's are SVT's are SVT's

There was a problem with quality control when they were built in Vietnam, but there are also a lot of Vietnamese SVT's out there that work and sound great as well. But LOUD went through a big restructuring in late 2008 and got rid of the head idiot in charge of whizzing on the Ampeg legacy and moved to Korea. Since then, things have been much better, and the vast majority of the few problems I've seen are tube-related, which, due to manufacturing not being quite what it was in the old days, there's not much that can be done about that except to replace the bad tube(s). But I play through SVT's of all periods when I'm on the road, from new ones to super old ones, and it's all good to me.

KrisHayes · #7 10-22-2012, 10:19 AM

Being a touring musician, get a new one. Tonally, there isn't really gonna be a difference between the two, get a new one that you won't have to worry about. People will say, "oh, but the USA ones are better made!" True, but they're still old! Just my $.02.

Jerrold Tiers · #8 10-22-2012, 09:08 PM

Given the number of really vintage SVTs around, the relatively new 2PRO, which was built with considerably better parts in many places than the old SVT (newer tech for electrolytics, etc).... there should be no special issues with an "old" 2PRO.

The new ones seem to be fine also.... take your choice. No need to fret about "old, failing, parts".......what makes you think that the old parts are failing?

hodgy · #9 10-22-2012, 11:49 PM

No tube SVTs are made in Korea, nor have they been for many years.

JimmyM · #10 10-23-2012, 12:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hodgy

No tube SVTs are made in Korea, nor have they been for many years.

Really? Sorry if I put out misinfo, Hodgy. I had seen Made in Korea on some of them and thought they were still being made there.

hodgy · #11 10-23-2012, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Really? Sorry if I put out misinfo, Hodgy. I had seen Made in Korea on some of them and thought they were still being made there.

Vietnam for the last batch of years, now China and the good ol' U.S. of A.

JimmyM · #12 10-23-2012, 01:13 AM

I thought the Vietnam factory got closed in 2008 and you guys moved to S Korea after that. I could swear that was the progression but you would know better than me, bro.

Tim1 · #13 10-23-2012, 02:06 AM

Watching this interchange with interest. I too was under the impression the VR and CL are made in Korea, just the Heritage series in USA. Great news if they have moved more production to the USA.

hodgy · #14 10-23-2012, 07:51 AM

No, just the Heritage in the US. However, our CM in China is awesome. I'm here (there?) right now for the first production runs of CL, 3Pro and 4Pro.

Vanni · #15 10-23-2012, 12:26 PM

What I saw in the shops, the old units (the firsts productions overseas) was made in Vietnam. Then I saw some amps made in Korea, and then the China units.

Jerrold Tiers · #16 10-23-2012, 08:03 PM

Yes, there were Korea units, I forget what models and exact times. The Vietnam factory was run by Koreans, as I understood itand they apparently took it home when the Vietnam factory deal didn't work out as well as it was supposed to.

hodgy · #17 10-23-2012, 08:09 PM

Just to clear up any confusion, there is more than one factory in Vietnam that has been used as a CM, just like the place we're using in China now is not the same place that built Chinese units before. Just like building Ampeg in New Jersey is not the same as building in St. Louis. Sometimes people look at generalizations and miss the bigger reality of manufacturing.

JimmyM · #18 10-23-2012, 09:14 PM

I'm just going by what comes out from the company, bro.

hodgy · #19 10-23-2012, 09:23 PM

Just the facts, ma'am.

Steve Dallman · #20 10-24-2012, 01:08 PM

I was an SLM tech when Loud took over. I carefully looked over the first batch of Chinese Ampegs and my impression then was that the USA models were better built. I have few problems with Chinese production amps and am not biased against China. I think I'd go with the used one, but expect tube swaps as they do have miles on them. I would go with whatever has the best price. I can't imagine parts wouldn't be available for the used one.