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200 Watt SVT? How to do it?

#42
Sartori said:
Maybe use some amp with a 200 watt tube power amp and use an SVP-Pro?

Also, from what I've heard, Orange AD200's are both loud and inherently kinda dirty, so maybe try one of those.
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i run my AD200 with 1 or 2 of the orange 15 cabs, you heard correctly. you can get nice clean sounds out of it if you keep the gain below 9 oclock. once i get to 9 oclock on my gain and master im getting some really nice growl and edge on my notes with a passive P.
The head sounds super dirty when pushed.
 
#44
fu22ba55 said:
So this is a failed thought experiment? Changing out the output transformers would not work? Or be cost prohibitive? (Again, the idea is to find a roached-out SVT. I'd never cut up a good one.)
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I'm sure it's been said, but what's talkbass for if not putting in your two cents when the cup has already overflown?

For the cost of replacing a transformer, finding one that will have the proper winding ratio to get 200 watts from the 6 tubes and work with the circuitry, etc, all without changing the inherent tone of the amp would make it not worth it IMO. Just get a V4 and let it roar.

fu22ba55 said:
I'm seriously thinking about two V4Bs. Maybe have a custom headcase built with one stacked on top of the other. Or use one V4B preamp to drive two V4B output stages?
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Start with one V4/V4B. Trust me, they're freaking loud for a 100 watt amp, especially with a big cab, and especially if you want distorted tone.

Another option - get an SVT-CL (ie master volume model) and crank the master while controlling the volume with the pre-amp gain. Or set the bias on the tubes for more crunch. Or some combination there of.
 
#45
coreyfyfe said:
Another option - get an SVT-CL (ie master volume model) and crank the master while controlling the volume with the pre-amp gain. Or set the bias on the tubes for more crunch. Or some combination there of.
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It would probably make sense to just mess with a late-model CL rather than a roached-out 70's one. They're everywhere, and I could just yank out two tubes and watch it fail. CL's are *relatively* cheap enough to cook a few in the name of fuzz science.
 
#47
MAMMOTHvolume said:
not comercially, you can make them quite easily though. Although big resistors aren't all that cheap. I'd also want to make it rated for about 500watts and use a fan to avoid it overheating and exploding from long term use.
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Yeah, I've got a little thing that works out the numbers for you. Give it Power_in, Power_out, Ohms_in, Ohms_out and Watts_per_resistor and it will spit out how many and what values. I like the 10W ceramics as building blocks - bolt a bunch of them between a couple of aluminium plates and add a fan and you're good.
 
#48
UncleFluffy said:
Yeah, I've got a little thing that works out the numbers for you. Give it Power_in, Power_out, Ohms_in, Ohms_out and Watts_per_resistor and it will spit out how many and what values. I like the 10W ceramics as building blocks - bolt a bunch of them between a couple of aluminium plates and add a fan and you're good.
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I use these as building blocks for high wattage dummy load applications...they're rated at 300 watts ea. at 375 degrees C. A single one works fine at 1000 watts, used short-term for max power tests.

Link Removed
 
#51
JimmyM said:
ya, if you want a 200w amp, just get a 200w amp. it could be done i spose, but i'd be too afraid it would futz with the character of the amp.
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I'd be more worried about this than hurting the amp. People used to pull one of the output tubes from Leslie amps to get that ratty Hammond sound all the time. I'm thinking Lee Michaels here.

OTOH, a Traynor fits the bill, no? Still the impedance change is only 33%. As Passinwind said, the plate voltage will rise a little. If Winged C or whatever output tubes are in there are anywhere near as good as old Tung Sol or GE tubes, this shouldn't pose a problem.
 
#52
I use a Ho's Electronics attenuator, it was rated for 100w and I had him bump it up to a 200w load. i don't see why he couldn't make it a 400-500w load. also SVT's have a protection circuit built in to detect failed tubes, take them out of the picture and keep running. personally I don't think I've ever heard an SVT (certainly not my own 75) cranked into overdrive. I use 100w guitar heads into a 4x12 for my overdrive, I run that beside the SVT rig.
anyone have an example of an overdriven SVT tone I could check out?
 
#54
JimmyM said:
cost prohib, mostly.

not sure i'm telling you something you don't already know, but the fender tone stack in the d-180 may be to blame why you can't hear it live. it only boosts treble and bass and only cuts mids, so you can have a tremendous mid scoop unless you back down the treble and bass to almost off, like somewhere between 1 and 2 on the dials. i totally can't see the d-180 not working for you. i used one for a year and it's great and extremely loud.
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+1 to what Jimmy said! I played through an SVT with two 8-10 cabs back in the early '70s, ended up with a D-180 with Mesa 2-15" cab by the mid 80's....and it killed! Loud, full, gritty if you wanted it. I had the version with the EQ, so that helped some, but I can't imagine needeing much more than that.
(I'm now in my mid 50's, and using a GK MB212.. :cool:)
 
#56
taurus1 said:
anyone have an example of an overdriven SVT tone I could check out?
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Mmmm.... Fuzz.

A little taste of MC5's Ramblin' Rose

-Gibson RD Artist without the Moog preamp. Just the stock pickups rewired like a jazz bass. Tone rolled all the way off, neck pickup only.
-V9 Head (Magnavox-era SVT) Volume at about 2:30.
-TL606s loaded with EV15Bs
-EV RE-20 dynamic mic to digital recorder.

(let me know if the clip doesn't work. Sometimes I have issues encoding MP3s outside of iTunes.)
 
#58
johnk_10 said:
wow! volume at 2:30!
that's definitely pushing it way past all the power it has to offer.
at that point, it kinda sounds like a really good fuzz tone to me.
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That's the crux of the whole thing. Pushing it way past the power it has to offer.

*Power tube* distortion. Not preamp stage distortion.

Once you do that, the only 'volume control' you have is how many watts the amp produces... (or a speaker attenuator).

So, my b15N, a V4B, and my V9, all sound the exact same once you turn them two 2:30, it's just a matter of how much air you're moving.

Edbass was kind enough to let me do this to his Reeves 225 (sorry about the blown fuse, Ed!) And it pretty much sounded the same as the above clip.

I've tried fuzz pedals, but to be frank, they sound like pedals.

Once you push the power tubes that hard you get this crazy foldback fuzz/distortion that a pedal can't match.
 
#59
+1 to a V4 /V4BH . When paired with an efficient cab, they can pump out enough volume for you onstage while not blowing the soundman "completely" away. And the tone is all Ampeg. I run mine on a 2x15 (the B15 is driving the 4x12) and for "only" 100 tube watts, it's right on par with the 450 watt 3-Pros.




portaflex-bastard001.jpg
 
#60
fu22ba55 said:
Mmmm.... Fuzz.

A little taste of MC5's Ramblin' Rose

-Gibson RD Artist without the Moog preamp. Just the stock pickups rewired like a jazz bass. Tone rolled all the way off, neck pickup only.
-V9 Head (Magnavox-era SVT) Volume at about 2:30.
-TL606s loaded with EV15Bs
-EV RE-20 dynamic mic to digital recorder.

(let me know if the clip doesn't work. Sometimes I have issues encoding MP3s outside of iTunes.)
Click to expand...

I have no audio at work, I'll check that out tonight when i get home. here's another crazyish thing to ponder. I also have a 71 Bassman head that i run through a Ho's Electronics load box, I set the volume anywhere between 1.5 and 5. toneally this ranges from the slightest breakup to full saturation. I run that into a paramtric eq and out to a power amp, I can use any volume I want.
 

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