All-New Ampeg SCR-DI!

[Wfrance3]

This is what I know, having bought the SCR-DI twice now....
When using the direct out, the SCR-DI does not like other effects going into it. When I received and put my SCR-DI in my rather simple effects chain, I was disenchanted with the sound. If felt pale, less than, essentially a shadow of what I thought they should be. Tried an MS60B in front of it with a few different chains of effects. Not much help there. The only thing that was halfway reasonable about playing nice was my Cali76cb. Sorry to be vague about the exact details of this part of th post, but didn't want to take focus away from the point, which is; in my opinion, use the SCR-DI by itself for best results. To my experience, clean boost will make it break up, even at low settings. Other effects will mess with the sound of the scrambler section - If you are using that part.

About a month ago I decided, as an experiment, to try my SCR-DI by itself. The ampeg-i-ness was as rich as I have ever heard it. The scrambler circuit is the econo-version of that particular execution, but even that worked nicer without other effects messing with it. So... my conclusion is; use the SCR-DI or don't. If you need a bunch of "stuff" then maybe something else would be a better deal. If you just want simple Ampeg "tone in a box" This is a good deal, providing Ampeg is your sound. If it weren't you probably wouldn't be reading this.... Oh, one last thing, I am not speaking to the range of effects that include chorus, octave, and all that. I don't use those so am not able to address that compatibility. I just use the pure clean tone with a little bit of the ragged edge you hear when you dig in.

Hope this helps someone!!

 

[Btbp]

My bad. Thought that's what you meant by saying the scrambler always seemed to be in the mix. But low gain seems odd too, especially if it was low output with distortion. Did you swap it for another unit to see if it was defective?

Both symptoms were exactly my experience (and suspicion) as well.

 

[petrus61]

My bad. Thought that's what you meant by saying the scrambler always seemed to be in the mix. But low gain seems odd too, especially if it was low output with distortion. Did you swap it for another unit to see if it was defective?

I didn't try another unit. What I noticed through headphones was that there always seemed to be a little bit of Scrambler in the circuit unless the Scrambler knobs were completely rolled off. It's something I didn't notice using one pair of cans then really noticed when I used my better Sennheisers. It was very subtle, but there. As far as being able to drive the power section of my rig, there just didn't seem to be enough power on tap and I didn't want to have to engage the Scrambler for that extra push. I had plenty of gain available with my other pedals so I would push them up and then use the Ampeg volume as a master, but something was just lost in translation between it and my power amp. It could be that the GK's Return impedance was just not ideal for whatever the Ampeg was feeding it, I don't know. That's why I think just having a dedicated gain for the non-Scrambler section would have been good to have. It seems others have had better luck with it, so it could have been defective I suppose. I can't speak for the DI out because I wound up liking it better through the front end of my amp, so I just used the post EQ signal from the GK's DI for the few gigs I did with it.

 

[johnk_10]

i just ran an RTA test of it. test taken with the 15db pad OFF.
the GREEN line shows the effect completely bypassed (not in the loop)
the VIOLET line shows the effect in the loop but bypassed
BLUE line shows the pedal engaged with Volume, Bass, Mid and treble at noon, scrambler off.

 

[Chad T]

For P&W, I usually run mine with treble at 9:00 and everything else at noon. Scrambler off. Both Ultra buttons off. On my bass, I roll the passive tone back a bit and boost bass a bit on its OBP-3 preamp. I'm a pick player. It just sounds killer. Drummer has commented how my tone is meatier, yet clearer than the other bass players (who all just go straight DI). Love the SCR-DI.

 

[JimmyM]

For P&W, I usually run mine with treble at 9:00 and everything else at noon. Scrambler off. Both Ultra buttons off. On my bass, I roll the passive tone back a bit and boost bass a bit on its OBP-3 preamp. I'm a pick player. It just sounds killer. Drummer has commented how my tone is meatier, yet clearer than the other bass players (who all just go straight DI). Love the SCR-DI.

I'm with you on that. Not that I use it all the time, but I do sometimes, and I just concentrate on what it does rather than what it doesn't. I've got so many ways to make up gain that I just plain don't care.

 

[johnk_10]

running my SCR-DI into the front end of my GB ST900 makes it sound like an SVT so i have ZERO complaints.

 

[svtb15]

I digging the SCR..... I'm out on a tour and using it in my hotel room as a listening amp..
I started running on my small pedal board this week .. as a separate line to feed my IEMs..I still have the REDDI feeding FOH..
I was experimenting this week with the SCR as my IEM feed . The Monitor guy is setting me up today with the proper channels to do it right.. I guess he will use XLR out to another channel? Overall , it sound great!!!
We do a bunch of fly dates/ radio stuff in june and I will bring the SCR DI since I am going without a rig... Just IEMs...
I feel very confident this will work out great SCR is a useful and very adaptable device.. Its NOT a toy..

My tiny pedal board. It's really all that i need...

 

[SteveC]

I digging the SCR..... I'm out on a tour and using it in my hotel room as a listening amp..
I started running on my small pedal board this week .. as a separate line to feed my IEMs..I still have the REDDI feeding FOH..
I was experimenting this week with the SCR as my IEM feed . The Monitor guy is setting me up today with the proper channels to do it right.. I guess he will use XLR out to another channel? Overall , it sound great!!!
We do a bunch of fly dates/ radio stuff in june and I will bring the SCR DI since I am going without a rig... Just IEMs...
I feel very confident this will work out great SCR is a useful and very adaptable device.. Its NOT a toy..

My tiny pedal board. It's really all that i need...
View attachment 1133836

Hmm. I am debating using this for my DI (and dirt as needed) for the new cover band. You and I seem to have similar tastes and gigs/rigs (me to a much lesser extent) so it gives me some confidence. It'll be on a board with a tuner, a Rolls box for my IEM's, maybe a compressor, filter and possibly a flanger to use with the filter and/or chorus. Maybe an octave as well. Damn this boards can get big fast.

 

[svtb15]

I just picked up a ROLL 351 too.... I am on the road today. but home for weekend gigs.. I am looking forward to trying the ROLLS unit in conjunction with this SCR as an IEM only rig.... I think the SCR can do it on its own.. I got an XLR to 1/4 adapter to use the LINE AUX in to the SCR. It worked fine. But i want to maybe expand on this. So that is why i got the ROLLS .. More to come next week. So far the SCR is really NICE.. I was an ampeg endorser for years in the 80s and 90s.. I Love their stuff.. I still have 2 of my SVT non pros.. Best sounding amp ever!
I am going to add a ROLLs to this ... It's about all that i need .. I've gone thru about every COMP pedal that is available.. This TC is OK. It does what i need it to do without much size. I have 2 Keeley comps that are great but I've decided to sell after getting this TC.. I use almost ZERO compression.. But it helps the OCTAVE pedal behave better.
I put the Tuner at the end of the LINE because i'm always tweaking, and i can MUTE it so i don't pop anything down the line. .

Hmm. I am debating using this for my DI (and dirt as needed) for the new cover band. You and I seem to have similar tastes and gigs/rigs (me to a much lesser extent) so it gives me some confidence. It'll be on a board with a tuner, a Rolls box for my IEM's, maybe a compressor, filter and possibly a flanger to use with the filter and/or chorus. Maybe an octave as well. Damn this boards can get big fast.

 

[SteveC]

I just picked up a ROLL 351 too.... I am on the road today. but home for weekend gigs.. I am looking forward to trying the ROLLS unit in conjunction with this SCR as an IEM only rig.... I think the SCR can do it on its own.. I got an XLR to 1/4 adapter to use the LINE AUX in to the SCR. It worked fine. But i want to maybe expand on this. So that is why i got the ROLLS .. More to come next week. So far the SCR is really NICE.. I was an ampeg endorser for years in the 80s and 90s.. I Love their stuff.. I still have 2 of my SVT non pros.. Best sounding amp ever!
I am going to add a ROLLs to this ... It's about all that i need .. I've gone thru about every COMP pedal that is available.. This TC is OK. It does what i need it to do without much size. I have 2 Keeley comps that are great but I've decided to sell after getting this TC.. I use almost ZERO compression.. But it helps the OCTAVE pedal behave better.
I put the Tuner at the end of the LINE because i'm always tweaking, and i can MUTE it so i don't pop anything down the line. .

View attachment 1135505

I like my MXR M87 better than the TC when I tried it.

 

[petrus61]

i just ran an RTA test of it. test taken with the 15db pad OFF.
the GREEN line shows the effect completely bypassed (not in the loop)
the VIOLET line shows the effect in the loop but bypassed
BLUE line shows the pedal engaged with Volume, Bass, Mid and treble at noon, scrambler off.

View attachment 1133075

What position were the Scrambler knobs in for the test, just out of curiosity?

 

[A-Ro]

Do any of you run your Ampeg SCR at 12v? Are there any benefits?

 

[JimmyM]

Do any of you run your Ampeg SCR at 12v? Are there any benefits?

I tried it once. I didn't notice any difference. Maybe I don't know what to listen for, but it sounded the same to me.

 

[Btbp]

Ampeg BA series tone or not, it totally failed as a headphone amp for me even compared to a Vox Amplug. It was my main impetus for getting it, thinking I'd get a decent preamp/DI to go along with it .......
Frankly, I think the Sansamp offererings do a much better job in that regard and there are way more versatile options out there for a bit less. I really did try to like it and did at first.

Edit: It needs a gain knob.

+1
What I was hoping for was a headphone amp (I'm on my 3rd Vox due to the plug construction / design and my Pandora sadly died) + an Ampeg preamp + an Overdrive + a DI.

The only way this unit would work for me is if I bought an additional A/B switch to put before it.

I like the Ampeg sound, but only when I want it, because more than that I prefer an unadulterated Eden sound.

So close.....

 

[petrus61]

+1
What I was hoping for was a headphone amp (I'm on my 3rd Vox due to the plug construction / design and my Pandora sadly died) + an Ampeg preamp + an Overdrive + a DI.

The only way this unit would work for me is if I bought an additional A/B switch to put before it.

I like the Ampeg sound, but only when I want it, because more than that I prefer an unadulterated Eden sound.

So close.....

Yup. Just ordered another v.1 Amplug for when my current one craps out, so I should be covered for a while on that front.

 

[Btbp]

New contender? Invalid Link Removed

 

[Ox Boris]

Can I use this without blowing myself up? And which way around do I put the tip? Those diagrams are bewildering!

 

[Chad T]

NO! It shows the polarity is reversed on the adapter. Just buy a proper, quality adapter like one from Boss, OneSpot, etc.

 

[Ox Boris]

NO! It shows the polarity is reversed on the adapter. Just buy a proper, quality adapter like one from Boss, OneSpot, etc.

I can flip the tip. The other side of that label shows the opposite diagram.

What about the current amps thing electricity volts blah?