Ampeg goodness; or Don't Fear the Peak Light

[rickdog]

I loaned my SVT-3PRO for backline at a little local music & arts festival over the weekend. (Yes, it's a mellow scene where that's a perfectly fine thing to do.) Ran the DI from the amp to the PA (post EQ).

The last band up was slightly funky blues/rock band. The bass sounded fantastic in the mix so I went up to see how he had it set. The main thing I noticed was he was just slamming the preamp - that "Peak" light was pretty much on solid. Sounded pretty distorted on stage, but out front it was just thick and solid.

So, if you have one of these amps, "don't fear the peak light". Crank up the gain, make the tubes in the preamp work hard, and enjoy the Ampeg goodness!

 

[JimmyM]

Absolutely! Jerrold Tiers, who worked at Ampeg during the SLM days, explained it years ago...the light on a 3 Pro is what he calls an "input light," not a "clipping indicator light," and it's best to ignore it and use your ears. If you hear audible clipping, back it down slightly till it goes away in your ears, and don't even look at the light. Or you can just leave it up if you like a little preamp overdrive People sometimes complain that these things are underpowered, but they're giving way too much credence to the light. Ears. That's the key.