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AMPEG Pleasant Suprise

R

rbonner

Sep 25, 2008
2,802
30
#1
Today I went Pawn Shop surfing just for the heck of it. Well I had a reason, the GC sales guy said this place had a music department and had a couple Marshall JCM 900's. I was thinking of buying one for my kid's Christmas. Well I got there and they had $1000 on it and the other was a JCM2000. So I sort of walked right by.

I got to the bass department. OH here's a nice little B410 that looks nice. Hum a bunch of new Hartke stuff. Oh I guess this place is a dealer for new too not just a pawn shop. OK. Never been in there before. The GC is just 1.5 miles from my house so I just go there and this place is all the way across town.

Well, next to a new Hartke 810 super special is an old USA fridge. Its newer style SVT-215E but still with 1/4" phone jack instead of the mega rear panel.

$450 including tax, the guy even helped me load it.

Plugged it in and cranked one of the 4PROS all the way and it took the power handily. Not as sharp as the 810's are but will add to my low end.

SO dont be afraid of Pawn Store shopping you never know what you are going to find....

I just had to share my excitement with my TB brothers. BOB
 
#6
We are currently in the process of putting together a new band we'll be out sometime in 2010. There is a lot of work to do. I'm hoping my SON will be able to join me it depends on his college selection. BOB
 
#9
Qunddo, I need to get a space where I can set it all up in a wall. Right now it is in my dining room and the ceiling isn't high enough to stack the cabs. Its becoming a row around the room. The AMP rack is out on RIGS of Doom III but thats already changing some.

We will be building a garage and adjacent studio in the backyard in the spring. I will have a high enough ceiling in there plus a big enough practice space for the whole group. Right now I've got a DR table right in the middle of things. BOB
 
#11
YEAH, there's an idea. Outside. Its dark and raining right now, but I do have a power outlet in the garage... Maybe a little, "Inna Godda Da Vida" I wonder how long it would take the cops to get here? Midnight? five minutes. I will post full photos when I get it all done. Two more cabs to go.

Oh I found something really wierd too... I fired up the fourth amp for the first time tonight in the stack. I was playing and I go, hey this doesn't seem as loud as it should... Weird. I reached over to the Radial JD7 Injector and pushed the 180 degree switch on the 4th amplifier and it was like BOOM the whole rig got twice as loud...

Apparenty one of the cabs is wired out of phase... I dont know if it is inside the cab, or if the output wires INSIDE the SVT-4PRO are switched or if a pre-manufactured speakon cable is wired backwards. Its cool that I can just push a button and it puts it in phase, but now I need to test all the cabs with a battery and see which way the cones move. Funny. I will tell you this, I'm having a lot of fun. Finding that cab was just so neat, that was the last thing I expected today. BOB
 
#12
Man. That really is a cool setup, a bit overkill even for my music, but who hates having to turn up and not be able to?

:)

Anyways, Bob, what would be a good replacement driver for the SVT-215e? A friend of mine has one and after a gig it got in a fight with sprinklers and lost... Long story short, he needs new drivers and wants something more powerful than whats in it now.

Any ideas? (not to hijack your thread, I just can't find ANYTHING at all)
 
#14
More power than stock, that just about leaves... Beyma - usspeaker handles them. I have yet to use them but they have a whole line of 15"

I'm going to build a couple woofer boxes that look like the AMPEGs from the front but are 30" deep with a pair of their 21" each I think. Woof. Of course the old standby replacement is PEAVEY Black Widows. My PA had them, but the BEYMA's are much higher power. If he jumps on it, let me know what he thinks. BOB
 
#16
The JCM2000 was the first Marshall I ever owned like 5-6 years ago.
I guess it depends on your opinion of 'great' cause mine sucked.
Bought a 1982 JCM800 off a friend for $500 sold the JCM2000 combo for $500 and lost lotsa money and was never happier in my life..

The JCM900 is pretty much the sound of 1990's metal right out of the box. Little too buzzy compared to an 800 for my tastes but, if you have to turn it all the way up to get proper drive, youre not doing something right..
 

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