Billy uses (or at least used) Ashly compressors and a Pearce BC1 preamp to get his distortion tone. I'm fairly certain the BSP is modeled after the Pearce...
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Ampeg Preamp Poll
- Thread starter Braddock
- Start date
Billy uses (or at least used) Ashly compressors and a Pearce BC1 preamp to get his distortion tone. I'm fairly certain the BSP is modeled after the Pearce...
It was in production for 3 or 4 years, no tubes, and well liked by some. The speaker cabinets had the power amps built into them. This is the grandaddy of powerful transistorized amps at Ampeg.
From the 1971 catalog:
I had some great fun this evening running my old CL and my new PRO preamps through the 2 sides of a Crown XLS1500, into two cabs.
CL: will not get dirty, but does the clean warm deeeeep tone perfectly.
PRO: versatile - from clean to Big Muff all-out fuzzy gain. No hiss.
The combination is great. If I had to choose one, I'd keep the PRO. It covers more bases.
CL: will not get dirty, but does the clean warm deeeeep tone perfectly.
PRO: versatile - from clean to Big Muff all-out fuzzy gain. No hiss.
The combination is great. If I had to choose one, I'd keep the PRO. It covers more bases.
George Biondo from Steppenwolf used an SBT for a little while, but said he kept having problems with it, and went full-on SVT after a short while.
Ya well those new fangled transistor thangs in the power amps must have been giving them some problems. They would keep cutting out. 
I quite like the SBT head that I have. Well worth the $100 that I paid for it. It also makes a great overdrive pedal plugged into the front end of another amp. Provides a nice bit of heavy metal thunder.
I quite like the SBT head that I have. Well worth the $100 that I paid for it. It also makes a great overdrive pedal plugged into the front end of another amp. Provides a nice bit of heavy metal thunder.
SVP-CL here, too. Very clean but powerful. The mid voicings are quite useful but, of the 5 "ultra bass" settings, I've found only one (#5) that has, what is to my ears, the Ampeg vibe.
Riis
Riis
Only $100? Nice! Ya, I'll bet it kills as an OD. Sounded great on George's stuff. He used it often for recording.Ya well those new fangled transistor thangs in the power amps must have been giving them some problems. They would keep cutting out.
I quite like the SBT head that I have. Well worth the $100 that I paid for it. It also makes a great overdrive pedal plugged into the front end of another amp. Provides a nice bit of heavy metal thunder.
+1
Not really sure what to do with the 5 position bass control as 3 of the 5 positions are unuseable for me (and they don't sound like an Ampeg either); in fact I waish it wasn't there at all and had the standard bass setting of a standard CL amp baked in
Anybody else feel the like the 5 positon bass does not get the correct bass tonality of the amp? I am very satisfied with the other controls
Steppenwolf - Screaming Night Hog (GTK) - YouTube
Steppenwolf - Snowblind Friend - YouTube
Hey David, this is mostly for you but everyone will enjoy...here's a couple vids of George Biondi live in the studio with Steppenwolf using his SBT rig with two cabs. Pretty big and fat on "Screaming Night Hog" and cleans up well on "Snowblind Friend", too. Also note George's badass backup vocals. He comes on here sometimes. Wish he'd come on more often...he's the real deal.
Steppenwolf - Snowblind Friend - YouTube
Hey David, this is mostly for you but everyone will enjoy...here's a couple vids of George Biondi live in the studio with Steppenwolf using his SBT rig with two cabs. Pretty big and fat on "Screaming Night Hog" and cleans up well on "Snowblind Friend", too. Also note George's badass backup vocals. He comes on here sometimes. Wish he'd come on more often...he's the real deal.
Thanks for posting the links to the videos Jimmy, I enjoyed watching them and then some others. What a great band!
They know how to fill the spaces in a very musical way and produce songs that are so much more than just the sum of the parts.
I've got my '69 SBT head completely stripped down and I'm planning to do a restoration. This has given me some motivation to get it done.
They know how to fill the spaces in a very musical way and produce songs that are so much more than just the sum of the parts.
I've got my '69 SBT head completely stripped down and I'm planning to do a restoration. This has given me some motivation to get it done.
I have the svtII pre here and absolutely love it. It doesn't get much love because everyone seems to love the available distortion on the pro, but for me its perfect. Never been this satisfied with my tone. My spectors are just snarling beasts through this pre.
The BSP was definitely modeled after the Pearce preamps billy uses and not any Ampeg model.
Ya, big on the Wolf myself. Got all their albums from the Dunhill/ABC years and a couple from later on as well. Great stuff. That SBT ought to be very cool once you get it done...BTW, I'm pretty sure George said his problems were more with the powered speakers....probably shouldn't have omitted that before
Interesting comments about George's problems with the power amp. Being a heavy speaker cabinet, I imagine that it got bounced around during transport a lot more than the pre-amp. I wonder if this was part of the problem. I've had my pre a while and have enjoyed using it with no issues at all so I've been fortunate. It has a surprisingly good tone for an older transistorized amp. I stripped it down to the chassis last December and it has been waiting for me to find a few of the remaining parts before starting the restoration.
I initially intended to keep the cabinet, chassis, and tone circuits and install tubes, making it into a stand alone SVT pre-amp. But it sounds so good as is, I don't want to mess with it. Besides I've since found out that it is a fairly rare amp so I want to restore it and keep it original.
There were two different self powered speaker cabinets that used the same power amp. One was the 215 with Altec 421A that was sold with the SBT for bass, the other was a 412 with Altec 417B's called the SST for guitar. They both used the same circuit for the power amp so any tuning for bass or guitar was done in the pre-amp.
I initially intended to keep the cabinet, chassis, and tone circuits and install tubes, making it into a stand alone SVT pre-amp. But it sounds so good as is, I don't want to mess with it. Besides I've since found out that it is a fairly rare amp so I want to restore it and keep it original.
There were two different self powered speaker cabinets that used the same power amp. One was the 215 with Altec 421A that was sold with the SBT for bass, the other was a 412 with Altec 417B's called the SST for guitar. They both used the same circuit for the power amp so any tuning for bass or guitar was done in the pre-amp.
Well maybe I'm wrong...my mailbox gets pretty full pretty quick and I have to keep dumping PM's and I don't have the one he was talking about his problems with it. In any event, it's all good.
Just discovered this thread - loads of useful stuff here!
I used to have an SVT11 (non-pro) that I absolutely loved but it was just too heavy for my poor, damaged back.
I really fancy getting some Ampeg tone back in my life & it sounds like the SVT-IIP might be just perfect
Kinda tempted by the CL as well though (I have no use for distortion).
Maybe I'll see if I can track down one of each & run them back to back for a while. . .
I used to have an SVT11 (non-pro) that I absolutely loved but it was just too heavy for my poor, damaged back.
I really fancy getting some Ampeg tone back in my life & it sounds like the SVT-IIP might be just perfect
Kinda tempted by the CL as well though (I have no use for distortion).
Maybe I'll see if I can track down one of each & run them back to back for a while. . .
i have a svp pro and what i don't get is the svp pro is basically a svp cl you just bypass the graphic. the only difference is you have the best of both worlds. I got the schematic for sbt and made myself one on vero board for about $50 dollars best back up preamp you can diy. 7 transistors and just a bit of patience over a couple of weekends. mine is great. The problem i have found with the svp pro hum is that you should use dc for the filament i believe that's where the hum comes from. I moddified mine. Quiet as a mouse. Cheers 
My experience with SVP-Pro was having the GEQ turned off.
Link Removed
The chart shows the huge amount of variation from just the selectable mids.
Add in the various push-button additional switches, Gain, Drive and you have a versatile unit, without the GEQ.
I have an SVP-Pro schematic thread running for several years now.
It would be nice to see one of the smart DIY guys post a quiet and working schematic clone of the base SVP-Pro without the GEQ.
Upgrade the TL072 op-amps with the better chips + sockets, and make the unit independent of the proprietary Ampeg output transformer.
I don't see any reason why this basic design and tone circuit can't be implemented as a DIY and point to point.
Perhaps I'm naive.. dunno
However, a project like this is for the determined tinkerer.
I don't have time for these adventures, and just want to play with the band.
Link Removed
The chart shows the huge amount of variation from just the selectable mids.
Add in the various push-button additional switches, Gain, Drive and you have a versatile unit, without the GEQ.
I have an SVP-Pro schematic thread running for several years now.
It would be nice to see one of the smart DIY guys post a quiet and working schematic clone of the base SVP-Pro without the GEQ.
Upgrade the TL072 op-amps with the better chips + sockets, and make the unit independent of the proprietary Ampeg output transformer.
I don't see any reason why this basic design and tone circuit can't be implemented as a DIY and point to point.
Perhaps I'm naive.. dunno
However, a project like this is for the determined tinkerer.
I don't have time for these adventures, and just want to play with the band.
