• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

AMPEG QC

#22
I've got a SVP-CL myself, now I've only had it a short time;
But I did buy it from the states, via airmail, and it survived the trip with no issues, and all the tubes lasted the trip too.
Thats gotta count for something.

As far as QC goes - how come my SVP-CL is DEAD quiet, even when I have my 1600w poweramp cranked, when i hear everyone else has a very noisy or loud hum in their SVP-PRO or BSP?
And how the SVP-PRO's seem to vary in their noise/hum?
 
#23
smo said:
I've got a SVP-CL myself, now I've only had it a short time;
But I did buy it from the states, via airmail, and it survived the trip with no issues, and all the tubes lasted the trip too.
Thats gotta count for something.

As far as QC goes - how come my SVP-CL is DEAD quiet, even when I have my 1600w poweramp cranked, when i hear everyone else has a very noisy or loud hum in their SVP-PRO or BSP?
And how the SVP-PRO's seem to vary in their noise/hum?
Click to expand...

Good points SMO. I remember you from the Ampeg site. My svt cl is also dead quiet...but it took two of them to get it right. Also, lots of overheating problems from the side pull air rack mounted units.
 
#24
Hi Jim,

Shame about the ampeg site - they could have fixed it!
It wouldn't have taken more than a couple hours to change some of the features, like the sticky's etc. etc.
Anyway - this forums' probably a little better since we have bassists' from all over, with all sorts of equipment.
AND A MODERATOR!!!!!!!!
(just my 2 cents)

Ampeg stuff over here is something of a rarity due to its large price to import - thus ampeg has little product support.
I've heard of people staying away from the SVT's over here due to importing 'mishaps'. :eyebrow: And then there's no-one to fix it, so warranty = no value.
Maybe that's why the SVT only started getting sold here about a year ago?
 
#25
smo said:
Hi Jim,

Shame about the ampeg site - they could have fixed it!
It wouldn't have taken more than a couple hours to change some of the features, like the sticky's etc. etc.
Anyway - this forums' probably a little better since we have bassists' from all over, with all sorts of equipment.
AND A MODERATOR!!!!!!!!
(just my 2 cents)

Ampeg stuff over here is something of a rarity due to its large price to import - thus ampeg has little product support.
I've heard of people staying away from the SVT's over here due to importing 'mishaps'. :eyebrow: And then there's no-one to fix it, so warranty = no value.
Maybe that's why the SVT only started getting sold here about a year ago?
Click to expand...

Well, I am glad you are here, looking forward to the Ampeg site reopening...in the meantime...I am learning how to behave on a moderated site. :hiding:
 
#27
Mark Reccord said:
How do you know that? There are plenty of people on this board well qualified to call any technical issue into question. How do you know that specplyrz isn't one? ;)
Click to expand...

On top of that, I think anyone with even an ounce of knowledge would know that using wire like that was cutting corners on Ampegs part plain and simple.
 
#30
haujobb said:
On top of that, I think anyone with even an ounce of knowledge would know that using wire like that was cutting corners on Ampegs part plain and simple.
Click to expand...


Actually, for the application he mentioned, 20AWG is adequate. 20AWG is rated to carry 6.15A, 220W@8 Ohms is about 5A.... Though 20's a bare minimum, I'd be inclined to put bigger wire in. :D
 
#31
Well, as we speak, my svt cl and 810 are on ebay....looks like I'll get what I am asking. I have never been able to get deep low bass with the svt cl like I did with the svt 1000 s/s. The problems I have had with their gear and just not quite sound I am looking for has led me to put them up for sale. :hmm:
 
#33
I think there have been some QC issues.

I had a BA115 for a very short time. The first one I brought home had a bad speaker right out of the box. I exchanged it for another BA115 and the Tweeter hissed so bad I couldn't stand playing it at low volume. The amp sounded good but that hiss I thought was unacceptable for a combo at that price. The cheap Ibanez SW65 that it replaced had a much quieter tweeter. I took it back again and upgraded to a BA115HP.

I now have a BA115HP. It's very good sounding amp and has very little hiss out of the horn but I have had the following problems with it.

1. The attenuator plate started vibrating when I was playing at medium volume. I found that there was a mounting screw missing from the factory. I fixed it myself.

2. Whoever installed the covering on the wood surface left something on the surface at the top of cab and just installed the black vinyl, tolex , or whatever it is right over the debris so there are two bumps under the covering near the control plate. It's a minor thing to me so I diddn't bother hauling it back in to GC to exchange it.

3. The control panel & amp section was not properly screwed in all the way into the cabinet so it started to shift and rattle after a couple of weeks. I tightend everything up myself and all is fine.

These are QC issues at the factory in St. Louis were my unit was built. It was a little dissapointing for me because I really like the Ampeg tone. The amp has performed well and has been very reliable for the year that I have owned it but QC has bugged me enough that I will look hard at other amps when I buy a head & cab combo.
 
#35
srxplayer said:
I think there have been some QC issues.

I had a BA115 for a very short time. The first one I brought home had a bad speaker right out of the box. I exchanged it for another BA115 and the Tweeter hissed so bad I couldn't stand playing it at low volume. The amp sounded good but that hiss I thought was unacceptable for a combo at that price. The cheap Ibanez SW65 that it replaced had a much quieter tweeter. I took it back again and upgraded to a BA115HP.

I now have a BA115HP. It's very good sounding amp and has very little hiss out of the horn but I have had the following problems with it.

1. The attenuator plate started vibrating when I was playing at medium volume. I found that there was a mounting screw missing from the factory. I fixed it myself.

2. Whoever installed the covering on the wood surface left something on the surface at the top of cab and just installed the black vinyl, tolex , or whatever it is right over the debris so there are two bumps under the covering near the control plate. It's a minor thing to me so I diddn't bother hauling it back in to GC to exchange it.

3. The control panel & amp section was not properly screwed in all the way into the cabinet so it started to shift and rattle after a couple of weeks. I tightend everything up myself and all is fine.

These are QC issues at the factory in St. Louis were my unit was built. It was a little dissapointing for me because I really like the Ampeg tone. The amp has performed well and has been very reliable for the year that I have owned it but QC has bugged me enough that I will look hard at other amps when I buy a head & cab combo.
Click to expand...


This is exactly what I mean. This should not be slipping by qc...I also read of a guy going to GC and the horn had fallen out of a brand new bottom. No screws were ever holding it in!!!
 
#37
Speaker gauge and insulation...both engineered with a level of expertise you are not qualified to call into question.
Click to expand...
I am qualified and can say without reservation that those are not engineering decisions. No competant engineer with an ounce of pride in his product would ever condone this. Chalk up insufficient damping and wire gauge to the bean counters.

Note that very few large manufacturers have qualified speaker designers on payroll. Most designs are done by consulting engineers; after all, it's not like Ampeg or Fender etc come out with a new cabinet design every 6 weeks. I've done more than a few, and can tell you that the finished product seldom ends up as originally specified. The original specs are more often than not summarily altered, and never for the better, once the bean counters get involved in the project. The first place where corners are cut is where the consumer won't see it, as in wire gauge and damping material. If some accountant figures out a way to save ten bucks per cabinet, multiplied by two thousand cabinets a year that justifies his salary to management. Even where there is an engineer on payroll when it comes to business it's the accountants who rule the roost. The bottom line is always the bottom line.

Also note that where you're least likely to find cost cutting at the expense of good sound, and a qualified engineer making sure every box is done right, is with small operators like Jim and Jorg who have their own names on their products and take pride in everything they put it on.
 
#38
billfitzmaurice said:
I am qualified and can say without reservation that those are not engineering decisions. No competant engineer with an ounce of pride in his product would ever condone this. Chalk up insufficient damping and wire gauge to the bean counters.

Note that very few large manufacturers have qualified speaker designers on payroll. Most designs are done by consulting engineers; after all, it's not like Ampeg or Fender etc come out with a new cabinet design every 6 weeks. I've done more than a few, and can tell you that the finished product seldom ends up as originally specified. The original specs are more often than not summarily altered, and never for the better, once the bean counters get involved in the project. The first place where corners are cut is where the consumer won't see it, as in wire gauge and damping material. If some accountant figures out a way to save ten bucks per cabinet, multiplied by two thousand cabinets a year that justifies his salary to management. Even where there is an engineer on payroll when it comes to business it's the accountants who rule the roost. The bottom line is always the bottom line.

Also note that where you're least likely to find cost cutting at the expense of good sound, and a qualified engineer making sure every box is done right, is with small operators like Jim and Jorg who have their own names on their products and take pride in everything they put it on.
Click to expand...


That is the key phrase.
 
#39
I was an engineer at IBM for nearly 25 years and can testify to the above.

The other driving factor behind our designs was Sales. The marketing people always had the final say in so many of our products, for user appeal.

All too often, a saleman's mouth wrote checks that engineering could never cash.
 
#40
specplyrz said:
Actualy, it's rated at about 1.5 amps :eek: ...check the link....


http://www.interfacebus.com/Reference_Cable_AWG_Sizes.html
Click to expand...


That's an extremely conservative table :D. I mean 15A for 10AWG? Wow... Look at household wiring; 20A circuits are wired with 14AWG. I thought I was being conservative with 6A for 20AWG, lots of tables list it as being able to carry 10 or 11A...:p

You can very safely pass continuous current at about 15% of the fusing current. That's 9A for 20AWG.

I'd say that Bill is dead on here. Engineering probably wanted to use heavier wire but the bean counters wanted the absolute minimum acceptable sized wire....
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back