I’ll preface this by saying that I haven’t been all that impressed with Ampeg’s new products for a long time, and I’m a veteran doubter of using preamps vs. just getting the right amp in the first place. Last night I finally got to hear a friend's SGT-DI in action and was blown away.
The rest of the rig was a Tone Hammer 700 into a pair of Barefaced 1-15 cabs, the bass was a boutique built vintage-style P. I won't say that it nailed real SVT or B15 tones, because without A-Bing with the real deal, I could be lying
It definitely reminded me of my own encounters with SVTs as provided backline at festivals.
I thought it had a great sound, though, way better than any SansAmp based rigs I've heard. The notes were distorted in a pleasant way, I told my friend I thought it had “fur” around the notes, nice and thick but no buzz, fizz or farting. He wasn’t aiming for clean, that’s for sure
It fit really well in the small room trio setting, playing blues and some Dylan and Van Morrison covers.
Almost every time I see him play he has a different amp, last time was a vintage Bassman 100 into a vintage Fender Showman 1-15 cab, he used a Walter Woods into Flite 1-15 cabs for a long time and he uses a real SVT when playing big stage rock band gigs. While auditory memory can be faulty, this might have been the best tone I've heard him get out of a P. I was the band’s original bassist some 30 years ago, and still sub once in a while when he’s unavailable, so I’ve sat in playing both his upright (his is sweeeet...way above my pay grade!) and actual vintage Fender Ps through his amp du jour. None of those rigs came close to delivering what I heard last night.
I doubt I’ll ever be in the market for an SGT-DI but anyone looking for an “SVT in a box” definitely needs to try one out. Home run from Ampeg this time.
The rest of the rig was a Tone Hammer 700 into a pair of Barefaced 1-15 cabs, the bass was a boutique built vintage-style P. I won't say that it nailed real SVT or B15 tones, because without A-Bing with the real deal, I could be lying
It definitely reminded me of my own encounters with SVTs as provided backline at festivals.I thought it had a great sound, though, way better than any SansAmp based rigs I've heard. The notes were distorted in a pleasant way, I told my friend I thought it had “fur” around the notes, nice and thick but no buzz, fizz or farting. He wasn’t aiming for clean, that’s for sure
It fit really well in the small room trio setting, playing blues and some Dylan and Van Morrison covers.Almost every time I see him play he has a different amp, last time was a vintage Bassman 100 into a vintage Fender Showman 1-15 cab, he used a Walter Woods into Flite 1-15 cabs for a long time and he uses a real SVT when playing big stage rock band gigs. While auditory memory can be faulty, this might have been the best tone I've heard him get out of a P. I was the band’s original bassist some 30 years ago, and still sub once in a while when he’s unavailable, so I’ve sat in playing both his upright (his is sweeeet...way above my pay grade!) and actual vintage Fender Ps through his amp du jour. None of those rigs came close to delivering what I heard last night.
I doubt I’ll ever be in the market for an SGT-DI but anyone looking for an “SVT in a box” definitely needs to try one out. Home run from Ampeg this time.
Last edited:
] on my SGT-DI.
