Ampeg SVT-2 (Non-Pro) Sounds Too Muddy

[okcrum]

Still sounds like the bias is out of whack or one of the new tubes went bad.

Yes, sounds like that to me also.

 

[deaf pea]

I'm with JimmyM on this one . . . I NEVER have the Bass EQ control on the amp at 12 o'clock . . . it's usually between 10 and 11 . . .

my amps are SVT-3PRO's, but it's still good advice . . . . . .

 

[BigMac5]

when you set all the controls at noon on an svt, the frequency response has a big midbass hump starting at 100 hz, and it's a gradual diagonal line downward from there on out. so you have to twist eq knobs. i'm able to get a pretty close to flat response out of most svt's by putting bass on 11:00, treble at 2:00, mids 2:30 or 3:00 @ 800 hz (middle position). you might try that as a starting point and tweak it to your own tastes from there. don't be shy with those knobs and graphic.

I did not know that, but that's exaclty how I EQ mine except I use 450 hz for the mids.

 

[Scrappersa]

Thank you guys very much for the help. I turned the bass to 10:00/11:00, the mids to 3:00 and the treble to 1:00 and it sounds much better.

I played a gig the other night and before we loaded up, my girlfriend realized that one of my cabs was not getting any sound. I hooked up my GK head and the cab worked fine. One of my speaker outputs on the SVT was not working properly. I brought it to my tech earlier today and he said that it is a little bent on the inside. The person that I bought it from must have hit the back at one point and bent it. My tech made me a y cable and I'm running both cabs through the speaker output that works. I need to hear the amp at practice to give it my final verdict, but I turned it way up at my house and played pretty hard and it sounded really really good. Only a little bit of overdrive but I like it that way.

I really appreciate the help and all of the suggestions.

 

[kosmicwizard]

I am now the owner of this SVT II (non-pro) as mentioned, it has a faulty output jack, I am going to run this head at 2 Ohms into a pair of Ampeg SLM era cabs, one is a 8x10SE and the other is a 2x15E. Is it safe to daisy chain the cabs to each other and have 300 Watts at 2 Ohms coming out of one output jack? Or should I see what I need to do to repair it and have a 4 Ohm load on each of the output jacks? Cheers.

 

[Alex1984]

As long as the cables are up to the task, and that the impedance setting is alright, your head should be fine, but why not get a tech to fix the jack?

 

[kosmicwizard]

Daisy chain doesn't cost any money.

 

[Luckydog]

That sounds like a good idea. Also, P basses are notorious for needing a bit of a mid boost...I would experiment with the graphic EQ a bit so that you can get a real sense of what the bass sounds like with different frequencies boosted. That head should sound great with the Ampeg 8 x 10 (a sealed cab)...keep us posted!

IME this is not true. p-basses are all about mids, although these are big fat mids.

 

[kosmicwizard]

Which mid setting do you use with your P basses Luckydog?

 

[rodl2005]

MAN!!?!?!? I can get darn near ANY tone I want outta my SVT2 With MY P bass I basically leave all the controls at noon unless I hear something missing. Cut a bit of bass(11 oclock) & boost a bit of tops if I need some real hi's
BTW - should be FINE running 2 ohms outta ONE spkr jack as long as you got good spkr leads.

 

[Luckydog]

Which mid setting do you use with your P basses Luckydog?

Depending on the cabs i normally just cut the bass a tad, sometimes boost treble a touch. Same settings with my SVT-IIs or 70s SVTs. With Berg NV215 i'll cut the lows more than with 810. I never use the graphic eq on the SVT-IIs. P-bass tone knob usually all the way on whether using flats or old rounds. If its a boomy stage stick some heavy (i mean heavy, stiff, the stiffest stuff used for packing) foam slabs under the cab or use a gramma. Keep the cab out of corners and try to keep it away from walls too if you can. And above all recognize that what you are hearing isnt what the FOH hears.

 

[kosmicwizard]

I can't wait to try and heave this thing on top of my fridge! Thanks for the advice guys ... The last owner didn't want OD, I am looking forward to it! Cheers.

 

[kosmicwizard]

Depending on the cabs i normally just cut the bass a tad, sometimes boost treble a touch. Same settings with my SVT-IIs or 70s SVTs. With Berg NV215 i'll cut the lows more than with 810. I never use the graphic eq on the SVT-IIs. P-bass tone knob usually all the way on whether using flats or old rounds. If its a boomy stage stick some heavy (i mean heavy, stiff, the stiffest stuff used for packing) foam slabs under the cab or use a gramma. Keep the cab out of corners and try to keep it away from walls too if you can. And above all recognize that what you are hearing isnt what the FOH hears.

If I ever feel I am too boomy I will EQ out a bit more bass, I am going to lay the 8x10 on it's side and put the 2x15 on top and see how that sounds ... I don't play with a pick so I am hooped in that regard, but I am confident I can overcome obstacles. The stages here probably won't be a problem in regards to corners and walls, but I will keep this in mind just in case. With my rig I don't need no stinkin' FOH, LOL. I let the sound guy hook up, but I find he usually just raises the volume of the rest of the band to the SPL of my rig. Cheers.