AMPEG SVT-4 PRO EQ SETTINGS

[xEmbeeX]

i have this amp and i use an ibanez soundgear bass. the guitar has it's own high/mid/low equalizer, and i was wondering if anyone could suggest a frequency curve for me that would compliment hard rock/metal music with no distortion or effects or anything. the sound i'm getting just doesn't sound as punchy as i want it and i'm at my wits end. thanks.

 

[Gearhead17]

First off, keep all of the knobs on you bass flat - no boosting of the tone knobs. Turn the Master Volume (on your bass) all the way up. An put the pickup balance knob flat. Put all EQ sliders flat, make sure all buttons on the face of the amp are not pushed in. Set the Gain according to the manual. Hook up the amp the correct way to whatever cab you are using.

Once you do all of that, go through each and every knob on the amp - one at a time. Boost one knob, play your bass. Boost the same knob all the way - play some more. Cut the knob - play some more. Then put that knob flat and go to the next knob and do the same thing. Basically, follow this process for each and every tone knob/switch on your head. By doing this, you will learn what each knob does tone wise - which means to you will eventually be able to get the tone you want more precisely. After doing this process, you should be fine with the head. Don't feel intinidated by it. Just remember that you can get nearly any clean/punchy tone you want out of this head if you slowly work with it. Try not to excessively boost or cut frequencies. Turning the Master Volume on the head higher and doing small tone adjustments will get you a good and loud tone right away. PM me if you are still lost.

There is NO set EQ setting that works for hard rock or metal. With the advancements in modern recording, ALMOST any bass tone can work for hard rock and metal. Whether or not the tone sounds good - is up to the bass player and producer. Recorded bass does not have to necessarily sound good to be heard in the band....it's all subjective.

 

[high mileage]

I had the the graphic on mine set as a frown, and a little off center - higher on the left (low end) side. Ultra High and Ultra Low off. Bass flat, Midrange at about 1-2:00, Frequency on #2, Treble at about 1:00. Ultra High off and Graphic EQ on. This worked really well with an 810E for me. Bass controls usually flat, and sometimes the mid on it would be at +1.

Again, experimenting is the best bet but try this for starters. It's not a "solo" sound but will give you tons of punch to cut through a loud band.

 

[Bryan316]

For me, the Ampeg heads sound good when I dial the bass to 2:00, leave the mids alone, dial the treble to 10:00, and leave all the lo and hi boost buttons alone. All they do is make the tone either fart/distort too early, or hurt my ears with piercing highs. On the graphic EQ section, I leave the first slider alone, then gently give a curved upward boost of the next five sliders. Gentle but louder low-mids.


And definitely, listen to Gearhead17 and dial in the gain of the preamp correctly. You don't want the gain peak light to blink except for when you really slam the strings. Get that preamp's signal level as strong as you can, without clipping.

 

[Jawbone]

This needs to be re-booted - great summarization on how to EQ the SVT4Pro but works with other amps as well.

 

[grendle]

First off, keep all of the knobs on you bass flat - no boosting of the tone knobs. Turn the Master Volume (on your bass) all the way up. An put the pickup balance knob flat. Put all EQ sliders flat, make sure all buttons on the face of the amp are not pushed in. Set the Gain according to the manual. Hook up the amp the correct way to whatever cab you are using.

Once you do all of that, go through each and every knob on the amp - one at a time. Boost one knob, play your bass. Boost the same knob all the way - play some more. Cut the knob - play some more. Then put that knob flat and go to the next knob and do the same thing. Basically, follow this process for each and every tone knob/switch on your head. By doing this, you will learn what each knob does tone wise - which means to you will eventually be able to get the tone you want more precisely. After doing this process, you should be fine with the head. Don't feel intinidated by it. Just remember that you can get nearly any clean/punchy tone you want out of this head if you slowly work with it. Try not to excessively boost or cut frequencies. Turning the Master Volume on the head higher and doing small tone adjustments will get you a good and loud tone right away. PM me if you are still lost.

There is NO set EQ setting that works for hard rock or metal. With the advancements in modern recording, ALMOST any bass tone can work for hard rock and metal. Whether or not the tone sounds good - is up to the bass player and producer. Recorded bass does not have to necessarily sound good to be heard in the band....it's all subjective.

+1 on that gotta learn your gear. A little tweek goes a long way on those.

On mine I run the bass about 1:00, mids 3:00, fq 3, highs about 1:30. Slight eq boost from 750-2k ish, everything else flat. I boost the bass boost on my bass about 60% and the treb about 60% also. All switches out on the head.

 

[LowB44]

+1 on leading what your nobs do. A couple of tips.
1. Most cabinet have a actuator for the highs. Be careful with this as it can get clicky and sometimes distort. Set it 1/4 to 1/2 up at most. Some prefer off.
2. Gain settings are very important. The red light should light up every once in a while with heavey playing if properly adjusted.
3. Compress sparingly as less is more. I use a MXR in front of rig and turn compressor off. If you decide to use built in compressor I would stay between 9 and 12 depending on playing style.
4. EQ, to your liking. I keep my EQ on all the time and do not use as a boost as some people do. I find you need that extra gain and tone shaping.
5. IMPORTANT: Run this beast Mono Bridged into 4 ohms. Whether you use 8-10 4 ohm 4-10 4 ohm or two 4-10 8 ohms cabs keep it 4 ohms mono bridged and sitting back and enjoy the power.