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Ampeg SVT 7 Pro Club

#2,381
baxter_x said:
Beautiful picture! I only play clean, so that's probably the main reason why I don't notice much difference between the two.
I guess you don't move around your rack yourself? The weight must be pretty insane. BTW, your SVT2 looks like new!
What do you use your SVT7 for? As backup?


Could you tell us more about this particular point? How is it sweeter?
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I've only had the 2-pro for a short time and found it at a great price. I was very surprised at it's condition, as it looked like it was never taken out of the box!

Our rider specifies moving crew to be supplied by the venue, but there are times I have to move it. Fortunately I always have help either way as that rack is definitely a beast to move! The 7-pro I've had for much longer and use just as you thought - as backup. There are few times when I don't use a cab, so I'll run direct out of the 7-pro if that's the case.

I don't run the 2-pro very dirty, but do dial in a bit of grit to the tone, so it has just a bit of hair on it. It's just past what the 7-pro is capable of doing, but I'm very happy with the tones from either amp. I do notice with my settings on the 2-pro, that it will do just what you'd expect a tube amp to do, and responds with grittier tones the more I dig in on the bass; the 7-pro does not provide this type of response and seems to stay pretty even tone-wise no matter how hard I'm digging in on the bass.

As for the "sweeter" comment, I just think the 2-pro has a rounder sound to it, with a different heft to the notes than the 7-pro. To me there's this characteristic bloom to notes from an Ampeg tube amp and I hear that in the 2-pro, but not the 7-pro.
 
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#2,382
KaseOfBass said:
As for the "sweeter" comment, I just think the 2-pro has a rounder sound to it, with a different heft to the notes than the 7-pro. To me there's this characteristic bloom to notes from an Ampeg tube amp and I hear that in the 2-pro, but not the 7-pro.
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That was exactly my feeling when I compared both. I could really hear that famous bloom we attribute to all tub amps.
I think I should stick to SS amps as I really enjoy their direct non bloomy clean tone, and I don't use any grit at all neither. And if I do I guess I'll use a Sansamp.
Thanks for your feedback.
 
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#2,383
KaseOfBass said:
I've only had the 2-pro for a short time and found it at a great price. I was very surprised at it's condition, as it looked like it was never taken out of the box!

Our rider specifies moving crew to be supplied by the venue, but there are times I have to move it. Fortunately I always have help either way as that rack is definitely a beast to move! The 7-pro I've had for much longer and use just as you thought - as backup. There are few times when I don't use a cab, so I'll run direct out of the 7-pro if that's the case.

I don't run the 2-pro very dirty, but do dial in a bit of grit to the tone, so it has just a bit of hair on it. It's just past what the 7-pro is capable of doing, but I'm very happy with the tones from either amp. I do notice with my settings on the 2-pro, that it will do just what you'd expect a tube amp to do, and responds with grittier tones the more I dig in on the bass; the 7-pro does not provide this type of response and seems to stay pretty even tone-wise no matter how hard I'm digging in on the bass.

As for the "sweeter" comment, I just think the 2-pro has a rounder sound to it, with a different heft to the notes than the 7-pro. To me there's this characteristic bloom to notes from an Ampeg tube amp and I hear that in the 2-pro, but not the 7-pro.
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Sounds about right to me. I can use them interchangeably pretty much, but there's definitely that tube thang that isn't there in the 7.
 
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#2,385
baxter_x said:
How would you describe that difference ?
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3d sound. There's just some sort of physical but magical thing when tubes and transformers act together to me. Some folks don't dig that and that's cool. And I've played a 7 Pro on gigs with the same results as the tuber. But dang, there's something about them. 7 Pro has one...that's cool, but 11-14 tubes are cooler :D
 
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#2,386
JimmyM said:
3d sound. There's just some sort of physical but magical thing when tubes and transformers act together to me. Some folks don't dig that and that's cool. And I've played a 7 Pro on gigs with the same results as the tuber. But dang, there's something about them. 7 Pro has one...that's cool, but 11-14 tubes are cooler :D
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The next thing I need to do then is rent an all tube amp and play it live. That will be the final test to see if i really need one or not.
 
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#2,388
baxter_x said:
The next thing I need to do then is rent an all tube amp and play it live. That will be the final test to see if i really need one or not.
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i’ve played an SVT 3 or a 7 pro for the past 12 years, and I just finally got an Orange AD200b. i’m not great at describing sound, but the tube amp makes me bass tone feel like a living thing, and it really brings out the character of the bass itself, where the SVT 7 sounds good, but feels stiff and inexpressive. sometimes that’s great, especially when you just need to sit in a mix and play your part, but a good tube bass amp just feels raw as hell. i highly recommend renting or borrowing gear if you can, but also know that there’s a lot of upsides to the 7 Pro, especially if you’re gigging a lot!
 
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#2,389
baxter_x said:
If i remember correctly it's only used for the DI. So the amp is actually 100% solid state.
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For the 7-pro, the tube is used for the preamp and the DI.

7pro-block-diagram-jpg.jpg
 
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#2,393
lokikallas said:
No amount of tube sag will make me want to shlep the 2 pro lol. I am an always on compressor guy, so the even-ness of the 7 pro is a positive to me. That said, I have been very happy to use a 2 or 4 pro when they are provided backline.
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Comments like yours make me glad I can do almost all my gigs with a 50w tube amp set clean :D
 
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