Ampeg SVT 7 Pro Club

[rodl2005]

I've never bought any NOS tubes of any kind. I have a few NOS & slightly used "old" tubes.
Some Sylvania 6L6's, JAN Philips 12AX7's & 12AT7's & a few Amperex, RCA & PHILIPS AX7, AU7's that I've had since the late 70's & early 80's.
But, I've had good results with new Tung-sol ax7's.
Haven't had the pleasure of ANY NOS 6550's tho. I wish!

 

[JimmyM]

Dino from Ampeg recently told me that he paid $1500 for a set of GE 6550's and doesn't feel like he got his money's worth out of them and wouldn't do it again.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

$1,500 for some glass? I understand that stuff isn't produced anymore, but you could buy a brand new head for that much.

 

[JimmyM]

To some folks, money is secondary to tone. I'm not one of them but I will pay a LITTLE more for tone. But not $1500 for output tubes...holy cow!

 

[tombowlus]

Dino from Ampeg recently told me that he paid $1500 for a set of GE 6550's and doesn't feel like he got his money's worth out of them and wouldn't do it again.

That is crazy money, even for GE 6550's (which are an extremely nice tube that can survive where other tubes may fail).

 

[JimmyM]

Well they WERE matched, Tom

But I hear you...I'm sticking to the JJ's in my Heritage till they break. Still not here yet but should be here by next week at the latest!

 

[rodl2005]

Phew, $1500 Money secondary to tone, wow! Like the local bogans with their hotted up cars......

 

[One Drop]

I bought a matched set for $250 years ago and that was my absolute limit. They drifted so much I replaced them with TAD Chinese selected tubes and it sounds as good as it did before.

 

[Jim C]

Dino from Ampeg recently told me that he paid $1500 for a set of GE 6550's and doesn't feel like he got his money's worth out of them and wouldn't do it again.

I wonder if he thinks they would have been a steal a $1,000.

 

[JimmyM]

Don't think so

 

[tombowlus]

Well they WERE matched, Tom

But I hear you...I'm sticking to the JJ's in my Heritage till they break. Still not here yet but should be here by next week at the latest!

I bought a matched quartet of GE 6550's a few years back for a little under 40% of that price, but prices may have gone up. JJ's are pretty good, too.

 

[tomydacat]

Anyone had problems with a tube going microphonic? I had a golden Lion in my RevC00 and a friend had one as well . We both bought Golden Lions and his went Micro Phonic. Mine started a popping noise when I was playing heavy switched back to the original tube and no problems..

 

[jmattbassplaya]

Anyone had problems with a tube going microphonic? I had a golden Lion in my RevC00 and a friend had one as well . We both bought Golden Lions and his went Micro Phonic. Mine started a popping noise when I was playing heavy switched back to the original tube and no problems..

That can happen for reasons not pertaining to the amp, just so you know

 

[cbroussard]

OK, thanks for the info... I'll pass it along to the school owners and see what they want to do.

They also have a BA115 with a bad 0db input jack, and it's been that way for more than 12 months and they couldn't be bothered to do anything about it. I might have to volunteer to drive them over to Woodinville or something one afternoon.

I would contact Ampeg as JimmyM mentioned. My 7 Pro rev A00 was replaced with a rev C00 after contacting Ampeg and providing proof of purchase and unit serial #.. Worth a try.. Good luck

 

[tomydacat]

That can happen for reasons not pertaining to the amp, just so you know

OK good to know .. I was wondering if it was that particular tube.. and to let people know what i came across with that tube..
Thanks for the help

 

[tomydacat]

Hey anyone that can help here. I was playing a gig friday and my REV C just cut off and it will not come back on?? I was not playing loud or pushing it to hard .. played great for 2.5 hours and just cut off..

 

[VeganThump]

Hey anyone that can help here. I was playing a gig friday and my REV C just cut off and it will not come back on?? I was not playing loud or pushing it to hard .. played great for 2.5 hours and just cut off..

Bummer! I have a Rev C and haven't had any issues with it so I can't say what the problem is but from what I've heard on here about the notorious cutting out issues, its usually a problem of shutting off for a few seconds and then coming back on. That said, yours may have an entirely separate issue, I'd call Ampeg ASAP.

 

[tomydacat]

Yeah I sent an email in to them and will call today I will let everyone know what it is..

 

[VeganThump]

Yeah I sent an email in to them and will call today I will let everyone know what it is..

Good luck bro and please do let everyone know what the problem is, I don't wanna give the SVT 7 haters any more ammo then they already have.

 

[scottbass]

Good luck bro and please do let everyone know what the problem is, I don't wanna give the SVT 7 haters any more ammo then they already have.

I'm not an SVT 7 hater, but unfortunately mine died mid-gig two weeks ago. It is a Rev A, and it had cut out twice before on me - in about 60 gigs - but had always come back after a 10-second off-on cycle. Not this time. It is dead. I bought the thing used, so I don't have the original sales receipt. I contacted Ampeg - they won't do anything for me. (Not that I expected them to...)

Now I've got to decide if I want to spend forty dollars to have the SVT 7 evaluated at the local authorized Ampeg repair place, and then several hundred dollars more to have it fixed. I would probably still not trust it for at least a year (50 or so more gigs) after the repair.

Or I might just sell it real cheap to someone else who wants to invest the time and money to attempt the repairs.

And to prove that I'm not an SVT 7 hater, all you have to know is what I replaced it with: an Ampeg PF-800.