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Ampeg SVT-II appreciation thread

#701
I have been rockin my SVT-II Pro since about 2001. I bought it used and pretty beat up. Need tubes right away, ouch, but I was gigging regularly so no biggie. I have had soldering problems so bad I had to hot wire the effects loop out of the circuit.

Now the pre amp has cut out on me. Works fine as a power amp, but I would love to have the preamp section back. Just no $$$ or enough gigs to to warrant fixing it. I mean, I absolutely love the tone and power, and 98% of the time it has been flawless, but it has cut out on me at a few gigs. Not good! Very stressful to try and fix an amp in the dark while holding a bass and the band playing the tune without you. Any suggestions/ideas as to what may be wrong? The MUTE light is on and will not shut off. The power and standby switches are the only things that work on the front panel.

I have it powering 2 Hartke 410XL cabs and use a Jazz bass and a LaSiDo (Godin) GR-1
 
#703
Just got mine (SVT2)... the former owner didn't use it for maybe 2 years, I think it needs new preamp tubes. I had a volume drop after some minutes of use, swapped the preamp tubes and now I have full volume but a bit of "dirt" in the tone... what tubes would you recommend to have a good gain?
 
#704
Triad said:
swapped the preamp tubes and now I have full volume but a bit of "dirt" in the tone...
Click to expand...
Before you buy any more tubes try swapping your 12AX7 tubes around to different positions/locations in your preamp, you might find this solves your issue without replacing any.

The preamp tube located closest to the input jack will usually affect tone the most.

ps: If your bass is active, make sure you try a new battery in it too...
 
#709
#711
A Premiere being more similar to a 1996 USA 2Pro than to an SVT-II was what I already remembered to have learned here on TB. Today's more explicit statements are very welcome. An SVT-II would be nice, but I just spent my money on a flightcase for my SVT-810. My GAS-driven panic attack this afternoon turns out to be a false alarm. I feel better now, thank you!
 
#712
Damn. This thread makes me want to (try to) get my SVT-II back in service. Has been functioning as a door stop since it developed an intermittent crackle (like a dirty pot) that several trips to the tech have not remedied.

Bought on tour in desperation in an LA Guitar Center in Jan 2008 after a less-than-reputable tech somehow ****ed up my mid 70's SVT doing a simple retube.

Had to stop using cause it kept getting less and less reliable. Tempted to throw the somewhat used 6550's from my newly retubed SVT into it and see what happens.


Has anyone tried using diff pre's than 12ax7's to tame it a little? I can't remember what I had found but had either 12at7 or 12au7 in certain spots and it tamed it a little (so I could turn it up past "2")
 
#713
Its good to be back after about 3 years.

I just bought an SVT II PRO for about 1/4 the going price because it is supposedly eating power tubes.

So I open it up to find Sovtek KT88s. Well they do burn up easily. Pulled them and replaced them with JJs.

Next, the preamp tubes. And here is where I must ask a favor. The 5 preamp tube types behind the front panel are labeled, the three drivers between the power tubes and rear screen are not. I know there are 2-12AU7 and 1-12AX7. If those got mixed up, it might be possible to burn power tubes so I wanted to verify the tube layout.

Looking from the back, my amp goes 12AU7 - 12AU7 - 12AX7

Is that correct?

Thanks!
 
#714
tubeviper said:
Its good to be back after about 3 years.

I just bought an SVT II PRO for about 1/4 the going price because it is supposedly eating power tubes.

So I open it up to find Sovtek KT88s. Well they do burn up easily. Pulled them and replaced them with JJs.

Next, the preamp tubes. And here is where I must ask a favor. The 5 preamp tube types behind the front panel are labeled, the three drivers between the power tubes and rear screen are not. I know there are 2-12AU7 and 1-12AX7. If those got mixed up, it might be possible to burn power tubes so I wanted to verify the tube layout.

Looking from the back, my amp goes 12AU7 - 12AU7 - 12AX7

Is that correct?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

i think if you look in the thread i linked you will see the tube layout.
your power tubes are staggered right?

jmpiwonka said:
i think the premiere is just an earlier run of the the 2pro you already have...

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/ampeg-svt-ii-pro-premiere-edition-421160/
Click to expand...
 
#715
Glad to see this thread still going strong. Got my '92 model back in 2001 and have a couple of probs along the way, but it has more than made up for any of the issues with its flexible tones and FEEL that no amp I have experienced (save maybe a vintage SVT). I couldn't be happier.

I dont know how to set up polls, but it would be interesting to know what cabs are being played through.
 
#717
squish said:
Glad to see this thread still going strong. Got my '92 model back in 2001 and have a couple of probs along the way, but it has more than made up for any of the issues with its flexible tones and FEEL that no amp I have experienced (save maybe a vintage SVT). I couldn't be happier.

I dont know how to set up poles, but it would be interesting to know what cabs are being played through.
Click to expand...

Mine is a classic SVT II/810 setup. It's brutal! :hyper:
 
#719
adjusted my pickup height a little, because the G and D string seemed to have a little less output...
so ended up raising both sides of the p'ups on my pbass a little as well as getting the output a little more even.

the svtII is sounding more aggressive now, i was thinking mine might be a little more polite sounding than others based on what others have said.

only having to turn the volume up in the 1030-11oclock range now as opposed to straight up at 12o'clock.

playing through an ampeg 810 cabinet.

still running the EQ off
bass at 11oclock
mids at 3oclock, selector on 2
treble at 2 oclock
 
#720
I had mine fully serviced for cheap... love the sound but the VBA400 is much louder. Found that my II had the ORIGINAL TUBES still working! I used it with an MP3 player and listening to music thru the tube amp section is really nice :p
Hated the 1 knob volume/gain thing, though.
 

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