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Ampeg SVT-II appreciation thread
- Thread starter i_got_a_mohawk
- Start date
Long time lurker looking for the "the" tone and have found it. just a beginner. started with a fender rumble 200. it sounded very poor i thought. i lusted after a fender superbassman but then heard an svt 2 NP. no competition i think (bearing in mind i don't gig and so no lugging for me).
the cab is 8 ohm. i don't see that as an issue since it means less current not more. but maybe i am missing something.
i cannot get over how beautiful the tone is. any volume is great. i couldn't recommend this kind of setup enough. bonus was i got out of it for $1900 AUD (both head and cab) or about $1300 USD.
the cab is 8 ohm. i don't see that as an issue since it means less current not more. but maybe i am missing something.
i cannot get over how beautiful the tone is. any volume is great. i couldn't recommend this kind of setup enough. bonus was i got out of it for $1900 AUD (both head and cab) or about $1300 USD.
was lucky enough to get an svt2 non-pro about a year ago, which led my journey of learning the bass ... had a blast with it, and since been lucky to try a range of diff amps and be suitably unimpressed everytime! and reminded how fortunate i've been (tbh tho, some of what the new modeling tech packs into absolutely tiny & light device sizes is pretty impressive).
started off with a few diff issues tho but a bit of a service led to smooth sailing until recently, when it seemed to giveout after lengthy jams, with heavy fan noise & the sound giving out. kinda feared how much it might cost to get going after reading a bit about the cost of tubes and shutup shop for a few months.
after picking it up again and going lightly, its seemed ok so far... but question to svt2 non pro owners, with the 6 tubes in the rear, do they all actually light up when it's on and playing?
looking from the rear left big boy tubes, all are glowing nicely except #4 doesnt seem to have any glow... is this normal? can that particular one just take a bit of time to warm up?
i can't remember but my gut tells me they all used to glow.
started off with a few diff issues tho but a bit of a service led to smooth sailing until recently, when it seemed to giveout after lengthy jams, with heavy fan noise & the sound giving out. kinda feared how much it might cost to get going after reading a bit about the cost of tubes and shutup shop for a few months.
after picking it up again and going lightly, its seemed ok so far... but question to svt2 non pro owners, with the 6 tubes in the rear, do they all actually light up when it's on and playing?
looking from the rear left big boy tubes, all are glowing nicely except #4 doesnt seem to have any glow... is this normal? can that particular one just take a bit of time to warm up?
i can't remember but my gut tells me they all used to glow.
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Yes, I am rather certain that all tubes should have a slight glow to them. You might want to remove the top cover to inspect because some tubes' internals might be oriented differently and the glow wouldn't be apparent at certain perspectives. Also, if you've verified the tube is not glowing you could (carefully, with power off) swap that tube with the one next to it to determine if the problem is with the pwr tube or a problem with the circuit board.
I'll say this: Tube amps are worth keeping. With proper care like replacing leaking capacitors, cleaning faulty effects loop jacks and occasional trips to a good technician, AND being mindful of not running it unloaded (no speakers or improper resistance), these things will perform forever and ever. Amen.
Good luck!
Could be a bad tube. Could also be loose pins in the tube socket.
Tube amps require maintenance from time to time. If you don't know how to do it yourself, take the amp to a qualified technician. This is safer for the amp and also safer for you.
It may be possible to replace only one output tubes. This assumes the remaining 5 tubes are still reasonably healthy and another tube is available that will match the performance characteristics of the existing tubes reasonably well. Some technicians keep a stash of used, but good tubes for exactly this purpose.
Simply buying a new tube and throwing it in the amp without ensuring it's compatible with the existing tubes could result in further damage. In other words you wind up spending even more.
Good Luck.
Anyone compared the SVT-II to the V4B reissue, tone wise?
im happy with my tone, really doubt it can be improved, but miss the slam of a bigger amp…
im happy with my tone, really doubt it can be improved, but miss the slam of a bigger amp…
I agree. I have both and play them regularly. The V4B runs out of steam much sooner and gets distorted whereas the SVT stays cleaner, gets much louder, and maintains low end no matter where the volume is.
Both are great and the V4B most definitely does the Ampeg sound very well.
In what situations do you use the V4B? It’s very rare I play an outdoor gig without PA support nowadays (and I have a 350 w head in that case…it’s just not a tube nor an Ampeg!) That would be the only use case where it would seem needed for my occasional gigging, so wondering your thoughts on your common usage for each.
Appreciate the insight.
Sorry for hijacking the thread briefly here.
Appreciate the insight.
Sorry for hijacking the thread briefly here.
I’m speaking out of turn but I’ll take my SVT-II anywhere I have time to mosey up to the gig using my hand truck or park my car close enough to carry it in to set it up on the club’s 810. That’s exactly two venues here in Atlanta.
Otherwise my other band is playing and it’s all lightweight amps and cabs that tumble around in the trailer.
Otherwise my other band is playing and it’s all lightweight amps and cabs that tumble around in the trailer.
Some caveats:
-My band never has PA support, just one venue
-We're a power trio so I get to be a little more front and center in the mix
-I will play any bass that I feel like on a given day. That narrows down my amp choice more than you’d think
I’ll use the V4B in a place where I can turn it up to get some OD happening but not too loud to where it starts to fall apart and is no longer tight sounding. I tend to prefer a vintage output bass with it. Something like my Stingray or Spector sounds great, but there isn’t enough clean ahead room for my taste. It’s killer with a J bass.
I’ll use the SVT anywhere, it’s my favorite amp. Reasons why I don’t use it:
-Some of the places we play have a long walk to load in which isn’t exactly fun
-Some of the places we play are really small, so physically fitting the amp onto vertically stacked 2X10’s feels a little precarious. For these gigs I’ll usually grab my WD-800 or Julie Monique.
dukeplaysbass
Supporting Member
I hope this is allowed…
I just posted an SVT head box in the Classified….
For Sale - Unicorn Tooth: OEM Ampeg 4U head box for SVT-II, others
I just posted an SVT head box in the Classified….
For Sale - Unicorn Tooth: OEM Ampeg 4U head box for SVT-II, others
Happy Wednesday, ya'll!
My '93 is still sporting all of its original glass, and while everything works and sounds fine as it is, I'm considering taking the few bucks I just made on a recent sale to and putting it into some long overdue maintenance and maybe tube upgrades. I scored a sextet of Svetlana Winged-C power tubes years ago that are a definite on the power, but was wanting to get folks' opinions on the preamp side. I can swing the cost of the Genalex Gold Lion AX and AU7's and was thinking I might give them a go. Rich, deep tone is the overall goal here. What do ya'll use, and why?
My '93 is still sporting all of its original glass, and while everything works and sounds fine as it is, I'm considering taking the few bucks I just made on a recent sale to and putting it into some long overdue maintenance and maybe tube upgrades. I scored a sextet of Svetlana Winged-C power tubes years ago that are a definite on the power, but was wanting to get folks' opinions on the preamp side. I can swing the cost of the Genalex Gold Lion AX and AU7's and was thinking I might give them a go. Rich, deep tone is the overall goal here. What do ya'll use, and why?
Gday Everybody!!!
love this thread.. Really miss playing the SVTII in venues big enough to handle it cranked!! I have some queries on using the SVTII for silent home recordings...
Has anybody been using the SVTII with attenuator/load box and cab sims? I'd love to hear what works well for capturing those growling tones.
If anybody has specific experience using Captor X 8 ohm unit with the SVTII, i'd love to know what volume settings have worked for you. Mine works fine at low volumes but i have not cranked the amp out of fear that the SVTII 4 ohm/300 W output might blow it out!
Thanks everybody. This is one of my most prized possessions, freaking love it!!!!!
love this thread.. Really miss playing the SVTII in venues big enough to handle it cranked!! I have some queries on using the SVTII for silent home recordings...
Has anybody been using the SVTII with attenuator/load box and cab sims? I'd love to hear what works well for capturing those growling tones.
If anybody has specific experience using Captor X 8 ohm unit with the SVTII, i'd love to know what volume settings have worked for you. Mine works fine at low volumes but i have not cranked the amp out of fear that the SVTII 4 ohm/300 W output might blow it out!
Thanks everybody. This is one of my most prized possessions, freaking love it!!!!!
The Captor X is only rated for 100W. So not a good choice. AFAIK there are no amp
attenuators big enough to handle an SVT. If you find one, I would expect it to be expensive.
You could build a dummy load and use it with a speaker level DI. The dummy load would need to be rated for significantly more than 300W and it would get very hot. I would not run an impedance mismatch so you need 4 or 2 ohms. Also really cranking an amp into a dummy load tends to be hard on the amp and tubes.
Better yet...just buy an PF50T. Doesn't sound exactly like an SVT, but it definitely in the same tone universe.
