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Ampeg SVT vs SVT-V9

beebassdude

beebassdude

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Sep 29, 2008
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#1
im trying to get to the bottom of this and i thought i had but im arguing with someone who is adamant that these are two different amps. when the V9 came out, it was a 2 input guitar version of the SVT with reverb and distortion. i remember reading that to save on costs in the late 70s ampeg decided to combine the chasis for both as they shared the same power amp and size, so all V9s and SVTs produced after a certain point all said SVT-V9 on the back.

so to be clear: the V9 was a 2 input guitar version of the SVT. ampeg still made the SVT up until being sold to MTI, but there was never another bass amp called the SVT-V9. ampeg guys jump in here if im wrong please.
 
#2
Yes there was a V9 guitar amp.
balls027.jpg


The SVT and V9 shared the same power amp. The V9 as I remember and as in the pic above did not say "SVT" on the front at least. The lower power amp as I remember did say SVT-V9 as the same unit was used with both preamps.
 
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#4
I'm pretty sure the V-9 shared a V4 style tone stack or close to it. The rest of the amp was all SVT. I'd imagine it has slightly different EQ points than the SVT. I'd love to play bass through one, because I love and have used my V4 as a bass head.
 
#5
denton57 said:
I'm pretty sure the V-9 shared a V4 style tone stack or close to it. The rest of the amp was all SVT. I'd imagine it has slightly different EQ points than the SVT. I'd love to play bass through one, because I love and have used my V4 as a bass head.
Click to expand...

Invalid Link Removed the later 70s V4-distortion model preamp, slightly different from the regular V4. Uses a 12DW7s on the first channel gain and the tone stack/mid Invalid Link Removed did with the added distortion circuits. Looks like a resistive opto-isolater circuit. I know people talk down on them as sounding kind of meh but I've never tried one so I can't really say how it sounds.
 
#7

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#9
The information above is all correct. The V-9 was an ORGAN, GUITAR or bass head. We all know which head was widely used for bass guitar though. The power amp section is precisely the same as the SVT bass head. 300 watts. The difference is in the preamp, aside from the obvious front panel differences. The V-9 used the same driver as the V-4 or the V-2. They also had reverb and a "distortion" pot. They did mate to a 9-10" cabinet that was extremely heavy and bulky... Even wider than a folded horn V4-B! They weighed in excess of 175 lbs and are just so silly to move. My guitarist in my high school band had one and it was stupid loud. I had a V6-B and we literally brought down the ceiling tile in the basement of his folks home. Yeaaaa ampeg! So , yes two different amps with two completely different cabs making the same amount of unGodly power.
 
#11
I had a V9 cabinet for a few years that I played my late 70s SVT thru. It had a fantastic sound to it and I thought it sounded brighter than an SVT cabinet. However. It was very freaking heavy and at times wider than a lot of the club's doorways that I played at, so I had to turn it sideways and drag it in those clubs. But. I made a stupid trade and traded it for an Ampeg IsoVent 50Pro cabinet that had incredible low end but couldnt handle the power. When I went back to get it a month later it was gone. Now that Im 55 I dont miss it.

If you get it, dont blow a speaker as they're a really odd impedance - something like 5.6 ohms or similar - and next to impossible to find. Also. The jack is a 4 pin XLR-F that I replaced with a regular 1/4" jack (find a 4 pin XLR-F to 1/4" adapter out there - I dare you).
 
#12
Bim1959 said:
If you get it, dont blow a speaker as they're a really odd impedance - something like 5.6 ohms or similar - and next to impossible to find. Also. The jack is a 4 pin XLR-F that I replaced with a regular 1/4" jack (find a 4 pin XLR-F to 1/4" adapter out there - I dare you).
Click to expand...

The V9 speakers were apparently 4 ohms, arranged in 3 sets of 3 in series/parallel for 4 ohms. I know the ampeg book says 5.3 or 5.6 ohm but you can't get to 4 ohms with nine 5.6 ohm speakers.

And fliptops has those adapters. I use them with my B15.
 
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#17
That picture is of my old amp :)

Being that I've owned both a 1970 svt and a 1975 V9 at the same time I'm happy to outline the differences. Both amps are stamped SVT-V9 on the back and many advertise these as a V9, but don't let this fool you, the V9s have 2 inputs instead of 4, and that's the dead giveaway.

The V9 was my dream amp for many years and when I finally found one I lost my mind and had to have it. The first channel feeds the second, so you still have EQ for the distortion circuit. Truthfully the distortion sounds like poopie compared to pretty much any other distortion unit I've used, as it completely cuts any low end and gives a fizzy buzzy too end with little girth. Turning the distortion knob up to a point where you get a small amour of sizzle with a very EQ'd bass sound to drive it in to tube breakup sounded pretty good though… The amp is LOUD and the reverb is pretty decent. These amps are definitely rare and turn heads when people know what they are... A 300w guitar amp that bass players use is super cool. I haven't had a chance to play the cab unfortunately, but I actually don't think they'd sound great for bass. These are not the all like the speakers of the early 70s and the weird impedance doesn't lend itself well to tube amps. I also believe the V9 cabs are more shallow than the SVT cabs. Regardless, the pair is so unique that I'd be interested to check them out together.

Here's where the problem is... My 6146B loaded SVT sounds way better. WAY better. More lows, fatter, sweeter top end, more grit, better eq, and way more tones than the V9. The V9 was just more lifeless on all accounts, and believe me- I really wanted to like it more. Being the only guy in town with one is fun, and I had a lot of people ask me about it, borrow it to record, and fall in love with it, but it just didn't sound as good- period. The squareback 810s are very special as well and I can't stress enough how important they are to the true sound of a vintage SVT. The alnico speakers in those cabinets have so much movement and add so much character to the sound of that amp its amazing. Lots of speaker break up and very, very heavy.

Hope this helps!
 
#18
Zentner said:
That picture is of my old amp :)

Being that I've owned both a 1970 svt and a 1975 V9 at the same time I'm happy to outline the differences. Both amps are stamped SVT-V9 on the back and many advertise these as a V9, but don't let this fool you, the V9s have 2 inputs instead of 4, and that's the dead giveaway.

The V9 was my dream amp for many years and when I finally found one I lost my mind and had to have it. The first channel feeds the second, so you still have EQ for the distortion circuit. Truthfully the distortion sounds like poopie compared to pretty much any other distortion unit I've used, as it completely cuts any low end and gives a fizzy buzzy too end with little girth. Turning the distortion knob up to a point where you get a small amour of sizzle with a very EQ'd bass sound to drive it in to tube breakup sounded pretty good though… The amp is LOUD and the reverb is pretty decent. These amps are definitely rare and turn heads when people know what they are... A 300w guitar amp that bass players use is super cool. I haven't had a chance to play the cab unfortunately, but I actually don't think they'd sound great for bass. These are not the all like the speakers of the early 70s and the weird impedance doesn't lend itself well to tube amps. I also believe the V9 cabs are more shallow than the SVT cabs. Regardless, the pair is so unique that I'd be interested to check them out together.

Here's where the problem is... My 6146B loaded SVT sounds way better. WAY better. More lows, fatter, sweeter top end, more grit, better eq, and way more tones than the V9. The V9 was just more lifeless on all accounts, and believe me- I really wanted to like it more. Being the only guy in town with one is fun, and I had a lot of people ask me about it, borrow it to record, and fall in love with it, but it just didn't sound as good- period. The squareback 810s are very special as well and I can't stress enough how important they are to the true sound of a vintage SVT. The alnico speakers in those cabinets have so much movement and add so much character to the sound of that amp its amazing. Lots of speaker break up and very, very heavy.

Hope this helps!
Click to expand...
...... 9 years later and your comment is still helping :). i am here today because c-list SanFran has a v9 at 1300....... i got a blackline svt with plenty of hi tones n growl...it's fun to play a strat thru it, .... thank you for your evaluation, u saved me :)
 
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