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Anyone NOT like the SVT?

#201
I think the SVT has a bit of a signature "voice," but to say that you can only get one sound out of it is silly.

It'll sound very different with bass and treble cranked with mids scooped out and ultra high and ultra low switches on, vs. bass and treble at noon, switches off, mids cranked. Switch the frequency setting for the mids, and if that knob is anywhere but noon, it'll sound quite a bit different.

They may not be sounds you necessarily like, but there are multiple sounds to be had.
 
#203
Without reading through 11 or whatever pages, I'd say I've never heard of somebody really not liking it or saying it sucked or whatever. It may be some folks Holy Grail and some other folks "good enough" but I've never heard anybody not like it. They're the industry standard for a reason. They're the backline of both choice and wide availability. This means not only that you'll sound "good" but if you're a fly band and rent backline everywhere you go, you can always get an SVT rig, even in BFE. This comes from a guy who really likes the SVT and B15 but is not much of an ampeg guy when it comes to all the other offerings. Their hybrid/SS and cab offerings (other than the good 810's) always have too much of something and lack too much of something else when it comes to "tone", whatever that is.
 
#204
JimmyM said:
mike, i say this with all the respect i can muster for you...and ordinarily i have a lot...but that is the dopiest thing i ever heard anyone say about the svt. in what universe does an amp with separate bass, treble, midrange with a 3 or 5-position mid selector, hi boost switch, and low boost/cut switch not have toneshaping flexibility?
Click to expand...

I get it man. I do.
So, does a Trace Elliott SM12 have MORE than an SVT by example?
Or beter yet, a WT800?
Hell, a Genz Benz GBE1200
And the most nutty the Mesa Boogie M2000?

I get it man I do. But the nature of the EQ on an SVT and it's voicing gives it it's "sound". And really, vs even some of the amps listed above, it doesn't come close. <edit>.....for flexability, I'm NOT speaking tone.

And please don't let this "disagreement" mean I don't hold you in high regard. I do.
 
#205
Are you guys going back and forth about "versatility" or something? It's an SVT, man. You plug it in, you turn it up (don't have to crank it if you don't want, I usually don't) but up to where it sounds good and between your fingers and the tone and volume knobs on your bass, you can pretty much make it sound like anything you want. I used to think of them as one trick ponies but age and experience has made me wiser. They now have a variety of similair tricks, all of which sound good mixed with a band.:)
 
#206
MikeBass said:
I get it man. I do.
So, does a Trace Elliott SM12 have MORE than an SVT by example?
Or beter yet, a WT800?
Hell, a Genz Benz GBE1200
And the most nutty the Mesa Boogie M2000?
Click to expand...
more what? more knobs? more chocolaty goodness? who really gives a crap, to be honest? and how many times are you going to keep moving the bar? btw, other than the gbe1200, blech! you couldn't have named off more amps i dislike than if you'd have recited behringer's entire product line.

I get it man I do. But the nature of the EQ on an SVT and it's voicing gives it it's "sound". And really, vs even some of the amps listed above, it doesn't come close. <edit>.....for flexability, I'm NOT speaking tone.

And please don't let this "disagreement" mean I don't hold you in high regard. I do.
Click to expand...
don't patronize me ;)

mike, it's apparent to me that i could sit at home tomorrow, record several completely different tones with the svt, and you're still going to stick rigidly to your silly assumption that it's only got one sound. so since i've got better things to do tomorrow (no, i didn't have better things to do today, you smartasses out there), i'll be doing those things instead.
 
#207
georgestrings said:
After all, how many threads do you see about needing to send in an M-pulse 600 because it broke down, vs "My SVT is acting up" threads???
Click to expand...

NYE 2009 - my M-Pulse 600 died in the middle of a packed to the rafters gig. Took it in to get fixed... 3 times. FINALLY repaired.

Didn't start a thread, but, just sayin'...

Now, back to your regularly scheduled SVT comments.

js
 
#210
haters-gonna-hate-kid.jpg
 
#212
I guarantee I could record myself playing my bass through ten different amps, including an Ampeg SVT, and not a single one of you would say, in a blind test, which one was the Ampeg SVT.

In fact, I'll bet $1,000 cash on it to any interested parties (you provide the amps and recording gear LOL).

All this "Ampeg has one sound, GK has one sound, Ashdown has one sound, etc." annoys me. I, as a musician, do not have only one sound to produce. And neither should anybody else.
 
#214
Darn, Jimmy, I was really hoping for some clips, I think it'd be cool to listen to what kind of tones you use on these genres.

Personally, I'd describe it compare it a singer, being capable of singing many different styles, but still retaining a bit of characteristics that can be identified. But I've been surprised more than once at the range of tones the SVT, especially with different cabinets.

On the subject of hi-fi tones, didn't Wooten used to play Ampeg?
 
#215
I've tried Ampeg in stores and I have found it as a backline on some of the stages I have played at home and abroad. I've liked some ampegs more than others but whilst not disliking the amps and 8x10 cabs I've never been impressed enough to make me what to haul all that weight around.

There are just too many amps I like better which weigh a whole lot less to make Ampeg a non starter in my book.

That said, I recognise that they have a certain tone, and if the ampeg tone is what you want, probably not much else can deliver it.
 
#216
will33 said:
Are you guys going back and forth about "versatility" or something? It's an SVT, man. You plug it in, you turn it up (don't have to crank it if you don't want, I usually don't) but up to where it sounds good and between your fingers and the tone and volume knobs on your bass, you can pretty much make it sound like anything you want. I used to think of them as one trick ponies but age and experience has made me wiser. They now have a variety of similair tricks, all of which sound good mixed with a band.:)
Click to expand...

Smart man.

I cringe when I hear the SVT touted as the be all and end all of bass rigs, just as I laugh when I hear it slagged off for its lack of versatility or its supposed one trickosity.

Surely the truth lies somewhere closer to the middle? A properly set up SVT can sound great clean and dirty, and any decent player should be able to get a large part of 'their' tone from one, this somewhat cab dependent, at real world gig SPLs.

My SVT is very dynamic, and I'm often surprised at the different tones I can cop with just an adjustment of the mids knob and frequency selector. The EQ is actually quite powerful for tone shaping as well as for room compensation, at least within the range that a majority of bassists would find useful, IMO.

Would I recommend getting one to another bassist? Probably not if they don't lust after one already. Pity, they'll never find out about the double secret SVT handshake...
 
#217
Things I've learned after reading this thread:

1) I'm a " dork " because I leave my eq settings at 12 noon.

2) The " classic " SVT stack can be anything that has one of the many SVT heads and any Ampeg cab config.

3) Don't say anything negative about an SVT while Jimmy M is alive ! :D

( Just having a little fun, boys )
 
#218
Im not a fan either, im into really hi fi amps like euphonic audio, glockenklang, ebs... Or a good pre/power amp set up. I love super clean bass amps, I dig the marcus miller type tone.. But i do give props to the svt, its a classic and i respect that, just not for me...
 
#219
I own 2 SVT's.

I gotta say, it does have some versatility.

I also don't get why you would want it. Once I have found a setting I liek on an amp I generaly leave it there anyways.

I used to own an eden wt50, and it had one of the most powerful eq's I have ever used. I have to say that I left it flat almost 99% of time.

Same as with my 74 SVT I found the right setting, which strangley are with the ultra high ON, and leave it.
 
#220
JimmyM said:
mike, it's apparent to me that i could sit at home tomorrow, record several completely different tones with the svt, and you're still going to stick rigidly to your silly assumption that it's only got one sound. so since i've got better things to do tomorrow (no, i didn't have better things to do today, you smartasses out there), i'll be doing those things instead.
Click to expand...

Actually Jimmy, no I wouldn't.
Not being any better than anyone else here, I've change my opinion regarding gear and/or players because simply someone showed me something different.
Unlike too many people on here would admit.

And yeah, he amps I listed don't exactly sit on top on my fav list either (especially that M2000! Whew!)
 

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