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Anyone NOT like the SVT?

#61
Tone is in the hands and strings, sometimes a SVT/ 810 enhances this and sometimes it doesn't.

With new strings and aggressive playing I think they're wonderful. If you're a player who can't remember changing your roundwounds, or your picking is limp wristed you'll sound like mud through one IME. And, as with any tube head the volume you need may not be in the sweet spot.

That said, I've never owned a SVT but I played through many and loved them all. Now that I can afford one, the VT pedal comes out...:hmm:
 
#62
I like the V4B better. I have had numerous blue line SVTs over the years. I like it for it's head room and punch but I do not care for it's overall tone to honky is all I can come up with. I like Marshalls and Hiwatts better.
 
#66
JimmyM has spoken, Amen!

I would disagree with the one tone thing. Also, I found there to be 2 extreme opinions, one group feeling the SVT is completely scooped, and one feeling the SVT has a huge mid-hump. Why is this? Is it because of the Ultra-hi, Ultra-lo settings?
 
#67
JimmyM said:
i completely and totally disagree. svt has the second prettiest sound i ever heard out of an amp, the first being the b-15. i get the point you're trying to make, but i think it sounds both good in a mix and pretty. it's possible to have both.

and on another note unrelated to this particular post, i think it's high time we call bs on this "one sound" nonsense. and not just about ampegs but all amps. last i checked, all amps have knobs and switches that you can turn to get a myriad of different tones out of them. the svt is no exception. i see a lot of people love to call amps they don't like "one trick ponies." if someone can't get more than one sound out of any amp, it's them, not the amp. and i would say that about any amp on the market, including amps i despise.
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I guess I was being a little facetious :smug:. I remember that being my initial thought when I first tried one in a music store many moons ago. Without an experienced ear I really didn't appreciate what I was hearing. It was like drinking a beer for the very first time. It wasn't until I did a very big show (10,000 +) that I realize the "Magic" of an SVT! It was a festival with multiple bands and I really didn't have a choice :scowl:. But when the band kicked in not only was I blown away by the sound but also the response! Every note was heard effortlessly! And the amp responded to every nuance of my playing. If you think that there is no tonal variation on an SVT you need to start working on your technique...or more importantly your touch! I LOVED the response of this amp! You can almost play it as if it were an instrument itself if you've developed your touch. I don't own an SVT but every time I see one in the back line I smile!:bassist:
 
#70
godofthunder59 said:
I like the V4B better.
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Me too---I like being able to push it more for a rock sound. I have rarely needed all the firepower that an SVT has on tap.

While it IS the classic rock amp, can sound great, and I've used them on and off for years (decades I'm afraid to say-man, I'm a geezer) I've had real issues with reliability of backlined SVTs lately. Maybe it's the newer ones? The last tour I did, this last fall--House of Blueses, Hard Rock Cafe's--these kinds of venues---all had an SVT. For example, in one week of 5 shows, I encountered 3 different SVTs with issues. I'm no expert on tube amps, but I encountered things like, a howling tone that would come out of the amp sometimes (whether I was playing or not), bad tubes, etc. in amps that had "just been serviced". Maybe just bad luck, but it did turn me off a bit.
 
#72
Alex1984 said:
JimmyM has spoken, Amen!

I would disagree with the one tone thing. Also, I found there to be 2 extreme opinions, one group feeling the SVT is completely scooped, and one feeling the SVT has a huge mid-hump. Why is this? Is it because of the Ultra-hi, Ultra-lo settings?
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the huge low mid hump thing is with the tone controls at noon and all ultra switches off. turn on the ultra-hi, and it becomes a scoop. turn the knobs, though, and you can get pretty much any sound you need out of it, including legit near flat response if that's your thing.
 
#73
pbass2 said:
Me too---I like being able to push it more for a rock sound. I have rarely needed all the firepower that an SVT has on tap.

While it IS the classic rock amp, can sound great, and I've used them on and off for years (decades I'm afraid to say-man, I'm a geezer) I've had real issues with reliability of backlined SVTs lately. Maybe it's the newer ones? The last tour I did, this last fall--House of Blueses, Hard Rock Cafe's--these kinds of venues---all had an SVT. For example, in one week of 5 shows, I encountered 3 different SVTs with issues. I'm no expert on tube amps, but I encountered things like, a howling tone that would come out of the amp sometimes (whether I was playing or not), bad tubes, etc. in amps that had "just been serviced". Maybe just bad luck, but it did turn me off a bit.
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well you can't blame bad tubes on ampeg...that's just the way it goes with new production tubes. but they did have a bad period for a while with qc when they were making them in vietnam. i've yet to play a bad svt made since they moved production to s korea, though. no company is 100% with qc and ampeg is no exception, but i've seen a lot fewer complaints on here since the move, and i've not had any problems with them.
 
#74
The "one trick pony" comments, as Jimmy says, are kinda ***. Those knobs are on there for a reason. My head sounds good set flat, but it sounds a bit different with my settings. The only amps out there that are "one trick ponies" are ones with no knobs. I have my amp set up for lots of nasty grind, but tweak a few knobs and it sounds totally different. That's what the knobs are there for.

As for the SVT. I think it sounds great. It is really heavy, but I don't mind heavy. For my purposes though, an SVT would be too powerful, as they don't get overdriven early enough for me. Not even the CL with the gain dimed does. By the time it's got enough overdrive for me, it's melting the paint on the walls. I mean, it sounds great, but it's too damn loud to use for that kind of tone for club shows. Except maybe with a doom band. Hmmm.
 
#76
Mr. Foxen said:
If they are the stock tubes, it's pretty happy to blame Ampeg, they can pick them, and test them, it is just like any other component.
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But it still depends on what's available out there and the supply. The original comment came from people's statement of how Ampeg's sound has degraded. To that end, it's not their fault that they can't get the old GE6550s.

What do they currently use stock anyways?
 

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