Unless you're in a hurry to buy one, I'd wait until the first of the year (at NAMM) to see what Yamaha has up their sleeves for Ampeg. I think that Yamaha's engineering and production will really help the Ampeg brand.
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Fender bassman or Ampeg SVT/ SVT-VR?
- Thread starter Skullheadrac
- Start date
It's a tough choice with no wrong answer. I went from your three finalists down to just the Ampeg SVT CL and the Fender Bassman 300. I have a bit more liquidating to do but I'm getting close. As of this moment I'm going with Ampeg.
I’m in a similar situation, wanting an all-tube amp and trying to figure out what to buy.
Something to be aware of, but only if you would use the amp for recording and gigging, is that the Bassman 100T has a transformer and heat sink for the DI, which allows you to use it for recording without speakers connected, and you can choose to have the DI as post-power tube section to get the full tone. Might not be a factor for you but it is for me, and it’s why I’m looking for tube amps that have this feature. The Ampeg PFxxT series also has it, but I believe the SVTs and V4Bs don’t.
Something to be aware of, but only if you would use the amp for recording and gigging, is that the Bassman 100T has a transformer and heat sink for the DI, which allows you to use it for recording without speakers connected, and you can choose to have the DI as post-power tube section to get the full tone. Might not be a factor for you but it is for me, and it’s why I’m looking for tube amps that have this feature. The Ampeg PFxxT series also has it, but I believe the SVTs and V4Bs don’t.
I owned a old bassman 300 pro(looks like a sunn) and it was a great amp. I have also owned traynor all tube heads and they are really great for the money. But now I own a VR and nothing will dethrone it. I have yet to play a AD200 or Meatsmoke, but nothing’s cuts like my VR
okcrum
in your chest
One of the locals here who had a Fender endorsement for awhile ended up with an SB300 atop an Ampeg fridge. He just didn't like the Fender 810 enough to drag it out.
I knew someone would ask that. I can't remember exactly now, but it is posted in this thread way back somewhere.
Try them. Both are very good but it depends on what sound you want. I owns a SVT-CL in the past, and it was great. But my sound, my playing style and all that is best suited for a Bassman sound. So to each their own.
I have both SVT and Super Bassman 300 And I find the Fender a touch warmer and the SVT to be a bit more mid forward. Both are great amps Just depends on what you want. Neither is a one trick amp But IMHO the Fender is a little more versatile due to the two channels and Has a more Vintage Vibe . YMMV This is both amps run through my Berg NV 610.
I had a Super Bassman and now have an SVT-VR. Both are absolutely wonderful amps and the tones are more alike than different.
At the end of the day, I could just never gel with the EQ on the Super. There were days I could dial in the "Voice of God" tone - I swear, the best bass tone I ever heard came out of that amp one night when the band was really cooking. There were other days I couldn't dial in a tone I liked to save my life - it was never truly bad, but something was just lacking. I usually started with the SVT EQ that others have posted with maybe a slight tweak from there. Instead of trying to dial in an SVT tone on a Bassman, I just got the SVT-VR. I've got the SVT dialed in now and rarely touch the EQ, regardless of the room, what cab I have it plugged into, what bass I use or what gig I play. I just want one really good classic tone and I get that every night. I can absolutely see why others want the flexibility the Bassman offers, though.
My main driver for getting the VR over the CL was primarily cosmetic and the vibe of having an amp modeled after the very first SVTs. The recent trick I've started to use is jumping channels - which made everything I love about the tone of that amp just one step better. I don't think you can do that on a CL.
At the end of the day, I could just never gel with the EQ on the Super. There were days I could dial in the "Voice of God" tone - I swear, the best bass tone I ever heard came out of that amp one night when the band was really cooking. There were other days I couldn't dial in a tone I liked to save my life - it was never truly bad, but something was just lacking. I usually started with the SVT EQ that others have posted with maybe a slight tweak from there. Instead of trying to dial in an SVT tone on a Bassman, I just got the SVT-VR. I've got the SVT dialed in now and rarely touch the EQ, regardless of the room, what cab I have it plugged into, what bass I use or what gig I play. I just want one really good classic tone and I get that every night. I can absolutely see why others want the flexibility the Bassman offers, though.
My main driver for getting the VR over the CL was primarily cosmetic and the vibe of having an amp modeled after the very first SVTs. The recent trick I've started to use is jumping channels - which made everything I love about the tone of that amp just one step better. I don't think you can do that on a CL.
I completely agree with you, when I had the fender bassman... as you said some great tone can from it but in live settings I was always chasing the svt tone. Yes you can get close but I honestly feel the svt and fender bassman are different in the voicing, maybe that’s the mids your talking about. Even the ultra lows/ hi’s on the svt compared to the fender bassman to me sound, feel, voiced differently. Again both do their own thing awesomely well but in my situation if I’m dialing in to “sound” like an svt I too went with the Ampeg v4b’s and now svt2pro.
Yep. Having owned both concurrently this pretty much sums up my assessment, plus with its added versatility I was able to eq out that little extra warmth in the Fender and get those punchy Ampeg style mids quite easily. The lighter weight of the Fender was icing on the cake for me.
As far as those who are commenting on the Fender neo 810 vs Ampeg fridge, the weight difference is even more significant IMO. However, the Fender 810 is designed as more of a full range cab with its tweeter and is not fully sealed like the fridge so if you want those thundering, punchy mids (which I love) the Ampeg is way ahead - again imo. However, having spent many years in my younger days hauling a fridge the Fender 810 was my only realistic choice. Where is that time machine????
Very, very pleased I also have a V4B in the stable. It gets a fair bit of time.
I think it is good that a company like Fender has actually done some design work to produce a bass amp that demonstrates some versatility. To that end, just another amp designed to sound like the real thing. If I bought the Fender, I would be constantly tortured by wondering what the SVT sounds like.
I think everyone should own an svt at least once in their bass playing career. Having done that you at least have a common and basic standard for comparison upon which to make future tone decisions. My Orange AD200 still gets plenty of use too.
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I can't believe it's finally happening. My new Ampeg SVT-CL arrives on Friday!
In the two years that I've been on here, I've never done a new "anything" post. I'm doing one tomorrow! I went over to our rehearsal space and picked up my Ampeg 610 so I can get right down to business when the head arrives. So pumped!
