Good to know ! 2 Ampeg Fridges would be absolutely b*&%hing though ! Definitely gassing for two :3
Thanks a bunch !
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Good Tube Amp Heads ?
- Thread starter CanadianEh
- Start date
Good to know ! 2 Ampeg Fridges would be absolutely b*&%hing though ! Definitely gassing for two :3
Thanks a bunch !
Mr. Foxen
Commercial User
DiabolusInMusic
Functionless Art is Merely Tolerated Vandalism
I would avoid 2007-2010 foreign Ampeg's, I hear they have fixed the QC issues but the QC issues were aplenty in those years. I was soured from Ampeg by purchasing new in those years.
I sold my 2005 USA SVT-CL for $900 about a year ago, they can easily be found for under $1000 just look around. I personally would look at Ashdown or Fender if I was getting another tube amp but that is my tonal preference but they will usually command a better re-sale value if buying used. I don't see myself going back to Ampeg any time soon. You could always go Traynor if you are on a budget.
As far as cabinets go, I have never found an Ampeg cabinet that spoke to me from 412 to 810 but again, to each their own. If you like Ampeg cabinets just find a Traynor, they can be found dirt cheap in Canada used and they sound basically like Ampeg cabinets in my opinion. Ampeg cabs are still relatively common and cheap though, especially if you live in a large center.
Keep in mind if you do go the SVT route it is not for poor people, maintenance costs are high with pretty well any tube amp. A complete re-tube ran me around $400 with tech time.
Hiwatt. If you can find a 60's - 70's Hylight then even better. They are incredibly reliable. My '71 DR103 still runs with the original caps and simply refuses to breakdown.
the oranges, the mesas, and the ampegs i've played have all brought the bass, but they are all different, so make sure you get the one that has the tone you want to stick with for a while, a sunn 2000s is a great head, but i'm not sure if you can still get a pretty clean one for 1400 nowadays
Who does complete retubes? Only replace tubes when they go bad. At most, you should only need to replace 3 power tubes to keep matching if one goes bad. You can save a buttload of money by not buying into the full retube.
BTW, the bad years for SVT's were 2007-2008 when they were made in Vietnam. But the ones that work are good heads, and the vast majority of them have been fixed under warranty by now.
I personally have enjoyed using any SVT head no matter when it was made, as long as it worked. Folks like to argue the subtleties of the designs they use now as opposed to back then, but in practice, I really don't think there's much tonal difference at all between the ones being made today and the ones made 44 years ago, one of which I have. That goes for all of them, including the CL and 2 Pros, which are separate gain/master as opposed to the single knob volume in the VR and vintage heads. 810 cabs, there's more of a difference, with the Heritages and original Flatbacks of 1969-73 being the very best sounding they've ever made, the rest being really good but not quite Flatback/Heritage good, and a bum period between 2000-06 where the speakers in 810e's didn't have enough highs. But the heads just don't sound very different to me, and I've played them all many times.
BTW, the bad years for SVT's were 2007-2008 when they were made in Vietnam. But the ones that work are good heads, and the vast majority of them have been fixed under warranty by now.
I personally have enjoyed using any SVT head no matter when it was made, as long as it worked. Folks like to argue the subtleties of the designs they use now as opposed to back then, but in practice, I really don't think there's much tonal difference at all between the ones being made today and the ones made 44 years ago, one of which I have. That goes for all of them, including the CL and 2 Pros, which are separate gain/master as opposed to the single knob volume in the VR and vintage heads. 810 cabs, there's more of a difference, with the Heritages and original Flatbacks of 1969-73 being the very best sounding they've ever made, the rest being really good but not quite Flatback/Heritage good, and a bum period between 2000-06 where the speakers in 810e's didn't have enough highs. But the heads just don't sound very different to me, and I've played them all many times.
I'm happy enough with my Bugera BVV3000 (SVT clone) and it has automatic bias so no tube matching needed. They don't even need to be the same type. The automatic bias is also supposed to make the tubes last much longer. I also have a Bugera 1960 (Plexi/SuperBass clone) that is plenty of power for me and somewhat portable - the Fender style EQ is limited compared to Ampeg's awesome EQ though.
+1 for the Bugera BVV 3000!
I am a members of two bassmen communitys in Germany / Europe. Some members of this site use them, and according to this guys they sound great. People who played the elder SVT's say that they sound similar to this amps.
Have you ever heard of quality issues? If you get a "bad" one, just return it and get a new amp. Once it works, it will not fail. Some of the first production runs had issues, but the CS of Bugera is fine, they swapped heads in no time.
Nice thing is the "Infinium"-circuit that allows to use different tubes. They will be matched automaticly. This circuit is well proofed, because Bugera uses it on its guitar amps for some time.
Ciao
Uwe
I am a members of two bassmen communitys in Germany / Europe. Some members of this site use them, and according to this guys they sound great. People who played the elder SVT's say that they sound similar to this amps.
Have you ever heard of quality issues? If you get a "bad" one, just return it and get a new amp. Once it works, it will not fail. Some of the first production runs had issues, but the CS of Bugera is fine, they swapped heads in no time.
Nice thing is the "Infinium"-circuit that allows to use different tubes. They will be matched automaticly. This circuit is well proofed, because Bugera uses it on its guitar amps for some time.
Ciao
Uwe
$579 shipped for mineLast I heard these amps were selling new for close to $800.
.
Mr. Foxen
Commercial User
People who get paid to. Plus you get to sell the still good used tubes, so you get paid to twice. Plenty of people go to techs and tell them their amp needs a retube, its a service industry, you do what's asked. People love telling pros how to do their jobs, sometimes the pros are happy to follow their advice.
Go figure. I always wanted to save money on repairs so I had more money to buy dumb stuff.
Mr. Foxen
Commercial User
