have the D's toppled the SVT's?

[bobyoung53]

No, that's not what I'm saying and it's not what I meant.

What I meant is that bedroom players cannot judge an SVT properly, because they have never used the amp in the situations it was designed to shine in, large stages and venues without PAs, for example.

It is not a value judgement about any kind of players.

I can judge an SVT in my bedroom, I do it by how many pictures fall off the wall, the more that fall the better it is

 

[Korladis]

I can judge an SVT in my bedroom, I do it by how many pictures fall off the wall, the more that fall the better it is

And if the neighbors call or the cops come?

 

[rodl2005]

Wow, this is like a Jaco thread.
I currently own a variety of amps, including a '72 SVT rig. It is heavy. It is cumbersome. At my age (creak, groan) the logistics of moving it around are very real considerations. As a result it has been essentially relegated to duty as the world's largest practice amp. The ground that is my sporadic and smaller gigs has been ceded to a pair of Ampeg B100Rs - not exactly lightweights either, but they do an admirable job of sounding like an Ampeg tube amp, and are eminently more manageable.
But I know better than to get rid of the SVT. Even at bedroom (basement) volume it is a glorious, hallmark tone. It is there if I need it, and I like that security. Some people aren't into it because it doesn't suit their style - and that's okay.
I do not own a Class-D bass amp. The ones I have played have not impressed me. Maybe someday...

Don't talk to ME about Jaco!

 

[bobyoung53]

And if the neighbors call or the cops come?

Well then it is an ESpecially good SVT. 10-12 years ago I set up a new old cab I had just bought in the driveway and the lady across the street called the cops. I didn't play it very long or very loud either.

 

[TinIndian]

Well around here most are using regular SS heads or class D. I know a couple guys that have SVT's but they rarely bring them out anymore. Stages around here tend to be on the smaller side and an SVT and 810 take up too much room. Besides everyone here has PA support anyway.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Well then it is an ESpecially good SVT. 10-12 years ago I set up a new old cab I had just bought in the driveway and the lady across the street called the cops. I didn't play it very long or very loud either.

You should change your story to:

"I hadn't even plugged it in and the lady called the cops, already!"

 

[bobyoung53]

You should change your story to:

"I hadn't even plugged it in and the lady called the cops, already!"

It was just about like that, I think she took one look at it and freaked out, but I was playing at a moderate volume for maybe 10-15 minutes. I just wanted to see how it sounded and how the speakers were before I brought it in the house. Surprise, surprise.

 

[Clouz]

Well around here most are using regular SS heads or class D. I know a couple guys that have SVT's but they rarely bring them out anymore. Stages around here tend to be on the smaller side and an SVT and 810 take up too much room. Besides everyone here has PA support anyway.

an SVT takes up as much room as a 1 15 cab with a 30 watt head. think sky scraper...

 

[rodl2005]

an SVT takes up as much room as a 1 15 cab with a 30 watt head. think sky scraper...

And. ... ya don't HAVE to use an 810 with an SVT . I Z know they're only 4 or 2 ohm compatible . ...but the SVT212AV is a great choice for one.
Thankfully my Super Bassman does 8 ohms also and I regularly use it with a single 115 cab . It sounds unreal.

 

[bobyoung53]

And. ... ya don't HAVE to use an 810 with an SVT . I Z know they're only 4 or 2 ohm compatible . ...but the SVT212AV is a great choice for one.
Thankfully my Super Bassman does 8 ohms also and I regularly use it with a single 115 cab . It sounds unreal.

I also use mine with one or two B15-T cabs depending on the room, it also sounds great with those. It sounds like a big B-15 but you can still get the SVT tone at the same time.

 

[BawanaRik]

I have an SWR and and Fight 2 10 cab that together wight s less than an SVT head..

It's loud and light.

 

[cacio]

When I was gigging 60 or more times a year i used sansamp,and neo cabs.
I still prefer my v4bh and ampeg cab,but when you gig frequently and had no roadies a class D is a good compromise.

 

[chadds]

I realized the obvious. We care about our sound. We want power tube girth or power tube grind. We want the complex harmonic content we associate with the SVT. We want hifi tube sound. We want hifi SS sound. We want clean representation of our basses. We want big real tube distortion. We let our amp do the tone shaping. We let our bass do the tone shaping. All different approaches. Together we care about our sound. Then we make compromises about portability and cost or cost of maintenance. If an SVT could be the size of a tiny head, be tubes and sound the same, some of us wouldn't be having this discussion. Some of us would still be using something else. Some of us would have both sizes of SVT.

 

[Lepparda]

Aguilar TN500 for rehearsals and smaller gigs and Aguilar DB751 for bigger stuff.

 

[Korladis]

an SVT takes up as much room as a 1 15 cab with a 30 watt head. think sky scraper...

That's the thing I never understand about the "it's too big" posts. An SVT rig is big vertically. As you say, the floor space it takes up is no more than a single 15" cab would.

 

[Jeff Bonny]

That's the thing I never understand about the "it's too big" posts. An SVT rig is big vertically. As you say, the floor space it takes up is no more than a single 15" cab would.

What's not to understand? All people even the most open minded of us listen with our eyes to some degree. Sure even the biggest rig has a volume knob but if it looks loud some people will only ever give you as much slack as small town cop gives a Ferrari doing 51mph in a 50mph zone. It's not reasonable but you're dreaming if you think you're going to change people. Show biz will always be about looks to some degree and fighting it rarely buys you anything beneficial.

 

[Korladis]

What's not to understand? All people even the most open minded of us listen with our eyes to some degree. Sure even the biggest rig has a volume knob but if it looks loud some people will only ever give you as much slack as small town cop gives a Ferrari doing 51mph in a 50mph zone. It's not reasonable but you're dreaming if you think you're going to change people. Show biz will always be about looks to some degree and fighting it rarely buys you anything beneficial.

That's a different complaint, the "it's too loud" (when it has a volume knob and can be played through quietly and really the person is just looking at it) complaint. That one I understand.

I was specifically talking about the "the stage is too small/it takes up too much room" complaint.

 

[Jeff Bonny]

That's a different complaint, the "it's too loud" (when it has a volume knob and can be played through quietly and really the person is just looking at it) complaint. That one I understand.

I was specifically talking about the "the stage is too small/it takes up too much room" complaint.

No I get it. The same people who say a 8x10 takes up too much room won't say **** about a 2x10 with the same footprint. If that ain't listening with your eyes I dunno what is.

 

[Korladis]

No I get it. The same people who say a 8x10 takes up too much room won't say **** about a 2x10 with the same footprint. If that ain't listening with your eyes I dunno what is.

Yep. My 1x15 is narrower, but deeper than my 2x15, so it extends a bit more out into the playing area of the stage. It actually takes up more of the useful room on stage.

 

[wateroftyne]

The class D's I've tried just don't do it for me - traditional power stages are much more to my preference. I also prefer tubier sounding heads, but I also don't want to deal with the weight of all-tube heads.

The Walkabout was always a great balance of size and tone for me, and latterly the Handbox R-400, which IME is like a Walkabout Plus. A three-tube pre, a simple, clean Fender-style tone stack - perfect for me.