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I messed myself over (Warning: Long post with Ampeg content)
- Thread starter JimmyM
- Start date
Inspiring there, Jimmy!
What you've done is the equivalent of putting a muscle car back on the road. Very cool.
What you've done is the equivalent of putting a muscle car back on the road. Very cool.
Glad you re-found your favorite tone.
I've read your posts about the VT pedal, B-15, and 3-Pro and didn't have the full buy in.
Bought a 3-Pro as hauling the SVT head to small bar gigs seemed crazy, yet even with a loud band in a room with crummy acoustics, it was always just a compromise.
The SWR SM 400 was way to sterile and was immediately put away after the SVT purchase.
Something about the tactile experience the way the bass, the amp, natural compression, and sustain characteristics react.
Never played through a straight back 8x10 cab let alone one with new speakers; bet that's a thrill.
Overall, the head makes more difference to me than the cabinet as have had good times with 2x15, 4x10, and even 1x15 driven by a pile of tubes.
So now, it's either the SVT or a Trace 350; may sound crazy but the Trace creates this tactile experience and makes me want to practice / play as much as the SVT.
I've read your posts about the VT pedal, B-15, and 3-Pro and didn't have the full buy in.
Bought a 3-Pro as hauling the SVT head to small bar gigs seemed crazy, yet even with a loud band in a room with crummy acoustics, it was always just a compromise.
The SWR SM 400 was way to sterile and was immediately put away after the SVT purchase.
Something about the tactile experience the way the bass, the amp, natural compression, and sustain characteristics react.
Never played through a straight back 8x10 cab let alone one with new speakers; bet that's a thrill.
Overall, the head makes more difference to me than the cabinet as have had good times with 2x15, 4x10, and even 1x15 driven by a pile of tubes.
So now, it's either the SVT or a Trace 350; may sound crazy but the Trace creates this tactile experience and makes me want to practice / play as much as the SVT.
Well, I'd take an LMII over an SVT any day of the week. But, I hate the sound, feel and tone of every tube amp I've ever played (well, there is that Sadowsky, but that's quite another unique voicing). Totally different things.
I think Jimmy was the only person on the planet saying that the LMII could take the place of an SVT
. If it could, I'd hate it rather than totally love it (that quick, totally clean, very transparent tone). Totally different animals to me, and both category leading pieces of gear to my ear!Just another perspective from one who appreciates and respects the wonderful, unique, classic SVT tone, but who personally much prefers it totally clean, totally tight, quick, and accurate.
It's good to have you back, Jimmy. I never did understand the Markbass thing, but I know we all have different ears. Unfortunately for me, the only SVT I've ever played with was a cl, and I liked the tone of my v4bh better. Mayhaps I should oughta go get me a real one, huh?
Granted they are heavy but I'm sure it's not the heaviest piece of gear a typical band carries. Weight is certainly NOT a deterrent to me. You need to experence it first hand to understand what a OLD SVT is all about.
Very nice, sir. I now have GAS, again, for an SVT. But good ones are old and used, and I don't know enough about them to risk a sight-unseen internet buy, and I don't really have the cash, and.........
Anyway about the Tolex: You could cut a large rectangle around the stenciled area and leave it in place, then re-cover around it. Overlap the new material over old a little, presto.
Anyway about the Tolex: You could cut a large rectangle around the stenciled area and leave it in place, then re-cover around it. Overlap the new material over old a little, presto.
when you said you got it finished and were bringing it to the gig (in the b15 thread) i know you were done with. it's all over jimmy, you're an SVT man now. 
Sort of reminds me of a story I think I've told before ...
I was in Bass Northwest one day talking to Steve Fossen, Heart's original bassist who also happens to work there. We were talking about all the new lightweight gear ... I think I was playing an iAmp 500 and 2 Wizzy cabs at that point. He told me that his "lightweight" rig was an SVT head into an 18 and a 2x10 ...
I'm thinking he would agree with you, Jimmy!
Cheers,
Liam
I was in Bass Northwest one day talking to Steve Fossen, Heart's original bassist who also happens to work there. We were talking about all the new lightweight gear ... I think I was playing an iAmp 500 and 2 Wizzy cabs at that point. He told me that his "lightweight" rig was an SVT head into an 18 and a 2x10 ...
I'm thinking he would agree with you, Jimmy!
Cheers,
Liam
Wow, you reminded me of the SVT I used to have. I didn't (and still don't) know much about them, but it was the kind you're talking about. "Straightback" cab with the weird speaker connector like an XLR. A screw-on dolly on the bottom to help move it. Bought the whole thing for $600 and it was mint! I remember opening for 'Head East' here in Tulsa around '79 and I got to really crank it. Jack Bruce would have been proud, it got distorted and middy....I was in heaven.
Having spent years lugging an SVT2 nonpro and an early 810e cabinet around I still drool when thinking of it. But I certainly do not miss that one backbreaking lift of the amp onto the top of the cabinet (sure, you can ask for help but as an ageing bassist I have my pride). Years ago we had a road crew and it was fine, then no road crew and I stuck with it, now I use a Mesa 400+ which is nearly half the weight of the SVT and a Bergie NV610 which is not as tall as the 810 and the lift is a breeze. Yes, Jimmy, you are right - the tone is to die for and my SVT2 nonpro just thrashed the newer SVTs, but once that back starts to creak you may well end up reconsidering taking it to every gig. And by the way, you are one lucky man and personally responsible for much of my GAS over the past few years. And I would just love to hear your SVT head with a Berg 610 - curious to know how your original cab compares. (Sounds of Tom rushing off to frantically troll ebay for an original SVT)
I had the opportunity to ABC an old square-backed 810 with fairly recently reconed drivers, my NV-610 and a recent production 810E with my '76 SVT a few years ago. We all agreed that the Berg was virtually indistinguishable from the squareback and both were far superior to the new 810. Better low and top end extension and much more present mids. The only advantage of the Berg over the squareback is size and weight. But it was uncanny just how close the NV-610 and the squareback 810 were, sonically.
Glad you're enjoying the old SVT.
You selling me your B15's?
Ever play the MarkBass through the Straightback with the VT Pedal - just wondering?
Great posts...I might miss a couple points along the way but I'll try to briefly hit the highlights...
A museum??? Sounds like someone wants me to donate to the Craig S Bass Amp Museum
Comb filtering? Why you...I knew someone would bring this up! I'm still very much in the vertical stacking camp. I think it makes for a much more efficient rig and improves off axis response. But you can go back through my posts about it and find that I've often said that I can make an exception for a good 810. So I can certainly make an exception for the best 810 I ever heard.
Re: Markbass...I may think the SVT is still the greatest but I'm no tube snob. I still believe those little mini-amps like the LMII and the Shuttle pretty much blow away any previous SS amps before them, with the LMII being my personal favorite because it sounds so Ampeg-like to my ears. I also think the Sansamp VT Bass pedal is a miracle pedal. But a 6 lb. SS amp or a 1 lb. stompbox can only take you so far into Ampeg territory. You can cop the tones, but not the incredible feeling of 14 glass tubes passing the signal. Even modern amp geniuses like Roger and Andy at Genz Benz still give a tip of the hat to the SVT. And I think even Ken Jung himself would be quite pleased to hear his beauty AC basses through my SVT
A museum??? Sounds like someone wants me to donate to the Craig S Bass Amp Museum
Comb filtering? Why you...I knew someone would bring this up! I'm still very much in the vertical stacking camp. I think it makes for a much more efficient rig and improves off axis response. But you can go back through my posts about it and find that I've often said that I can make an exception for a good 810. So I can certainly make an exception for the best 810 I ever heard.
Re: Markbass...I may think the SVT is still the greatest but I'm no tube snob. I still believe those little mini-amps like the LMII and the Shuttle pretty much blow away any previous SS amps before them, with the LMII being my personal favorite because it sounds so Ampeg-like to my ears. I also think the Sansamp VT Bass pedal is a miracle pedal. But a 6 lb. SS amp or a 1 lb. stompbox can only take you so far into Ampeg territory. You can cop the tones, but not the incredible feeling of 14 glass tubes passing the signal. Even modern amp geniuses like Roger and Andy at Genz Benz still give a tip of the hat to the SVT. And I think even Ken Jung himself would be quite pleased to hear his beauty AC basses through my SVT
LOL! No my brother, the B-15's will still be very much a part of my world, although they're probably not going to get as much play as they were getting recently.You selling me your B15's?
Ever play the MarkBass through the Straightback with the VT Pedal - just wondering?
And yes, one of the first things I did when I got the VT was run it with the LMII through the straightback. It cops the tones very well, but it's still only 95% there at best, and it turns out I really really like that extra 5%.
