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Is it just me, or do Ampeg SVTs not do it for you?

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#81
michael_atw said:
You'll have to ask the OP to clarify. I was going to do that myself. Going off what he said, we all have to assume.:(
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Hence my attempt to bring clarity? "Ampeg" is a name still alive because of market placement IMHO to some degree, I loved my old "Ampegs". To the OP's last part of the question: No not all "Ampegs" or "SVT's" suck. GC is not the place to make an informed assessment.:D
 
#82
thumpybumper said:
but still nothing like my good old Acoustic 450s with a pair of 15s.

SVT and 810...and it was weak weak weak! I could hear it, I guess, but I couldn't feel a damn thing!
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You may not like 810's. I'm a dyed in the wool Ampeg guy but I prefer 2x15's myself. More low end umpffff. I dont like a lot of midrange and definition, and don't necessarily want to "hear" articulated notes. To me- thats cutting into the guitar frequency spectrum. I'd rather just "feel" them down in the low end.
 
#84
B-string said:
It all depends on WHO made the Ampeg you are playing IMO. Ampeg has had many owners, it is just a brand name not a god. Those that defend ANYTHING with a "Ampeg" name on it are the ones that need to grow up and maybe smell the coffee? Again just IMHO from using and being in MI repair for a lot of years? :)
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you forgot to tell us that gk is better than anything.

honestly, i couldn't give a crap what someone else thinks of my gear, until they start using words like "1 trick pony" or "lowest common denominator" or "i don't want to sound like everyone else so i don't use ampeg." listen, i've got news for you and everyone who has said it...a different amp or bass isn't going to make you sound unique unless you play it in a unique style, and if you can get only one sound out of an ampeg, that's YOUR fault, not the gear's.
 
#85
B-string said:
Hence my attempt to bring clarity? "Ampeg" is a name still alive because of market placement IMHO to some degree, I loved my old "Ampegs". To the OP's last part of the question: No not all "Ampegs" or "SVT's" suck. GC is not the place to make an informed assessment.:D
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ALL amps on the market still are there because of market placement, including your old pals at gk.
 
#93
We can perhaps do the majority of our speaking solely from our experience.

I have seen and heard Ampegs sounding mighty and doing the things that they are legendary for, but my own experience has been different. Maybe it is because I have mostly had the opportunity to play thru solid-state Ampegs, including amps branded as SVTs; I played thru one of those just last night, and my tone sounded like well-executed flatulence. It was OK, since it was a rehearsal studio, and you have to expect that the equipment there will be rather beaten up.

I have played thru a Fender 300W all-tube 8x10 stack and sounded like God, and perhaps that is my frame of reference (maybe playing my limited edition 'wick was part of thaqt sonic situation as well). Additionally, my preference used to be for 15" drivers, then 12"s, and I have really become enamored with what groupings of 10" drivers have done for my sound. Call it evolution, if you will.

To bring it back to the OP question here: I am more likely to agree with your opinion on Ampegs than not.
 
#94
BassmanPaul said:
No one could ever accuse me of being an Ampeg fan however saying that the SVT sucks is a huge, grossly exaggerated mis-statement. I have no interest in ever owning a full tube amp again but in the right hands they can sound magical.

Paul
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if they're so "sucky" i gotta wonder why those 35 year old svts still sell for more than twice what they were brand new.....troll methinks
 
#96
rmkesler said:
I'll bite. What makes the two so different?
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I've used them both, and i gotta say, snakesandarrows isn't too far off. The VR was engineered by the same guy that engineered the early 70's SVT's, only a few differences between the VR and the early 70's SVT:

Tubes: (Jimmy, correct me if i'm wrong :) ) The early 70's didn't use 6550's

One of the front switches, beside the power was a polarity switch, the vr has the standby switch next to the power and not on the back, like the 70's.

The VR has a "speakon" connector

But the general consensus is, it is the closest thing to a 70's SVT sound yet.

If I missed anything, please add...........
 
#99
Alembicplyr said:
I've used them both, and i gotta say, snakesandarrows isn't too far off. The VR was engineered by the same guy that engineered the early 70's SVT's, only a few differences between the VR and the early 70's SVT:

Tubes: (Jimmy, correct me if i'm wrong :) ) The early 70's didn't use 6550's
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the only ones that don't have 6550's are from 69-71. by that time, ampeg not only used 6550's but sent out a bulletin to their techs that the amps with 6146b's should be retrofitted for 6550's. most were, too, as time went on. had a lot of people tell me i should retrofit mine, including my tech, but i dug my heels in and said that you can get 6550 svt''s anywhere and mine was special ;) after he got it working, he says, "jim, this is the most powerful svt i ever heard in my life! it just seems to have a little something extra that the other ones don't."

:bassist:

the vr's biggest difference, as with all svt's produced a couple years into mti's reign, is that they took all the 12dw7's and 12bh7's in the preamp/driver section and replaced them with 12ax7's and u7's. but even that isn't a big difference since a 12dw7 is half 12ax7/half 12au7.
 
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