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My first SVT - Help with Ton

thomasjbass

thomasjbass

Dec 20, 2010
1,974
808
Highland Heights, OH
www.ohiocreative.com
#1
So I purchased on a silly deal a virtually brand new Ampeg SVT classic bass head. I haven't done too much with it except replace all power and preamp tubes. It sounds amazing right off the bat. I read up on a few forums and got great advice regarding power, when and when not to move the amp, etc. What I am curious about is that I am obsessed with tone. And I haven't quite gotten the tone I am looking for out of this yet. Wanted to reach out to this awesome community of musicians and friends and ask about this.

I search all over my albums and my records for exactly the tone I want from this. I am looking for something between Kings of Leon and Radiohead. Both use these heads and I am just really trying to learn to work with tone. Let me know your thoughts any help is greatly appreciated!
 
#7
it's not just psychological, i've played the svt classic, svt vr, svt pros, and own early 70's svt, b-25b, and b-100 amps.

the new ones still have that ampeg sound, but it's cleaner and more modern sounding. they're not quite as 'fast and loose' as the old gear, which im sure is partly due to 40 year old components.

if you want that genuine sound from a specific era, it's easiest to simply get the real gear. if you want that 80's metal guitar sound you get a jcm 800, if you want that 90's tone you get a 5150, modern sound you plug an emg guitar into a dsl, 70's bass tone usually ends up being an svt or a superbass.
 
#8
if you're comparing vintage svt's to svt-vr's, honestly, i find very little difference between the two. now vintage svt's vs svt-cl's, i hear what bigdaddy is talking about, but really, i find the difference to be pretty slight by comparison. my svt is vintage, but i would certainly take a cl or vr any day of the week.
 
#9
JimmyM said:
if you're comparing vintage svt's to svt-vr's, honestly, i find very little difference between the two. now vintage svt's vs svt-cl's, i hear what bigdaddy is talking about, but really, i find the difference to be pretty slight by comparison. my svt is vintage, but i would certainly take a cl or vr any day of the week.
Click to expand...

yeah, the cl is a bit 'muffled' compared to a vintage svt. the VR is very close, but i'd still rather have a vintage svt especially with the outrageous $2000 pricetag for a new vietnam made svt vr vs ~$1000-1600 for a vintage usa model.

i definitely wouldn't mind having a cl or vr if it was cheap or free, but i'd prefer to buy the real deal if it's my money.

my guitarist is a tone snob and some of it's rubbed off lol i just love the bass tone that came out of the 70's.
 
#12
bigdaddyforge said:
yeah, the cl is a bit 'muffled' compared to a vintage svt. the VR is very close, but i'd still rather have a vintage svt especially with the outrageous $2000 pricetag for a new vietnam made svt vr vs ~$1000-1600 for a vintage usa model.
Click to expand...
compared to what other top quality new 300w tube amps go for (and even many 200w tube amps), i think the vr is a bargain, quite honestly. even the heritage svt-cl at $2300 is bargain priced compared to orange, hiwatt or reeves.

btw, just as an aside, they moved out of vietnam and into korea for production of the vr and cl since mid 2008.

i don't know...i like how this new group in charge of loud/ampeg is handling things...they were dealt a real mess from the former head idiot, and imho they've completely turned things around and made lemonade out of lemons, so i'm down with their current efforts.
 
#13
+1.
with used (mint) VR's going for $1-1.2K, i consider them a bargain for a great sounding 300 watt 100% tube head. mine sounds identical to my '69 (which has been running 6550A's in it for the last 15 years).

IMO, a vintage one is an awesome amp, but often the $1K that you pay for one will require a filter cap and retube job, adding another $500-$700 to it.
 
#14
JimmyM said:
compared to what other top quality new 300w tube amps go for (and even many 200w tube amps), i think the vr is a bargain, quite honestly. even the heritage svt-cl at $2300 is bargain priced compared to orange, hiwatt or reeves.

btw, just as an aside, they moved out of vietnam and into korea for production of the vr and cl since mid 2008.

i don't know...i like how this new group in charge of loud/ampeg is handling things...they were dealt a real mess from the former head idiot, and imho they've completely turned things around and made lemonade out of lemons, so i'm down with their current efforts.
Click to expand...

it's definitely not of poor quality in the least, it just let a bad taste in my mouth when they were originally usa production units then went to vietnam and were still the same price.

i have two 810AV cabinets made in vietnam under my vintage svt and they sound fantastic so i'm not knocking the gear just the pricetag vs usa made or sought after vintage gear.

if i couldn't get my hands on a nice vintage head the vr was my next choice make no mistake!
 
#15
My thought was pairing this with the 8x10 aguilar cab I got a few days ago. I sold everything I pretty much had to get it and now I am really hoping that it has a good blend between vintage and modern. We play indie stuff so some of it rocks when you get that vintage tone. I play my Thunderbird pro or Lakland P for that, but when I wanna play some of the more rocky stuff, I play my Elrick or F bass for that. I just got rid of my MarkBass setup for a Valenti 5 String that I think will be a good blend of both tones and with the SVT running through the 8x10 Aguilar I am hoping to really cut through the mix on stage.

This has been really good to see your feedback everyone. I really respect the opinions of the bloggers here because most everyone is an experienced player that doesn't worry about expressing their opinion based on their experience.

Any insight you guys can give is greatly appreciated everyone. Thanks again!!
 
#16
i haven't used the aguilar cabs but any 810 and an svt is going to be loud and with the proper bass/eq definitely cut the mix.

good call on the tbird pro, i just picked one up myself and am very impressed by it. it's becoming one of my staples for home practice lol

you might even wanna try throwing some hotter pups and/or a set of flats on that P for some killer tone. i can't give away all my secrets but it definitely works ;)

ive got some ~20k ceramics and flats in/on one of my p-basses and it's one of the best sounds ive ever had out of my svt for hard rock. id say it's giving my ric a hard run for its money, if not running circles around it. good cheap upgrade for that lakland if you wanna get froggy and spend ~$100 on it
 
#18
zachoff said:
I have a Magnavox SVT and everything is pretty much in the middle. Mid shift switch is at 800 and the high and low boosts are off. Bass and treble are at 12:00 and my mid is +4. I love the way my rig sounds like this.
Click to expand...

nice!

my magnavox svt sits at bass at 3/6, mids at 4/6, treble at 5/6, and all the switches are off though sometimes i'll kick the bass switch to the middle position if it's a big stage or a weaker output instrument.

never had a problem cutting the mix or being distinct from either guitar player.
 
#19
I think any Aguilar cab will be ported rather than the sealed design of the SVT cabs. This is not necessarily 'bad', but it may make some of the advice you get about settings a little less relevant. I found the SVT amp to work a lot better with the sealed SVT cab for the sound I wanted.

-JV
 

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